Ask Mike: Reality Bites… Or Does It?
Hey Guys,
Complaining about reality TV shows has become as clichéd as the shows themselves. We all know they’re lame, but we love ‘em anyway. Let’s just accept it. In the interest of paying tribute to the much maligned genre, I asked the Answers community for help in tracking down the first of the species.
Now, keep in mind that I’m talking about “reality shows.” Game shows like “Jeopardy” or “Let’s Make a Deal” don’t count. The show should focus on real people in real(ish) situations. All clear? Good.
As a kid, I remember watching “The Real World,” and thinking there was nothing else really like it. Was the MTV show the first of its kind?
Maybe, maybe not. Several folks who responded to my question wrote that “Cops” is the first true reality show. It took actual police officers, followed them around in their cars, and watched them arrest people. If that ain’t reality I don’t know what is.
A few other responders mentioned a show I’d never heard of called “An American Family.” PBS ran it in 1973. Community member EJ writes that the show “was unusual in its focus on a seemingly mundane family named the Louds, who harbored sensational secrets.” Other folks believe the title belongs to “Candid Camera,” while several others mention “The Real World.”
There may not be an easy answer to this one. After all reality is in the eye of the beholder. Some shows that claim to be “real” are as scripted as “The Cosby Show.”
Let’s say you were going to produce your own reality show? What would it be about? What would you call it? Would it have a positive aspect or be complete exploitation? I’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment below.
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I would redo Survivor and make it truly about surviving. Drop the people off in the mountains with no food, water, shelter, just what they brought with them. Let’s see if the backstabbing leaches can start a fire in the rain or catch rabbits for food. No voting off, no alliances, just sheer survival.
Well i think your correct and right.
Sincerly,
~Tabitha~
Survivor is a game show along with American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and Big Brother and all their clones. The Real World is probably what one has to look at for “a reality” style show since it shows unscripted people that don’t win anything.
Candid Camera followed by Real People are probably the closest one will come to showing unscripted people and not winning anything.
=If I could create a reality tv show, it would be a bunch of random questions being asked to smart-asses who know everything people dont care about. It would be called: Random questions.
I dont think i was alive when reality t.v came out, or was i?
Then again, I am Jane Doe
The first ever reality TV show was COPS.
Most reality TV shows deal with something that viewers don’t generally have happening in their lives. Maybe they believe they can relate because it has been dubbed reality, but I doubt it. For example, with MTV’s The Hills only a handful of wealthy, white, kids can directly relate to what’s going on with these “characters,” meanwhile a majority don’t have this lifestyle and believe they are looking into a world somewhat different from their own and are interested in the “drama.” On TLC’s Little People, Big World. I am sure not everyone in the audience are little people to make them purely relate to the family. Average size people probably tune in to see how individuals, different from lthe average sized, deal with their lives. It is all something different from our own lives that makes us interested.
If I attempted to make a show about everyday average people, I doubt anyone would continue watching. It will get boring eventually. There needs to be drama, constant excitement, or some strangeness, etc. to keep audiences hooked. But that’s not reality. Reality is our ritualistic lives and can get dull. When you bunch up only great extraordinary moments together within a half hour to a whole hour’s worth of television, then you got yourself an audience viewing money maker.
youv’e done a terrific job on the realistic and un realistics of television shows. i would like to see old shows come back to t.v. the old comedies and the moralistic shows need to be back in our homes. the horror shows and sci-fi shows are not my cup of tea. keep it going. susie
If I were able to make a reality show, I’d make it on racism at schools. I am 15 years old and I go to a school in Sunbury, Ohio. Sunbury isn’t a very diverse town, it’s quite small and has by far a majority of white people, but the few other races that actually go to the school there (Big Walnut) get torn up in the halls, ragged on, called any racial slur you can think of and yet nobody seems to want to put a stop to it but me. Similar to high school confidential, but more focused on other things rather than teen pregnancy…
Deadliest Catch on Discovery is the only good reality show. Reality shows are putting all the actors out of work because it costs less to air these pieces of trash than to hire writers, stagepeople, etc.and air real entertainment; maybe the quality of the actors is the problem.
At least with Deadliest Catch the guys are working for a living not dancing around like idiots in their underwear or being mean to other people.
Why the entertainment industry thinks its okay to teach viewers how to be mean and cruel to others makes no sense to me and it shouldn’t for everyone else either.
