Reality television

"Reality TV" and "Reality Show" redirect here. For the channel formerly known as "Reality TV", seeCBS Reality.For other uses of "Reality Show", seeReality Show (disambiguation).

Reality televisionis agenreoftelevision programmingthat documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s with shows such asThe Real World,then achieved prominence in the early 2000s with the success of the seriesSurvivor,Idol,andBig Brother,all of which became globalfranchises.Reality television shows tend to be interspersed with "confessionals", short interview segments in which cast members reflect on or provide context for the events being depicted on-screen; this is most commonly seen in American reality television. Competition-based reality shows typically feature the gradual elimination of participants, either by a panel of judges, by the viewership of the show, or by the contestants themselves.

Documentaries,television news,sports television,talk shows,and traditionalgame showsare generally not classified as reality television. Some genres of television programming that predate the reality television boom have been retroactively classified as reality television, includinghidden camerashows, talent-search shows, documentary series about ordinary people, high-concept game shows, home improvement shows, andcourt showsfeaturing real-life cases and issues.

Reality television hasfaced significant criticismsince its rise in popularity. Critics argue that reality television shows do not accurately reflect reality, in ways both implicit (participants being placed in artificial situations), and deceptive (misleading editing, participants being coached on behavior, storylines generated ahead of time, scenes being staged). Some shows have been accused of rigging the favorite or underdog to win. Other criticisms of reality television shows include that they are intended to humiliate or exploit participants; that they make stars out of untalented people unworthy of fame, infamous figures, or both; and that they glamorize vulgarity.

History

Television formats portraying ordinary people in unscripted situations are almost as old as the television medium itself. Producer-hostAllen Funt'sCandid Camera,in which unsuspecting people were confronted with funny, unusual situations and filmed with hidden cameras, first aired in 1948. In the 21st century, the series is often considered a prototype of reality television programming.

1940s–1950s

In the early 1940s the young German television station, named afterPaul Nipkowhad staged a show in which a young couple acted as model Aryans and presented their everyday lives without a script to the camera (Familienchroniken - Ein Abend mit Hans und Gelli). Even though it was clearlyNazipropaganda and the episodes were certainly affected bycensorship,in recent years the show has been presented more frequently as the oldest reality TV show in the world.

Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the late 1940s.Queen for a Day(1945–1964) was an early example of reality-based television. The 1946 television game showCash and Carrysometimes featured contestants performing stunts. Debuting in 1948,Allen Funt'shidden camerashowCandid Camera(based on his previous 1947 radio show,The Candid Microphone) broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks.In 1948, talent search shows, such asTed Mack'sOriginal Amateur HourandArthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts,featured amateur competitors and audience voting. In the 1950s, game showsBeat the ClockandTruth or Consequencesinvolved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes.Confessionwas a crime and police show that aired from June 1958 to January 1959, with interviewer Jack Wyatt questioning criminals from assorted backgrounds.The radio seriesNightwatch(1951–1955) tape-recorded the daily activities ofCulver City, Californiapolice officers. The seriesYou Asked for It(1950–1959) incorporated audience involvement by basing episodes around requests sent in by postcard from viewers.

1960s–1970s

First broadcast in theUnited Kingdomin 1964, theGranada TelevisiondocumentarySeven Up!broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary 7-year-olds from a broad cross-section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, the filmmaker created a new film documenting the lives of the same individuals during the intervening period. Titled theUp Series,episodes included "7 Plus Seven", "21 Up", etc.; it is still ongoing. The program was structured as a series of interviews with no element of the plot. By virtue of the attention paid to the participants, it effectively turned ordinary people into a type of celebrity, especially after they became adults.

The seriesThe American Sportsman,which ran from 1965 to 1986 onABCin the United States,would typically feature one or more celebrities, and sometimes their family members, being accompanied by a camera crew on anoutdoor adventure,such ashunting,fishing,hiking,scuba diving,rock climbing, wildlife photography, horseback riding, race car driving, and the like, with most of the resulting action and dialogue being unscripted, except for the narration.

In the 1966Direct CinemafilmChelsea Girls,Andy Warholfilmed various acquaintances with no direction given. TheRadio TimesGuide to Film 2007said that the film was "to blame for reality television".

In 1969, the British rock groupthe Beatleswere filmed for a month during the recording sessions which would become their albumLet It Beand released thehomonymous filmthe following year. In 2021, directorPeter Jacksoncreated an eight-hour, three-episode television series entitledThe Beatles: Get Back.

The Loud family, subjects of the pioneeringPBSseriesAn American Family.During filming, the parents decided to divorce and sonLance(top right) came out as gay.

The 12-part 1973PBSseriesAn American Familyshowed anuclear family(filmed in 1971) going through a divorce; unlike many later reality shows, it was more or less documentary in purpose and style. In 1974 a counterpart program,The Family,was made in the UK, following the working-class Wilkins family ofReading.Other forerunners of modern reality television were the 1970s productions ofChuck Barris:The Dating Game,The Newlywed Game,andThe Gong Show,all of which featured participants who were eager to sacrifice some of their privacy and dignity in a televised competition.

The 1976–1980BBCseriesThe Big Timefeatured a different amateur in some field (cooking, comedy, football, etc.) trying to succeed professionally in that field, with help from notable experts. The 15-episode series is credited with starting the career ofSheena Easton,who was selected to appear in the episode showing an aspiring pop singer trying to enter the music business.

In 1978,Living in the Pasthad amateurs participating in a re-enactment of life in anIron AgeEnglish village.

1980s–1990s

ProducerGeorge Schlattercapitalized on the advent of videotape to createReal People,a surprise hit for NBC, and it ran from 1979 to 1984. The success ofReal Peoplewas quickly copied by ABC withThat's Incredible,a stunt show produced byAlan Landsburgand co-hosted byFran Tarkenton;CBS's entry into the genre wasThat's My Line,a series hosted byBob Barker.TheCanadianseriesThrill of a Lifetime,a fantasies-fulfilled reality show, originally ran from 1982 to 1988. It was revived from 2001 to 2003. In 1985, underwater cinematographer Al Giddings teamed with formerMiss UniverseShawn Weatherlyon the NBC seriesOceanquest,which chronicled Weatherly's adventures scuba diving in various exotic locales. Weatherly was nominated for anEmmy Awardfor Outstanding Achievement in informational programming. COPS,which first aired in the spring of 1989 onFoxand was developed due to the need for new programming during the1988 Writers Guild of America strike,showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals. It introduced thecamcorderlook andcinéma véritéfeel of much of later reality television. The 1991television documentaryon "typical American high schoolers",Yearbook,focused onseniorsattending Glenbard West High School, inGlen Ellyn,Illinois andbroadcast prime-timeonFox.

The seriesNummer 28,which aired onDutchtelevision in 1991, originated the concept of putting strangers together in a limited environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued.Nummer 28also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including extensive use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, which serve as narration.Nummer 28became the model for many later series ofBig Brotherand its clones, and Peter Weir's full-length filmThe Truman Show.One year later, the same concept was used byMTVin its new seriesThe Real World.Nummer 28creator Erik Latour has long claimed thatThe Real Worldwas directly inspired by his show.But the producers ofThe Real Worldhave said that their direct inspiration wasAn American Family.According to television commentatorCharlie Brooker,this type of reality television was enabled by the advent of computer-basednon-linear editing systemsfor video (such as produced byAvid Technology) in 1989. These systems made it easy to quickly edit hours of video footage into a usable form, something that had been very difficult to do before (film, which was easy to edit, was too expensive to use in shooting enough hours on a regular basis).

Sylvania Waters(1992) was an Australian show that depicted a family, similar in concept toAn American Family.

The 1994–95O. J. Simpson murder case,during which live network television followed suspect Simpson for 90 minutes being chased by police, has been described as a seminal moment in reality television. Networks interrupted their regular television programming for months for coverage of the trial and related events. Because of Simpson's status as a top athlete and celebrity, the brutal nature of the murders, and issues of race and class in Los Angeles celebrity culture, the sensational case dominated ratings and the public conversation.

Many reality television stars of the 2000s and 2010s have direct or indirect connections to people involved in the case, most notablyKim Kardashian,daughter of defense attorneyRobert Kardashian,and several of her relatives and associates.

The seriesExpedition Robinson,created by television producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 inSweden(and was later produced in a large number of other countries asSurvivor), added to theNummer 28/Real Worldtemplate the idea of competition and elimination. Cast members or contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained (these shows are now sometimes called elimination shows).Changing Rooms,a program that began in the UK in 1996, showed couples redecorating each other's houses, and was the firstreality show with aself-improvementormakeovertheme. The dating reality showStreetmatepremiered in the UK in 1998. Originally created byGabe SachsasStreet Match,it was a flop in the United States. But the show was revamped in the UK byTiger Aspect Productionsand became a cult hit. The production team from the original series later created the popular reality showsStrictly Come Dancing,Location, Location, Location,and the revampedMasterChef,among others.The 1980s and 1990s were also a time whentabloid talk showsbecame more popular. Many of these featured the same types of unusual or dysfunctional guests who would later become popular as cast members of reality shows.

