REALITY TV SHOWS & SOAP

OPERAS

Liana Bonca
11A
What is reality television?
●
a genre of television programming that documents purportedly
unscripted real-life situations, often starring unknown individuals
rather than professional actors.
●
reality television first emerged as a distinct genre in the early
1990s
●
shows tend to be interspersed with "confessionals", short
interview segments in which cast members reflect on or provide
context for the events being depicted on-screen; this is most
commonly seen in American reality television. Competition-based
reality shows typically feature gradual elimination of participants,
either by a panel of judges or by the viewership of the show.
 Short History
●
Television formats portraying ordinary people in
unscripted situations are almost as old as the television
medium itself.
1940s–1950s
●
Producer-host Allen Funt's Candid Camera, in which
unsuspecting people were confronted with funny,
unusual situations and filmed with hidden cameras, first
aired in 1948.
Queen for a Day (1945–1964) Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour
(1948–1954)

You Asked for It (1950–1959)

 1960s–1970s
●
First broadcast in the United Kingdom in
1964, the Granada Television
documentary Seven Up! broadcast
interviews with a dozen ordinary 7-year-
olds from a broad cross-section of society
and inquired about their reactions to
everyday life.
●
An American Family
The show included footage of intimate family
interactions, including an on-camera separation
demand from wife Pat to her husband, and the
coming-out of one of the children, who was gay.
1980s–1990s
●
Producer George Schlatter capitalized on the advent of videotape to
create Real People, a surprise hit for NBC, and it ran from 1979 to 1984.
The success of Real People was quickly copied by ABC with That's
Incredible, a stunt show co-hosted by Fran Tarkenton; CBS's entry into
the genre was That's My Line, a series hosted by Bob Barker.

Sylvania Waters (1992) was an Australian show

that depicted a family, similar in concept to An
American Family.
●
The 1980s and 1990s were also a time when tabloid talk
shows became more popular. Many of these featured
the same types of unusual or dysfunctional guests who
would later become popular as cast members of reality
shows.
e.g: The Oprah Winfrey Show
 Also,
●
MasterChef is a competitive cooking show television
format created by Franc Roddam, which originated
with the UK version in July 1990.
2000s
●
Reality television became globally popular in the late
1990s and early 2000s, with the successes of the Big
Brother and Survivor/Expedition Robinson franchises.
●
In the United States, reality television programs suffered
a temporary decline in viewership in 2001, leading some
entertainment industry columnists to speculate that the
genre was a temporary fad that had run its course.
●
Internationally, a number of shows created in the late
1990s and 2000s have had massive global success
IDOLS
●
(also known as SuperStar in some countries) is a
reality television singing competition format created
by British television
The X Factor Got Talent
●
The X Factor is a television music competition ●
British
franchise created by British producer Simon
Cowell and his company SYCOtv. It originated in
the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a
●
a talent show TV format
replacement for Pop Idol (2001–2003), and has conceived and owned by
been adapted in various countries
Simon Cowell's SYCOtv
●
The prize is usually a recording contract, in company. It has spawned spin-
addition to the publicity that appearance in the
later stages of the show itself generates, not offs in over 69 countries
only for the winner but also for other highly
ranked contestants.
 Top Model Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire?
●
is a fashion-themed reality television show ●
is an international television game show
format produced in many countries franchise of British origin, created by David
throughout the world and seen in over 120 Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight.
countries producing over 200 seasons, ●
In its format, currently owned and licensed by
which are also referred to as "cycles". Sony Pictures Television, contestants tackle a
series of multiple-choice questions to win large
●
The show takes the form of a modeling
cash prizes in a format that twists on many
competition whose winners typically receive game show genre conventions – only one
a contract with a major modeling agency and contestant plays at a time, similar to radio
a cover shoot and fashion photo spread in a quizzes; contestants are given the question
fashion magazine. before attempting an answer, and have no time
limit to answer questions; and the amount
●
The format was created by Tyra Banks for offered increases as they tackle questions that
the original series, America's Next Top become increasingly difficult.
Model, which first aired in 2003
Dancing with the Stars
● is the name of various international television
series based on the format of the British TV
series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed
●
During the 2000s, three television channels
by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. were started that are devoted exclusively to
Currently the format has been licensed to 60 reality television: Fox Reality in the United
territories States, which operated from 2005 to 2010;
Global Reality Channel in Canada, which
● The show pairs a number of well known lasted two years from 2010 to 2012; and
celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, CBS Reality (formerly known as Reality
who each week compete by performing one or
TV and then Zone Reality) in the United
more choreographed routines that follow the
Kingdom, which has run from 1999 to the
prearranged theme for that particular week
present. In addition, several other cable
channels, including Bravo, A&E, E!, TLC,
History, VH1, and MTV, changed their
programming during the 2000s to feature
mostly reality television series.
2010s
●
The Voice, a singing
competition franchise created
by John de Mol that started in
2010, remains the newest
highly successful reality
television franchise, with almost
50 international adaptations.
●
The Tester (2010-2012) was
the first reality television show
aired over a video game
console.
SUBGENRES
1. Documentary-style: in many reality television
programs, camera shooting and footage editing
give the viewer the impression that they are
passive observers following people going about
their daily personal and professional activities;
this style of filming is sometimes referred to as
fly on the wall or factual television. Story "plots"
are often constructed via editing or planned
situations, with the results resembling soap
operas – hence the terms docusoap and
docudrama
Within documentary-style reality television have
several subcategories or variants
Soap-opera style
●
Although the term "docusoap" has been used for many
documentary-style reality television shows, there have been
shows that have deliberately tried to mimic the appearance and
structure of soap operas. Such shows often focus on a close-
knit group of people and their shifting friendships and romantic
relationships.
●
One highly influential such series was the American 2004–2006
series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, which
attempted to specifically mimic the primetime soap opera The
O.C., which had begun airing in 2003.
Laguna Beach had a more cinematic feel than any previous
reality television show, through the use of higher-quality lighting
and cameras, voice-over narration instead of on-screen
"confessionals", and slower pacing.Laguna Beach led to several
spinoff series, most notably the 2006–2010 series The Hills.
●
It also inspired various other series, including the highly
successful British series The Only Way Is Essex and Made in
Chelsea, and the Australian series Freshwater Blue.
●
Another highly successful group of
soap-opera-style shows is the Real
Housewives franchise, which
began with The Real Housewives
of Orange County in 2006 and has
since spawned nearly twenty other
series, in the U.S. and
internationally.
●
Often these show a celebrity going
about their everyday life: notable
examples include The Anna Nicole
Show, The Osbournes, Gene
Simmons Family Jewels,
Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica,
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
and Hogan Knows Best. VH1 in the
mid-2000s had an entire block of
such shows, known as
"Celebreality".
 Subcultures
●
Some documentary-style shows
shed light on cultures and lifestyles
rarely seen otherwise by most of
their viewers. One example is shows
about people with disabilities or
people who have unusual physical
circumstances, such as the
American series Push Girls and Little
People, Big World, and the British
programmes Beyond Boundaries,
Britain's Missing Top Model, The
Undateables and Seven Dwarves.
&other types, such as
●
Professional activities
●
Financial transactions
and appraisals
2.Structured reality ●
Classify in:
●
While for "documentary- ●
Special living environment
style" shows it is implied that ●
Court shows
the events shown would still ●
Investments
be taking place even if the ●
Outdoor survival
cameras were not there, in ●
Self-improvement/makeover
other shows the events
taking place are done overtly
●
Renovation
for the sake of the show. ●
Social experiment
These shows differ from ●
Supernatural and paranormal
"reality competition" shows or ●
Hidden cameras
"reality game shows" (see ●
Hoaxes
below) in that participants do ●
Reality competition/game shows
not compete against one
another
Effects of reality TV shows

Advantages
●
Ordinary men attaining stardom
●
Social issues: : reality tv shows address numerous social
issues and introduce people to the ills plaguing the
society. For instance, they have played a very important
role in enhancing the women empowerment in society
●
Cost of the shows: Creating reality TV shows is not an
expensive proposition and brings more bucks for money
in comparison to the sitcoms and the soap operas.
Disadvantages
●
Scripted shows: The majority of so-called reality shows are scripted
and everything is closely doctored. Initially, people fell for the bait but
now audiences understand that stories are developed well in advance
●
Harmful effect on teen: The new generation of reality TV celebrity
stars does not thrive on talent but use sensationalism to always be in
the news. One of the worst effects of their action is on teens who try
to emulate their behavior. Stunts that are performed on televisions
under controlled conditions are imitated by the people in real life
resulting in death. Therefore, behaviour problem could be developped
●
Abusive shows: Liberal doses of abuses are hurled on the shows
because the directors think that more and more people will watch
them. It is a huge mistake because bad words are caught by teens
and kids affecting their personality as well as behavior.