How Could We Have Made Madden Nation Better?

Today in television you see constant change in the realm of what is “reality t.v.” From constant spin offs of characters on searching for love shows, to an ever evolving “Real World” we see that the show isn’t where it was years ago, or even close. Why is it then, that throughout the life of Madden Nation the show never once evolved from what it was introduced as? Where could the show be now if it were marketed differently? Surely we could beat out 20 men on a reality show attempting to win the love of an ex-girlfriend of a rockstar?

So where did the show take a wrong turn? Well, for starters, we were painted as “Brash, trash talking video gamers” by the show that was supposed to put us on the map. If it was drama they were after, surely they could’ve gotten a better recipe for that? Here’s mine.

Change the Atmosphere

Take the show away from the bus. I understand it’s about traveling to different NFL cities, NFL players, and all that jazz — but it doesn’t have to be. Put simply, we need more interaction and less gameplay.

If it were up to me, I’d seriously consider mocking other successful reality shows such as MTV’s “The Real World” and Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” in the sense that these reality stars have no telephone, no television, no cell phone, and no contact to the outside world. If it’s drama you seek, surely you’ll get it in that atmosphere. We can have gamers still play their control games and elimination games, but let’s see more of the interaction and less of the game play.

Change the Contestants

A lot of you that feel like you really deserve your shot on the bus are going to disagree with me, but hear me out.

Change who gets on the bus. Reality shows are not cast by individuals who have paid their dues, but they’re cast around one another. Mad Dog and Jarvis are the first example that come to mind. They were meant for each other, and one of the most memorable experiences on the show. Mad Dog and Jarvis absolutely took things too far by coming to blows, but that was the most drama we’ve seen on the show. The Yin, and The Yang, so to speak. Let’s get some characters on the show that aren’t well known, haven’t performed well, but have great personality in one form or another.

Side note: The fact that everyone on the last season knew each other, ruined the integrity of the show. Everyone knows what happened, so I won’t go there. Had they never known each other, we would’ve had fireworks.

Who Would I Cast?

If it were up to me, I’d cast a group of unknowns players. The way it was produced didn’t show any user skill anyway, further driving the point home that personalities should’ve played a much larger role opposed to what tournaments you’ve won in the past.

In no particular order, the only current Madden community members that would be on my show:

RG – Had America laughing with the water fight and talking to himself in the hotel room.
YoMomma – Big mouth, easily heated, outside of RG only personality on season 4’s roster.
Replay – If I had to explain it, you wouldn’t understand the answer.

I’d build the show around these 3 guys. I’d personally find someone that could get get along with, and annoy the guys I just mentioned. One person to get along with RG, one person to upset RG. One person to get along with Replay, one person to upset Replay. From this cloth the show could be built. Just being good at the game wasn’t enough.

At this point in time we could’ve had a spin off show of girls trying to win the love of RG had we played our cards right.

Who would you cast for your show? Voice your thoughts on our forums.