2000s

Reality television became globally popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the successes of theBig BrotherandSurvivor/Expedition Robinsonfranchises. In the United States, reality television programs suffered a temporary decline in viewership in 2001, leading some entertainment industry columniststo speculate that the genre was a temporary fad that had run its course.Reality shows that suffered from low ratings includedThe Amazing Race(although the show has since recovered and is in its 32nd edition),Lost(unrelated to the better-knownserial drama of the same name) andThe Mole(which was successful in other countries).But stronghold showsSurvivorandAmerican Idolcontinued to thrive: both topped the U.S. season-average television ratings in the 2000s.Survivorled the ratings in2001–02,andIdolhas the longest hold on the No. 1 rank in theAmerican television ratings,dominating over all other primetime programs and other television series in the overall viewership tallies for eight consecutive years, from the2003–2004to the2010–2011television seasons.

Another trend was to combine reality TV with a social history angle usually by having contestants taken back to various time periods primarily to see how millennials would cope without modern technology. Examples includedThe 1900 House,andBad Lad's Army.In addition to those was a series consisting of archeologists and historians running a farm though various historical periods, most notablyVictorian Farm.

Dutch media tycoonJohn de Mol Jr.,who created the reality television franchisesBig Brother,Fear FactorandThe Voice,among others

Internationally, a number of shows created in the late 1990s and 2000s have had massive global success. Reality-television franchises created during that time that have had more than 30 international adaptations each include the singing competition franchisesIdols,Star AcademyandThe X Factor,other competition franchisesSurvivor/Expedition Robinson,Big Brother,The Biggest Loser,Come Dine with Me,Got Talent,Top Model,MasterChef,Project RunwayandDancing with the Stars,and the investment franchiseDragons' Den.Several "reality game shows"from the same period have had even greater success, includingDeal or No Deal,Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,andWeakest Link,with over 50 international adaptions each. (All but four of these franchises,Top Model,Project Runway,The Biggest LoserandDragons' Den,were created by either British producers or the Dutch production companyEndemol.AlthoughDragons' Denoriginated inJapan,most of its adaptations are based on the British version.) In India, the competition showIndian Idolwas the most popular television program for its first six seasons.

During the 2000s, severalcablenetworks, includingBravo,A&E,E!,TLC,History,VH1,andMTV,changed their programming to feature mostly reality television series.In addition, three cable channels were started around that time that were devoted exclusively to reality television:Fox Realityin the United States, which operated from 2005 to 2010;Global Reality ChannelinCanada,which lasted two years from 2010 to 2012; andCBS Reality(formerly known as Reality TV and then Zone Reality) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which has run from 1999 to the present.

During the early part of the 2000s, network executives expressed concern that reality-television programming was limited in its appeal for DVD reissue andsyndication.But DVDs for reality shows sold briskly;Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County,The Amazing Race,Project Runway,andAmerica's Next Top Modelall ranked in the top DVDs sold onAmazon.com.In the mid-2000s, DVDs ofThe Simple Lifeoutranked scripted shows such asThe O.C.andDesperate Housewives.Syndication, however, has been problematic; shows such asFear Factor,COPS,andWife Swap,in which each episode is self-contained, can be rerun fairly easily, but usually only on cable television or during the daytime (COPSandAmerica's Funniest Home Videosbeing exceptions). Season-long competitions, such asThe Amazing Race,Survivor,andAmerica's Next Top Modelgenerally perform more poorly and usually must be rerun inmarathonsto draw the necessary viewers to make it worthwhile. (Even in these cases, it is not always successful: the first ten seasons ofDancing with the Starswere picked up byGSNin 2012 and was run in marathon format, but attracted low viewership and had very poor ratings). Another option is to create documentaries around series, including extended interviews with the participants and outtakes not seen in the original airings; the syndicated seriesAmerican Idol Rewindis an example of this strategy.

COPShas had huge success in syndication, direct response sales, and DVD. A Fox staple since 1989,COPShas, as of 2013 (when it moved to cable channelSpike), outlasted all competing scripted police shows. Another series that had wide success isCheaters,which has been running since 2000 in the U.S. and is syndicated in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2001, theAcademy of Television Arts and Sciencesadded the reality genre to theEmmy Awardsin the category ofOutstanding Reality Program.In 2003, to better differentiate between competition and informational reality programs, a second category,Outstanding Reality-Competition Program,was added. In 2008, a third category,Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program,was added. In 2007, theweb seriesThe Next Internet Millionaireappeared; it was a competition show based in part onThe Apprentice,and was billed as the world's first Internet reality show.

2010s

Duncan Laurence,who competed on thefifth seasonof singing competition showThe Voice of Hollandin 2014, with the trophy for winning theEurovision Song Contest 2019.

In 2010 the Dutch singing competition showThe Voice of Holland,created byJohn de Mol Jr.,premiered; it added to the singing competition template the twist that judges could not see contestants during the initial audition round, and could judge them only by their voice. The show was an instant success, and spawned an entire franchise,The Voice,which has been highly successful, with almost 50 international adaptations.

The Tester(2010–2012) was the first reality television show aired over a video game console.

By 2012, many of the long-running reality television show franchises in the United States, such asAmerican Idol,Dancing with the StarsandThe Bachelor,had begun to see declining ratings.However, reality television as a whole remained durable in the U.S., with hundreds of shows across many channels. In 2012,New YorkMagazine'sVultureblog published a humorousVenn diagramshowing popular themes across American reality shows then running, including shows set in the U.S. states ofAlaska,LouisianaandTexas,shows about cakes, weddings andpawnbrokers,and shows, usually competition-based, whose title includes the word "Wars".

Duck Dynasty(2012–2017), which focused on the Robertson family that foundedDuck Commander,in 2013 became the most popular reality series in U.S. cable television history. Its fourth-season premiere was viewed by nearly 12 million viewers in the United States, most of which were in rural markets. Its rural audience share ranked in the 30s, an extremely high number for any series, broadcast or cable.

Following from the1900 Houseformat, the BBC produced a series calledBack in Time for Teain which a family would experience tea time for various decades.

In 2014,Entertainment WeeklyandVarietyagain noted a stagnation in reality television programs' ratings in the U.S., which they attributed to "The diminishing returns of cable TV's sea of reality sameness". They noted that a number of networks that featured reality programming, including Bravo and E!, were launching their first scripted shows, and others, includingAMC,were abandoning plans to launch further reality programs; though they clarified that the genre as a whole "isn't going anywhere."Ratings and profits from reality TV continued to decline in the late 2010s.

The South Korean competition showI Can See Your Voice,which premiered in 2015, showed guest judges attempting to guess which of a group of contestants could sing, and which could not, without hearing them sing. The show was successful, and spawned several imitators, most notablyKing of Mask Singerseveral months later.King of Mask Singerwas a more traditional singing competition show, but with the wrinkle that the contestants were celebrities who remained masked until they were removed from the show, adding an element of guesswork to the competition.The two shows both spawned successful international franchises,I Can See Your VoiceandMasked Singer,respectively.Masked Singerhas been especially popular, with over 50 local adaptations; itsAmerican adaptationwas the third highest-rated series overall of both the 2018–19 and 2019–20 television seasons.The success of the two franchises has led to other globally-syndicated franchises of reality competitions based around guesswork, such asGame of Talents(which began in Spain in 2019) andThe Masked Dancer(which began in the United States in 2020).

Specialist skill-based TV competitions became popular during this decade with such programs likeThe Great British Bake-Off,Lego Masters,The Great British Sewing BeeandForged in Fireshown.

2020s

Television development across all genres was impacted in 2020 by theCOVID-19 pandemic,which forced many reality competition series to suspend production (and in some cases curtail a competition already in progress, such asCanadianandMalayalamversions ofBig Brother),until such time that production could recommence with appropriate health and safety protocols approved by local authorities.Due to their quicker turnaround times, the U.S. networks used reality series and other unscripted content (including those delayed from their summer lineups) to fill gaps in their schedules while the production of scripted programming resumed.

Subgenres

There have been various attempts to classify reality television shows into different subgenres:

• A 2006 study proposed six subgenres: romance, crime, informational, reality-drama, competition or game, and talent.
• A 2007 study proposed five subgenres: infotainment, docusoap, lifestyle, reality game shows, and lifestyle experiment programs.
• A 2009 study proposed eight subgenres: "gamedocs", dating programs, makeover programs, docusoaps, talent contests, court programs, reality sitcoms, and celebrity variations of other programs.

Another categorization divides reality television into two types: shows that purport to document real life, and shows that place participants in new circumstances. In a 2003 paper, theorists Elisabeth Klaus and Stephanie Lücke referred to the former category as "docusoaps", which consist of "narrative reality", and the latter category as "reality soaps", which consist of "performative reality".Since 2014, thePrimetime Emmy Awardshave used a similar classification, with separate awards for "unstructured reality"and"structured reality"programs, as well as a third award for"reality-competition"programs.

Documentary-style

In many reality television programs, camera shooting and footage editing give the viewer the impression that they are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities; this style of filming is sometimes referred to asfly on the wall,observational documentaryorfactual television.Story "plots" are often constructed via editing or planned situations, with the results resemblingsoap operas– hence the termsdocusoapanddocudrama.Documentary-style programsgive viewers a private look into the lives of the subjects.

Within documentary-style reality television are several subcategories or variants:

Soap-opera style

Although the term "docusoap" has been used for many documentary-style reality television shows, there have been shows that have deliberately tried to mimic the appearance and structure of soap operas. Such shows often focus on a close-knit group of people and their shifting friendships and romantic relationships. One highly influential such series was the American 2004–2006 seriesLaguna Beach: The Real Orange County,which attempted to specifically mimic the primetime soap operaThe O.C.,which had begun airing in 2003.Laguna Beachhad a more drama-like feel than any previous reality television show, through the use of higher-quality lighting and cameras, voice-over narration instead of on-screen "confessionals", and slower pacing.Laguna Beachled to several spinoff series, most notably the 2006–2010 seriesThe Hills.It also inspired various other series, including the highly successful British seriesThe Only Way Is EssexandMade in Chelsea,and the Australian seriesFreshwater Blue.

