Reality TV

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Reality TV is a television genre where individuals interact, as their real selves, in situations believed to be dramatic enough to be entertaining, without a script.[1][2]

In 2001, after noting that scholars find reality TV hard to define, George Bagley offered the following definition in the Journal of Film and Video[1][2]:

‘‘As a presentation of non-actors in legitimately natural settings and situations working without a script, reality TV stakes its claim with viewers to regard its depictions as unadorned and spontaneous truthful documentation of natural reality’’.[1][2]

Media commentator Kat Sweet, in Poptonic, agrees that Reality TV is hard to define, notes that most observers do not include traditional game shows, like Jeopardy!.[3] She argued that, while the 1990s saw an explosion of reality TV shows, the very first show was Candid Camera, a show where the reaction of ordinary people was recorded by hidden cameras, while they were tricked by visual pranks.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lisa K. Lundy, Amanda M. Ruth, & Travis D. Park. Simply Irresistible: Reality TV Consumption Patterns, Communication Quarterly, May 2008, pp. 208–225. Retrieved on 2022-08-20.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 George Bagley. A mixed bag: Negotiating claims in MTV’s the Real World, Journal of Film and Video, Summer/Fall 2001, pp. 61-76. Retrieved on 2022-08-20.
  3. Kat Sweet. The History of Reality TV Goes Back Further Than You Think, Poptonic, 2022-02-25. Retrieved on 2022-08-20.