Reality TV Tips
When it comes to Reality TV, we've been there, done that, now serving 5 tips in 1 categories ranging from Public Service site: Reality TV (Tips) to Public Service site: Reality TV (Tips).
The Future of Reality Television
Although the reality television shows seem to keep on coming, many people have expressed a feeling of burnout. One-time hits such as “Fear Factor” have seemed to disgust viewers enough to stop watching. However, each fall season seems to bring another reinterpretation of the genre. Also, shows like “American Idol” have shocked critics by maintaining a huge following with each year. It seems that reality television has no intentions of going anywhere, although it will undoubtedly re-imagine itself as time goes by.
Reality Competition Shows
A sub-genre of the reality television boom is the reality competition show. Included in this category are “Fear Factor”, “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race”. What each of these programs have in common is action, although some rely more on gratuity than others. “Fear Factor”, for example, was perhaps America's biggest guilty pleasure for a few years, as a stunned, yet engrossed public saw people eating live insects for money. “The Amazing Race”, however, seems to be one of the classier reality shows, even earning Emmy awards as recognition by the television industry.
MTV's The Real World
Years before network executives put Paris Hilton to work on a farm or asked personal trainers to eat live cockroaches, MTV had its own little reality show. What started out to be a small experiment on a basic cable channel, “The Real World” could possibly take credit for some of today's reality television craze. The plot of the series was simply to put a group of attractive young people from various backgrounds together in a New York loft. There, they were asked to live together temporarily while their lives were taped. The results were surprisingly entertaining to a mass public and the show spawned many more seasons, each more outrageous than the last.
How Real Is Reality TV?
Critics of reality television have long pointed out the possible misuse of the word “reality”. This is because many people featured on reality television shows are often put in outrageous situations or are very good looking. As opposed to a true documentary, which tries to capture unbridled truth, the reality television series' sole purpose is for entertainment. However, it is often a genre that many consider to be a guilty pleasure, anyway, so this criticism hasn't hurt any ratings.
What Is Reality Television?
Reality television is a TV genre that features non-actors being documented in a cinema verite fashion. Often, the reality television show has a group of people competing against each other or placed in a strange situation. This genre became increasingly popular in the late 1990's and is still draws major audiences, particularly in America. Famous reality television shows include “Survivor”, “Fear Factor”, “American Idol” and “The Real World”.
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