Reality Television Economic Factors And The Production Of Television Programs Essay

Reality shows – the present of mass media on entertainment which make the big influence to American society. Everybody watched the same stuff, the same old movies, or the same reruns before the cable TV or Internet appeared. For example, the Simpson was a successful sitcom became an institution as important as the cult classic. They poured their shared pop culture experienced into the show. However, the character

The reality TV fad that is not going anywhere anytime soon, no matter how much some of us wish it had never started. As seen through the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives, reality TV has become an integral part of society.

Some of the most popular television shows in today’s society are The Biggest Looser, Jersey Shore, and Big Brother. These programs and many others are classified as reality television. Reality television’s main purpose is to attempt to portray ordinary people in unscripted situations. Recently, however, many of these shows have achieved in creating the complete opposite, and have earned an immense amount of criticism as a result. Reality television programs are detrimental to society because they influence bad behavior among teenagers, do not produce authentic real life situations, and they humiliate many of the characters.

Television was not at its best a decade ago, producers were struggling trying to figure out how it can reach to a broad audience and have them stay. Thanks to reality T.V, the television industry has not been the same ever since. Reality TV always get its viewers on the edge of their chair, from shows like The Bachelor, to other shows like Intervention, “all of them make you sit up and pay attention” (Poniewozik 1). Reality TV shows will do whatever it takes to get people to watch them. From a simple show called The Bachelor talking about love stories, to a show where they show a life of drug addict. They all presents a stories within, and sending a message to its viewers. What makes the viewer watches the show is the messages that the reality tv show trying to reach to its viewers.

Reality TV shows will continue to thrive as they fill up TV screens in homes all across the nation. The people that watch reality television will go through their daily routine waiting anxiously for their favorite part of the day when they can take a seat on the couch, kick their feet back, and catch up on the latest gossip

At the end of a long day, relaxing in front of a television, watching a favorite show will hit the spot just right. Comparisons between the audience and the reality stars will take place whether it is noticeable or not. And finally, reality TV will continue to attract an abundant audience do to the constant changing of topics and

Television is no doubt playing a vital role in our lives. Today, almost every home has a television. One of the most popular genres of television programme is the reality TV. Ever since 1950s, Reality TV has evolved from radio game show and talent show to hidden camera show to dating show to documentary-style series. The genre now include unscripted dramas, makeover sagas, celebrity exposes, lifestyle-change shows, dating shows, talent show and just about any kind of possible competition. Now, reality shows are all over the peak viewing time slots on major networks and cable channels. In any night, you can watch “America’s Got Talent," "Dancing with the Stars," "Survivor," "American Idol," "The Amazing Race," "The

In today's society, Reality Television plays an important position in people's everyday lives. The reality television programs of today are popular because of the variety of film conventions (eg. audio, visual and symbolic codes) and the values and attitudes used to construct the viewer?s response. Two good examples of reality television programs are The Apprentice and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Reality television has become increasingly more popular and appears to be taking over the entertainment business. Psychologist Lawrence Rubin seems to think it all goes back to Aristotle, “The notion of being drawn to drama and tragedy”(Kinon, 2009). The viewer receives a false sense of “real life” and disconnects from their own “real life” by diving into someone else's. The effects these television shows have on society as a whole can be positive or negative depending on the message the show depicts. Shows such as “Jersey Shore”, “16 and Pregnant”, and “Dr. 90210” are a huge success to MTV but could be considered detrimental to society by painting distorted pictures of reality in the viewer’s mind. Shows including

Reality shows differ from classical documentaries in regard to their main intention: instead of stressing journalistic inquiry or intended in stimulating political debates, they are primarily made for entertainment and diversion (Corner 48-50). Since this is true, Reality shows have gone to extreme, unrealistic measures to entertain the audiences. For example: Survivor creates tasks and games for the contestants to perform, some being difficult and ultimately dangerous, but the contestants are more than willing because of their rising fame from the show and the audiences are more drawn into watching people in dangerous situations. These tasks are made purposely for the show and controlled environments exist that would never be found in the real world. Even though all this defeats the purpose of reality, its still considered a huge part of the

TV reality shows have led to a moral decay. When reality TV shows, show people suffering and expect their audience to be entertained, it shows that they are encouraging people to continue suffering so that they can get airplay. At times, people watch these shows just for sympathy with the people, with no intentions to help them. It seems more immoral for production companies to express

1. Most girls will do whatever it takes to be skinny and look like the stars that weigh 100 pounds "...the media influence on the cultural phenomenon of dieting and the perfect body. “Commercials and reality TV shows make you feel bad about yourself so you buy into the fad," Cohn said. The diet industry earns $50 billion each year on diet pills, and $8.4 billion is spent every year on cosmetic surgery. Women -- and men, Cohn stressed -- want to be thin, because large men and women are ridiculed" (Demmel). Eating disorders continues to be problem among young girls because of their role models. Girls on reality TV shows have that 'perfect' body and girls what to be everything like them.

The cultural phenomenon ‘Reality Television (TV)’ has become an increasingly popular genre of television since its paroxysm onto the airwaves in 1945. The term ‘Reality Television’ can be defined as the genre of entertainment that documents the lives of ‘ordinary’ individuals through the exhibition of allegedly unscripted real-life scenarios, despite inquisitive inquiries disclosing Reality TV to entail facets of script. The primary objective of Reality TV is purely to entertain the audience. This genre of television is appealing to viewers due to its entertainment principle/value, the audience’s competency to correlate to the characters and their situations, and the contingency it presents for escapism and voyeurism. We can capitalise the Australian appropriation of the American popular dating Reality TV show ‘The Bachelor’ as a tool to further comprehend the purpose and appeal of Reality television. The postulations of media’s obligations to society in contrast to their current actions and media as a mirror to society - the normative theory, can also be utilised as an implement to apprehend Reality TV. Through the strict analysis of ‘ The Bachelor’ and the employment of the normative theory, the purpose and appealing factor of Reality TV can be deeply examined.

Television plays a very large and influential role in spreading modern pop culture. It seems like there is no doubt that television are taking over and regulating many of our business, social value, and lifestyle. Its entertaining aspect led it to become a significant part of our lives. Since it has deeply rooted into our culture, we might believe that it always has been on our side. However, I personally thought that reality shows televise much more negative elements than exposing positive element. Thus, I began my research through searching how reality television shows affect its viewers.

Can you believe that reality television has actually been around since 1948? Most of us may have thought that this idea of real television just came about in the last decade but actually it’s been around for quite some time. In 1948 Candid Camera was the first reality show to be broadcasted on television. Many considered this to be the “granddaddy” of the reality TV genre (History of reality TV). This show actually began in radio broadcasting. Allen Funt was the man in charge of this whole new production. He started by simply taping complaints of men in service and broadcasting them over the Armed Forces Radio. This is what later became known as the television show, Candid Camera. Candid Camera was known for