Okay…now they have this one that just started on Discovery channel called “The Alaska Experiment”. They dumped four groups of people in four different parts of Alaska, each group with a map to these crapped out cabins where they have to like hunt it, kill it, eat it for the next three months.
I already wanted to b*tchslap a couple of sisters in the group that found their cabin first. Wretched little whiners…
Can’t wait to watch ‘em eat raw fish guts…
Ahhhhh. Reality. Ain’t it a b*tch…
OMG,
You are absolutely correct. I hate them but I love them, they are so stupid. I got involved in the Badgirls Club on Oxygen, I cannot stand the bitches that are on the show, but I cannot stop watching them make total fools out of themselves. I am addicted. I turn down sex for the freaking show, it’s really getting out of hand. I NEED HELP!!!
hey, my psychology class was discussing the same issue: what is real in reality tv anymore, and how does society view these shows? we made up a survey and would like to study as many views as possible. http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pdTVeTtRCR2VmL-p-f6THbw&email=true <thats the link. your help would be greatly appreciated!
I think it would have to be the “7up” series. Where they follow a group of children as they grow up into adulthood. They check up on them every 7 years. It started in 1964!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Up!
‘Survivorman’ is the only reality show I can stand to watch. Host/star Les Stroud survives for a week in remote locations with little or no food, water or survival gear. Finding and improvising these comprise the main body of the show, and Stroud films himself throughout (no camera crew). Locales range from the Canadian Arctic to the Amazon jungle, from Alaska to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Excellent viewing.
This is totally correct.
I think the first ever reality TV show was AMERICAN GLADIATORS back in 1988.
I like cheddar.
my friends and i like to call these shows ‘trashy tv’. and yes, we watch them when there’s nothing else on.
if i were going to create a reality show, i would create one with meaning. like having a show about volunteers/missionaries and the trials they go through in the countries to which they are sent, or a show about adoption and show the process, and getting the babies. that would actually mean something instead of listening to a bunch of cracked-out “dancers” fight for bret michaels’ attention for five minutes.
I always thought COPS held the title of first reality tv show.
“We all know they’re lame, but we love ‘em anyway.”
WHAT?
I hate these shows.
I call them insanity shows.
Their purpose it to make/change what normal everyday people consider to be normal, or “reality”.
They screen people to this effect passing those that they can use to change public opinion one way or the other. They pick the folks that might be willing to do something like go thru the whole show naked, or people for which they can place their faith in an awkward light. You can be sure given the billions on the line that there is a method to the madness.
Some reality shows are fun to watch. I miss the original “Flip this House” series. Most reality shows though are vile and crude. Why watch trash t.v.? Why spend precious time letting filthy language and actions fill your brain, when there are so many other wonderful things to do in this life.
Oh, I forgot my other favorite…”Ice Road Truckers”. It was truly great!
i don’t really like reality tv…. or tv in general… but i have to admit i was so hooked on rock of love. it was trashy and horrible yet i was so entranced.. not ‘reality’ at all.. but very amusing.
ps i like cheddar as well
I would call it Life In America…and my take on that is have some of those politician who adjust wages, and taxes and good stuff like that,,give them the wage they say is good for us to make and let them live our life …Real life in america…you know where your average salary is about $400 wk, rent $1000 )2BDRM), lets not forge the food, gas,electric,cable,phone and once in the while entertaiment like a movie or something…and maybe they might see its not really the american dream anymore.
I consider “the Real World” the first reality show (in the same vein as today’s shows) because it actually had a cast. Sure “Cops” has real people, but so does the news. .. just my opinion though.
If I were to create a Reality show, I would do something that would actually help people make their lives better, like “the Biggest Loser”, for example. They help people lose weight and everybody wins on that show. Maybe a show to help people quit smoking or other bad habits. Or a show about helping other people out. The contestants get money and they have to find the best way to give it away or have different challenges where they have to do something for someone else.
Mabey a reality show on one person seeking out to change peoples lives goes to different places …like even to a bar even and see if there presence could make a difference …or goes hangs out with the homeless and cheers them up but they defenitly have to go places different places or it sure would be dang boring watching them like in one siduation 4 ever …
I would say cops also! It’s been around a while now!Looks like a real old show you know! But I’d think it’ll really be the cosby show! That’s the oldest! Filmed from around 20-35 years ago!
