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| Reality Television has also become a commodity! | |||
| {{unreferenced|date=October 2006}} | |||
| {{otheruses4|the genre of TV shows|the channel|Zone Reality}} | |||
| '''Reality television''' is a genre of ] programming which presents supposedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the current explosion of popularity dates from around 2000. Documentaries, and nonfictional programming such as the news and sports shows are usually not classified as ''reality shows''. | |||
| Many of the older secret-based shows, which derived much of their entertainment value from debate over how real they were or what the trick was, have been demystified. For instance, numerous magic tricks have been exposed. ] has left the ] era, and the majority of Harlem Globetrotter games are known fakes {{fact}}. Reality television serves as a replacement in many ways to those types of entertainment{{fact}}. | |||
| Reality television covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning shows produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is '']''), to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions such as '']''. | |||
| Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer. Such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of ], with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques. | |||
| <!---According to ], reality shows currently account for about 56% of all American TV shows (both in cable and broadcast), and for about 69% of all worldwide TV shows (in cable and in broadcast) {{citation needed}}.---> | |||
| ==Origins of reality television== | |||
| Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the 1940s. Debuting in ], ]'s '']'',(based on his previous ] ] show, ''Candid Microphone''), broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre." Debuting in the 1950s, game shows '']'' and '']'', involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. In 1948, talent search shows '']'s ]'' and '']'' featured amateur competitors and audience voting. The '']'' Pageant, first broadcast in 1954, was a competition where the winner achieved status as a national celebrity. | |||
| First broadcast in the ] in ] the ]/] series '']'', broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary seven-year olds from a broad cross section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, a film documented the life of the same individuals in the intervening years, titled ''Seven Plus Seven'', ''21 Up'', etc. The series was structured simply as a series of interviews with no element of plot. However, it did broadcast individuals' character development over time. | |||
| The first reality show in the modern sense was the ] series '']''. Twelve parts were broadcast in the ] in ]. The series dealt with a ] going through a ]. In ] a counterpart program, '']'', was made in the ], following the ] Wilkins family of ]. In ], ] saw '']'', about the '']'' Baker-Donaher family of ]. All three shows attracted their share of controversy. | |||
| Some ]s, most notably '']'', which debuted in ], try to present real-life drama within the talk show format by hosting guests likely to conflict on the set. | |||
| ]'', '']'']] | |||
| Reality television as it is currently understood, though, can be traced directly to several television shows that began in the late 1980s and 1990s. '']'', which first aired in the spring of ], showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals; it introduced the ] look and ] feel of much of later reality television. The television show '']'' (the house had number 28 in that street), which aired on Dutch television in ], originated the concept of putting strangers together in the same environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. It also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including a heavy use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, that serve as narration. One year later, the same concept was used by ] in their new series '']''; ''Nummer 28'' creator Erik Latour has long claimed that ''The Real World'' was directly inspired by his show. '']'', a ] TV show that began in ], showed couples redecorating each others' houses, and was the first reality show with a ] or ] theme. The ] TV show '']'', which first aired in ] (and was later produced in a large number of other countries as '']''), added to the "Real World" template the idea of competition, in which cast members/contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained. | |||
| ==Types of reality TV== | |||
| There are a number of sub-categories of reality television. | |||
| ===Documentary-style=== | |||
| In many reality television shows, the viewer and the camera are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities; this style of filming is often referred to as "]" or ]. MTV's '']'' may be the epitome of this style of show, with unscripted situations, real-life locations, and no tasks given to the cast (at least, no known ones). Often "plots" are constructed via editing or planned situations, with the results resembling ]s — hence the term, ''docusoap''. | |||
