If you've found yourself scratching your head at the level of personal probing and the amount of strange situations on recent reality TV shows, you're not alone. Communications professor Mary Beth Oliver has, too.

As reality shows have proliferated, Oliver, an expert in media psychology, said TV companies find it necessary to keep raising the bar in order to keep the public's attention.

"If we watch the same things over again -- any kind of content -- we quickly become desensitized to that content," she said. "The goal is to keep viewers engaged and keep them at an optimal level of arousal, but after a while, it ... gets boring."

Jesse Cramer (sophomore-English), No Refund Theatre's public relations chairman, has been noticing an increase in the ever-popular, hard-to-escape trend of reality television.

"I'm definitely not a fan of reality television," Cramer said. "I think it's funny to see in passing, but I would never watch it seriously."

Because of the Writers Guild of America strike, TV viewers like Cramer have been flipping the channels only to see fewer scripted shows and more reality television based around concepts that are growing increasingly complex.

"Now, studios are scrambling to fill time," Cramer said. "All they have to do is get a ridiculous situation and put a bunch of people in it."

Oliver's work concentrates on psychological effects of media on viewers' attraction to and enjoyment of media content. Reality shows are particularly adapted to thrive during the strike, she said.

"The reality is -- no pun intended -- it's very cheap to produce," Oliver said. "You don't have to have talented writers to develop a story line. You just stick people on an island."

Recent programs like Moment of Truth on the Fox network have added a touch of controversy to the reality recipe. The show's premise of making contestants answer personal questions in front of family, friends and a national audience for the chance at cash prizes has captured the attention of many.

Actress Denise Richards is making deals for a show tracking her life as a single mother, but ex-husband Charlie Sheen will not allow his children to be exploited on television, only adding to the controversy.

"They're raising the stakes until people can't take it anymore," Cramer said. "It's going to take someone dying on one of these shows for it to stop."

Although reality shows have embarrassed their contestants before, the new standard is much more humiliating, Cramer said, and if the people need money, they're willing to do it.

Cramer observed that even if people only watch the first several episodes, it's still a profitable venture for the companies.

If it's gripping enough to stay on air, a company stands to make even more money.

"The [reality TV] process is just much easier," he said. "If they're not a hit, then it's not a big deal."

Some of those shows are a big deal to Emily Rice (sophomore-hotel, restaurant and institutional management).

Rice is a fan of reality television shows like The Hills and America's Next Top Model but agrees that the genre has the potential to be over-the-top.

"I enjoy reality TV, so it hasn't bothered me that much," Rice said. "There's nothing else on TV, so they have to come up with lame shows. I feel like America will watch anyone doing anything."

Oliver offered one theory for why these shows featuring "anyone doing anything" are so popular.

"It gives people the opportunity to use the characters on these shows as a yardstick in which to gauge their own life," she said. "I wish fewer people would watch, and I wish we would have better programming."

As for what to do until the reality craze is over, Oliver had a very traditional answer.

"I think you ought to just read a book," she said.