Reality Shows

Reality Television

In the past few years, television has been dominated by so called "reality" television shows. It is nearly impossible to flip through the channels and not see one of these shows. Reality television has been around since the 1940's, but since the premiere of "Survivor" in 2000, the popularity of reality shows has exploded. Since thisexplosion in 2000, reality shows have become extreme and bizarre. I am personally not a fan of these shows and I don't watch much t.v., but there are a few shows over the years that have caught my attention. Networks have come out with hundreds of different shows, which can be divided into different categories that each go to different extremes; talk shows, hidden camera, celebrity, dating based, makeover, professional activities, special living environment and hoax.

Talk Shows. The talk show has been one of the most consistent genres on television since the 1980's. Talk shows involve a host who interviews guests about a certain subject. Many talk shows discuss normal subjects and recount guests' experiences, but there are a few talk shows that premiered in the 90's that explored ridiculous topics. The most well-known has become The Jerry Springer Show, which hosts dysfunctional families in front of a rowdy audience. On every show, the guests fight with each other, make unusual confessions (such as a man who admitted to marrying his horse), and get heckled by the audience, all revolving around topics involving sex, racism and marital problems. The typical guest can be described as a "toothless redneck," for lack of better words. The Jerry Springer Show was once voted "The Worst TV Show Ever," by TV Guide.

Hidden Camera. The first ever hidden camera show was "Candid Camera," which premiered in 1948. The premise of the show involved hidden cameras filming people in unusual

situations, usually caused by trick props, such as a car with a hidden extra gas tank. In today's

television world, a show won't get good ratings by just giving people a hard time. Shows such as "Spy TV" and "Punk'd" push the limits by doing basically anything to scare the victims. In numerous episodes of "Punk'd," the victim's car is replaced by a replica without their knowledge and then the replica is destroyed in front of their face. Thinking it is their real car, the victim is always in complete dismay. Some hidden camera shows have been sued by victims who didn't find their experience funny.

Celebrity. A very large number of reality shows revolve around the lives of celebrities. These shows document the average day to day activities of famous people. They usually do not get as extreme as other genres, although in some cases the subjects of the show are taken to a specific environment and given a task to do, as seen on "Celebrity Fit Club", in which a group of overweight celebrities are divided into two teams and forced to exercise and lose a certain amount of weight. At the end of the season, the team that loses the most combined weight wins. Other shows such as "The Osbournes" and the "Anna Nicole Show" simply follow around the subjects with a camera as they go about their activities.

Dating Based. Dating-based shows follow a contestant who must choose a partner from several suitors. Over the course of an episode or a season, all the contestants are eliminated except for the winner. One show that really stands out for it's craziness is "Flavor of Love," where a group of women live in rapper Flavor Flav's mansion and compete with each other for him. The contestants on this show are what make it interesting. Throughout the season, cameras roll as these women fight and argue, form alliances with each other, conspire against each other and stop at nothing to satisfy Flavor Flav. Shows like "Flavor of Love" really display how cutthroat and conniving some people can act when put in certain situations. Special Living Environment. This documentary-style of programming places cast members in artificial living environments as camera's roll 24-7, capturing every event, every

word, and every emotion. "The Real World" is the original and best known show of this style. In "The Real World," seven young strangers move into one house and live there for a period of six months. Over the course of the show the members form relationships with each other, both friendly and sexual relationships. They also fight with each other, deal with personal problems, and become somewhat of a family. The members generally do not go back home for the entire six months. In some cases they must deal with relationships and problems that occur back home, and the only way to deal with them is to go to the other member's of the house. The most extreme show of this style, and the show that spawned the reality explosion is "Survivor." "Survivor" puts two teams of contestants on a deserted island without any food, water, extra clothing, or any other modern objects. Besides the obvious challenges that the contestants