Due to their dramatized feel, many of these shows have been accused of being pre-scripted, more so than other reality television shows have. The producers ofThe Only Way Is EssexandMade in Chelseahave admitted to coaching cast members on what to say in order to draw more emotion from each scene, although they insist that the underlying stories are real.

Another highly successful group of soap-opera-style shows is theReal Housewivesfranchise, which began withThe Real Housewives of Orange Countyin 2006 and has since spawned nearly twenty other series, in the U.S. and internationally. The franchise has an older cast and different personal dynamics than that ofLaguna Beachand its imitators, as well as lower production values, but similarly is meant to resemble scripted soap operas – in this case, the television seriesDesperate HousewivesandPeyton Place.

A notable subset of such series focus on a group of women who are romantically connected to male celebrities; these includeBasketball Wives(2010),Love & Hip Hop(2011),Hollywood Exes(2012),Ex-Wives of Rock(2012) andWAGS(2015). Most of these shows have had spin-offs in multiple locations.

Reality TV personalityKim Kardashian

There are also fly-on-the-wall-style shows directly involving celebrities. Often these show a celebrity going about their everyday life: notable examples includeThe Anna Nicole Show,The Osbournes,Gene Simmons Family Jewels,Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica,Keeping Up with the KardashiansandHogan Knows Best.VH1in the mid-2000s had an entire block of such shows, known as "Celebreality". Shows such as these are often created with the idea of promoting a celebrity product or upcoming project.

Subcultures

Some documentary-style shows shed light on rarely seen cultures and lifestyles. One example is shows aboutpeople with disabilitiesor people who have unusual physical circumstances, such as the American seriesPush GirlsandLittle People, Big World,and the British programmesBeyond Boundaries,Britain's Missing Top Model,The UndateablesandSeven Dwarves.

Another example is shows that portray the lives of ethnic or religious minorities. Examples includeAll-American Muslim(Lebanese-AmericanMuslims),Shahs of Sunset(affluentPersian-Americans),Sister Wives(polygamists from aMormonsplinter group),Breaking AmishandAmish Mafia(theAmish), andBig Fat Gypsy Weddingsand its spinoffs (Romani people).

TheReal Housewivesfranchise offers a window into the lives of social-striving urban and suburban housewives. Many shows focus on wealth andconspicuous consumption,includingPlatinum Weddings,andMy Super Sweet 16,which documented hugecoming of agecelebrations thrown by wealthy parents. Conversely, the highly successfulHere Comes Honey Boo BooandDuck Dynastyare set in poorer rural areas of theSouthern United States.

Professional activities

Some documentary-style shows portray professionals either going about day-to-day business or performing an entire project over the course of a series. One early example (and the longest running reality show of any genre) isCops,which debuted in 1989. Other such shows specifically relating to law enforcement includeThe First 48,Dog the Bounty Hunter,Police Stop!,Traffic Cops,Border SecurityandMotorway Patrol.

Shows set at a specific place of business includeAmerican Chopper,Miami Inkand its spinoffs,Bikini BarbershopandLizard Lick Towing.

Shows that show people working in the same non-business location includeAirportandBondi Rescue.

Shows that portray a set of people in the same line of work, occasionally competing with each other, includeDeadliest Catch,Ice Road TruckersandMillion Dollar Listing Los Angelesand its spinoffs.

Financial transactions and appraisals

One notable subset of shows about professional activities is those in which the professionals haggle and engage in financial transactions, often over unique or rare items whose value must first be appraised. Two such shows, both of which have led to multiple spinoff shows, arePawn Stars(aboutpawn shops) andAmerican Pickers.Other shows, while based around such financial transactions, also show elements of its main cast members' personal and professional lives; these shows includeHardcore PawnandComic Book Men.Such shows have some antecedent in the British seriesAntiques Roadshow,which began airing in 1979 and has since spawned numerous international versions, although that show includes only appraisals and does not include bargaining or other dramatic elements.

Special living environment

Some documentary-style programs place cast members, who in most cases previously did not know each other, in staged living environments;The Real Worldwas the originator of this format. In almost every other such type of programming, cast members are given specific challenges or obstacles to overcome.Road Rules,which first aired in 1995 as a spin-off ofThe Real World,created a show structure where the cast would travel to various countries performing challenges for prizes.

Big Brotheris probably the best-known program of this type in the world, with around 50 international versions having been produced. Other shows in this category, such asThe 1900 HouseandLads' Army,involvehistorical re-enactment,with cast members living and working as people of a specific time and place. 2001'sTemptation Islandachieved some notoriety by placing several couples on an island surrounded by single people in order to test the couples' commitment to each other.The Challengehas contestants living together in an overseas residence, and has been around for over 30 seasons. The format of each season changes, however the main premise of the series involves a daily challenge, nomination process and elimination round.U8TV: The Lofterscombined the "special living environment" format with the "professional activity" format noted earlier; in addition to living together in aloft,each member of the show's cast was hired to host a television program for a Canadian cable channel.

The Simple Life,Tommy Lee Goes to CollegeandThe Surreal Lifeare all shows in which celebrities are put into an unnatural environment.

Court shows

Main article:Court show

Originally, court shows were all dramatized and staged programs, with actors playing the litigants, witnesses and lawyers. The cases were either reenactments of real-life cases or cases that were fictionalized altogether. Among examples of staged courtroom dramas areFamous Jury Trials,Your Witness,and the first two eras ofDivorce Court.The People's Courtrevolutionized the genre by introducing thearbitration-based "reality"format in 1981, later adopted by the vast majority of court shows. The genre experienced a lull in programming afterThe People's Courtwas canceled in 1993, but then soared after the emergence ofJudge Judyin 1996. This led to a slew of other reality court shows, such asJudge Mathis,Judge Joe Brown,Judge Alex,Judge Mills LaneandJudge Hatchett.

Though the litigants are legitimate, the "judges" in such shows are actually arbitrators, as these pseudo-judges are not actually presiding in acourt of law.Typically, however, they are retired judges or at least individuals who have had some legal experience.

Courtroom programs are typicallydaytime televisionshows that air on weekdays.

Investments

The globally syndicated formatDragons' Denshows a group of wealthy investors choosing whether or not to invest in a series of pitchedstartup companiesandentrepreneurial ventures.The seriesRestaurant Startupsimilarly involves investors, but involves more of a game show element in which restaurant owners compete to prove their worth. The British seriesShow Me the Monetoffers a twist in which artworks' artistic value, rather than their financial value, is appraised by a panel of judges, who determine whether each one will be featured at an exhibition.

Outdoor survival

Another subgenre places people in wild and challenging natural settings. This includes such shows asSurvivorman,Man vs. Wild,Marooned with Ed Stafford,Naked and AfraidandAlaskan Bush People.The showsSurvivorandGet Out Alive with Bear Gryllscombine outdoor survival with a competition format, although inSurvivorthe competition also involves social dynamics.

Self-improvement or makeover

Some reality television shows cover a person or group of people improving their lives. Sometimes the same group of people are covered over an entire season (as inThe SwanandCelebrity Fit Club), but usually there is a new target for improvement in each episode. Despite differences in the content, the format is usually the same: first the show introduces the subjects in their current, less-than-ideal environment. Then the subjects meet with a group of experts, who give the subjects instructions on how to improve things; they offer aid and encouragement along the way. Finally, the subjects are placed back in their environment and they, along with their friends and family and the experts, appraise the changes that have occurred. Other self-improvement or makeover shows includeThe Biggest Loser,Extreme Weight LossandFat March(which cover weight loss),Extreme Makeover(entire physical appearance),Queer Eye,What Not to Wear,How Do I Look?,Trinny & Susannah Undress...andSnog Marry Avoid?(style and grooming),Supernanny(child-rearing),Made(life transformation),Tool Academy(relationship building) andCharm SchoolandFrom G's to Gents(self-improvement and manners).

The concept of self-improvement was taken to its extreme with the British showLife Laundry,in which people who had become hoarders, even living in squalor, were given professional assistance. The American television seriesHoardersandHoarding: Buried Alivefollow similar premises, presenting interventions in the lives of people who suffer fromcompulsive hoarding.The British seriesSort Your Life Out,presented byStacey Solomon,is similar, but it also redesigns the participants' houses.

In one study, participants who admitted to watching more reality television were more likely to proceed with a desired plastic surgery than those who watched less.

Renovation

Some shows makeover part or all of a person's living space, workspace, or vehicle. The American seriesThis Old House,which debuted in 1979, features the start-to-finish renovation of different houses through a season; media criticJeff Jarvishas speculated that it is "the original reality TV show."The British showChanging Rooms,beginning in 1996 (later remade in the U.S. asTrading Spaces) was the first such renovation show that added a game show feel with different weekly contestants.

House renovation shows are a mainstay on the American and Canadian cable channelHGTV,whose renovation shows include the successful franchisesFlip or Flop,Love It or List ItandProperty Brothers,as well as shows such asDebbie Travis' Facelift,Designed to SellandHolmes on Homes.Non-HGTV shows in this category includeExtreme Makeover: Home EditionandWhile You Were Out.