Almost all are crap. The only somewhat good ones are survior shows barely.
It would be about living in a teenagers(ages 15 to 23 preferibly) shoes for a month. a teen who lives in antartica, US, someone famous, just to show you are not the only one. also what can and cant work in society.i hate the fact that teens today in the US think they have ti drink and do drugs to have fun. it just screws u up. think it would be posititve. It would probly be called “it cant get any better or worse” or something like that.
I complain about reality shows but I don’t watch them. Hypocrites suck. Earliest I can think would have to be the candid camera shows
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE! In fact, I’m sorry, they are so aggregious as to be completely ignored. First off, c’mon, they’re actually engineered to a broad audience for appeal. This means “constructed” and “devised”. Pooh. What nonsense. I’d rather watch CSI, with at least the chance of learning something (hubby is ex law enforcement) about forencics that is worthwhile. This “reality” is nothing more than ongoing human drama. Dear God! Don’t we have enough of that or have had it in Real Life!????
well..i used to agree..i still due on the classics.
But i tune into tv to forget about real life, not to watch a reality show 24/7.
I think your right. Cops is truely the most real reality show you could find. Never thought about it that way before. I don’t watch reality shows because they are so lame. If I made a TV show like that, I would certainly not script it. The whole shock and surprise from them would be what people want, and want to see of a reality show. One can tell when it’s scripted, so why do they even bother with it?? Great point, a lot of nice comments.
“Complaining about reality TV shows has become as clichéd as the shows themselves. We all know they’re lame, but we love ‘em anyway. Let’s just accept it.”
No. NO. Not even a little bit. Reality shows are the worst form of pseudo-entertainment ever conceived of by humanity.
They may be here to stay, but no part of me will EVER love them. I hate them with every fiber or my being. If I want unedited reality on my Television, I will wait until the next UFC event.
i like cheddar
nice
yes.this shows u r researcher . r u?
Things like Candid Camera would be a better reality t.v. show because the participants did not know what was going on. The word reality means you are doing something and not everyone knows about it, not even the people who are producing the so called reality shows. Why not change it to something like Spontaneous shows or on the spot shows for a real reality shows ? But actually those would be classified as documentary shows, isn’t it ? Hey come to think about it, the everyday news reported by the journalists are the actual reality shows. Those in existence now should be just called an assisted adventure show. How can you go to Timbukto if you don’t have the money for the ticket ? Definitely the production film has to supply the tickets, the accomodation and others. Aside from all these, may be it is the entertainment part that people like.
Just last night I happened to be channel surfing and hit a new show on Animal Planet called “Groomer has it”. Apparently, they have fashioned it after “Project Runway” Since I am a French Bulldog lover, I started to watch it and believe me, it was the , most ridiculous show I have ever watched. They were in the process of eliminating one of the participants and used terms like, going to the dog house, lifting the leg. Apparently, lots of people like it, so, who am I to judge? I can’t help thinking, What is this world coming to?
Well, they are definitely here to say. No question on that. Reality TV feeds our need for voyeurism without judgement. It IS creepy to want to know someones personal business, watching them, judging them, comparing them to ourselves. But the jokes on YOU! Scripted and completely filled with actors and entertainment insiders… HAHA! You think it’s real. At one time, there may have been an honest attempt at creating something reflective of rat experiments in a lab, but now, even that diluded idea couldn’t fly. I agree that Cops is probably the closest to reality, but even on Cops, they reshoot scenes, let officers come up with witicisms they wouldn’t normally use, and over-all put a little gloss on what’s going down.
Enjoy what you like… you sick little monkeys.
Sorry, but no, we don’t “all love ‘em anyway”.
Well, it wasn’t a T.V. show, it was a movie, but The Beatles’ “Let It Be” was, as I remember, the first “reality” endeavor ever. It must have had an important influence on later T.V. studio execs, wouldn’t you think?
Gene Simmons Family Jewels is mostly acting, which I don’t like! I just want to finally see a reality TV show with NO acting.
No, “everyone” does not watch reality TV. I do not watch or complain about those programs, However, I do often gripe about nothing worth watching on Tv. My answer is to turn off the set and save electricity… and reduce my energy bills.
I would have a fighting show where these “survivor actors” fight against real actors like Chuck Norris, David Carradine, Danny Bonaduce, Dwayne(The Rock) Johnson, Brian Bosworth, Tony Danza, and many other real actors I cant think of.
