User talk:303scheng21

Hey guys,

I wrote this paper for my english comp class. If you have any opinions please let me know. Thanks.

“This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real” (The Real World) only how real is it? Yelling, cursing and threats can be found in any season of Real World. It’s one of the main aspects of the show that keep bringing back viewers. The Real world is one show of many that fit into the category of reality television. The reality television genre that has taken over airwaves for as far back as the 1940’s, but it prominence wasn’t noted until more recent times. Is it really reality TV or scripted like other shows? In this paper, we will talk about the history of Reality Television, or RTV, the various types of shows and most important is it real?

Reality television as defined by Wikipedia.com is “a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, or usually feature ordinary people instead of professional actors.” Although commonly associated with TV production in the 2000’s, reality TV has been airing on the television since the 1940’s. There has been documentation that the first of these unscripted shows was aired in 1948, Candid Camera. The show taped ordinary people’s reaction to pranks.

As can be assumed with most things in life, reality TV has changed and adapted to the passing of time. Candid camera is milder in it’s documentation of the unscripted programs. In the 1970’s, Americans were introduced to the Loud Family and a more dramatic series called An American Family. PBS, a noncommercial public access station, gave audiences the ability to witness the breaking up of their marriage and the announcement of Lance, the son, that he was gay. Due to the staggering number of viewers, both from the start of the show to the re-visitation 10 years later, An American Family became the “mother of all reality TV shows,” according to Jeffery Rouff. Several decades later, RTV can be found on almost every channel. The topic of Reality TV encompasses many sub-types of shows. Although, all sub-types follow the same format of unscripted and use ordinary people, RTV shows are varied. RTV can be broken down to 9 sub categories. They are documentary style, game shows/ elimination, self-improvement/ makeover, renovation, social experiment, dating shows, talk shows, hidden camera, and hoaxes. Documentary style RTV is when the viewer and the camera are observers of the people on the shows. Within this category there are several sub-categories- special living environment, celebrities, and professional activities. In the special living sub-category cast members are put into a living situation they would not normally be in. The most well known show of this style is The Real World. The Celebrities sub-category are shows created using celebrities as the cast members over unknown people, an example of this style is the VH1 show The Surreal Life. The last sub-category is professional activities. This style show how professionals go about daily business. The longest standing show of this type is COPS. Games Shows or eliminations are the category of RTV, where people are competing for prizes while living in a confined environment. The completion of the show usually ends with one person or team winning the money. Eliminations are usually dictated by voting; either by the audience, by the cast members, or a panel of judges. Some shows use a combination of the three methods. One such show is American Idol, where a panel of judges in combination with home audiences voted on the contestants.

Next category is the self-improvement or makeover shows, which illustrate the process a person or a group of people, go through to improve their lives. The most controversial show of this type is The Swan. The Swan gave contestants makeovers by using plastic surgery to transform their looks. Renovation is the next category of RTV. In a renovation show, living spaces, cars or other properties are remodeled. Depending on which channel airs the show, the types of renovations are varied. On MTV’s Pimp My Ride, contestant’s cars are revamped with new everything from exterior to interior. Different from Pimp My Ride, is the show While you were out in where for one day a contestant is out of the house and the crew remake one room in the house. Another category is social experiment, which is a program that produces drama, conflict and sometimes transformation. In the show Wife Swap, people with different values agree to live by another’s social values. In some cases, the contestant’s learn from the experience and change their lives; in others it confirms the beliefs they already held. Dating shows are next on the list of categories. Although dating show can be interchanged with some of the other categories, it is different because each show has a new contestant. One channel who specializes in this category is MTV with shows like Elimidate, Parental Control and Next.

Talk shows are also on the list of categories. Some well known talk shows are Oprah and the Jerry Springer show. These shows have a tradition format of a host interviewing a featured guest or a group of people present to discuss a specific issue or topic. Hidden camera and hoaxes shows are very similar to each other. Both prank people and tape the reactions. The difference between the two is that hidden camera shows prank random people; where hoaxes are pranks pulled on people who think that they are on a legitimate reality show. Examples include Candid Camera and PUNK’ed.

Through much speculation, many wonder how real is Reality television. Although in the aforementioned definition Reality TV is unscripted, how much of what happens is really what happens. Some might say that producers and executives manipulate the contestants to get the desired results. They can edit the footage to portray stories however they like. But does that make the show fake, as some claim Reality TV to be? Dependent on individuals Reality TV is a controversial issue, but most will agree that whether to hate it or love it, it is entertaining. Whether Reality Television is real or not, from its start in the 1940’s to present day Reality TV has entertained audiences. With the many variations, all types of audiences have the ability to pick and choose which shows they want to watch.

23:28, 22 April 2009 (UTC)23:28, 22 April 2009 (UTC)~Sophan Cheng23:28, 22 April 2009 (UTC)23:28, 22 April 2009 (UTC)