User blog comment:Tdwtfan555/13 Episode Format Not Working Out/@comment-11883116-20140208001551/@comment-4618045-20140208025821

You know, I once thought the same thing; that the show literally falls victim to cartoon physics. But then I realized something shocking. I like to imagine that Mike's brain scenes and Owen's stories are just "post-production" add-ons. I would like to think that as a reality show parody, that a lot of things are scripted and padded on for entertainment purposes. Think about it, Chris is always looking for ratings, so it would make sense for him to drift so far from "reality" and create this garbage. This also runs hand-in-hand with the idea of the dangerous creatures being animatronics and the "mutations" being make-up.

It's a nice thought, but unfortunately the later seasons never establish this idea. Island, Action, and World Tour presented stuff like how the series is received by the masses and the notion that all reality shows are fake.

And that's personally my biggest problem with the show nowadays. It has lost sight of its roots and has instead gone on to show the viewers a pandering, ridiculous cartoon that's supposedly a hit in the world it's created without showing that social satire. Bring back the aftermaths or shows within a show like Celebrity Manhunt.

Without the reestablishment of this idea, the show is just passing it off as real; that cameras can go inside Mike's head in real-time.