| Within documentary-style reality television are several subcategories or variants: | |||
| ====Special living environment==== | |||
| Some documentary-style programs place cast members, who in most cases previously did not know each other, in artificial living environments; '']'' is the originator of this style. In almost every other such show, cast members are given a specific challenge or obstacle to overcome. '']'', which started in ] as a spinoff of ''The Real World'', started this pattern: the cast travelled across the country guided by clues and performing tasks. Many other shows in this category involve ], with cast members forced to live and work as people of a specific time and place would have; '']'' is one example. ]'s '']'' achieved some notoriety by placing several couples on an island surrounded by single people in order to test the couples' commitment to each other. Most reality shows in this format are in many ways the new professional wrestling. The shows depend on drama, and theatrics more than on actual unscripted behavior. Arguably, the events that occur in these shows could be due to clever editing and omissions. | |||
| ====Celebrity reality==== | |||
| Another subset of fly-on-the-wall-style shows involves celebrities. Often these show a celebrity going about their everyday life: examples include '']'', '']'', '']'' featuring ], ], and '']''.In other shows, celebrities are put on location and given a specific task or tasks to do. These include '']'' and '']''. ] has created an entire block of shows dedicated to celebrity reality called ]. | |||
| ====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. No outside experts are brought in (at least, none of them show up on screen) to either provide help or to judge results. The earliest, and best known of these, is '']''. Other examples include '']'' and '']''. | |||
| ]'s 2001 show '']'' was a notable early hybrid, in that the show featured four ]s touring and making music as a professional activity, but also pitted the bands against one another in game show fashion to see which band could make the most money. | |||
| ===Game shows=== | |||
| Another type of reality TV is so-called "]s", in which participants are filmed competing to win a prize, usually while living together in an enclosed environment. Participants are removed until only one person or team remains, who/which is then declared the winner. Usually this is done by eliminating participants one at a time, in ] style, through either ] or by voting for the most popular choice to win; voting is done by either the viewing audience or by the show's own participants. | |||
| Probably the purest example of a reality game show is the globally-syndicated '']'', in which cast members live together in the same house, with participants removed at regular intervals: no skills are involved in winning the show other than being appealing to others and handling the dynamics of a group well. The American version, though, involved mental and physical competitions for rewards to help get forward in the game. | |||
| There remains controversy over whether talent-search shows such as the ], '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']'' are truly reality television, or just newer incarnations of shows such as '']''. There is no element of plot on these shows; on the other hand, there is a good deal of interaction shown between contestants and judges, and the shows follow the traditional reality-game-show conventions of removing one (or in some cases, two) contestant(s) per episode and having the public vote on who gets removed. | |||
| Few of the talent-search shows actually use talent instead of viewer voting to determine the winner. Two of these include ] and ]. In these shows, the contestants compete against each other and the most skilled remains while the other is eliminated. | |||
| Modern game shows like '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']'' also lie in a gray area: like traditional game shows, the action usually takes place in enclosed TV studio over a short period of time; however, they have higher production values, more dramatic background music, and higher stakes (done either through putting contestants into physical danger or high cash prizes) than traditional shows. In addition, there is more interaction between contestants and hosts, and in some cases (''The Weakest Link'', ''Dog Eat Dog'', ''Fear Factor'', ''Greed'', ''1 vs. 100'', and in a very limited manner, ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'') reality-style contestant competition and/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, lead many people to group them under the reality TV umbrella. | |||
| There are various hybrids, like the worldwide-syndicated '']'', which combines the ''Big Brother'' and ''Pop Idol'' formats, '']'', which combines competition with the self-improvement format, and '']'', which uses the ''Pop Idol'' format for products instead of people. Some shows, such as '']'' and '']'', devote the first part of the season to selecting a winner, and the second part to showing that person or group of people working at what it was they were selected to do. | |||
| There are some popular subsets of the competition-based format: | |||
