Reality Television

Reality Television - The New Form of Entertainment

Cathy Peifer

Com 156

04/20/014

Jenny Mark

Reality Television - The New Form of Entertainment

With the explosion of reality television shows on almost every television network, are the shows real or created for entertainment purposes only?

Since watching television has become a part of almost everyone’s daily lives, reality television are also becoming a part of daily lives’ because they are watched on just about every network system available on the air. Reality television shows have seemed to capture the attentions of the viewers, but are they depicting actual, real life situations or are these shows created mainly for entertainment purposes only? Are the viewers of reality television shows being influenced by watching these types of shows or are they just bored with their own lives and looking for pure entertainment of how others supposedly live their lives? These are some questions that will be addressed throughout this essay.

Reality television began coming into our homes in 1948 with the introduction of Allen Funts’ Candid Camera followed by the show Truth or Consequences. According to Charles B Slocum, WGAW Assistant Director, “both of these two pioneering series created artificial realities to see how ordinary people would respond.” These shows introduced a new form of entertainment into our homes not knowing what a huge success they would be and the influence that it would have on todays’ society. Those shows are considered very tame by todays’ standards of reality television and the proof is what they are doing on the shows today. There are television series about contestants trying to win a recording contract through singing, redneck towing companies stopping at nothing to get that repossession, defendants and plaintiffs arguing their cases in front a real judge without a lawyer and strangers spending a summer together in a quiet, quaint fishing village behaving in a different manner than...