The Reality of Reality Television Essay - 2073 Words

The Reality of Reality Television The winner of the first Survivor competition is...Rich. It was the name heard round the country the night of August 23, 2000, as 51 million television viewers tuned in to the finale of Survivor. The questions, the predictions, the bets, and the reality rested on that one name. For three months, America watched and wondered. Who could it be? Who is the ultimate survivor? With the unveiling of that single, now infamous, name, you could almost feel the country erupt with emotion. The collective gasp of the shocked was shrouded by the cheers and hollers of all the Richard Hatch fans scattered across the countrys living rooms and sports bars. But just how real is this reality tv? The†¦show more content†¦Threatened by the astounding success of ABCs gameshow Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, CBS retaliated by developing not just another gameshow, but a reality-based gameshow. In October 1999, the network announced plans to develop Survivor, a show that would place a group of Americans on a desert island in the South China Sea, off Borneo, for 39 days. The contestants would vote each other off the island, one by one, until only the sole survivor remained. He or she would walk away with $1 million. My initial reaction to this news was horror. What is the world coming to? I thought. TV executives have become so desperate as to risk the lives of ordinary people simply for the ratings. There must be some law against that. How could they get away with something as absurd as stranding 16 people on some remote tropical island with no food or protection? But of course, nothing is as it seems at first. The deserted island off the South China Sea wasnt as deserted as CBS would have liked us to believe. There was actually a resort on the opposite side of the island, not to mention all the production equipment and air-conditioned editing cabins that had to be shipped in to produce the show. Even during the 39-day stay, the castaways were constantly surrounded by a slew of lighting fixtures, microphones, andShow MoreRelatedThe Reality Of Reality Television936 Words   |  4 PagesThe reality show phenomenon Have you ever wondered what attracts millions of Americans each week to watch this cultural phenomenon know as reality television? It first started in 1948 when Allen Funt created a TV series called Candid Camera, this is the first known reality television show series. â€Å"Reality television episodes have increased up to 57% of all television shows that can be found on your TV guides† (Shocking). Big Brother was one of the first successful and most viewed reality televisionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television882 Words   |  4 Pages What is it about these reality shows such as: Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Bad Girls Club, and The Real Housewives that we cannot stop watching? After watching reality shows like this, it leaves people craving the next episode of the next week. Reality television producers are exploiting people by giving the public a â€Å"sense† of reality but not the real version of it, but rather exploit people and use stereotypes to make money for entertainment. The specific points of this argumentRead MoreThe Reality of Reality Television1699 Words   |  7 PagesThe Reality of Reality Television Jacqueline Knudsen ENG122: English Composition II Jenna Fussell February 2, 2013 The Reality of Reality Television Have you ever set there watching your favorite reality television show and wondered what effects it could have on you, your family or your friends? Truth is most people do not think about the effects television shows can have before watching them or allowing their children to watch them. ThisRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1499 Words   |  6 PagesAgainst Reality TV For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussingRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television927 Words   |  4 PagesBehind the Reality of Reality TV There are many different opinions when the subject of reality television is discussed. Although reality television shows are thought to be negative they really are just mindless entertainment. Many can argue that these shows are misleading and disturbing. On the other side of this, people merely use these shows for entertainment and allow people to forget about stress in their lives. The cause of these different opinions is a result of different age, gender, religionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1511 Words   |  7 PagesReality TV is defined as television programs in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.(Dictionary) As we all know, in today s world we are presented with numerous Reality TV Show such as Keeping up With the Kardashians, Basket wives and The Real Housewives of Miami. These shows give a false message to their viewers of what is reality and what is purely entertainment. Many reality programs create an artificial environment for the show thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television991 Words   |  4 PagesWe see content on television every day either to see the news, watch a movie, series or any program we would like to watch. Television give us a different and visually perfect way of entertainment. Reality television is a genre of television which seems to be unscripted showing actions of â€Å"real life†. The viewer sees the reality shows for entertainment but neither the pressure, competitiveness nor loneliness that lives in imagines. To be real -time and people- admiration from viewers, thinking thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1287 Words   |  6 PagesReality television is now one of the most consumed television genres broadcasted to the general public. Reality television has become more about mindless watching and creating the most unrealistic environment possible, rather than creating a show for an important purpose. Today, shows like Beauty and the Geek, Big Brother, and every other reality show fit into this mold, but when viewed critically lessons appear. In the case of TV today, reality shows depict an altered reality because of the unrealisticRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1973 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Reality television has turned into a noteworthy piece of our way of life. The shows are described to be fun, engaging and acquaint society with new points of view. In the wake of a monotonous day at work, it s decent to return home and watch something careless on television, while unwinding. While the debate that violence in the media is making for a brutal culture has been made a million times, sometime recently, I am striving to make an alternate relationship. As we are aware, theRead MoreReality Television : Is It Reality?849 Words   |  4 PagesIs it Reality? Pop culture is popular culture that dominates a society at a point in time. Today, reality television is a part of the society’s popular culture (Johnson 289). The question is why? Reality television is a genre of television programming that focuses on members of the public living in conditions made by the creator, and displays how people are intended to behave in everyday life (Johnson 290). Reality television is debasing and should be strictly controlled, if not banned altogether