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We must not blame the TV for attempting to try and provide us with a bit of interesting entertainment. Recently we realised, that Vanessa Feltz's show was a big con but if we think about it she is just trying to earn a living like the rest of us, besides we still watched her show didn't we!!!!!! anyway who is to say everybody uses actors in their talkshows!!!!!!!!
Yeliz Ahmet, England

I'm not the cleverest of chaps but I always thought it was obvious that there was help given to the guests on Countdown. And as for the Jerry/Vanessa etc shows: Who cares! In my opinion they are just absolute mind rot. If you are foolish enough to waste part of the only life you've got watching them then you deserve to be conned.
Colin Gaunt, UK

The license fee should give the BBC the clout to avoid the American habit of catering for the lowest denominator in TV shows - crass displays such as the Jerry Springer show. With regard to Countdown, I couldn't care less if someone has to prompt the coiffured airhead celebrity word finders.
Greg Walker, UK

I do not believe that television is a con. There are people who misuse it for their own gains but it is also the widest reaching media. Television (when used properly) is a valuable resource and should not be condemned because of some people.
Miss. J. Arrowsmith, UK

Give me a book and a nook any day. TV oh TV please go away.
Robert Wilson, United States of America

Forget about the rubbish ON the TV, when will the licence fee be abolished, that's what I want to know?
James Whale, England

Television is another institutionalised medium that seeks to form the individual's body, mind and soul. It is the lackey of capitalism and materialism, whereby conformity is rewarded with a positive label, and irregularities are punished with a negative label.
Cecilia Lim, United Kingdom

Yes, the main function of TV is social control.
John Bowen, Uk

Yes, television is one big scam. Shows like Jerry Springer that have led me to distrust all of the media. I now find it impossible to get news i can trust.
Kim, USA

Well, sensationalist tv talk shows are a con, surely. It's been known for a long time in the USA that the guests on those shows are either low-paid actors or are encouraged to "amplify" their stories and fight on cue. The entire production is staged as surely as any pro wrestling match. Anyone who takes it seriously needs a quick reality check.
Thomas Threlkeld, USA

Surely it's a case of the public getting what the public wants? If the viewing public actively supported quality programmes by simply *watching* them then more would be made. It is that simple. Things like documentaries and natural history and music programming. Daytime TV is rubbish but given the audience shares, broadcasters are hardly likely to spend pots of cash on stuff if only 4 people and a dog are going to watch. It's a commercial world. Get used to it..
Elaine London, UK

TV becomes a beast of burden when you find yourself constantly trying to cut through the spurious and the false. In my opinion, 90 percent of television directly aims to deceive the viewer into claiming that its content is fact. Even when you look at certain news programmes, they are, by their very nature, only able to convey a two dimensional picture of the facts. It just depends on how you wish to interpret the facts, or how you're LEAD to interpret them.
Christopher Hiles, United Kingdom

Yes, that is why people are using the Internet instead.
Steve N, UK

Things may be bad now, but they will only get worse. The way we watch TV, the way TV is made, the number of channels available has changed enormously over the last ten years. We still expect the same level of honesty as the days when there was just one public broadcast service. With hundreds of production companies fighting for commissions and TV stations cutting cost all the time I am afraid we are going to get even lower standards in broadcasting. It is up to the public service broadcasters to set high standards and not copy the commercial stations in pursuit of ratings. Only then will it be deemed unacceptable to manipulate and lie in the name of "entertainment".
Neil Castle, United Kingdom

The programmes that are concerned appeal to the sort of people who watch for entertainment not factual content. So long as news and documentary programmes are unaffected. I don't see that there is a serious problem.
Andrew Sutherland, England

It is a con ... but isn't that just because people want what they see on TV to be an escape from what they feel is the dull 'real' life that they lead?
Mark Hornsby, United Kingdom

TV is part of the Trinity of mindless mediocrity that is life for the majority here in North America. The others are shopping and eating fast food.
David Baynes, Canada

Commercial television has only one purpose: To sell products. If the watcher is entertained, educated or enlightened it is accidental and unintended.
Edward Margerum, USA

I do not think TV is a con, at least not all of it. For the time being, we still need it in our daily life and work.
Samuel D.B. Zhai, China

Television, as well as many other sources of information we receive daily is a con. Schools should be required to teach courses in Propaganda Analysis, beginning in primary school, and continued through university. Thus armed, citizens might better understand and analyse what we are being fed on a daily basis. It isn't just the talk shows, but includes the newspapers, the government, and the clergy, to name a few.
Jim Hubbell, USA

