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Research essay on reality shows
The phenomenon of reality TV
Reality television shows essay
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Reality television has been around since the late 1900's. It is a genre of television that captures supposedly non-scripted real-life situations. Although reality tv is unquestionably entertaining, the content is far from real. Reality shows are only "real" when referring to the unscripted footage. Though the footage is unscripted, that doesn’t mean its unwritten. Strategic editing and predetermined constraints play a huge role in the finished product broadcasted on television. Producers and editors spend hours molding together clips to create an episode full of struggles and drama. Michelle Crouch, author of the article 13 Secrets Reality TV Show Producers Won’t Tell You, states, "We often take different clips and edit them together to
“This is the true story… of seven strangers… picked to live in a house… work together and have their lives taped… to find out what happens… when people stop being polite… and start getting real” (Robinson par. 8). The reality television program, The Real World, by MTV, had its first airing in 1992 and is one of the longest-running shows in MTV history. Initially, the program was designed as an outlet for young individuals to express common issues of adulthood ranging from prejudice, religion, AIDS, sex, and substance abuse, but eventually it evolved into a showcase for immature and reckless behaviors.
The author Richard S. Tedlow in his article, “Intellect on Television: The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s”, sheds light on his examination of the problems inherent in commercial broadcasting, especially as they relate to the television quiz scandals of the late 1950s. The author begins his article with the events of June 1955 when $64,000 Question made its debut on the CBS television network. According to the author, the radio had been exploiting the American’s interest for facts with contests and games since the mid-1930s. Moreover, small amounts of cash or donation were given away in different formats. The specialty about Question was that even the loser got a Cadillac as a consolation prize. The format of the show was very simple, contestant
“This is the true story, of seven strangers, picked to live in a house, and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real”(MTV). This marks the beginning of MTV’s reality show, The Real World. The show takes 7 strangers, puts them in a trendy luxurious home, taping them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for about 4 months. The cameras capture petty arguments, late night hook ups, and pure laziness. How could this not be real? There are not many people that can live in an expensive home while laying around all day, and partying all night with little work involved. The Real World is a display of 18-24 year olds, typecasted to have their most extreme stereotypical qualities blown out of proportion for the world to see.
In June 2001 there was an intriguing article published in the Washington Post. This article was called “Reality Television: Oxymoron” by George F. Will. Will, in his piece, starts by talking about a guy named Fred ...
From my experiences when watching reality television , it is always interesting to find out the character or people and knowing what they are really thinking. It is not very hard to decipher the moments of when a person in a reality show is fully aware and guarding themselves with the camera around versus the moments when the cameras are forgotten....
The Pursuit of perfection in society has taken over our minds in the 2000s from what we see and hear. The role of the media is not helping everyone in the striving to be perfect, we know have access to shows that fill our minds on ways to be perfect and how we should dress and act to fit in. A specific issue that I see in society that has been around since the dawn of time would be jealousy. That is why the craze of reality tv shows have become so popular because we fantasize about acquiring fame that others already have. When we look at high rating shows such as “Chrisley Knows Best” we schedule these shows to fit into our day some even making it priority. We are enchanted by their mundane habits such as eating lunch, shopping for clothes, or small fights such as whose turn is to do laundry. The Chrisleys are blessed
Reality shows have become increasingly popular throughout the years. People tune in every Sunday or Tuesday night to see the fancy vacations and the bundle of mind-blowing drama. Some reality shows star a family living their everyday lives, while others are focused on people finding their way in the world. Often times, the stars of these so-called “reality television” shows become role models for the younger and older generations. However, in real life, these reality shows are anything but reality.
Beyond our entertainment, reality television is a market that thrives off of profit earning. John Fiske, author of Television Culture, goes behind the scenes of the reality television world to help readers understand how it reaches society as a whole. T.V. programs rely heavily on codes, which people use to interpret the world, and share meanings. “The point is that “reality” is already encoded, or rather the only way we can perceive and make sense of reality is by the codes of our culture . . . What passes for reality in any culture is the product of that culture’s codes, so “reality” is always already encoded, it is never “raw”” (Fiske 5.) Therefore, reality television must abide by these shared meanings, which have been encoded at three
Over the years, reality television programs have taken over our television screens. Shows such as Big Brother, Jersey Shore and Keeping Up With The Kardashians are being viewed by millions world wide; especially by the youth of today. This has created concern for teenagers between 13 and 19, and how they are confronted with different types of TV personalities
In 1968 American artist Andy Warhol said 'In the future, everybody will be famous for 15 minutes.’ The expression is normally linked to people in the entertainment industry and more recently related to those figures, involved in Reality TV.
Reality television has been a burning fury of opinions as of late. Regulations are in question for this topic. This type of programming should be forced to have limitations. Drawbacks to regulations or reality T.V. are That they limit the reality of everyday living, viewers will not get a true experience of enjoyment; benefits would include regulations that are necessary, such as the limitations of bad influences on children, the less suggestive topics; the better T.V. quality actors, and shows will be made, and show on television.
With reality television being so popular it comes as a surprise that it is often subjected to a lot of criticism and is often regarded as a negative form of entertainment. It is stated that documentaries are considered the sober genre, (Nichols, B. 1991) with a strong representation of the 'real world' whilst reality television is a questionable one. The rise of hybrid formate see the lines between the two constantly blurred, with documentaries concentrating on entertainment and reality on social aspects.'New hybrid versions of documentary and reality television produce a new kind of public sphere in which shared knowledge and the experience of the every day take centre stage' (Bignell. 2005:71).
Media producers all around the world have discovered that so called “Reality Television” programs are the key to maximising viewer bases and therefore profits. It is undisputed that Reality Television makes money. This has resulted in immense amounts of these programs being plastered across our screens. While these programs line the pockets of producers and companies, they are not necessarily beneficial to their audiences and the society we live in.
Reality television shows are television programs in which real people have their lives continuously filmed either in their own homes or while they are put in various group situations. For entertainment... One well known example of this would be The Real world, which has been running on MTV since the early 90’s, where a chosen group of twenty something adults move into a house together for a short period of time. Others oppose banning reality television because they believe it gives them exactly what they want, an escape from the worries and boredom of everyday life. Just because something is popular does not make it good. Reality television is mostly vain or people exploiting themselves in a competition for money.
In this day and age there isn’t hardly a person who doesn’t watch some form of reality television. Whether it be an adrenaline pumping baking competition, a talent based show with singing and dancing, or the pure entertainment of a day in the life of celebrities most everyone watches some form of reality television. There seems to be a few different sides to reality TV that make it so entertaining for people to watch. There seems to be the shows that lure people in because of the motivational aspect, the drama, or the deep down genuine appearance. However, most people are oblivious to the fact that the screen they are watching isn’t usually what actually happens in real life. James Poniewozik explains the manipulation going on behind the camera