TV: Are there any authentic Reality Shows?

[Elvis P]

Are there any authentic Reality Shows? Here's a partial list of some of the fake ones:

1. The Bachelor/Bachelorette

2. The Real Housewives

3. Pawn Stars

4. Property Brothers

5. The Voice

6. Catfish

7. American Idol

8. Survivor

Click to read more...

 

[NyQuil]

Sports.

 

[NyQuil]

I know my answer is a bit cute, but Mrs_NyQuil follows sports like a reality show - she likes to get to know the athletes, hear stories about their lives, read the Athletic etc.

As for me, I mostly just care about what they bring on the ice / field.

 

[Winger98]

This Old House

 

[Peasy]

What is your definition of "authentic"?

How is something like survivor "fake"?

 

[SepticFish]

Survivorman

Cops

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I have no idea how you're listing Survivor among these shows as "fake". I would say out of any reality TV show that Survivor is absolutely the most real.

It may be influenced by production at certain points, but the real players are still living in the jungle and participating *VERY* hard for each and every step of that game.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Curse of Oak Island

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

"Alone" is probably one of those shows that has the least outside influence.

 

[kook10]

I have no idea how you're listing Survivor among these shows as "fake". I would say out of any reality TV show that Survivor is absolutely the most real.

It may be influenced by production at certain points, but the real players are still living in the jungle and participating *VERY* hard for each and every step of that game.

The competition itself might be real, but the fact remains that it is similar to all other reality shows in that they have to use the footage they have to craft a story that is compelling. Most "reality" is boring, so much of the narrative gets created in post production by the producers by seeing what they can piece together. They usually have tons of footage, and loggers go through it for content before they really start weaving the tale.

Years ago I worked on Kevin Smith's show Comic Book Men. The show was apparently sold with an original premise of it being much more of verite/day in the life of a comic book store. So they had 4 cameras run 8 hours a day for like a month. They ended up with a massive amount of footage (and labor cost) of nothing at all and a small bit of boring action. Obviously that is not the product the network wanted, so they ended up adopting more of a Pawn Stars type format. Scripting/semi scripting is really the only way to ensure the end product is there at a cost that makes sense unless you are Big Brother or something.

With regard to competition shows - they have to abide by the Game Show laws (aka compliance) which are there to make sure that prized shows are fair. So the games have to be real and structured.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

The competition itself might be real, but the fact remains that it is similar to all other reality shows in that they have to use the footage they have to craft a story that is compelling. Most "reality" is boring, so much of the narrative gets created in post production by the producers by seeing what they can piece together. They usually have tons of footage, and loggers go through it for content before they really start weaving the tale.

Years ago I worked on Kevin Smith's show Comic Book Men. The show was apparently sold with an original premise of it being much more of verite/day in the life of a comic book store. So they had 4 cameras run 8 hours a day for like a month. They ended up with a massive amount of footage (and labor cost) of nothing at all and a small bit of boring action. Obviously that is not the product the network wanted, so they ended up adopting more of a Pawn Stars type format. Scripting/semi scripting is really the only way to ensure the end product is there at a cost that makes sense unless you are Big Brother or something.

With regard to competition shows - they have to abide by the Game Show laws (aka compliance) which are there to make sure that prized shows are fair. So the games have to be real and structured.

I can totally see the angle of production releasing footage in a way to craft a story, but none of these other studio shows come anywhere NEAR the level of Survivor. There's few things more real than sleeping on the ground in the middle of a jungle, then waking up, building a fire, and cooking rice with whatever else you could forage to eat.

Obviously a show like Survivor will be hours upon hours of boring footage of people sitting around small talking, but of all the shows out there, I think the social play and gameplay of Survivor is more real than almost anything else you can find on TV. Hell, sometimes it's probably more real than the news.

 

[kook10]

I can totally see the angle of production releasing footage in a way to craft a story, but none of these other studio shows come anywhere NEAR the level of Survivor. There's few things more real than sleeping on the ground in the middle of a jungle, then waking up, building a fire, and cooking rice with whatever else you could forage to eat.