It's all about shock value here in America. That's what brings in the ratings, and if you don't like it, you ALWAYS have the choice to turn it off. There are suitable programs, it depends on what you are looking for.
Mildred, USA

A certain news programme has its presenters sitting against a blue screen background with a computer-generated tv studio complete with model lights making up the illusion. Now if that's not a con I don't know what is!
John Stevens, British in Australia

Entertainment on TV in the form of minor game or quiz shows have to use these tactics to make the mediocre guests they have on look better. If they didn't we would all be watching an afternoon of repeats.
Dennis Price, UK

The Jerry Springer show and many like it are fillers between advertisements. They are nasty, adult versions of the cartoons that children are fed between adverts for toys. I have developed an anti-advert device that also helps with Jerry Springer et al. It's the off button. I also use it when the advertising gets too much, which is quite often in N Z. And yes, I do miss the BBC.
Peter Bradley, New Zealand

I don't believe that TV generally is a "Big Con". After all when the BBC discovered the fake guests on Vanessa they did take decisive action. However I would like to stress that the principle of honesty in cases of factual programs is very, very important. If a program is supposed to be based on factual content then the material presented to us must be exactly that! It is true that we like to be entertained, but that does not mean that we want to be deceived or lied to. Allowing dubious material to be presented as fact just because it is entertaining would set a very dangerous precedent.
Phil Hall, UK

Like so many other things in life TV finds it necessary to deceive people for its own gain. Fortunately we do not have to suffer the unreal world of TV and its silly games as we did not renew our licence last time and we have not missed it one bit. I do hope many more would do this so that the people at the top might even have to face reality for a change.
Andrew Boland, England

Shows like Vanessa and Jerry Springer make me cringe. Not because of the shows content, but the fact that so many people are watching this rubbish and believing it. Americans, fair enough, but I thought we had more sense.
Dave Fidler, UK

I think it is sometimes a bit of a con. But maybe it is harmless fun and we should laugh at the people who are trying to con us, because really they are only conning themselves out of viewers.
Jenny Zaire, Mauritius

I think it's important to remember that TV exists primarily to entertain, whether through accurate documentary or outrageous chat-show. The TV moguls worship the mighty dollar and nothing else. Therefore, I think the argument about TV material having to be based upon truth is a bit moot. What saddens me though is that in order to make money, TV producers will resort to appealing to the most base appetites we humans have. What is worse is the fact that it works!
Stephen Jones, Finland

Of course it is. The only thing that I find surprising is how many people are surprised. A year or two ago, illness left me immobilised for many months, during which time I turned on daytime TV - but not for long - I simply could not believe the appalling dross that was (and is) farmed out to a presumably uncritical audience. Any viewer who can sit through rubbishy Australian soaps followed by chat shows that are little more than emotional vampirism, is hardly likely to even CARE whether any of it is genuine or not.
John Luby, Scotland

If people watch rubbish like the Jerry Springer Show, Vanessa and other such complete tripe what do they expect? Serious, factual, down-to-earth honest reporting? As with everything else, people get the TV they deserve.
Pete Williams, UK

It's so desperately naive to expect TV 'moguls' to present us with unvarnished truth. They are not concerned with the preservation of honesty but with winning a ratings war - and why should this surprise us? Where money is concerned honesty is the first to suffer. If we accept that 'truth' has been filtered through hearsay, hyperbole, and several producers, then we can get on with suspending our disbelief and enjoying those amusing parades of vulgarity that are Jerry and Vanessa. Why should we expect truth from television? We don't find it in the rest of the media. Grow up, everyone.
Sue Bellington, UK

Since the Jerry Springer show arrived in this country a year ago, our television companies have been trying to rival the popular talk show. But who can blame them? If they entertain people, that's all that matters. The British are not very emotional when it comes to talk shows, thank god!
Mario, England

TV is a medium for making money, truth is lost in the mad scramble for the mighty dollar!
Sylvia Liss-Odgers, USA

TV programmes are just a entertainment for us human to relief our pressure after work, in particular, the chat-show and game show is fixed to make it easier for the contestant to made us viewers laugh.
Mr. Laurie Lau, Hong Kong SAR , China