Pimp My RideandOverhaulin'show vehicles being rebuilt in a customized way.

Business improvement

In some shows, one or more experts try to improve a failing small business over the course of each episode. Examples that cover many types of business includeWe Mean BusinessandThe Profit.Shows geared for a specific type of business includeRamsay's Kitchen NightmaresandRestaurant: Impossible(for restaurants),Bar Rescue(for bars) andHotel Hell(for hotels).

Social experiment

Another type of reality program is thesocial experimentthat produces drama, conflict, and sometimes transformation. British TV seriesWife Swap,which began in 2003, and has had many spinoffs in the UK and other countries, is a notable example. In the show, people with different values agree to live by each other's social rules for a brief period of time. Other shows in this category includeTrading Spouses,Bad Girls ClubandHoliday Showdown.Faking Itwas a series where people had to learn a new skill and pass themselves off as experts in that skill.Shatteredwas a controversial 2004 UK series in which contestants competed for how long they could gowithout sleep.Solitarywas a controversial 2006-2010Fox Realityseries that isolated contestants for weeks insolitary confinementpods with limited sleep, food and information while competing in elimination challenges ended by a quit button, causing winners to go on for much longer than needed as a blind gamble to not be the first person to quit.

The Dutch seriesDe Verraders,adapted internationally asThe Traitors,features contestants divided into two factions—the "traitors" and the "faithful" —and competing in challenges to build a cash jackpot awarded in the finale; three contestants secretly designated as "traitors" (which are known to the viewers) have the ability to secretly eliminate ( "murder" ) other contestants each night, while the remaining contestants try to figure out the identities of the traitors so they can attempt to "banish" them in elimination votes. The jackpot is split among the faithful if they eliminate all of the traitors, but is split among the traitors if they fail.

Hidden cameras

Another type of reality programming featureshidden camerasrolling when random passers-by encounter a staged situation.Candid Camera,which first aired on television in 1948, pioneered the format. Modern variants of this type of production includePunk'd,Trigger Happy TV,Primetime: What Would You Do?,The Jamie Kennedy ExperimentandJust for Laughs Gags.The seriesScare TacticsandRoom 401are hidden-camera programs in which the goal is to frighten contestants rather than just befuddle or amuse them. The Belgian hidden camera seriesSorry voor allessubjects a contestant to various staged situations over a month-long period, designed to analyze their personality and how they respond. After the contestant is taken to a studio and let off the hook, they then answer observation questions related to the events for a chance to win prizes.

Not all hidden camera shows use strictly staged situations. For example, the syndicated programCheaterspurports to use hidden cameras to record suspectedcheatingpartners, although the authenticity of the show has been questioned, and even refuted by some who have been featured on the series.Once the evidence has been gathered, the accuser confronts the cheating partner with the assistance of the host. In many special-living documentary programs, hidden cameras are set up all over the residence in order to capture moments missed by the regular camera crew, or intimate bedroom footage.

Supernatural and paranormal

Further information:paranormal television

Supernatural andparanormalreality shows such asMTV's Fear,place participants into frightening situations which ostensibly involveparanormalphenomena such asghosts,telekinesisorhaunted houses.In series such asCelebrity Paranormal Project,the stated aim is investigation, and some series likeScariest Places on Earthchallenge participants to survive the investigation; whereas others such asParanormal StateandGhost Huntersuse a recurring crew ofparanormal researchers.In general, the shows follow similar stylized patterns ofnight vision,surveillance, and hand held camera footage; odd angles; subtitles establishing place and time; desaturated imagery; and non-melodic soundtracks. Noting the trend in reality shows that take the paranormal at face value,New York Timesculture editor Mike Halecharacterizedghost huntingshows as "pure theater" and compared the genre toprofessional wrestlingorsoftcore pornographyfor its formulaic, teasing approach.

Reality competition or game shows

Further information:List of reality television programs

Another subgenre of reality television is "reality competition","realityplayoffs",or so-called" reality game shows ", which follow the format of non-tournamenteliminationcontests.Typically, participants are filmed competing to win a prize, often while living together in a confined environment. In many cases, participants are removed until only one person or team remains, who is then declared the winner. Usually this is done by eliminating participants one at a time (or sometimes two at a time, as an episodic twist due to the number of contestants involved and the length of a given season), through eitherdisapproval votingor by voting for the most popular to win. Voting is done by the viewing audience, the show's own participants, a panel of judges, or some combination of the three.

A well-known example of a reality-competition show is the globally syndicatedBig Brother,in which cast members live together in the same house, with participants removed at regular intervals by either the viewing audience or, in the American version, by the participants themselves. There remains disagreement over whether talent-search shows such as theIdolseries, theGot Talentseries and theDancing with the Starsseries are truly reality television or just newer incarnations of shows such asStar Search.Although the shows involve a traditional talent search, the shows follow the reality-competition conventions of removing one or more contestants in every episode, allowing the public to vote on who is removed, and interspersing performances with video clips showing the contestants' "back stories", their thoughts about the competition, their rehearsals and unguarded behind-the-scenes moments. Additionally, there is a good deal of unscripted interaction shown between contestants and judges. The AmericanPrimetime Emmy Awardshave nominated bothAmerican IdolandDancing with the Starsfor theOutstanding Reality-Competition ProgramEmmy.

Game shows likeWeakest Link,Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,American GladiatorsandDeal or No Deal,which were popular in the 2000s, also lie in a gray area: like traditional game shows (e.g.,The Price Is Right,Jeopardy!), the action takes place in an enclosed television studio over a short period of time; however, they have higher production values, more dramatic background music, and higher stakes than traditional shows (done either through putting contestants into physical danger or offering large cash prizes). In addition, there is more interaction between contestants and hosts, and in some cases, they feature reality-style contestant competition or elimination as well. These factors, as well as these shows' rise in global popularity at the same time as the arrival of the reality craze, have led to such shows often being grouped under both the reality television and game show umbrellas.

here have been various hybrid reality-competition shows, like the worldwide-syndicatedStar Academy,which combines theBig BrotherandIdolformats,The Biggest Loser,which combines competition with the self-improvement format, andAmerican Inventor,which uses theIdolformat for products instead of people. Some reality shows that aired mostly during the early 2000s, such asPopstars,Making the BandandProject Greenlight,devoted the first part of the season to selecting a winner, and the second part to showing that person or group of people working on a project.

Popular variants of the competition-based format include the following:

Dating-based competition

Dating-based competition shows follow a contestant choosing one out of a group of suitors. Over the course of either a single episode or an entire season, suitors are eliminated until only the contestant and the final suitor remains. In the early 2000s, this type of reality show dominated the other genres on the major U.S. networks. Examples includeThe Bachelor,its spin-offThe Bachelorette,Temptation Island,Average Joe,Flavor of Love(a dating show featuring rapperFlavor Flavthat led directly and indirectly to over 10 spinoffs),The CougarandLove in the Wild.InMarried by America,contestants were chosen by viewer voting. This is one of the older variants of the format; shows such asThe Dating Gamethat date to the 1960s had similar premises (though each episode was self-contained, and not the serial format of more modern shows). One of the more recent hits wasFarmer Wants a Wife.

Job search

Chef and restaurateurGuy Fieriwon the second season ofFood Network'sFood Network Starin 2006, and by 2010 had become "the face of the network".

In this category, the competition revolves around a skill that contestants were pre-screened for. Competitors perform a variety of tasks based on that skill, are judged, and are then kept or removed by a single expert or a panel of experts. The show is usually presented as a job search of some kind, in which the prize for the winner includes a contract to perform that kind of work and an undisclosed salary, although the award can simply be a sum of money and ancillary prizes, like a cover article in a magazine. The show also features judges who act as counselors, mediators and sometimes mentors to help contestants develop their skills further or perhaps decide their future position in the competition.Popstars,which debuted in 1999, may have been the first such show, while theIdolseries has been the longest-running and, for most of its run, the most popular such franchise. The first job-search show which showed dramatic, unscripted situations may have beenAmerica's Next Top Model,which premiered in May 2003. Other examples includeThe Apprentice(which judges business skills);Hell's Kitchen,MasterChefandTop Chef(for chefs),The Great British Bake Off(for bakers),Shear Genius(for hair styling),Project Runway(for clothing design),Top DesignandThe Great Interior Design Challenge(for interior design),American Dream Builders(for home builders),Stylista(for fashion editors),Last Comic Standing(for comedians),I Know My Kid's a Star(for child performers),On the Lot(for filmmakers),RuPaul's Drag Race(for drag queens),The Shot(for fashion photographers),So You Think You Can Dance(for dancers),MuchMusic VJ SearchandFood Network Star(for television hosts),Dream Job(for sportscasters),American Candidate(for aspiring politicians),Work of Art(for artists),Face Off(forprosthetic makeupartists),Ink MasterandBest Ink(for tattoo artists),Platinum Hit(for songwriters),Top Shot(for marksmen) andThe Tester(for game testers).

One notable subset, popular from approximately 2005 to 2012, consisted of shows in which the winner gets a specific part in a known film, television show,musicalor performing group. Examples includeScream Queens(where the prize was a role in theSawfilm series),The Glee Project(for a role on the television showGlee) andHow Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?(the lead role in a revival of the musicalThe Sound of Music). The most extreme prize for such a show may have been for one of the first such shows, 2005'sRock Star: INXS,where the winner became the lead singer of the rock bandINXS.J.D. Fortune,who won the show, went on to be INXS's lead singer until 2011.

