TV: Are there any authentic Reality Shows?

[Rpenny]

Curse of Oak Island

this doc is the best way to explain what the show is all about. It is the same thing. There is no curse or mystery, IT was always about making money. From the word go over 100 years ago

 

[93LEAFS]

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.

Survivor/Big Brother/Amazing Race/Challenge I believe are listed as reality shows and not game shows, to skirt laws put in place due to the Game show scandal. It's never really been tested since the Stacy Stillman lawsuit was settled out of court.

As for what is the closest to real reality TV? Probably the Big Brother live feeds. But, for the 3 hours they put out a week, it is highly produced to create fan favorites and people to cheer against. Big Brother is also somewhat more confusing on re-watch when compared to shows like the Challenge/Survivor/Amazing Race since it's edited as the show films, whereas the other shows can tell the story of the winner or the fallen angel if they want.

 

[kook10]

Survivor/Big Brother/Amazing Race/Challenge I believe are listed as reality shows and not game shows, to skirt laws put in place due to the Game show scandal. It's never really been tested since the Stacy Stillman lawsuit was settled out of court.

It is not so much a question of "listing" as one or the other, but it is a question of fairness and abiding ant-fraud laws when there is a competition for prize money. The competition has to be defensible as fair and its rules and structure are reviewed for compliance. Surely large producers will lawyer it to death for maximum wiggle room, but the essence of it being "fair" and not "rigged" is in tact. That was the core of the Stillman case and presumably why it got settled. Whether it was settled because her allegations were true, or the allegations of it being rigged were too damaging to air in public who knows? But if it was legally determined to be rigged, many contestants would have claims. But to your point it hasn't been tested (as far as we know), and if they were found to have run afoul of it all, they have piles of money to address such things.

The Survivor "rules" got leaked a while back and are pretty interesting, but you can clearly see the competition language of Contestant/Prize and detailed discussion of the competition rules (with huge "producer's discretion" caveats). You can also see language around not cheating (quid-pro-quos, losing in exchange for money, etc).

Survivor rule book: the contract that details pay, tie-breakers, and more

The Survivor rule book: the games rules, part of the cast contract, details consolation prizes, how ties are broken, prohibited behavior, and more.

www.realityblurred.com

 

[93LEAFS]

It is not so much a question of "listing" as one or the other, but it is a question of fairness and abiding ant-fraud laws when there is a competition for prize money. The competition has to be defensible as fair and its rules and structure are reviewed for compliance. Surely large producers will lawyer it to death for maximum wiggle room, but the essence of it being "fair" and not "rigged" is in tact. That was the core of the Stillman case and presumably why it got settled. Whether it was settled because her allegations were true, or the allegations of it being rigged were too damaging to air in public who knows? But if it was legally determined to be rigged, many contestants would have claims. But to your point it hasn't been tested (as far as we know), and if they were found to have run afoul of it all, they have piles of money to address such things.

The Survivor "rules" got leaked a while back and are pretty interesting, but you can clearly see the competition language of Contestant/Prize and detailed discussion of the competition rules (with huge "producer's discretion" caveats). You can also see language around not cheating (quid-pro-quos, losing in exchange for money, etc).

Survivor rule book: the contract that details pay, tie-breakers, and more

The Survivor rule book: the games rules, part of the cast contract, details consolation prizes, how ties are broken, prohibited behavior, and more.

www.realityblurred.com

I don't think it's rigged, although I do believe production has it not considered a gameshow to avoid the extra scrutiny that comes with being listed as a game show for maximum wiggle room. For example, I believe the Outcast twist in Pearl Islands was come up with on the spot and was not originally planned. Survivor also casts people who they expect to be cannon fodder, and those players sometimes go surprisingly far (Purple Kelly in Nicaragua and Courtney in China).

The only really questionable thing post-Stacy Stillman I can think of is Cook Islands and the bottle twist. There is some belief that CBS considered scrapping that season halfway through filming and have players sign a bunch of NDA's and pay out a ton of money. In the end, the "bottle" twist sort of stopped the season from becoming what they were really worried about optically (which was the all-white tribe dominating the season, when the tribes were split into groups of 4 to start the season based on race).

 

[shakes the clown]

this is a silly topic. People are obsessed with trying to prove the reality shows are fake. I have a unique perspective because I was on one of these shows, albeit about 1000 years ago. Show was called Love Cruise and it was on FOX. Years after being on the show people would still come up to me and ask me how much of the show as real and how much was scripted.

I'll post here the same thing I told all those people back then. The show was 100% real, nothing was scripted. The only producer manipulation was that they gave us as much alcohol as we wanted because they knew there would be good drama if everyone was hammered. And they casted a bunch of self absorbed attention whores like myself, put a cash prize at the end and that was all they needed to get a ridiculous amount of drama.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Survivor/Big Brother/Amazing Race/Challenge I believe are listed as reality shows and not game shows, to skirt laws put in place due to the Game show scandal. It's never really been tested since the Stacy Stillman lawsuit was settled out of court.

As for what is the closest to real reality TV? Probably the Big Brother live feeds. But, for the 3 hours they put out a week, it is highly produced to create fan favorites and people to cheer against. Big Brother is also somewhat more confusing on re-watch when compared to shows like the Challenge/Survivor/Amazing Race since it's edited as the show films, whereas the other shows can tell the story of the winner or the fallen angel if they want.

Great call on the live feeds. About as raw of a television viewing experience as you can get.

I was obsessed with them around BB20. I remember one night sitting there with my pipe, got so blitzed I felt like I was actually in the BB house hanging out with Tyler Crispen lol

 

[LarKing]

I have a friend who works in video editing and has worked on dozens of these shows. They're all fake. Sorry to ruin your favorite show if I did.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

my 600 pound life and hoarders. these two shows are as authentic as one can get.

the 600 lb show is great. each show to me is like some sort of unique type of case study. shows you what these people eat on an average day-man it's like really a lot. then there's always the part where i love playing the guessing game. i always try and guess how much they weight before they step on the scale at the doctor's office.

the episode with the cat lady on hoarders is epic television. the reaction of the shrink after she opens the freezer door and finds a dead cat in there. bugs and shit scattered all over inside the house.

 

[93LEAFS]

Great call on the live feeds. About as raw of a television viewing experience as you can get.

I was obsessed with them around BB20. I remember one night sitting there with my pipe, got so blitzed I felt like I was actually in the BB house hanging out with Tyler Crispen lol

FOUTTE probably cost you IQ points.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

FOUTTE probably cost you IQ points.

Oh yes absolutely. Faysal blindsiding his own ally (Scottie the nerd) because he was worried that Scottie was too close to his Showmance.

Absolute shit show lol