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What is a Reality Show?

Michael Pollick
Michael Pollick
Michael Pollick
Michael Pollick

A television reality show features talent culled from the ranks of "ordinary" people, not professionally trained actors. Producers typically shoot hundreds of hours of footage per episode and use creative editing to create a narrative thread. Subjects may be given some rudimentary directions offscreen, but the point is to allow the performers to act and react as normally as possible. A reality show is not to be confused with a documentary, in which the subjects are asked to ignore the cameras and behave naturally. Many reality producers encourage participants to play to the cameras as characters or use private taped conversations, called confessionals, as a form of narration.

For many years, the television industry favored scripted television programs over the unpredictable and potentially litigious reality show form. An early show called Candid Camera, hosted by the unassuming Allen Funt, demonstrated that carefully edited clips of ordinary people reacting to contrived situations could be a ratings success. Early game shows featuring contestants selected from the audience also provided moments of unscripted reality. Groucho Marx's game show You Bet Your Life! featured extended interviews with ordinary contestants, although Marx was thoroughly briefed on their backgrounds before the show started.

Reality shows feature "ordinary" people, as opposed to trained actors.
Reality shows feature "ordinary" people, as opposed to trained actors.

Television shows during the 1960s and 1970s were usually scripted, with a cast of professional actors creating the characters. It was believed that a reality show featuring untrained actors working without a guiding script would be virtually unwatchable, since there would be no way to create a satisfying storyline ending precisely after the allotted half-hour or hour running time of a typical scripted show. The only network amenable to the idea in the 1970s was the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). A documentary called An American Family followed the real lives of the Loud family as they dealt with the parents' impending divorce.

Traditionally, television programs have been scripted performances, with early game shows offering some of the first non-scripted moments for viewers.
Traditionally, television programs have been scripted performances, with early game shows offering some of the first non-scripted moments for viewers.

During the late 1980s, a syndicated reality show called COPS began showing real policemen performing their duties as hand-held cameras rolled. The success of COPS spurred other production companies to create shows featuring real footage captured by amateur photographers, local news organizations, and police surveillance cameras. This documentary form proved to be quite popular, especially among the younger demographics sought by advertisers.

COPS is a popular reality television show that follows real policemen.
COPS is a popular reality television show that follows real policemen.

Meanwhile, another type of show began to take shape. Producers of The Real World recruited groups of twenty-somethings to live in a furnished apartment while cameras recorded every public moment of their lives together. The footage was carefully edited to create a satisfying arc of episodes, even if the participants appeared to be prodded into certain confrontations at times. Shows like The Real World proved that television audiences could enjoy watching unscripted performers reacting to somewhat scripted circumstances.

Reality shows may focus on a common theme, such as paranormal investigations.
Reality shows may focus on a common theme, such as paranormal investigations.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking reality show on American network television was CBS' Survivor, debuting in 1999. Survivor featured teams of non-actors culled from thousands of audition tapes. Its success prompted network executives to greenlight a number of other shows employing a cast of camera-ready civilians and armies of creative editors. Professional actors, directors, and writers have all voiced strong objections to this new form of reality programming, but the shows are usually inexpensive to produce and consistently reach their target audience. There is some evidence that the reality format is losing some momentum, but finding successful replacement programming has also proven to be difficult.

Michael Pollick
Michael Pollick

A regular WiseTour contributor, Michael enjoys doing research in order to satisfy his wide-ranging curiosity about a variety of arcane topics. Before becoming a professional writer, Michael worked as an English tutor, poet, voice-over artist, and DJ.

Learn more...
Michael Pollick
Michael Pollick

A regular WiseTour contributor, Michael enjoys doing research in order to satisfy his wide-ranging curiosity about a variety of arcane topics. Before becoming a professional writer, Michael worked as an English tutor, poet, voice-over artist, and DJ.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

anon263591

I work in a PR (public relations) and marketing department of a TV station. I'm interested in the way to push the PR for a reality show to be attractive and more popular.

anon244371

Being exposed to reality shows makes a kid ambitious in terms of being famous.

amypollick

I've just gotten so *sick* of most reality shows! They get more asinine every week, it seems, and make people famous who have no business being famous.

I mean, really, a show about buying abandoned storage units? Come on! At least in "Rocket City Rednecks," several of the guys are actual scientists and the concepts they're testing may eventually be applied in real engineering projects. Some shows do provide an interesting look at different people and places, like "Alaska State Troopers" or something like that, but at least the troopers are helping other people.

By and large, however, reality shows are produced in such mass quantities because networks do not want to pay actors and a real writing crew to put together a quality, scripted television show. It's pathetic.

anon159938

reality show is entertainment for everybody.

anon135728

the reality shows are just made up for entertainment. all things depend upon us and how we take it for real or fake. the makers are doing their work. we have to decide what to do.

anon81485

I already think that regular "stars" of Hollywood

are overrated and drooled over by morons with no life. The fact that there are now "reality stars"

confirms that the majority of tv viewers have no life of their own and will watch anything to fill the void of their boring lives.

anon75675

I just want to say one real thing: no reality show is 100 percent real or 100 percent fake.

anon21918

are the reality shows shown on the t.v. taking away the innocence and childhood of children?

anon17450

my question is that do reality shows really help in finding the real talent out of the common masses?

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    • Reality shows feature "ordinary" people, as opposed to trained actors.
      By: Haider Yousuf
      Reality shows feature "ordinary" people, as opposed to trained actors.
    • Traditionally, television programs have been scripted performances, with early game shows offering some of the first non-scripted moments for viewers.
      By: Pavel Losevsky
      Traditionally, television programs have been scripted performances, with early game shows offering some of the first non-scripted moments for viewers.
    • COPS is a popular reality television show that follows real policemen.
      By: mario beauregard
      COPS is a popular reality television show that follows real policemen.
    • Reality shows may focus on a common theme, such as paranormal investigations.
      By: Vitalez
      Reality shows may focus on a common theme, such as paranormal investigations.
    • Confrontations are often part of a reality show.
      By: bertys30
      Confrontations are often part of a reality show.