| ====Dating-based competition==== | |||
| Dating-based competition shows follow a contestant choosing the hand 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. '']'' is the best-known member of this category. Individual-episode examples include '']'', '']'','']'', and '']''. Just about every couple that supposed gets together because of one of these dating shows doesn't stay together for long after the show is over, which brings in even more suspicion of these types of reality shows being fake. | |||
| ====Job search==== | |||
| In this category, the competition revolves around a skill that contestants were pre-screened for. Competitors perform a variety of tasks based around that skill, and are judged, and then kept or removed, by a single expert or a panel of experts. The show is invariably presented as a job search of some kind, in which the prize for the winner includes a contract to perform that kind of work. Examples include '']'' (which judges business skills), '']'' (for modelling), '']'', and '']'' (for clothing design). Some shows are not as structured as others, however, such as ], which only shows people in their plight for "real jobs", but no competition in in place, save for the job they could potentially be given. | |||
| ====Sports==== | |||
| These programs create a sporting competition among participants who are athletes attempting to establish their name in that sport. ], in 2002, was one of the first shows to immerse sport with reality TV, based around a fabricated club competing against real clubs in the sport of ]; the audience helped select which players played each week by voting for their favourites. '']'' was a reality show in which aspiring ] players competed against one another and were eliminated. '']'', a ] show, unfortunately became the first American reality show in which a contestant committed suicide after being eliminated from the show. In '']'' participants has voluntarily withdrawn or expressed the desire to withdraw from the show due to competitive pressure. | |||
| In sports shows, sometimes just getting on the show can get a contestant the job. The owner of UFC declared that the final match of the first season of Ultimate Fighter was so good, both contestants were offered a contract. Many of the losers from WWE's Tough Enough and Diva Search shows / segments have wound up being picked up by the company. | |||
| ESPN created the reality show "Dream Job", in which contestants try to become the next SportsCentre anchor. Hopefuls have to audition to try to win the job by reading sports transcripts on a teleprompter to current and past sports highlights in a unique and charismatic manner. Various judges rate each contestants performance. | |||
| ===Self-improvement/makeover=== | |||
| Some reality television shows cover a person or group of people improving some part of their lives. The British show '']'', which began in 1996 (later remade in the U.S. as '']'') was the first such show. Sometimes the same group of people are covered over an entire season (as in '']'' and '']''), 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 subject or subjects in their natural environment, and shows us the less-than-ideal conditions they are currently in. Then the subject(s) meet with a group of experts, who give the subject(s) instructions on how to improve things; they offer aid and encouragement along the way. Finally, the subject(s) are placed back in their environment and they, along with their friends and family and the experts, appraise the changes that have occurred. Examples of self-improvement or makeover shows include, besides the previously-mentioned ones, '']'' (which covers weight loss), '']'' (entire physical appearance), '']'' (style and grooming), '']'' (child-rearing), and '']'' (attaining difficult goals), '']'' (8 academically challenged beauties and 8 socially awkward geeks pair up to help each other overcome their weaknesses). | |||
| Similarly, '']'' and '']'' show vehicles being overhauled. | |||
| As with game shows, a gray area exists between such reality TV shows and more conventional formats. The show '']'', which began in ], for example, shows people renovating a house; media critic ] has speculated that it is "the original reality TV show." | |||
| ===Dating shows=== | |||
| Some shows, such as '']'', show people going out on dates with no element of competition. Antecedents may be found in '']'' from the 1960s. | |||
| ===Talk shows=== | |||
| Though the traditional format of a "talk show" is that of a host interviewing a featured guest or discussing a chosen topic with a guest or panel of guests, the advent of ] shows has often made people group the entire category in with reality television. Programs like '']'', '']'' and others generally recruit(ed) everyday guests by advertising a potential topic that producers were working on for a future program. Topics are frequently outrageous and are chosen in the interest of creating on screen drama, tension or outrageous behaviour. Though not explicitly reality television by traditional standards, this (allegedly) real depiction of someone's life, even if only in a brief interview format, is frequently considered akin to broader-scale reality TV programming. | |||
