TV: Are there any authentic Reality Shows?

[MVP of West Hollywd]

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.

Survivor can definitely be super misleading with the editing and the real reasons for someone getting eliminated or winning in reality aren't what you see. Their job is to create the most entertaining story possible and sometimes they have to take elements of the real version and turn it into something else. They are a little deceiving with the challenges I think too, making them look closer than it is sometimes, or stuff like the real challenge is longer but they don't show you some of it, like having to get 3 balls in the hole instead of just 1. Less fake than the Bachelor I think, but still a lot of trickery.

 

[PocketNines]

Definitely Alone.

The premise is 10 people competing for a single 500K prize. Each gets to select 10 items with them along with the cameras they use to record their efforts, and they go into remote, very cold areas in mid fall. They have a tap out button to call for pickup. To win the game you have to survive longer than other contestants. Nobody wins without a lot of cleverness, luck, intense endurance and willpower.

There have been 8 seasons so far; they have gone to British Columbia & Vancouver Island, Mongolia, Patagonia and the Northwest Territories. There have been some wrinkles. One season there were two people on a team, one season was a second chance season, and one season anyone who lasted 100 days would get $1M (could have been 0 people or all 10).

I also liked the answer "sports" which is also true. Real life isn't fair, but through sports we try to experience a system designed to be as fair as we can design it, with equal opportunity and meritocracy reigning.

 

[missingmika]

I think this is real but my favorite: Solitary.

Solitary (TV series) - Wikipedia

Solitary is a reality show on the Fox Reality Channel whose contestants were kept in round-the-clock solitary confinement for a number of weeks with the goal of being the last contestant remaining in solitary, for a $50,000 prize. It was the channel's first original series commission with its debut on May 29, 2006. The last season, Solitary 4.0, ended on March 20, 2010.[1]

 

[Scotianhab]

I’m a sucker for Deadliest Catch.

 

[dahrougem2]

Nobody should be saying Big Brother lol that show is so tampered by production. The producers basically pick who they want to win very early on and tailor the game towards them.

 

[kook10]

Nobody should be saying Big Brother lol that show is so tampered by production. The producers basically pick who they want to win very early on and tailor the game towards them.

That would be illegal. The structure of the game has to be signed off by a compliance company to be in accordance with the Quiz Show Laws before it starts.



The overseas versions might be a different story...

 

[dahrougem2]

That would be illegal. The structure of the game has to be signed off by a compliance company to be in accordance with the Quiz Show Laws before it starts.



The overseas versions might be a different story...

And I'm sure this isn't the first time a law has been broken.

 

[kook10]

And I'm sure this isn't the first time a law has been broken.

It doesn't really work that way. Big Brother is produced by Endemol Shine which is a huge producer of unscripted content and they are providing a contractual product for CBS which is part of a public company. They wouldn't f*** around on something like this.

I have worked on multiple smaller reality competition shows who otherwise might f*** around on other stuff, but the prizing compliance is always left to a third party to verify for insurance and bonding reasons, and as a network requirement. They have reps that go on-site multiple times during production as well.

Sweepstakes Management Company | Enteractive Solutions Group

It is really a non-starter to have an unfair competition. It is a whole different set of consequences from not paying PAs proper overtime.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

He didn't say it was fake.

He edited his list after I posted that and removed Cops.

 

[Habsrule]

Alone

Survivor Man

Naked and Afraid

The Ultimate Fighter

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

An American Family is probably about as close as you can get to true reality, as the concept of reality TV wasn’t know then.

They struggled with introducing their gay son to the world and other real world problems that ultimately resulted in the divorce of the parents.

This was also the early 70s, so a child being gay and divorce were still very taboo topics.

That show is a lot like the Miracle On Ice where today’s culture will never allow for something that genuine to happen again.

Even with Real World they played it up for the cameras and a lot of it was scripted/setup to create drama IMHO.