It's not that TV is one big con - it's that there is a perceived danger that if a show like Vanessa can fake it, then what are the chances that Panorama, Horizon or any of the more prestigious documentaries, that are now trusted, could also be faking it. The biggest con, in my opinion, is that the talentless should be able to con the license fee paying public out of vast sums of money to present daytime programs of such appalling quality. I am glad that I am working, healthy and am not at home during the day!
Stan Kurowski, UK

Yes, I do believe there's lots of deception on TV. When it's found out it should be abolished. Viewers should demand honesty at all times. Fibbing to the public should be avoided at all costs. Shows should be thrown out when dishonesty is found.
Irene Portokalis, USA

Yes it is a con, but it always has been. From Belfast kids being paid to stone cars, to a Tuesday night quiz show recorded on Sunday afternoon. There are just too many producers taking advantage of our gullibility. Even "Titanic" was largely fiction, yet people believe it. I can't see films or television becoming more honest, can you?
Ray Marsh, Australia

When you watch these programs you encourage them to do this kind of thing. Be more selective about what you view and they will have to take notice.
Daniel, England

TV is a con. Audiences are treated without any respect and we're fed a diet of increasingly trashy, lowest-common denominator shows. The Jerry Springer phenomenon is the tip of the iceberg.
Godfrey Bartlett, England

TV is merely a medium for advertisements.
Kathleen O'Riordan, USA

Of course it is and so is a great deal of the stuff that we see on the internet!
Dirk Jangler, Bolivia

To label all TV as a con just due to the dishonesty of a few programmes is akin to labelling all books as trash because of the recent trend in Brigette Jones Diary epistles. Top ratings demands top stories. Yet life is not as exciting as Hollywood makes us think it could be. If TV is to maintain the public's respect it has to stop condescending to the public, and begin to re-evaluate where it is coming from, and to look for quality, not simple titillation, in its programming.
Iain Overton, UK

I notice a lot of "whinging" from the UK crowd, on this topic. Just be glad of what you've got. I would love to pay a licence fee over here, if it got me the quality programming that you get in the UK.
Drew Pratt, Canada

I think that TV is not a big con because you can also learn a lot if you watch the right channels.
Erica G, USA

This sort of TV is for idiots, because only idiots would believe in such tripe! These programmes should be cancelled because if we are not carefull this whole nation (UK) will become a cultureless void which is what a once great nation (USA) has now become. And in my opinion it is all due to TV like this!
Will Lawless, UK

TV is opium for the masses. Need I say more?
John Cox, Australia

TV producers and heads of stations are all following the trend of US television - "the dollar is more important than the truth or honesty". It is time the old values were dusted off and put back to use .
W Taggart, Australia

The whole show is unreal and a scam. A lot of babbling and gossip that's all; maybe the hosts make a bundle and it keeps some of the television producers employed and overpaid by charging the advertisers.
Raj Mahraj, USA

Of Course TV is a big con...I'm just as gullible as the next person. I used to think that Mr Ed could really talk. It was only much later that I realised that he could not and that in fact it was another horse off the stage actually doing the voiceovers for Mr Ed!
Sanjay Shah, UK

I feel sorry for people who have nothing better to do in the daytime than watch TV.
Peter Kidds, UK

Of course it is, supposedly for the sake of entertainment. The majority of these 'talk shows' are just sensationalistic rubbish which make the 'presenters' a fortune and treat the viewing public as pathetic morons.
Peter Olohan (British) USA

I'd rather put up with the odd con than the mind-numbing tedium of Brazilian TV. With any luck the recent crisis will get so bad that I can convince the wife we should sell the thing.
Graham Bell, Brazil

The question that now needs to be answered is whether Carol actually does those maths problems?
Peter, Ireland

After visiting the UK recently I was surprised to learn that Jerry Springer Show was so popular outside the US -- what an embarrassment! I had to explain to people that Springer's guests are mostly being paid and encouraged to act outrageous and most American's find the show offensive and low-class.
Kurt Gray, USA

No, it isn't but I think some programmes have to be viewed with tongue firmly in cheek. I don't object to chat/debate shows using artistic licence but I get annoyed when factual/documentary shows are not truthful or accurate. It is dangerous and can cause sensitive viewers angst.
Nicola, UK

My feelings on this are borderline. The BBC subjects us to a Licence fee and expects us to put with up with shows, such as Vanessa, where we are lied to and deceived. Quite honestly, the show isn't worth tuppence of the fee anyway. Matthew Parris' "revelation" with regard to Countdown stinks.It is the competitors that the majority of us tune in to see. In most of the newspapers this morning Carol's face was splashed across the relative story, making it appear, unless you read the article, that she was the con artist on this occasion. I am not her biggest fan, but credit where credit is due. She is a highly intelligent woman in her own right. Perhaps a talk show on the deceitfulness of MP's should be the next talk show topic!
KJG, UK