| ===Hidden cameras=== | |||
| Another type of reality programming features ]s rolling when random passersby encounter a staged situation. '']'', which first aired on television in ], pioneered the format. Modern variants of this type of production include '']'', '']'' and '']''. The series '']'' is another recent program in which the goal is to frighten contestants rather than just befuddle or amuse them. | |||
| ===Hoaxes=== | |||
| In hoax reality shows, the entire show is a prank played on one or more of the cast members, who think they are appearing in a legitimate reality show; the rest of the cast are actors who are in on the joke. Like hidden camera shows, these shows are about pulling pranks on people, although in these shows the hoax is more elaborate (lasting an entire season), and the cameras are out in the open. Also, the point of such shows often is to parody the conventions of the reality TV genre. The first such show was 2003's '']''; other examples are '']'' (modelled after ''The Apprentice''), '']'', '']'' (which convinced the hoax targets that they were being flown into space) and '']'' (in which a town was convinced William Shatner was filming a movie there). These shows are also suspected to be fake, as in all likelyhood the person who the prank is being played on is really an actor who is in on the con with the rest of the cast. | |||
| Other shows, though not entirely a ''hoax show'', have offered some misleading information to some cast members in order to add a wrinkle to the competition. Examples include '']'' and '']''. | |||
| ==Analysis and criticism== | |||
| Part of reality television's appeal is due to its ability to place ordinary people in extraordinary situations. For example, on the ABC show, '']'', an eligible male dates a dozen women simultaneously, traveling on extraordinary dates to scenic locales. Reality television also has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, outwardly in talent and performance programs such as ''Pop Idol'', though frequently ''Survivor'' and ''Big Brother'' participants also reach some degree of celebrity. | |||
| ===Is "reality" a misnomer?=== | |||
| Some commentators have said that the name "reality television" is an inaccurate description for several styles of program included in the genre. In competition-based programs such as ''Big Brother'' and ''Survivor'', and other special-living-environment shows like ''The Real World'', the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out. Producers specifically select the participants, and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviors and conflicts. ], creator of ''Survivor'' and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word "reality" to describe his shows; he has said, "I tell good stories. It really is not reality TV. It really is unscripted drama." | |||
| Even in docusoap series following people in their daily life, producers may be highly deliberate in their editing strategies, able to portray certain participants as heroes or villains, and may guide the drama through altered chronology and selective presentation of events. Some participants have stated afterwards that they altered their behavior to appear more crazy or emotional in order to get more camera time. | |||
| Several former reality show participants have spoken publicly about their experiences and the strategies used on reality shows. ] from '']'' has done public speaking tours about the negative and misleading aspects of reality TV. In 2004, ] aired a program called ''"Reality TV Secrets Revealed"'' that detailed various misleading tricks of reality TV producers. It was revealed that programs '']'' and '']'' had at times recreated incidents that had actually occurred but were not properly recorded by cameras to the required technical standard, or had not been recorded at all. In order to get the footage, the event was restaged for the cameras. Other shows (most notably '']'') combined audio and video from different times, or different sets of footage, to make it look like participants were doing something they were not. | |||
| Some shows have faced speculation that the participants themselves are involved in fakery, acting out storylines that were planned in advance by producers. The show '']'' is one notable example; one TV critic wrote that the show's "situations and dialogue come straight from a page." On the show '']'', it has been speculated that the customers eating meals prepared by the contestants are in fact paid actors. Nevertheless, there has been no direct evidence presented yet that any such program has been scripted or "rigged," as with the 1950s television ]. | |||
| ===Political impact=== | |||