Right, but all of that footage has dialogue which is cut out of context and score that puts non-existent mood to it. There is still plenty of room to twist the story and I think plenty of contestants have spoken about how it misrepresented them. That said, I would tend to agree that Survivor is probably one of the most straight forward shows.

 

[OneSniffTwoSniff]

Big brother.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Right, but all of that footage has dialogue which is cut out of context and score that puts non-existent mood to it. There is still plenty of room to twist the story and I think plenty of contestants have spoken about how it misrepresented them. That said, I would tend to agree that Survivor is probably one of the most straight forward shows.

Yeah I can totally see your point. There are enough stories of people receiving unfavorable/favorable edits by production to push a certain narrative. They will always try to create certain characters or accentuate others. There's even a term "purple edit" to describe a player who got a less than favorable edit from production, for whatever reason (boring, uncooperative, etc.)

 

[kook10]

Yeah I can totally see your point. There are enough stories of people receiving unfavorable/favorable edits by production to push a certain narrative. They will always try to create certain characters or accentuate others. There's even a term "purple edit" to describe a player who got a less than favorable edit from production, for whatever reason (boring, uncooperative, etc.)

...or collateral damage. They need to pick their heroes and villains. There is always an A, B and C story (or who knows what their actual format is) in each episode and not much room for anything else. With so many players you can't tell the whole truth all the time.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

...or collateral damage. They need to pick their heroes and villains.

Yes absolutely. I aspire quite a lot to get onto Survivor one day and getting an edit that totally removes me from the show is one of my biggest fears about that, lol.

 

[kihei]

I think the whole concept is utter trash.

 

[Peasy]

One of the most authentic reality tv shows, while not on today would have been The Real World. But honestly today, just in general there is way less authentic or natural shows. Its all about ratings, so these producers are now required to prod and poke people to create narratives and situations. They want interesting TV. This also then goes back into the editing of shows. They're going to put out what they think will garner the most views. Reality TV was a lot more natural 20 years ago. But as it has become more popular, and social media which i personally believe is the greatest harm to reality tv, the industry has shifted.

The Bachelor used to actually cast a real Bachelor with a career, and was set up in their life in their 30s. Average age of contestants were probably late 20s, early 30s. But if you look at the franchise now, it is just filled with Instagram influencers that wants to gain followers. They practically only cast people under the age of 25, and a majority like under the age of 23. Its obvious these people are mostly here to try and gain fame, rather than actually get married. The people they cast are no where near ready for marriage like how they use to.

I've watched reality tv nearly my entire life and it sucks to see the direction it has taken. However, regarding the major reality tv programs that have been on for a decade+, I think Survivor has done its best staying close to its roots.

 

[Jumptheshark]

They are all fake

 

[Satans Hockey]

The only ones I actually watch are The Amazing Race and Survivor. The Amazing Race being my favorite because they go to so many different places in the world that I most likely won't ever get to visit.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Survivorman

Cops

How the f*** is "Cops" fake?

 

[DaaaaB's]

How the f*** is "Cops" fake?

He didn't say it was fake.

 

[Deadpool8812]

Probably Alone

 

[x Tame Impala]

My wife watches "The Challenge" and it's the one of the very few times i've enjoyed a reality show while it's on in the background. There's a liiiitttle bit too much Road Rules-esque drama but the physical challenges and social dynamics of not being eliminated made the show really entertaining until the last few years

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

They all are edited to maximize entertainment, but I've venture The Amazing Race is one of the most real. More reliant on real competition than drama, alliances and relationships like Survivor, IIRC they tell you how far people are in minutes at least at the start of each episode and you can tell by the sun, so I'm not sure how much they can do to fake how close it is even as much as a Survivor challenge. I saw that as someone who's a bigger fan of Survivor than the Amazing Race.

I'd recommend the show UnREAL to people interested in the subject, the characters on it are producers on a Bachelor clone show, except for dramatic purposes their sociopathy is turned up to 11. Probably one of the most underrated shows of last decade.