Some shows use the same format with celebrities: in this case, there is no expectation that the winner will continue this line of work, and prize winnings often go to charity. The most popular such shows have been theDancing with the StarsandDancing on Icefranchises. Other examples of celebrity competition programs includeDeadline,CelebracadabraandCelebrity Apprentice.

Different contestants per episode

Some job-related competition shows have a different set of contestants competing on every episode, and thus more closely resemble game shows, although the "confessional" commentary provided by contestants gives them a reality TV aspect. The 1993-1999 Japanese cooking competitionIron Chefcould be considered an early example, although it does not include commentary by the participants, only by announcers and judges. Cooking competition shows with different contestants per episode that are considered reality shows include theChopped,Come Dine with MeandNailed It!franchises, along withCupcake Wars,Cutthroat Kitchen,andGuy's Grocery Games.

Non-cooking competition shows with a similar format includeForged in FireandThe Butcher.

Immunity

One concept pioneered by, and unique to, reality competition shows is the idea of immunity, in which a contestant can win the right to be exempt the next time contestants are eliminated from the show. Possibly the first instance of immunity in reality TV was onSurvivor,which premiered in 1997 in Sweden asExpedition Robinson,before gaining international prominence after the American edition (titledSurvivor) premiered in 2000. On that show, there are complex rules around immunity: a player can achieve it by winning challenges (either as a team in the tribal phase or individually in the merged phase), or, in more recent seasons, through findinga hidden totem.They can also pass on their immunity to someone else and in the latter case, they can keep their immunity secret from other players. On most shows, immunity is quite a bit simpler: it is usually achieved by winning a task, often a relatively minor task during the first half of the episode; the announcement of immunity is made publicly and immunity is usually non-transferable. At some point in the season, immunity ceases to be available, and all contestants are susceptible to elimination. Competition shows that have featured immunity include theApprentice,Big Brother,Biggest Loser,Top Model,Project Runway,Lego Masters,andTop Cheffranchises. Immunity may come with additional power as well, such as in the American version ofBig Brotherwhere the winning contestant usually has influence over deciding who faces an elimination vote later in the week. In oneApprenticeepisode, a participant chose to waive his earned immunity and was immediately "fired" byDonald Trumpfor giving up this powerful asset.

Sports

Sport-related reality shows can fall within the aforementioned sub-genres, either using it as the basis of competition, or by following sport as a profession:

• Competition-based programs, featuring groups of athletes competing against each other in challenges and events within a specific sport, such asathletics(American Ninja Warrior,Exatlon),golf(The Big Break),auto racing(Crash Course,Hyperdrive,Pinks), andcombat sports(The Contender,The Ultimate Fighter) for example. In the case of combat sports examples, theUFC-producedmixed martial artscompetition seriesThe Ultimate Fighter,and theWWE'sprofessional wrestlingtalent searchesTough Enough,Diva Search,andNXT(before it was reformatted as a traditional wrestling show with developmental talent), a contract with the respective organization was the grand prize.
  • Some series may follow non-sportspeople (usually celebrities, or in some cases athletes known for their participation in a different sport) training and participating in a sporting event, such asThe Games,Irish seriesCelebrity Bainisteoir(where celebrities are tasked to become themanagersof mid-levelGaelic footballteams), andDancing on Ice(afigure skatingcompetition series with similarities toDancing with the Stars).
• Documentary-style series following specific competitions, teams, or athletes, such asHard Knocks(NFL),Drive to Survive(Formula One),Knight School(which followed students atTexas Tech Universityvying for awalk-onroster position onthe school's men's basketball teamunder coachBob Knight) andAll or Nothing.
• Docusoaps following the lives of sportspeople or their families, such asTotal Divas(women in WWE) andWAGS(wives and girlfriends of athletes).

Parodies and hoaxes

Some reality shows aim tosatirizeand deconstruct the conventions and cliches of the genre for comedic effect; in such cases, a fictitious premise is usually presented to one or more of the participants, with the rest of the cast consisting of actors and other figures that are in on the joke.

• The Joe Schmo Show,a series in which a civilian is set up as a contestant on afictitious reality competition,with the remaining "contestants" representing stereotypicalarchetypesof reality television contestants.The first season portrayed aBig Brother-like show entitledLap of Luxury,with subsequent seasons parodying dating shows (Last Chance for Love,which featured both a man and woman as the targets) andbounty hunting(Full Bounty;its broadcasterSpikeconcealed the third season by announcing in 2012 that it had orderedFull Bountyto series as part of a larger slate of male-targeted reality shows, without immediately revealing it was actually aJoe Schmo Showrevival).
• My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss,a parody ofThe Apprenticein which the contestants were given challenges with inane objectives by businessman Mr. N. Paul Todd (ananagramofApprenticehostDonald Trump). The final decision on eliminations in each episode was always given to Todd's "real boss" —revealed in the series finale to have been achimpanzeespinning a wheel.
• Superstar USA,a parody ofAmerican Idolattempting to find the worst singer. The judges criticized good singers and eliminated them, but bad singers were praised and allowed to progress further through the competition.
• Space Cadets,a series in which a group of contestants were set up on the purported reality competition seriesThrill Seekers,where they would allegedly receiveastronaut trainingin Russia and compete to become Britain's firstspace tourists.
• I Wanna Marry "Harry",a hoax dating competition where single women were manipulated into believing they were competing for the affection ofPrince Harry,but in reality "Harry" was actually a lookalike.
• Nathan for You,a realitymockumentaryin whichNathan Fielderemploys unusual and outlandish strategies to help struggling businesses. Although aware they are on a reality program, the employees of the businesses featured were unaware of the show's comedic nature, and reacted genuinely to Fielder's antics.On multiple occasions, the show received media attention related to its stunts prior to broadcast.
• The Dutch reality showDe Grote Donorshow—where a group of patients competed to receive akidney donationfrom a terminally-ill woman—was, by contrast, not intended for comedic effect, and was a hoax directed at viewers to help raise awareness for kidney donation.
• Jury Duty,a mockumentary series portraying a fictionaljury trialin which one member of the jury is not aware that the entire trial and its events are planned and acted out.

Criticism and analysis

Further information:Criticism of reality television

"Reality" as misnomer

The authenticity of reality television is often called into question by its detractors. The genre's title of "reality" is often criticized as being inaccurate because of claims that the genre frequently includes elements such as premeditated scripting (including a practice called "soft-scripting"), acting, urgings from behind-the-scenes crew to create specified situations of adversity and drama, and misleading editing. It has often been described as" scripting without paper ".

In many cases, the entire premise of the show is contrived, based around a competition or another unusual situation. Some shows have been accused of using fakery in order to create more compelling television, such as having premeditated storylines and in some cases feeding participants lines of dialogue, focusing only on participants' most outlandish behavior, and altering events through editing and re-shoots.

Shows such asSurvivorandAmazing Racethat offer a monetary prize are regulated in the United States by federal "game show" law,47 U.S.C.§ 509,and are monitored during the filming by the legal staff and standards and practice staff of the parent network. These shows cannot be manipulated in any way that affects the outcome of the game. However, misleading editing does not fall into altering the fairness of the competition.

Reality television shows that have been accused of, or admitted to, deception includeThe Real World,the American version ofSurvivor,Joe Millionaire,The Hills,A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,Hogan Knows Best,Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,The BachelorandThe Bachelorette,Pawn Stars,Storage Wars,Squid Game: The ChallengeandKeeping Up with the Kardashians.

In contrast, criticMatt Zoller SeitzpraisedDeadliest Catchas having "brought old-school documentary sobriety to a genre more often known for shamelessness."

Political and cultural impact

Reality television's global success has become, in the view of some analysts, an important political phenomenon. In someauthoritariancountries, reality-television voting has provided the first opportunity for many citizens to vote in any free and fair wide-scale "elections". In addition, the frankness of the settings on some reality shows presents situations that are often taboo in certain conservative cultures, likeStar Academy Arab World,which began airing in 2003, and which shows male and female contestants living together.A Pan-Arab version ofBig Brotherwas cancelled in 2004 after less than two weeks on the air after a public outcry and street protests.In 2004 journalistMatt Labash,noting both of these issues, wrote that "the best hope of little Americas developing in the Middle East could be Arab-produced reality TV".

In 2007,Abu Dhabi TVbegan airingMillion's Poet,a show featuringPop Idol-style voting and elimination, but for the writing and oration ofArabic poetry.The show became popular in Arab countries, with around 18 million viewers,partly because it was able to combine the excitement of reality television with a traditional, culturally relevant topic.In April 2010, however, the show also became a subject of political controversy, whenHissa Hilal,a 43-year-old femaleSaudicompetitor, read out a poem criticizing her country's Muslim clerics.Both critics and the public reacted favorably to Hilal's poetry; she received the highest scores from the judges throughout the competition and came in third place overall.

InIndia,in the summer of 2007, coverage of the third season ofIndian Idolfocused on the breaking down of cultural and socioeconomic barriers as the public rallied around the show's top two contestants.

TheChinesesinging competitionSuper Girl(a local imitation ofPop Idol) has similarly been citedfor its political and cultural impact.After the finale of the show's 2005 season drew an audience of around 400 million people, and eight milliontext-messagevotes, the state-run English-language newspaperBeijing Todayran the front-page headline: "Is Super Girl a Force for Democracy?"The Chinese government criticized the show, citing both its democratic nature and its excessive vulgarity, or "worldliness",and in 2006 banned it outright.It was later reintroducedin 2009, before being banned again in 2011.Super Girlhas also been criticized by non-government commentators for creating seemingly impossible ideals that may be harmful to Chinese youth.