| Reality television's global success has been, in the eyes of some analysts, an important political phenomenon. In some ] countries, reality television voting represents the first time many citizens have voted in any free and fair wide-scale elections. In addition, the frankness of the settings on some reality shows present situations that were formerly taboo in certain orthodox cultures, like the ] version of '']'', which shows men and women living together. Matt Labash of '']'', noting both of these issues, wrote that "the best hope of little Americas developing in the Middle East could be Arab-produced reality TV." Similarly, in ], after the finale of the 2005 season of '']'' (the local version of '']'') drew an audience of around 400 million people, and 8 million ] votes, the state-run English-language newspaper '']'' ran the front-page headline "Is Super Girl a Force for Democracy?" The government has threatened to censor the show, citing both its democratic nature and its excessive vulgarity, or "worldliness". . | |||
| ===Other=== | |||
| In Australia, following an ] shown live on the web streamed version of '']'', there was a political and media backlash that prompted the Australian Government to commission a report on the incident. | |||
| ==Popularity and ratings== | |||
| Network executives have expressed concern in the media that reality-television programming is limited in its appeal for ] reissue and ], although it remains lucrative for short-term profits. This concern has been shown to be misguided as DVDs for reality shows have sold briskly. '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']'' have all ranked in the top DVDs sold on ]. DVDs of '']'' have outranked scripted shows like '']'' and '']''. Additionally, many reality shows have been successfully syndicated, including (among others) '']'', '']'', '']'' and, beginning in September 2006, '']''. Moreover, ''COPS'' has had huge success in syndication, direct response sales and DVD. A FOX staple since 1989, "COPS" is currently (2006) in its 19th season, having well outlasted scripted police shows like '']'' and '']''. | |||
| In late 2004-early 2005, the genre's popularity seemed to be waning in ], with long-running reality shows such as '']'' scoring lower-than-expected ratings. '']'' became one of ]. However, this may have been only a temporary blip in the genre's popularity: the finale of VH1's '']'' drew 6 million viewers in 2006, making it the highest-rated show in the history of that network. Similarly, UPN's number one-rated show in 2006 was the reality show ''America's Next Top Model''. And in March 2006, a fifth-season episode of '']'' drew some of the show's best ratings yet, overshadowing even important events such as the ], ], ], and the ]. | |||
| Currently there are at least two television channels devoted exclusively to reality television: ] in the United States, and ] in the UK. | |||
| ==Predictors in popular culture== | |||
| A number of works beginning in the 1940s anticipated elements of reality television that would later appear. These harbingers tended to be set in a ]n future, with subjects being recorded against their will, and they often involved violence. | |||
| * '']'' (1949), a book by ], depicted a world in which two-way television screens are fitted in every room, so that people's actions are monitored at all times. (The all-seeing authority figure in the book, "]", inspired the name of the pioneering reality series '']''.) | |||
| * ''Survivor'' (1965), a science fiction story 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 with rifles, mortars and machine guns in a large natural arena. The goal is for one side to wipe out the other; the few who survive the battle become heroes and win 100 billion dollars in "reparations" for their country. The games are televised, complete with color commentary discussing the tactics, the soldiers' personal backgrounds, and slow-motion replays of their deaths. | |||
| * "]" (1958) was a short story by science-fiction author ] 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 movie '']'' , and again in 1983 as the ] movie '']''. | |||
| ] episode '']''.]] | |||
| * '']'' (1968) was an episode of the TV show '']'' in which the crew visits a planet resembling the ], but with ] technology. The planet's "Empire TV" features regular ]ial games, with the announcer urging viewers at home to vote for their favorites, stating, "This is your program. You pick the winner." The show included several jabs at real-world television, such as a ] threatening, "You bring this network's ratings down, Flavius, and we'll do a special on you!" | |||
| * '']'' (1968) was a ] television 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. | |||
| * '']'' (1974), a novel by ] (also published as ''The Unsleeping Eye''), was 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 ] movie "]" (released in the USA as "Deathwatch"). | |||
| * '']'' (1976) was a film predictive of a number of trends in broadcast television, including reality programming. One subplot featured network executives negotiating with an urban terrorist group for the production of a weekly series, each episode of which was to feature an act of terrorism. | |||
| * '']'' (1981), the sequel to '']'', places the action in a town that has been entirely transformed into a TV studio. | |||
| * '']'' (1982) was a book by ] depicting 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 ]'s ''The Prize of Peril''. The book was loosely adapted as a 1987 movie of the same name (see entry for both). The movie removed most of the reality-TV element of the book: its competition now took place entirely within a large TV studio, and more closely resembled an athletic competition (though a deadly one). | |||
