By Michelle Goodman, 17, Beverly Hills HS

“Real Life 101, a weekly television show, picks interesting careers and exposes them to teens. The program tries to let teens know about more unusual, lesser known jobs. In an attempt to appeal to teens, the producers give the show an MTV, Real World style look, with new music, fast camera action, and funky editing, like switching back and forth from color to black and white.
The show has five hosts, ranging in age from Joey, age 12, to Zubi, age 23. I watched two episodes where they talked with a roller coaster inspector, a Nike shoe designer, a beekeeper, a diamond cutter, a hang gliding instructor and a rock-climbing instructor. I really liked the diamond cutting segment, because it is a lesser-known and very interesting career. (Besides, any job that allows you to spend all your time with diamonds seems really cool.)
The hosts would visit the places where the different people worked and ask them about their schooling, income, opinion of their job, and what they actually did. However, the show overall was uneven. The music and the crazy camera shots, which the producers thought would probably draw kids to the show, are extremely distracting, making me unable to concentrate on the career the segment was discussing. I could barely hear the interviews over the music (some of it was just records scratching), and the camera work made me feel dizzy and nauseous. The male hosts, especially Zubi, were more than competent, but the girls, Maya and Meaghan, acted fake and unintelligent. They spent the interview they conducted posing for
the cameras and making overly exaggerated facial expressions.
Despite the distracting elements and sometimes cheesy hosting, I was able to learn about careers. The show is helpful, because it would be very hard to learn about many of the careers they discuss otherwise. But I would say that the show seems to appeal to a younger audience, around 12 years of age. The “eye candy” the producers use would probably attract the younger viewers, but to a 17-year-old, it just looks like a substitute for a lack of material and information. And, although they talk about unusual careers, the show does not seem like a good resource of information for someone who wants to learn about a more traditional career, like medicine or law. If you are unsure about your future, you can learn about some interesting jobs, but those of us who are older and have pretty clear career goals are not helped by this new television show.
Real Life 101 airs on KCAL (channel 9) Mondays at 8:30 a.m. “