InIndonesia,reality television shows have surpassed soap operas as the most-watched broadcast programs.One popular program,Jika Aku Menjadi( "If I Were" ), follows young, middle-class people as they are temporarily placed into lower-class life, where they learn to appreciate their circumstances back home by experiencing daily life for the less fortunate.Critics have claimed that this and similar programs in Indonesia reinforce traditionally Western ideals ofmaterialismandconsumerism.However, Eko Nugroho, reality-show producer and president of Dreamlight World Media, insists that these reality shows are not promoting American lifestyles but rather reaching people through their universal desires.

Reality television has also received criticism in Britain and the United States for itsideologicalrelationship withsurveillance societiesand consumerism. Writing inThe New York Timesin 2012, author Mark Andrejevic characterised the role of reality television in a post-9/11 society as the normalisation of surveillance in participatory monitoring, the "logic of the emerging surveillance economy", and in the promise of a societal self-image that is contrived.AnLSEpaper by Nick Couldry associates reality television withneoliberalism,condemning the ritualised enactment and consumption of what must be legitimised for the society it serves.

As a substitute for scripted drama

Reality television generally costs less to produce than scripted series.

VH1 executive vice president Michael Hirschorn wrote in 2007 that the plots and subject matters on reality television are more authentic and more engaging than in scripted dramas, writing that scripted network television "remains dominated by variants on thepolice procedural... in which a stock group of characters (ethnically, sexually, and generationally diverse) grapples with endless versions of the same dilemma. The episodes have all the ritual predictability of JapaneseNohtheater, "while reality television is" the liveliest genre on the set right now. It has engaged hot-button cultural issues – class, sex, race – that respectable television... rarely touches. "

Television criticJames Poniewozikwrote in 2008 that reality shows likeDeadliest CatchandIce Road Truckersshowcase working-class people of the kind that "used to be routine" on scripted network television, but that became a rarity in the 2000s: "The better to woo upscale viewers, TV has evicted its mechanics and dockworkers to collect higher rents from yuppies in coffeehouses."

In a 2021 interview, filmmakerMike White(who had previously competed onThe Amazing RaceandSurvivor) said that reality competition shows likeSurvivoraccurately conveyed how, in real life, "so much of self is situational", so that, as circumstances change, "the oppressed becomes the oppressor, the bully becomes the bullied." In contrast, he felt that in scripted drama "there's a lot of religiosity around humanity."

Instant celebrity

The English-Irishboy bandOne Directionformed during theseventh seriesof the British singing competitionThe X Factorin 2010, and later became one of thebest-selling boy bandsof all time.

Reality television has the potential to turn its participants into nationalcelebrities,at least for a short period. This is most notable in talent-search programs such asIdolandThe X Factor,which have spawned music stars in many of the countries in which they have aired. Many other shows, however, have made mostly temporary celebrities out of their participants; some participants have then been able to parlay this fame into media and merchandising careers. Participants of non-talent-search programs who have had subsequent acting careers includeLilian Afegbai,Jacinda Barrett,Jamie Chung,Stephen Colletti,David Giuntoli,Vishal Karwal,NeNe LeakesandAngela Trimbur;though Barrett and Trimbur were already aspiring actresses when they appeared on reality television. Reality TV participants who have become television hosts and personalities includeNabilla Benattia,Rachel Campos-Duffy,Kristin Cavallari,Colby Donaldson,Raffaella Fico,Elisabeth Hasselbeck,Katie Hopkins,Rebecca Jarvis,Jodie Marsh,Heidi Montag,Tiffany PollardandWhitney Port;some of them have had acting careers as well. Reality TV participants who have become television personalities as well as successful entrepreneurs includeGemma Collins,Lauren Conrad,Jade Goody,Bethenny FrankelandSpencer Matthews.Several cast members of MTV'sJersey Shorehave had lucrative endorsement deals, and in some cases their own product lines. WrestlersMike "The Miz" MizaninandDavid Otungagot their start on non-athletic reality shows.

InAustralia,various reality TV personalities have later served as radio hosts, including Fitzy and Rachel Corbett fromBig Brother,Mick Newell fromMy Kitchen Rules,Heather Maltman fromThe Bachelor,and Sam Frost fromThe Bachelorette.

Some reality-television alumni have parlayed their fame into paid public appearances.

Severalsocialites,or children of famous parents, who were somewhat well known before they appeared on reality television shows have become much more famous as a result, includingParis Hilton,Nicole Richie,Kelly Osbourne,Kim Kardashian,and many of the rest of theKardashianfamily.

Reality television personalities often get derided as "Z-listcelebrities ". Some have been lampooned for exploiting an undeserved"15 minutes of fame".TheKardashian familyis one such group of reality television personalities who were subject to this criticism in the 2010s,Kim Kardashian in particular.

A reality TV personality may also use the genre as a platform to preach or ministeras Mark Anthony DiBellohas done with almost 40 different appearances on a variety of reality and game shows.

Springboard for political success

Two international franchises,The ApprenticeandDragons' Den,are notable for having some of the business people who appeared there as judges and investors go on to win political office. The prime example is formerU.S. PresidentDonald Trump:his stint as host of the originalThe Apprenticefrom 2004 to 2015 has been credited by some commentators as a factor in his political success, since it greatly increased his fame, and showcased him as a tough and experienced authority figure.Lado Gurgenidze,who hosted the Georgian version ofThe Apprenticein 2005, was appointedPrime Minister of Georgiafrom 2007, and served until 2008.Harry Harkimo,who hosted the Finnish version ofThe Apprenticefrom 2009 to 2013, has been a member of theParliament of Finlandsince 2015.João Doria,who hosted seasons 7-8 of the Brazilian version ofThe Apprentice,O Aprendiz,from 2010 to 2011, served asMayor of São Paulofrom 2017 to 2018,and asGovernor of São Paulofrom 2018 to 2022.Bruno Bonnell,who hosted the short-lived French version ofThe Apprenticein 2015, was a member of France'sNational Assemblyfrom 2017 to 2022.

Dragons' Deninvestors who have gone on to hold political office after appearing on their country's version of the program includeTommy Ahlersof Denmark,Nir Barkatof Israel,Anne Bernerof Finland,Tomio Okamuraof the Czech Republic, andLencke Wischhusenof Germany.

In a rare case of a previously unknown reality television alumnus succeeding in the political arena,The Real World: Bostoncast memberSean Duffywas aU.S. RepresentativefromWisconsinfrom 2010 to 2019.

Youth audience

In 2006, four of the ten most popular programs among viewers under 17 were reality shows.Studies have shown that young people emulate the behavior displayed on these programs, gathering much of their knowledge of the social world, particularly about consumer practices, from television.Some critics have decried the positive representation of sexually objectified women in shows likeThe Girls Next Door.

In 2007, according to theLearning and Skills Council,one in seven UK teenagers hoped to gain fame by appearing on reality television.

Appeal

A number of studies have tried to pinpoint the appeal of reality television.Factors that have been cited in its appeal include personal identification with the onscreen participants; pure entertainment; diversion from scripted TV; vicarious participation;a feeling of self-importance compared to onscreen participants;enjoyment of competition;and an appeal tovoyeurism,especially given "scenes which take place in private settings, containnudity,or include gossip ".

A 2012 survey byToday.comfound that Americans who watch reality television regularly are more extroverted, more neurotic, and have lower self-esteem than those who do not.

Similar works in popular culture

A number of fictional works since the 1940s have contained elements similar to elements of reality television. They tended to be set in adystopianfuture, with subjects being recorded against their will and often involved violence.

