Essay on Reality TV - 4178 Words

Reality TV Can you believe that reality television has actually been around since 1948? Most of us may have thought that this idea of real television just came about in the last decade but actually it’s been around for quite some time. In 1948 Candid Camera was the first reality show to be broadcasted on television. Many considered this to be the â€Å"granddaddy† of the reality TV genre (History of reality TV). This show actually began in radio broadcasting. Allen Funt was the man in charge of this whole new production. He started by simply taping complaints of men in service and broadcasting them over the Armed Forces Radio. This is what later became known as the television show, Candid Camera. Candid Camera was known for†¦show more content†¦Why Do People Watch Reality Television? There has been a huge increase in â€Å"reality† based television over the last few years. From Survivor to Big Brother it seems that we are constantly being bombarded with a new type of reality television program. But why do people watch these shows? What makes these shows so interesting? One theory brought up in an article in Psychology Today by Steven Reiss Ph.D. and James Wiltz, a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University, is that, â€Å"reality television allows Americans to fantasize about gaining status through automatic fame† (Reiss and Wiltz, 2001). This is the American dream, acquiring fame with little to no work at all. And what better way to do it than on television? But can reality television actually be called reality? Do people watch because reality television offers an alternative to boring and hackneyed type programs? The fact is that reality TV is just as boring and predictable as the so-called unreal programs. Reality TV can, for the most part, hardly be considered real. An article in Rolling Stone confirms this, stating that, â€Å"The premise is always the same: Put ordinary stiffs on television on TV and they’ll do anything, anything, to stay on TV. Didn’t we already learn that from Kirstie Alley?† (Rolling Stone, 2001). If this were in fact the case, then way would anyone watch what is described as something as horribly predictable as the above? How could such a style ofShow MoreRelatedThe Reality Of Reality Tv908 Words   |  4 PagesToday’s audience grabs hold of reality TV now a day. Looking forward week to week to watch these unscripted real life situation shows. In a way it s becoming increa singly hard to avoid not watching. Some viewers see the TV show and tend to be attention seekers, and reality TV allows them to fantasize about achieving status through instant fame. Too much reality TV may lead viewers to idealize real world situations, like romanticizing dating. Like when Truman saw the girl in the library who was anRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Tv991 Words   |  4 PagesI truly believe that reality TV needs a different name. At first reality TV was created with the aim to depict reality, but over time different interests and actions have resulted in doing the opposite of this. I would even go so far to say that reality TV has become just as fictional as fiction based television. â€Å"Reality† is defined as â€Å"the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them†. However, Reality TV in no way represents this definitionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Tv951 Words   |  4 Pages Reality TV and You Television shows were created to entertain the public and soon generalized shows became a bore. Reality TV shows are widely varied but are similarly based on the lives of non-fictional characters that brings out their daily challenges and achievements. This genre of TV programs gives a huge impact to its audience of, mostly, twelve to nineteen year olds. Critics and bloggers heavily criticize the negative teachings of Reality TV and indirectly force viewersRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Tv Essay1601 Words   |  7 Pagesreasons. Reality TV is a common source of entertainment on various channels and media outlets. The purpose of reality TV is to â€Å"promise more drama, suspense, and laughter while pushing the envelope of what is morally and socially acceptable, funny, and, of course entertaining† (Glouner et al.). This type of media allows real people to connect to those on TV. Reality is not completely real, there are aspects of it that are scripted, rehearsed and complet ely altered (Crouch). Reality TV has existedRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Tv Essay2065 Words   |  9 Pagesis also generally known that children can be easily influenced by what they see on television. Reality TV is no exception to this rule. It may appear that reality TV is a benign phenomenon but it is in fact a virus that has quickly diseased our society. More specifically, it attracts girls most mercilessly by affecting them negatively as to how they perceive themselves. Indeed, girls who watch reality TV learn that deceit and meanness is normal behaviour in order to achieve success, begin to self-objectifyRead MoreReality Tv1076 Words   |  5 Pagesmedia, reality TV stars like Snooki and Kim Kardashian are on the rise. Most channels on television have at least one reality show, from following housewives to remodeling homes of real life families. However, there are some reality programs that display bad examples, especially for young audiences that are keeping up with each episode. On MTV peopl e see girls being drunk in public, addicts doing drugs, and young girls raising babies at young ages; these are situations seen on reality TV shows. JeremyRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Tv Essay1919 Words   |  8 PagesCreeber (2008) the genre of reality TV is typically shaped by the weekend program, followed by results and elimination – hence, Dancing with the Stars has performances on Sunday and results of voting of Monday. As shown by Throng (2015), this episode, screened July 12, had 346,930 people watching with a potential audience share of 8.3% of total viewers watching TV at that time, which can be compared to the competition on other stations (Neilsen, 2015; Throng, 2015). TV One screened Sunday at 7-8pmRead More Reality TV Essay1074 Words   |  5 Pages Reality TV: The Rise of a New Show â€Å"The Contender† nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;One of the newest shows to hit the vast majority of reality TV shows that already exist is The Contender. The Contender is a show that focuses on all the hardships, training, pain, and dilemmas that a boxer, who is preparing to fight, must endure. The Contender will be a very successful show, because it has the attributes of raw emotion that can’t be found when a director is yelling ‘action,’ and ‘cut.’ By raw emotionRead MoreReality TV Research1402 Words   |  6 PagesReality TV Research Why is that reality TV shows instead of encouraging, end up discouraging someone? The whole purpose of being a part of a TV show is try to win because you feel confident in what you are competing for. However in shows such as Americas Next Top Model the judges seek for the contestants flaws and point them out. According to Jennifer Pozner’s â€Å"Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls, Cha Cha Divas† reality shows contradict themselves. Pozner points out that a contestant was asked what sheRead MoreReality Tv Shows855 Words   |  4 PagesBased on these criteria qualified industries were call centres and reality TV shows. In deciding between these alternatives, I interviewed a few stakeholders within the call centre and media industries. The feedback was that there is minimal use of video interviewing within these industries, which suggests a blue ocean opportunity. In addition, we had a conversation with the CEO of Kira Talent. We discovered that Kira Talent had pitched to comp anies with huge call centre operations previously, but