Blurring Reality: Examining the media of Reality (or Unscripted) Television
Is there a difference between Reality Television and Unscripted Television? Explain your response.
Within the last decades, reality shows have exploded in both popularity and numbers. Below are some categories that these shows can fall into.
· Real-Life Scenarios (e.g., "The Osbournes," “Gene Simmons: Family Jewels” "Audrina" “Teen Mom” etc.)
· Performance Scenarios (e.g., "American Idol," "Canadian Idol", "Star Search," etc.)
· Physical Challenge Scenarios (e.g., "Survivor," "Fear Factor," “Amazing Race” etc.)
· Identity Change Scenarios (e.g., "Joe Millionaire", "Extreme Makeover," etc
· Intervention/Help Scenarios (e.g. ``Intervention,`` ``Hoarders,`` ``Celebrity Rehab``).
Can you think of an additional category that could apply?
Show / Category? Why? / Target Audience? How do you know?Big Brother
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2fC6xH-lTg
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash prize by avoiding periodic evictions from the house. The idea for the show is said to have come during a brainstorm session at the Dutch production house of John de Mol Produkties (an independent part of Endemol) on 4 September 1997. The first Big Brother broadcast was in the Netherlands in 1999 on the Veronica TV channel. It was picked up by Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Portugal, USA, UK, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Indonesia the following year and became a world-wide sensation.
The Bachelor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyb1AyuLFeQ
The Bachelor is an American reality television dating game show debuting in 2002 on ABC. For all seasons, the show is hosted by veteran television personality, one-time game show host and news anchor Chris Harrison.
Deadliest Catch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1z-hdqEewI
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, Alaska, is the base of operations for the fishing fleet. The show's name derives from the inherent high risk of injury or death associated with the work. Deadliest Catch premiered on the Discovery Channel on April 12, 2005 and currently airs in over 150 countries. The first season consisted of ten episodes, with the finale airing on June 14, 2005. Subsequent seasons have aired on the same April to June or July schedule every year since the original 2005 season, with the seventh season premiering on April 12, 2011 at 9PM ET/PT. Seasons are taped during the previous fall (king crab) and winter (C. opilio) crab seasons.
American Chopper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAmkQIYWHLc&feature=relmfu
American Chopper is a reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul, Sr. and his son Paul Teutul, Jr. (also known as Paulie and simply Junior, respectively), who manufacture custom motorcycles. Orange County Choppers is in Newburgh, New York. The contrasting attitudes of the two men and their propensity for sulking often lead to heated exchanges as they meet unusually short deadlines for building distinctive custom choppers. Originally aired on Discovery Channel beginning in March 2003. In December 2007 the series moved to Discovery's sister channel TLC, starting off with an 18-hour marathon. Its first TLC season premiered in January 2008. Season 6 began in April 2009 but the series was canceled by TLC in February 2010. In July 2010 TLC announced that the Teutuls would return in a new series, American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior.[1] Senior vs. Junior premiered on TLC but was soon moved to Discovery where a 2nd season of American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior started May 16th, 2011.[2]
Jersey Shore
http://www.mtv.ca/tvshows/jersey-shore/video_content.jhtml?id=1627570
Jersey Shore is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 9, 2009 in the United States. The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore. Season 2 followed the cast escaping the cold northeast winter to Miami Beach, with Season 3 returning back to the Jersey Shore. MTV has announced that a fourth season will be filmed in Italy to air in late 2011.[1][2]The show debuted amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the words "Guido/Guidette," portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes, and scrutiny from locals because the cast members were not residents of the area.[3][4][5]Dubbed a cultural phenomenon,[6] the series has garnered record ratings for MTV, making it the network's most viewed series telecast ever.[7] The series' cast has also been credited with introducing unique lexicon and phrases into American popular culture.[8][9] In 2010, the cast of Jersey Shore was named on Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People list.[9] The series has since exported to dozens of countries worldwide.[10]
16 and Pregnant
http://www.mtv.ca/tvshows/16-and-pregnant/video_content.jhtml?id=1653778
16 and Pregnant is an MTV reality television series produced by Morgan J. Freeman and Dia Sokol Savage, and was first broadcast on June 11, 2009. It follows the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregnancy. Each episode features a different teenage girl, with the episode typically beginning when she is 4 1⁄2–8 months into her pregnancy. The episode typically ends when the baby is a few months old. The series is produced in a documentary format, with an animation on notebook paper showing highlights during each episode preceding the commercial breaks.
Intervention
http://www.aetv.com/intervention/video/
Intervention is an American television program about the realities facing addicts of many kinds.Each program follows one or two participants, each of whom has an addiction or other mentally and/or physically damaging problem and believes that they are being filmed for a documentary on their problem. Their situations are actually being documented in anticipation of an intervention by family and/or friends. Each participant has a choice: go into rehabilitation immediately, or risk losing contact, income, or other privileges from the loved ones who instigated the intervention. Often, other tactics are used to persuade the addicted person into treatment, which vary depending on the situation; some of these include threats to invoke outstanding arrest warrants, applying for custody of the addict's children, foreclosing on the addict's property, and break-up of marriages or other relationships. The producers usually follow up months later to monitor the addicted person's progress and film it for "follow-up" episodes of the series or for shorter "web updates" available on the show's website
Operation Repo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ZZVZlCNec&feature=related
Operation Repo is an American television program that depicts the world of car repossession with a team of actors who portray fictionalized tales of repossessions from California's San Fernando Valley.[5] Similar to another truTV show, Southern Fried Stings, the series is filmed in a cinema verité style but consists of scripted and dramatized reenactments performed by actors. The show is filmed by recreating scenes which show the cast conducting repossession of automobiles for finance companies. In the show they also perform repossession of other exotic and strange items such as luxury boats, planes, limousines, ATVs, Zambonis, tow trucks, expensive bicycles, hot air balloons and tanning beds.[6]
(all series information is from Wikipedia)
Individual Questions.
1. What are some "hidden messages" or “unintentional” messages that could be conveyed by shows in this category to its viewers?
2. What stereotypes might be communicated by shows in this category, and why do you think this?
3. Who might be harmed by the messages sent by this type of show?
4. Which show seemed most “realistic”? Why do you think this?
With a partner, discuss the following questions.
Today, I worked with ______
5. What are some of the benefits of reality television programming?
6. What are some of the drawbacks?
7. Of the various categories of reality shows, which ones do you think are most successful? Why? Why not?
8. Which do you feel are most harmful? Why?
9. Why do you think that reality (or unscripted shows) accounted for 15 of the top 20 highest-rated programs among the younger adult group for the Summer of 2010? Explain your response.
Reading and Viewing: GCO 4: Students will be expected to select, read, and view with understanding a range of literature, information, media, and visual texts.4.3 Assess ideas, information, and language, synthesizing and applying meaning from diverse and differing perspectives / 0
Did not meet outcome. / 1
Demonstrated unclear or incomplete assessment / 2
Demonstrated superficial assessment / 3
Demonstrated clear assessment / 4
Demonstrated thoughtful assessment
Reading and Viewing, GCO 7: Students will be expected to respond critically to a range of texts, applying their understanding of language, form and genre.
7.3 Examine the relationships among language, topic, purpose, context, and audience / 0
Did not meet outcome. / 1
Demonstrated unclear or incomplete examination / 2
Demonstrated superficial examination / 3
Demonstrated clear examination / 4
Demonstrated thoughtful examination
1