Have the fights in Japan with the old Pride fighting rules and I bet those survivor actors wouldn’t be brave enough in signing a contract.
I would never make a reality show, but if I did, it would consist of a camera set up in some natural setting. I would maybe put cameras on jet fighters and switch to the camera doing the most interesting thing.
The show would be for people who are not obsessed with the lives of other people.
As for the genre being real, it is not, the situtations are completely artificial. Besides that, shows like Survivor have absurd rules. If 20 people are stranded in a wild place, the one who survives is going to be the one with the best wilderness skills, regardless of whether the others like him or not. That being “voted off” nonsense is an example of viewer’s obsession with other people. Of the episodes I watched, I have not seen one person who could actually survive being in the place alone, though there are plenty of people who can but aren’t chosen for the show. It is a celebration not of survival ability, but of the obese impotence of American culture, and it’s disgusting.
Personally, the trends in the “entertainment” industry are why I don’t even own a TV these days. “Reality shows” are one of the major trends. First off, they have nothing to do with reality. Second, their primary purpose is to find attention whores and get them to do a lot of ridiculous things in exchange for very little money. I’m sorry, but I don’t like to encourage attention whores.
I remember thinking how UNREAL the reality genre had become, when I was on a vacation with some friends in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We were out at a lovely dinner in a tropical courtyard, when two of the teenage daughters began to get antsy and agitated.
They kept asking if we were almost finished with our coffee, and when we finally asked what the rush was, they pleaded for us to hurry so they could go back to our rented villa (complete with cable)
“Pleeeeeeze! we want to watch ROAD RULES!!! they whined….. “They’re in MEXICO!!!!!”
Ummm…… girls?…..YOU’RE in Mexico!
Reality TV had become more enticing than reality!
Well that is a good point A lot of us really like them. I have to admit I have often complained how they speak to an era of creative weakness and appeal to the lowest common denominator. But yes I have enjoyed many of them. But I can not watch any of them religiously. After a while they really DO MAKE ME SICK but a few times with some of them I must admit I have really enjoyed. It is just that it becomes so OBVIOUS that it is ANYTHING BUT REALITY and it is actually ALL STAGED and it is STAGED for the express purpose of pandering to the lowly needs of us americans to witness other peoples HUMILIATION and that just makes me upset to think we have sunk that low. But I can really understand WHY they got their START IN ENGLAND
Well the first thing is that they ARE NOT REALITY they are STAGED and phoney and pander to the need for people to see others at thier HUMILIATED worst. NO WONDER IT STARTED IN ENGLAND. But I have to admit I have sometimes enjoyed a few of the episodes of some of the shows.
Now, I’m not saying reality shows are moral – dear God, of course not. But I think the reason that people find reality television appealing is because they (or at least some of them) are sort of like microcosms. Whether two lesbians, a former child actor, and a one-hit-wonder rockstar are stranded on an island or not, some of the things they’d do, I’m sure we’d do, too – to some extent. Ambition is ambition, pride is pride, courage is courage, stupidity is stupidity – and, at least for most of America, it’s entertaining.
Let’s face it: humans are a narcissistic species.
ha ha i hate reality tv i dont even watch that s**t lol
I hate Reality Shows to it’s very core.
I love reality TV. It doesn’t bother me at all! Cops is a great show, but I like Reno 911 better. Not reality, but a nice mock. If I had a reality tv show it would be called “Driving.” It would be about dealing with the jerks on the road. That’s right. The jerks who cut you off and then brake. Then later you see them laughing at you and pointing in their rear view mirrors. Yep. Kinda lame, but people do the most ridiculous things.
Are u braindead? The only reason anybody whatches them things is cause they are braindead also.
When I first saw the reality show were there was “Wive Swapping?”. That threw me over for a loop!. I thought it was ridiculous how these woman went into someone else’s home,and made rules,that that did’nt even follow in their own household. I often wondered how much the families got paid!. (Now) “The Bachelor” is just plain obsurded. These woman are dying for this man to ask them for their hand in marriage,and the reality is? He’s wealthy!. These woman have 1 maybe 2 weeks to spend with this man and he has to spread himself amoung at least 3 of them. How can anyone determine,if they want to spend the rest of their lives with someone in such little time?. And this is suppose to be reality?. I think the networks should “Cann” these shows. They are taking up too much time,effort and aire space!. AND THAT IS REALITY!.