Here is a pretty fascinating/sad clip from that series where Lance just believed his life had no meaning:

 

[Spring in Fialta]

And I'm sure this isn't the first time a law has been broken.

lol.

I love how you've just been given a very thoughtful, detailed answer on why your original point was wrong and your first instinct is 'I'll just say that they broke the law then.'

Come on.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

That would be illegal. The structure of the game has to be signed off by a compliance company to be in accordance with the Quiz Show Laws before it starts.



The overseas versions might be a different story...

It doesn't really work that way. Big Brother is produced by Endemol Shine which is a huge producer of unscripted content and they are providing a contractual product for CBS which is part of a public company. They wouldn't f*** around on something like this.

I have worked on multiple smaller reality competition shows who otherwise might f*** around on other stuff, but the prizing compliance is always left to a third party to verify for insurance and bonding reasons, and as a network requirement. They have reps that go on-site multiple times during production as well.

Sweepstakes Management Company | Enteractive Solutions Group

It is really a non-starter to have an unfair competition. It is a whole different set of consequences from not paying PAs proper overtime.

Thanks for these. I don't watch these kind of shows but that was really interesting.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I think the whole concept is utter trash.

As someone who moved to Hollywood to be a screenwriter it also destroyed a metric shit ton of union jobs that pay a living wage. Reality shows still have writers, they're just paid and treated like interns without so much as the lie that there's upward mobility awaiting hard work.

 

[dahrougem2]

lol.

I love how you've just been given a very thoughtful, detailed answer on why your original point was wrong and your first instinct is 'I'll just say that they broke the law then.'

Come on.

Sure pal.

The thoughtful, detailed answer doesn't change my mind. Big Brother is scripted.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Sure pal.

The thoughtful, detailed answer doesn't change my mind. Big Brother is scripted.

 

[dahrougem2]

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I mean look, you do you. I just found it a little funny that you were given really sensible reasons why game shows can't cheat like that and your response was 'I still refuse to believe it.' It was like fans talking about refs.

 

[Primary Assist]

Jackass

 

[guinness]

As someone who moved to Hollywood to be a screenwriter it also destroyed a metric shit ton of union jobs that pay a living wage. Reality shows still have writers, they're just paid and treated like interns without so much as the lie that there's upward mobility awaiting hard work.

Your comment made me think of Ron Howard pitching talking pies from the Simpsons:


As for the topic, other than a documentary, I think real life is generally pretty mundane. Example, people like to think CSI or something when I tell them what I do, but it's actually a lot of desk work, with e-mails, phone calls, and technical review.

I can see why it has to be jazzed up for TV.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Big brother.

My friend (well used to be) was on Big Brother. It's definitely heavily influenced, they basically tell you shit in the DR so that you'll go start things or blow other peoples games up for ratings.

 

[MK9]

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

This is my vote as well. They [contestants] get knowledge of how to operate the equipment and the contestants on the show film virtually everything they do while they're out in the bush on their own. Hundreds of hours of footage. I've spoken to a handful of people that have been on the show. It's as legit as it gets as far as realism. The only real manipulation is the editing done after the winner has outlasted everyone else.

As also stated, 'Survivorman'. It's all done by Les. There is no accompanying camera crew or script.

 

[John Price]

There are a few documentaries that track people but reality shows no

Lately fox here has been showing a documentary on inner city youth from Los Angeles traveling around Europe playing rugby. It's an honest look at how teens spend their lives as well as the psychology of coaching. Pretty real stuff.

 

[Shareefruck]

Off on a tangent, but as someone who despises reality shows, I recently watched Single's Inferno, and while it's nothing great, it didn't feel as obnoxious as expected. There were even a few things that I found interesting, like dating etiquette cultural differences (one guy was received positively by the show/audiences for things that I felt made him a creep) and an interesting character dynamic between two polar opposite personality types clashing that, if scripted, would actually be well written/developed (which makes me doubt that it was).

 

[Elvis P]

I never watched her show, but here's a recent photo of the legendary 16-year-old Honey Boo Boo: