Reality TV continues to grow in popularity as television programming that offers “real,” albeit edited and scripted, experiences before the handheld camera and proliferates to include children (Kid Nation) and animals (Pet Psychic). With roots in documentary film, originally used for education or persuasion, and television news, including heart-wrenching human-interest stories, reality TV has both expanded and blurred definitions of broadcast content and, some would argue, standards of acceptable conduct. Although television is an influential visual medium, much of the attraction of reality TV relies on backstory. The narratives often attract sympathy or create empathy. Room makeovers on shows like Deserving Design, Trading Spaces, and Designed to Sell include stories of personal self-sacrifice, feuding siblings, and expectant couples. A Baby Story takes the viewer into the delivery room. These narratives connect with shared realities, as if they were Life and Look magazine photos put into motion to tell the touching tales in every detail.
Other shows rely less on heartwarming narratives and more on voyeurism and vicarious experiences. Although Survivor and The Amazing Race take armchair travelers around the globe, backstories and backstabbing provide the entertainment. Julie Chen, the steamy host of Big Brother, “welcomes another gaggle of exhibitionistic houseguests to the … compound, where their sleazy psychodramas are sure to remedy any self-esteem issues you may be having” after watching the tenth season.*, Sleaze and sex sell, human conflict entertains, and the possibility of winning a million dollars is always attractive, especially if more than fifteen minutes of fame comes with the cash. Consumers can share their own realities on QVC or HSN, calling in not only to buy products, but also to explain the joy of shopping. Nancy Grace on CNN uses caller commentary to explicate current events, usually a news story of a sensational kidnapping or murder.
Daytime programming appears to target women, whereas prime-time offerings aim for mixed audiences, yet the many online sites announcing auditions for reality TV seek far more young women than men. Some of those casting calls include:
Are you a beautiful, young woman in her 20’s who knows what she wants? A rich, older man who can give you all the things you deserve … clothes, cars, money, jewelry, trips…. Do you stop at nothing to find your Sugar Daddy? We want to meet you!
Major cable network now casting attractive, fun, outgoing recently divorced women.
Looking for attractive female MMA fighters between the ages of 18 and 28 to interview for a TV pilot pitch.*
Surely if these shows make it to the airwaves, there will be some enticing backstories to examine.
Reality TV asks questions of gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status as played out on the smaller screen, and it offers historians and those in film or cultural studies some complex areas of study. This volume tackles many of the complexities of reality TV, setting high standards for future exploration. By looking to early network shows like Candid Camera, as well as PBS productions such as An American Family, scholarship can begin to examine the metamorphosis of television from its own backstory to current programming. We can begin to understand the tales being told about cultural perceptions and historical dynamics through the study of reality TV in all its manifestations, from baby stories to babes, from man against nature to man versus woman, from home improvement to improving life at home. And, finally, what might the future be for reality TV? How will television programming intersect with YouTube or MySpace? And what will the coming changes reveal about how we tell our stories or how we are told about our history and culture? Thankfully, there are scholars equal to the challenge of searching for answers to these important questions.
DEBORAH A. CARMICHAEL
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
* From the Big Brother Web site, http://television.aol.com/show/big-brother-10/10230987/main?flv=1&icid=templatized_tv_shows.M.
* Found at www.realitytvcastingcalls.com, one of many such Web sites.