I just had to answer another one!. Now another reality show called: “The Nanny”,is also something crazy. You have a grown man,his wife,and 2 little kids around the ages of 5-7 who are yelling,screaming and just acting plain stupid!. I thought it was shameful,that someone has to come in and raise their kids!. You would think the father’s word would at least scare the kids into settling down. The families who star on this show,should be embarrassed,that someone else has to come into their household,and chastise their kids. (I wonder?). What happens to the families,once the Nanny leaves?. Back to the drawing board!.
I don’t “love them anyway”.
I don’t watch them.
I don’t find them enjoyable, or entertaining. Maybe if they were truly real and not so called reality (scripted) I would watch, as human beings do interest me greatly, but as these shows are tailored to appeal to the average crowd I just can’t force myself to suffer through one of them.
This is what we call reality? Watching someone else’s life? If it is even real. What is the real message here? Anything to do with the sponsor’s setting the mood for you to buy their products? Come on now. “I want that outfit, I like her hair color, look how that place looks, he’s a hunk, I wanna go there”, well it is a way to get money. Kinda like responding to all those Spam emails I suppose. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.
The ‘real’ thing about reality shows is that they keep fine shows off the air. There’s only so much time.
I miss “Jericho” which had become the only show on commercial TV I wanted to see. In fact I saved the time to keep it free for viewing. It was intelligent, wonderfully acted and directed. Although fans got CBS to run it after initially pulling it off the air, the station only gave us 7 new episodes before pulling it again.
I wish I knew what the process is for Nieslon ratings. It seems like an idea past its effectiveness.
If the current crop of “reality” shows from the last few years represents your version of reality, then I really feel sorry for you. I don’t have much to say about them, because I have never sat and watched more than ten minutes of one, but from what I have seen from little snippets here and there, and commercials, is that they are not much different than a soap opera. I have yet to see any part of any show that seems to be real. Cops was pretty real, but even then I think a lot was done different because the cameras were there.
Hi. I’m 44. I think the earliest ‘reality show’ could be traced back to the 6 O Clock news in the 1970′s when we would watch coverage of the Vietnam War. Certainly was the most real thing anyone saw on TV(let alone a 10 year old kid). This would have been the begining. I also think that “All In The Family” (Archie Bunker, the bigot), was a starting point too – A show about the working class, instead of a glamorous soap opera setting. Together those led to the Geraldo Rivera and Morton Downey ‘talk’ shows (1980′s). And if you remember those, you can see the evolution to the Jerry Springer show and then MTV and all its horrible glory (Jackass,etc.).
I miss those early MTV days of music only and never watch ‘reality shows’ or MTV anymore. Somehow it dosen’t seem very dignified when a war is going on.
I agree that it’s too easy to malign forms which predominate media. In the ’50s, every satirist of any standing, from Mad magazine to Mort Sahl, mocked TV westerns. They did this because there were so many flaws in the form, but more than that, because their domination of TV at the time suggested that the audience for westerns were unquestioning sheep with zero critical faculties and droll cups fastened in front of the TV every night of the week. By the 60s, family sitcoms drew the bitter ravings of the same satirists, and for the same reason. There’s nothing honorable about jumping on any bandwagon of ridicule whether it’s Westerns or reality TV. To that extent we agree.
That being said, however, I dislike “reality TV” among other reasons because it is “lazy TV”. There’s no dramatic form to it. It’s anti-art and anti-form — retarded Godard, if you will. No scripter is required, no director with real dramatic chops or vision — just a cameraman, an editing room and a group of people with a will to exhibitionism. But where I might have rolled with Survivor or Amazing Race in the beginning for the raw excitement of the new, the form was further debased by Fox TV through a series of really insulting iterations such as My Big Fat Stupid Husband and The Swan. Any tendency to explore REAL human stories was sold out by Fox for the freakshow factor, and every network followed suit. Make it crazy, make it sleazy, make it a guilt-free romp at some poor schlub’s expense. These shows were like the hidden camera in the locker room. You watched because you were afraid you’d miss something appalling and ugly, that you could recount at work the next day around the break table, or you watched to satisfy your own sick voyeurism. A third reason to watch? …I said, “a third reason to watch”?
It isn’t the best side of human nature that reality TV appeals to. Just the opposite. It’s like ambulance chasing or slowing down and watching a road accident or a fist fight in a bar parking lot. Even a generally laudable show like The Biggest Loser has to have something happening that will be laughable to a good part of it’s audience — at some poor schlub’s expense, of course. So the men take off their T’s and reveal a set that would make Diana Dors proud. And the women bare midriffs that not only should stay covered, but might require a tarpaulin to do a decent job of it. This is wrong. It’s offering titillation to people who are bored and stupid.
Yes, it’s impossible to critique this form without critiquing the audience. Is that wrong? Well, how else do you critique Circus Maximus, gladiators and christians being fed to lions for entertainment if not by wondering aloud how debased a human soul would have to be to revel in things like this? I think the audience critique is entierly relevant. You know people by their friends, and you know the worth of any cultural phenom by who takes the keenest interest in it. Reality TV doesn’t stink because the audience stinks. Rather, it stinks, and the lowest audience out their cannot get enough of it.
There are loads of reality shows that are nothing but a bunch of crap. Some of them do have a message and you learn from them like “Brat Camp” and many others while some are just there coz they don’t have anything useful to show. They just want to dig out anything they can think of about people’s daily life and just make a reality show out of it. What the hell?? This isn’t called entertaining, it’s a waste of time and money!
I would do more shows like “What Would You Do”, if this is considered reality TV. It makes people think if they would actually help someone in need if they were in the situation. Or answer questions like “What do you do if your car goes under water?” Show life saving actions.
Another idea is bargain shopping. See who can make a nice looking outfit, or decorate their house with the lowest amount of money. (Must look good, not tacky) There used to be a show I liked about people finding stuff at flea markets and then having people buy it online ( I think it was called “Junkin”) Fun to watch and got viewers involved as some items sold for less than $1.
Since reality TV has taken over I rarely watch TV at all. I still catch the news, sometimes a few videos, (if I can catch them since reality TV has taken over music channels, too), but I don’t flip through the channels anymore. These shows are pathetic. Who really wants to be with Flava? EEEEWWWWWW! As for the rest of them, they’re just as bad in their own ways. I’d much rather watch a sitcom.
you call them real life, even thou they are staged and scripted in most cases, the winners are pre determined any time you have the public involved like american idol, you never get a true vote, i say get rid of these stupid shows ive watched a couple and they are just a waste of time, a rerun would be better tv. but they are too many people with no no lives who depend on these
Why does everyone whine so much about them? “Reality Show” was just and ingenious marketing term to make up what they are actually producing. An “Entertainment Show”.
I agree with Pricilla a few posts up, we know what our lives are and if we saw on tv what we did everyday it would be pretty boring. How many times have you hung out with your friends and lots of interesting things happened and you though to yourself “we should record this and put this on tv (well now, youtube!! >b)
But then you think about it, that happens every once and a while, for the most part—its pretty boring in entertainment standards.
That why these “reality shows” are produced and directed to continue the interesting drama, have the madman screaming at everyone, the crazy drunk who gets naked all the time! Because that’s entertaining!
I do agree that it is putting really well trained actors on the back burner for the time being, but as it get copied more and more and people get tired of seeing the same celeb. family live (act) out their life, the entertainment world will change and maybe again will we have great sitcoms!
P.S. American Gladiator was AWESOME! And I hate cheese! O_o
If you think that reality shows in the US or UK are lame, you should watch those on Indian television, EACH and EVERY ONE is a rip-off of an English show, and it is remade so poorly, the actors and their melodrama is so pathetic, so scripted
I like the reality shows that actually require you to have some talent in order to participate. Project Runway is by far my favorite. I also like Kathy Griffins reality show because I love rude in your face humor. I never got into big brother, survivor, and the game show type reality programs- snore. I still prefer shows like Lost, Heros and Dexter to reality programming. I wouldn’t mind a real life Office type show.
I don’t watch them.
TV producers have found the cheapest possible way to make advertising bucks by using emotionally needy people (who generally work for free) to tear each other up on camera in situations designed to get the lowest, most degrading human reactions. I don’t need that kind of mean-spirited trash in my home.
If you want “reality”, you should have watched the “John Adams” mini-series on HBO. At least it was based on a real person and factual circumstances and they weren’t posturing for a camera or instant fame…
The first “reality show” I remember was “Road Trip” on PBS. It was hugely popular. It was about a group of college kids taking a trip in a rented travel trailer across the USA during the summer and what they saw, who they met and what they did. The kids themselves made the video. It was subsequently followed by other such trips using a different set of kids each time. Each one becoming more and more scripted. Before long they were boringly predictable and it seemed that a lot of the “action” was manufactured.
Candid Camera was not a reality show. It was a practical joke where you got to see people’s reaction to it. You didn’t get to see all they filmed either because some people got mad or wouldn’t sign the release.
No thanks, not that I hate reality TV in general, I do like the Amazing Race, I find a point to that show. The rest are full of empty people playing silly games for no reason outside of getting attention.
Reality TV….. I think I’ll stick to watching Sports for my Reality TV dose.
I don’t like reality shows at all. They relate to the lowest common denominator of viewers. They cancel shows like Dresden Files, Enterprise, Bionic Woman, and going way back Bonanza, Ed Sullivan Show, Wild Kingdom and so on and yet keep American Idol for years on end. DVD rentals for me.
the first reality show was An American Family. I don’t watch t.v.,anymore but have seen some reality shows my various family memers look at, they are really stupid, and they make me believe our whole country is full of morons. The only thing t.v. seems to have is fake reality shows,redundant celebrity wanna be news, that no one cares about, and those stupid CSI shows, that are written for a 3rd grader’s mentality.
I LOVE “REALITY SHOWS” I love that they take my mind away from my life. I respect people who say they dont like them but honesltly when I get home from work or am going through a tough time I like to turn on tv and drown out my life while watching someone elses. Its all in fun and tv was made for entertainment.
I find it funny that the people with the most opinions and supposed information on reality shows are usually the people that never watch them. How can you say it is “this” or “that” if you don’t even watch them? And to place judgement on those that do watch is just ridiculous and judgemental. So I do watch. No I am not a low life. I don’t like to watch disasters of any kind. I don’t gawk at accidents other than to make sure one of my loved ones aren’t involved. I don’t like to see people being mean or dishonest. But I find these shows interesting because it shows average people in real situations. You can see how people react differently to specific situations. I normally root for the most honest on the shows but am always amazed at how dishonest people really can be. My favorites are Survivor, Big Brother and American Idol. And as for the comments that the contestants on the shows are just looking for attention, well think again. Most are looking to win a large sum of money to try to better their lives. You get to know alot about the people on these shows and even begin to care about some of them. And as far as American Idol well yes they are looking for attention but aren’t all professional actors and musicians doing the same? So to all those with their opinions on things they have no clue about maybe you should watch one of these shows before you make your judgement calls. Or better yet maybe you should just not watch them and keep your negative comments to yourself. After all there are many reality shows out there that I don’t watch because they don’t seem to fit my taste. But I won’t comment if they are good or bad because I don’t know. I just know that they don’t interest me. And as far as the people that watch the shows that I don’t like, well to each his own. I have no problem with them either. I accept the fact that different people have different tastes. Viva la difference!
I love Amazing Race. The travel is scripted but the interactions aren’t, though they are edited for content. They always win the emmys.
Idol is sort of like an odd form of Reality TV. I agree its more of a game show than anything else.
The first one I ever saw was wife swap. It was entertaining at first, but then when I saw one where they didn’t really want their mom back, I saw that it was pretty depressing.
My favourite, however, was the “Joe Shmoe” show. It was a reality show where one normal, middle class guy is on a reality show where everyone else is an actor, paid by the producers, and he has no idea. The actors play hilariously steriotypical parts and act ridiculously to puzzle the hell out of him. It was really funny, especially one part where he was set up to lose, his task was ten times more difficult, but he won anyway and they had to create a diversion because they hadn’t planned anything.
The answers you got missed out a couple of key series:
Wanted, from 1996: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanted_(game_show)
Lost(2001) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(2001_TV_series)
These were back when reality shows had interesting people doing interesting challenges…
I would like to see a reality show of everyday ordinary people that arn’t picked by hollywood producers. Preferably a middle-class family.
I am sooooo tired of these uppity class snobs on tv. They should do a show about poverty, people in REAL poverty and more Americans will realize how stupid they are for all these materialistic things when there’s people fighting to stay alive each day.
I didn’t read that either until the third sentence. Wow. It was really boring to me. WHY DON’T PEOPLE MAKE THESE THINGS SHORTER??! And please, try to keep the reader entertained. Hehe. Thanks