• "The Seventh Victim" (1953) is a short story by science fiction authorRobert Sheckleythat depicted a futuristic game in which one player gets to hunt down another player and kill him. The first player who can score ten kills wins the grand prize. This story was the basis for the Italian filmThe 10th Victim(1965).
• You're Another,a 1955 short story byDamon Knight,is about a man who discovers that he is an actor in a "livie", a live-action show that is viewed by billions of people in the future.
• A King in New York,a 1957 film written and directed byCharlie Chaplinhas the main character, a fictional European monarch portrayed by Chaplin, secretly filmed while talking to people at a New York cocktail party. The footage is later turned into a television show within the film.
• "The Prize of Peril"(1958), another Robert Sheckley story, is about a television show in which a contestant volunteers to be hunted for a week by trained killers, with a large cash prize if he survives. It was adapted in 1970 as the TV movieDas Millionenspiel,and again in 1983 as the movieLe Prix du Danger.
• Richard G. Stern's novelGolk(1960) is about a hidden-camera show similar toCandid Camera.
• "It Could Be You" (1964), a short story by Australian Frank Roberts, features a day-in-day-out televised blood sport.
• "Survivor" (1965), a science fiction novelette by Walter F. Moudy, depicted the 2050 "Olympic War Games" between Russia and the United States. The games are fought to show the world the futility of war and thus deter further conflict. Each side has one hundred soldiers who fight in a large natural arena. The goal is for one side to wipe out the other; the few who survive the battle become heroes. The games are televised, complete with color commentary discussing tactics, soldiers' personal backgrounds, and slow-motion replays of their deaths.
• "Bread and Circuses"(1968) is an episode of the science fiction television seriesStar Trekin which the crew visits a planet resembling theRoman Empire,but with 20th-century technology. The planet's "Empire TV" features regulargladiatorialgames, with the announcer urging viewers at home to vote for their favorites, stating, "This is your program. You pick the winner."
• The Year of the Sex Olympics(1968) is aBBCtelevision play in which a dissident in a dictatorship is forced onto a secluded island and taped for a reality show in order to keep the masses entertained.
• The Unsleeping Eye(1973), a novel byD.G. Compton(also published asThe Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe), is about a woman dying of cancer whose last days are recorded without her knowledge for a television show. It was later adapted as the 1980 movieDeath Watch.
• "Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis" (1976) is a short story by science fiction authorKate Wilhelmabout a television show in which contestants (including a B-list actress who is hoping to revitalize her career) attempt to make their way to a checkpoint after being dropped off in the Alaskan wilderness, while being filmed and broadcast around the clock through an entire weekend. The story focuses primarily on the show's effect on a couple whose domestic tensions and eventual reconciliation parallel the dangers faced by the contestants.
• The filmNetwork(1976) includes a subplot in which network executives negotiate with an urban terrorist group for the production of a weekly series, each episode of which was to feature an act of terrorism. The climax of the film has the terrorist group being turned against the network's own unstable star, news commentator Howard Beale.
• The Running Man(1982) is a book byStephen Kingdepicting a game show in which a contestant flees around the world from "hunters" trying to chase him down and kill him; it has been speculated that the book was inspired by "The Prize of Peril". The book was loosely adapted as a1987 movie of the same name.The movie removed most of the reality-TV element of the book: its competition now took place entirely within a large television studio, and more closely resembled an athletic competition (though a deadly one).
• The film20 Minutes into the Future(1985), and the spin-off television seriesMax Headroom,revolved around television mainly based on live, often candid, broadcasts. In one episode ofMax Headroom,"Academy", the character Blank Reg fights for his life on a courtroom game show, with the audience deciding his fate.
• Vengeance on Varos(1985) is a serial of the television showDoctor Whoin which the population of a planet watches live television broadcasts of the torture and executions of those who oppose the government. The planet's political system is based on the leaders themselves facing disintegration if the population votes 'no' to their propositions.

Pop culture references

Some scripted and written works have used reality television as a plot device:

Films

• Real Life(1979) is a comedic film about the creation of a show similar toAn American Familygone horribly wrong.
• Louis the 19th, King of the Airwaves(1994) is aQuébécoisfilm about a man who signs up to star in a 24-hour-a-day reality television show.
• The Truman Show(1998) is a film about a man (Jim Carrey) who discovers that his entire life is being staged and filmed for a 24-hour-a-day reality television show.
• EDtv(1999) was a remake ofLouis the 19th, King of the Airwaves.
• Series 7: The Contenders(2001) is a film about a reality show in which contestants have to kill each other to win.
• Halloween: Resurrection(2002) is a horror slasher film that takes place in a wired house full of surveillance cameras. Each "contestant" is recorded as they attempt to survive and solve the mystery of the murders.
• American Dreamz(2006) is a film set partially on anAmerican Idol-like show.
• Slumdog Millionaire(2008) is a film in which a contestant on the Indian version ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?is interrogated because he knows all the answers.

Television

• The Comeback(2005) satirizes the indignity of reality television by presenting itself as "raw footage" of a new reality show documenting the attempted comeback of has-been starValerie Cherish.
• In theseason 5episode "Damien Sands" of American TV showNip/Tuck(2007),Christian Troy,jealous overSean McNamara's newfound fame, convinces Sean to tape a reality show based on their careers as plastic surgeons, with disastrous results.
• Dead Set(2008) is a British television program featuring a zombie apocalypse affecting theBig Brotherhouse. Part of the film was shot during an actual eviction with host Davina McCall making a cameo appearance.
• Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice(2008) is a British comedy special that satirized reality music competitions, and in particular the reliance on emotional backstories, depicting the series finale of the fictitious reality competitionBritain's Got the Pop Factor(an amalgamation ofBritain's Got Talent,Pop Idol,andThe X Factor).
• Rock Rivals(2008) is a British television show about two judges on a televised singing contest whose marriage is falling apart.
• "Fifteen Million Merits"(2011) is an episode in the first season of British televisionanthology seriesBlack Mirror,set in a dystopian future in which appearing on reality television is the only way in which people can escape their miserable, jail-like conditions.
• Unreal(2015) is an American television show that depicts the behind-the-scenes drama on a show similar toThe Bachelor.
• TheDoctor Whoepisode "Bad Wolf"is set in a space station, Satellite Five, where residents of Earth are randomly abducted and forced to participate in lethal incarnations of game and reality shows, such asBig BrotherandThe Weakest Link(hosted by a robot modeled after the real show's then-hostAnne Robinson).

Literature

• Chart Throb(2006) is a comic novel byBen Eltonthat parodiesThe X FactorandThe Osbournes,among other reality shows.
• Dead Famous(2001) is a comedicwhodunitnovel, also by Ben Elton, in which a contestant is murdered while on aBig Brother-like show.
• Oryx and Crake(2003), a speculative fiction novel byMargaret Atwood,occasionally makes mentions of the protagonist and his friend entertaining themselves by watching reality television shows of live executions,Noodie News,frog squashing, graphic surgery, andchild pornography.
• L.A. Candy(2009) is a young adult novel series byLauren Conrad,which is based on her experiences onLaguna Beach: The Real Orange CountyandThe Hills.

Other influences on popular culture

A number of scripted television comedy and satire shows have adopted the format of the documentary-type reality television show, in "mockumentary"style. The first such show was the BBC seriesOperation Good Guys,which premiered in 1997. Arguably the best-known and most influential such show is the BBC'sThe Office(2001), which spawned numerous international remakes, including asuccessful American version.Other examples includePeople Like Us(BBC UK, 1998),The Games(ABC Australia, 1999),Trailer Park Boys(2001),Reno 911!(2003),The Naked Brothers Band(2006),Summer Heights High(2007),Parks and Recreation(2009),Modern Family(2009),Come Fly with Me(2010),Real Husbands of Hollywood(2013),Trial & Error(2017) andAbbott Elementary(2021). The genre has even encompassed cartoons (Drawn Together(2004) andTotal Drama(2007)) and a show about puppets (The Muppets,2015).

Not all reality-television-style mockumentary series are comedic: the 2013 American seriesSiberiahas a science fiction-horror bent, while the 2014 Dutch seriesThe First Yearsis a drama.

The 2013–2015 Americansketch comedyseriesKroll Showset most of its sketches as excerpts from various fictional reality television shows, which one critic wrote "aren't far off from the lineups at E!, Bravo, and VH1", and parodied those shows' participants' "lack of self-awareness".The show also satirized the often incestuous nature of reality television, in which some series lead to a cascade of spinoffs.Kroll Showexecutive producer John Levenstein said in an interview that reality TV "has so many tools for telling stories in terms of text and flashbacks and ways to show things to the audience that it's incredibly convenient for comedy and storytelling if you use the full reality show toolkit."

Some feature films have been produced that use some of the conventions of reality television; such films are sometimes referred to asreality films,and sometimes simply as documentaries.Allen Funt's 1970 hidden camera movieWhat Do You Say to a Naked Lady?was based on his reality-television showCandid Camera.The seriesJackassspawned five feature films, starting withJackass: The Moviein 2002. A similar Finnish show,The Dudesons,was adapted for the filmThe Dudesons Movie,and a similar British show,Dirty Sanchez,was adapted forDirty Sanchez: The Movie,both in 2006. The producers ofThe Real WorldcreatedThe Real Cancunin 2003. The Chinese reality showKeep Runningwas adapted for the 2015 filmRunning Man.

The 2003 BBC filmThe Other Boleyn Girlincorporated reality TV-style confessionals in which the two main characters talked directly to the camera.

In 2007, broadcasterKrishnan Guru-Murthystated that reality television is "a firm and embedded part of television's vocabulary, used in every genre from game-shows and drama to news and current affairs."

Themumblecorefilm genre, which began in the mid-2000s, and uses video cameras and relies heavily on improvisation and non-professional actors, has been described as influenced in part by what one critic called "the spring-break psychodrama of MTV'sThe Real World".Mumblecore directorJoe Swanberghas said, "As annoying as reality TV is, it's been really good for filmmakers because it got mainstream audiences used to watching shaky camerawork and different kinds of situations."

See also

• Broadcasting
• Bunim/Murray Productions
• The Climb(2023 TV show)
• Great Reality TV Swindle
• Matt Kunitz
• John Langley
• List of reality television programs
• List of television show franchises
• Low culture
• Scripted reality
• TV consumption

Further reading

Books

• Andrejevic, M. (2004).Reality TV: The work of being watched.Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
• Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Hill, Annette (2005).Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television.Routledge.ISBN0-415-26152-X.
• McGee, M. (2005). Self-help Inc.: Makeover culture in American life. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
• Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette, eds. (2004).Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture.New York University Press.ISBN0-8147-5688-3
• Nichols, Bill (1994).Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture.Indiana University Press.ISBN0-253-34064-0.
• Nussbaum, Emily (2024).Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV.Random House.ISBN978-0525508991.
• S. Holmes & D. Jermyn (eds.), 2004.Understanding reality television.London and New York: Routledge.
• Shoemaker, P. J., & Vos, T. P. (2009). Gatekeeping theory. New York / Abingdon: Routledge.