Of course it's a con, the news people slant how the story in reported, the script writers, directors and producers slant things the way they want. The day time talk shows do their best to find the dregs of humanity or to invent them. Who can believe anything they see on TV.
Richard T Ketchum, USA

What amazes me is that anyone believed chat shows in the first place. To me they are like wrestling in the US, a bit of fun but clearly staged. Everything on TV is carefully set up to attract the greatest audience, the truth does not come into it.
Richard Read, UK

Yes, much television is a con. More worrying are the trends of modern news programs to indulge in wild scare mongering to keep their viewing figures up.
Keith Walker, UK

Well, of course there are levels of 'connage' - things like 'who's line is it anyway' and 'Blind Date' wouldn't be as successful as they are if they were pure and spontaneous. Where it becomes a problem is when the 'truth' is being told, for instance in a documentary. And whilst the 'truth' can be broadcast, clever editing can put a different light on things. The thing the viewer has to do is to engage brain and keep a level head. It is a powerful medium
Wendy S, uk

I have always been amazed at how the guests on Countdown always knew the long words. I do not think the show is at fault as the presenter Richard quite rightly points out, it is important that the viewers are challenged to beat the guests as much as the contestants. If anyone is guilty of duping it is the guests themselves, who act smug when they get these words that are suggested to them. As far as the chat shows are concerned, it is entertainment and I do not really see that it does much harm. What is sad though is the vast salaries that some of these people demand to present such farces. I do not include Countdown in this, lets face it for a show to last long as it has (almost 20 years) they must be doing an awful lot right!!
Philip Levy, Northampton

TV is in part entertainment. If real life were portrayed on situation comedies we would spend weeks watching noting of any interest, then five minutes of something of minor interest followed by another few weeks of watching nothing of any interest. Maybe once or twice a year something memorable would happen. The same is true of the filling between AM TV and the Six O'Clock news - the shows, and that is what they are, are full of interesting (?) people whether they are real or fictional. The real crime is that people have nothing better to do than watch these daytime fillers.
Mike, England

There's a big difference between actors playing fake guests in the audience of Venessa and celeb. guests being given helpful hints in Countdown. Tabloids are the ultimate liars and sensationalists. Have they got anything better to do than nit pick with a program watched by students and the retired? Give us a break!!!
Mark, UK

The rigged game shows and chat shows are just trying to add entertainment value to their low quality output. People who watch these shows probably dont mind too much. It is the documentaries that manipulate the evidence that are more worrying.
Andy Young, UK

YES....a huge con!! Especially with the BBC wanting us to pay for this con too!! These shows don't bother me as it does not affect my everyday life, so my advice to people who are complaining about this....don't watch it....at the end of the day, it's all about viewing numbers.
Jason, UK

As the mother of a 12-year-old girl, I've basically told her all she sees on tv is not real. It may be based on a true story, but it's still just one person's interpretation of what happened. It's kind of sad that people take what they see as the truth.
M. Kate Kelly, USA

Maybe, but who notices (or cares) when we have the distraction of Carol Vorderman?
Jedsmen, UK

TV is a con, yes. Not because of the 'fake' and preconceived shows that are being complained about these days, but because we pay an extortionate licence fee for such garbage to be produced.
Stacey, UK

Ever since the mid-eighties audience related TV shows have slid further and further into what I call 'phoney-vision'. Much of it we now accept as normal. Shows where 'contestants' appear with obviously rehearsed lines have been on the air for years. Blind Date for example. Noel Edmunds to my mind has become the king of phoney-vision with obviously rehearsed 'surprise jokes' and events. I personally decided long ago that these shows were an insult to my intelligence and simply do not watch them. So are we being conned? Yes. Do average punters know or care they about the fact they are being conned? I would have thought not. I can't believe the large audiences these shows attract can be that gullible.
Roy Matthews, UK

If it is, you at the BBC are in a lot of trouble. TV is a con only if you let it. Don't forget folks, there's a little something on your TV set called an "off button" (your P.C. has one, too).
T.J. Cassidy, USA

How can people say that TV is a con when so many of us still believe in Santa Claus!
Steve, UK

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