| * '']'' (1985) was an episode of the TV show '']'' in which the population of a planet watches the torture and executions of those who oppose the government on live television. The planet's political system is based on the leaders themselves facing disintegration if the population votes 'no' to their propositions. This episode is often credited as the origins of "voting someone off". | |||
| ==Pop culture references== | |||
| Some scripted works have used reality television as a plot device: | |||
| * '']'' (1979) is a comedic film about the creation of a show similar to ''An American Family'' gone horribly wrong. | |||
| * '']'' (1994) is a ] film about a man who signs up to star in a 24-hour-a-day reality TV show. It was later remade as '']'' (1999). | |||
| * '']'' (1998) is a film about a man who discovers that his entire life is being staged and filmed for a 24-hour-a-day reality TV show. | |||
| * '']'' (2001) is a film about a reality show in which contestants have to kill each other to win. | |||
| * '']'' (2004) is a film about a man searching for treasure while being followed by a reality show film crew, but he encounters a ] and a ] instead. | |||
| * '']'' (2005) is an episode of the TV show '']'' in which the characters find themselves trapped in various real-life reality television shows. | |||
| * '']'' (2005) satirizes the indignity of reality TV by presenting itself as "raw footage" of a new reality show documenting the attempted comeback of has-been star ]. | |||
| * '']'' (2006) is a film set partially on an '']''-like show. | |||
| In addition, a number of scripted television shows have taken the form of documentary-type reality TV shows, in "]" style. The first such show was the ] series '']'', which premiered in ]. Other examples include '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']''. | |||
| ===Hypodermic Syringe Theory=== | |||
| The Hypodermic Syringe Theory is influences on a particular audience (mainly young children) and then go out and use those influences in real life. The media uses this through reality TV in the sense that children will watch a programme such as "power rangers" and go out into the real world and perform such actions (attempting martial arts, in this instance). There have been many debates over the years on this theory yet little has been done about it. | |||
| ===Reality films=== | |||
| Several reality-TV-style films have been produced; these films differ from conventional ] in that they create new, sometimes artificial, situations instead of simply trying to document life as it is. ], a pioneer in conventional reality television with ''Candid Camera'', was also a pioneer in the "reality film" genre with the hidden camera movie '']'' in 1970. The TV show '']'' spawned two films: '']'' in 2001 and '']'' in 2006. A similar ] show, ''Extreme Duudsonit'', was adapted for the film '']'' in 2006. The producers of ''The Real World'' created '']'' in ]. '']'' was released in 2004; it was possibly the first reality-TV-style film without a basis in a television series. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * | |||
| * Hill, Annette (2005). ''Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television''. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26152-X. | |||
| * Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette, eds. (2004). ''Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture''. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5688-3 | |||
| * Nichols, Bill (1994). ''Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture''. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34064-0. | |||
| * Godard, Ellis (2004). "Reel Life: The Social Geometry of Reality Shows". pages 73-96 in ''Survivor Lessons'', edited by Matthew J. Smith and Andrew F. Wood. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc. | |||
| * '''' - Observer article: Paul Watson's UK & Australian docusoaps | |||
| <!-- may be useful if "Observer" link breaks... | |||
| * '''' - British Film Institude guide for Media Studies students: a bibliography which confirms early broadcast dates | |||
| ... end comment --> | |||
| * - ]'s Spiked commentary | |||
| * by Raymond van den Boogaard, ], September 28, 1996 (Dutch) - about Nummer 28 being the inspiration for The Real World | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * - Free friendly forum for members to discuss the shows. | |||
| * - an article with interviews from reality TV casting directors about how to audition for a reality TV show. | |||
| * - UK reality TV site - news, gossip and community | |||
| * - Blog focusing exclusively on American reality TV shows and stars | |||
| * - Daily summaries of American reality TV news and gossip | |||
| * - Recaps of many American reality TV shows | |||
| * - A blog about watching reality TV; perspective on what's real and what's "reality" | |||
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Revision as of 04:54, 30 January 2007
Reality Television has also become a commodity!