Articles

• Andrejevic, M (2008). "Watching television without pity: The productivity of online fans".Television & New Media.9(1): 24–46.CiteSeerX10.1.1.1029.1828.doi:10.1177/1527476407307241.S2CID144976107.
• Aslama, M (2009). "Playing house: Participants' experiences Of Big Brother Finland".International Journal of Cultural Studies.12(1): 81–96.doi:10.1177/1367877908098852.S2CID145416654.
• Biltereyst, D (2004). "Media audiences and the game of controversy: on Reality TV, moral panic and controversial media stories".Journal of Media Practice.5(1): 7–24.doi:10.1386/jmpr.5.1.7/0.S2CID147854866.
• Boddy, W. (2001). Quiz shows. In G. Creeber (ed.), The television genre book (pp. 79–81). London: British Film institute.
• Cohen, J.; Weimann, G. (2008). "Who's afraid of reality shows? Exploring the effects of perceived influence of reality shows and the concern over their social effects on willingness to censor".Communication Research.35(3): 382–397.doi:10.1177/0093650208315964.S2CID13250076.
• Cooper-Chen, A. (2005). A world of "millionaires": Global, local and "glocal" TV game shows. In A. Cooper-Chen (ed.), Global entertainment media. Content, audiences, issues (pp. 237–251). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Godard, Ellis (2003). "Reel Life: The Social Geometry of Reality Shows". In Matthew J. Smith and Andrew F. Wood (ed.).Survivor Lessons.McFarland. pp. 73–96.ISBN978-0-7864-1668-4.
• Griffen-Foley, B.(2004). From Tit-Bits to Big Brother: A century of audience participation in the media. Media, Culture & Society, 26(4), 533–548
• Grimm, J. (2010). From reality TV to coaching TV: Elements of theory and empirical findings towards understanding the genre. In A. Hetsroni (ed.), Reality TV: Merging the global and the local (pp. 211–258). New York: Nova.
• Grindstaff, L. (2011). Just be yourself—only more so: ordinary celebrity. in M. M. Kraidy & K. Sender (eds.), The politics of reality television: Global perspectives (pp. 44–58). London and New York: Routledge.
• Hall, A (2003). "Reading realism: Audiences' evaluation of the reality of media texts".Journal of Communication.53(4): 624–641.doi:10.1093/joc/53.4.624.
• Hall, A (2006). "Viewers' perceptions of reality programs".Communication Quarterly.54(2): 191–211.doi:10.1080/01463370600650902.S2CID144715771.
• Hall, A (2009). "Perceptions of the authenticity of reality programs and their relationships to audience Involvement, enjoyment, and perceived learning".Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.53(4): 515–531.doi:10.1080/08838150903310468.S2CID11086920.
• Hellmueller, L. C., & Aeschbacher, N. (2010). Media and celebrity: Production and consumption of "wellKnownness." Communication Research Trends, 29(4), 3-35.
• Hetsroni, A., & Tukachinsky, R. H. (2003). "Who wants to be a millionaire" in America, Russia, and Saudi Arabia: A celebration of differences or a unified global culture? The Communication Review, 6(2), 165–178.
• Hill, A.; Weibull, L.; Nilsson, A. (2007). "Public and popular: British and Swedish audience trends in factual and reality television".Cultural Trends.16(1): 17–41.doi:10.1080/09548960601106920.S2CID144728312.
• Ho, H. (June 16, 2006). Parasocial identification, reality television, and viewer self-worth. Paper presented at the 56th annual meeting of the international Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany. Retrieved March 14, 2011, fromhttp://www.allacademic.com/meta/p93143_index.html
• Holmes, S (2004). "But this time you choose!" Approaching the "interactive" audience in reality TV ".International Journal of Cultural Studies.7(2): 213–231.doi:10.1177/1367877904043238.S2CID145409122.
• James, C. (January 26, 2003)."Bachelor No.1 and the birth of reality TV".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 22,2012.
• Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and gratifications research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509–523.
• Kilborn, R. M. (2003). Staging the real. Factual TV programming in the age of Big Brother. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
• Klaus, E., & Lucke, S. (2003). Reality TV: Definition und Merkmale einer erfolgreichen Genrefamilie am Beispiel von Reality Soap und Docu Soap. Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft, 51 (2), 195–212.
• Livio, o. (2010). Performing the nation: A cross-cultural comparison of idol shows in four countries. in A. Hetsroni (ed.), Reality TV: Merging the global and the local (pp. 165–188). New York: Nova.
• Lundy, L. K.; Ruth, A. M.; Park, T. D. (2008). "Simply irresistible: Reality TV consumption patterns".Communication Quarterly.56(2): 208–225.doi:10.1080/01463370802026828.S2CID144776709.
• Nabi, R. L. (2007). "Determining dimensions of reality: A concept mapping of the reality TV landscape".Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.51(2): 371–390.doi:10.1080/08838150701307111.S2CID143923847.
• Nabi, R. L.; Biely, E. N.; Morgan, S. J.; Stitt, C. R. (2003). "Reality-based television programming and the psychology of its appeal".Media Psychology.5(4): 303–330.doi:10.1207/s1532785xmep0504_01.S2CID17614731.
• Nabi, R. L.; Stitt, C. R.; Halford, J.; Finnerty, K. L. (2006). "Emotional and cognitive predictors of the enjoyment of reality-based and fictional television programming: An elaboration of the uses and gratifications perspective".Media Psychology.8(4): 421–447.doi:10.1207/s1532785xmep0804_5.S2CID40707438.
• Nussbaum, Emily (2024).Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality Television.New York: Random House.ISBN9780525508991.OCLC1412177613.
• Ogle, Tina."Lord of the Fly-on-the-walls".The Observer.London. Archived fromthe originalon December 27, 2002.Paul Watson's UK & Australian docusoaps.
• Ouellette, L., & Hay, J. (2008). Better living through reality TV. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
• Palmgreen, P., Wenner, L. A., & Rosengren, K. E. (1985). Uses and gratifications research: The past ten years. in K. E. Rosengren, L. A. Wenner & P. Palmgreen (eds.), Media gratifications research: Current perspectives (pp. 11–37). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
• Papacharissi, Z.; Mendelson, A. L. (2007). "An exploratory study of reality appeal: Uses and gratifications of reality TV shows".Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.51(2): 355–370.doi:10.1080/08838150701307152.S2CID145099520.
• Patino, A.; Kaltcheva, V. D.; Smith, M. F. (2011). "The appeal of reality television for teen and pre-teen audiences: The power of" connectedness "and psycho demographics".Journal of Advertising Research.51(1): 288–297.doi:10.2501/jar-51-1-288-297.S2CID36976247.
• Price, E (2010). "Reinforcing the myth: Constructing Australian identity in 'reality TV'".Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies.24(3): 451–459.doi:10.1080/10304311003703157.S2CID29233794.
• Reiss, S.; Wiltz, J. (2004). "Why people watch reality TV".Media Psychology.6(4): 363–378.doi:10.1207/s1532785xmep0604_3.S2CID1235553.
• Riley, S. G. (2010). Temporary celebrity. in S. G. Riley (ed.), Star struck: An encyclopedia of celebrity culture (pp. 294–299). Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press.
• Rose, R. L.; Wood, S. L. (2005)."Paradox and the consumption of authenticity through reality television".Journal of Consumer Research.32(2): 284–296.doi:10.1086/432238.
• Shattuc, J. (2001). Confessional talk shows. In G. Creeber (ed.), The television genre book (pp. 84–87). London: British Film institute.
• Sparks, Colin (April 9, 2007)."Reality TV: the Big Brother phenomenon".International Socialism(114).
• Thompson, A.; Stringfellow, L.; Maclean, M. MacLaren; O'Gorman, K.D. (2015)."Puppets of Necessity? Celebritisation in Structured Reality Television"(PDF).Journal of Marketing Management.31(5–6): 478–501.doi:10.1080/0267257X.2014.988282.hdl:10871/16559.S2CID56206894.
• Thornborrow, J.; Morris, D. (2004). ""Gossip as strategy: The management of talk about others on reality TV show" Big Brother ".Journal of Sociolinguistics.8(2): 246–271.doi:10.1111/j.1467-9841.2004.00260.x.
• Tincknell, E.; Raghuram, P. (2002). "Big Brother: Reconfiguring the" active "audience of cultural studies?".European Journal of Cultural Studies.5(2): 199–215.doi:10.1177/1364942002005002159.S2CID145465401.
• Waisbord, S (2004). "Mc TV: Understanding the global popularity of television formats".Television & New Media.5(4): 359–383.CiteSeerX10.1.1.469.7883.doi:10.1177/1527476404268922.S2CID220732538.
• Walter, T (2010)."Jade and the journalists: Media coverage of a young British celebrity dying of cancer"(PDF).Social Science & Medicine.71(5): 853–860.doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.06.003.PMID20619523.S2CID205208602.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 10, 2015.
• West, E. (2010). Reality nations: An international comparison of the historical reality genre. in A. Hetsroni (ed.), Reality TV: Merging the global and the local (pp. 259-277). New York: Nova.
• Zillmann, D. (1988). Mood management: Using entertainment to full advantage. in L. Donohew, H. E. Sypher, & T. E. Higgins (eds.), Communication, social cognition and affect (pp. 147–171). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

External links

• The Reality of Reality Television,Mark Greif's assessment of Reality TV fromn+1