What is Reality TV?

Cartoon © Benrik Pitch

TV genres

How many TV genres can you name?

Give an example of a programme from each genre you have listed

TV genre examples

Entertainment Factual Reality Drama Sport Children’s Comedy

TV Sub genresCan you identify any of the sub genres of: Comedy Sport Factual Entertainment Drama

TV sub-genres

Comedy – stand-up, sketch show Sport – football, rugby, cricket etc Factual – news, documentary, reconstruction,

current affairs Entertainment - magazine programmes, talk and

chat shows, game and quiz shows Drama – soap, sitcom, historical, sci-fi,

costume, family, courtroom, medical

TV hybrids

Comedy quiz show – ‘QI’ Sitcom – comedy and drama – ‘Friends’ Reality game show – ‘Big Brother’ Sports news ‘Sky Sports News’

Reality TV shows Look at the reality TV examples you

have been given

Can you group them into categories?

If so, how?

Categories

You may have grouped them by: Format or type Theme Presentation format Location/setting Target audience Past or present Local or global Scheduling Audience involvement

Definitions

What is reality TV and how would you define it?

In your groups, come up with a one or two sentence definition to describe the genre

1. Internet/populist

2. Theorist – research into the genre

3. Industry

Some Definitions

1. Reality television is...

‘a genre of television programming that presents supposedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors.’

(Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television)

2. Reality television is...

‘a catch-all category that includes a wide range of television programmes about real people. Sometimes called popular factual television, reality TV is located in border territories, between information and entertainment, documentary and drama.’

(Annette Hill, Reality TV, 2005)

programming that is unscripted and follows actual ‘real life’ events as they unfold, usually involving members of the public or groups of celebrities. (http://www.skillset.org)

the television genre where situations are created by the show’s producers, but the show itself is unscripted. Cameras capture the participants’ natural reactions and responses to the situations created, which are then edited as a programme or series.

(Product Placement Glossary, iTVX.com)

3. Reality television is...

Reality TV Conventions

What are the conventions of reality TV?

Can you identify a list of typical features that many Reality TV shows share?

Reality TV general conventions

Real people, not actors ‘Real’ situations, even when they are set up by the

programme makers Largely unscripted Factual entertainment A story, a journey or a contest A presenter, host or voiceover narrator Participants who have volunteered to take part High level of editing

Reality sub-genres

Can you group the programmes you have in front of you by sub-genre?

What sub genres of Reality TV do you think currently exist – can you make a list?

Reality sub-genres

Infotainment (reconstruction, expose) Docusoap (in the home, workplace, school) Lifestyle (makeover, improvement or change -

self or property) Social experiment (people experiments where

situations are set up and observed) Reality Talent (competition format where talents

are judged and a winner is revealed) Reality Game (popularity contest in constructed

situation)

The Infotainment Show The oldest variation: classic shows that combine public

information messages to the public on crime, health, etc with real life experts and examples, and reconstructions of events or issues. Usually use on-camera presenter, celeb or specialist for added authority.

Examples:

999: tips to the public about how to save lives, alongside reconstructions of crises where people are saved by the emergency services. Click for 999

Crimewatch: reconstructions of crimes with particular instructional message to the public, to get involved and try to support police in reporting and solving crime.

The Docusoap a hybrid of observational documentary and soap

opera

Vets in Practice: narratives around vets, suffering pets, and their owners and the drama, highs and lows of the daily life of a veterinary practice.

Traffic Cops: motorway stories, seen from the point of view of the daily work of traffic police. Click for Traffic Cops

The Family: 28-camera set-up records the minutiae of everyday family life over 8 months. Massively edited into a highly constructed narrative. Series 1 observational with voiceover, focusing on small moments of family conflict set entirely within the home; Series 2 incorporates talking heads, interview and more continuing story strands, with external footage. Click for The Family (clip 1); Click for The Family (clip 2).

The Lifestyle Programme Remodelling of homes, gardens, bodies etc for ‘ordinary’ people, e.g:

Bargain Hunt, Cash in the Attic, 60-minute Makeover. Features include:

observational (usually) with expert gurus and a ‘journey’ a narrative consisting of a problem; a solution process; a final

resolution often, but not always, a final ‘transformation’ moment, or a surprise.

You Are What You Eat or Freaky Eaters, where experts try to make a life-changing difference for real people by encouraging us to eat healthier types of food, or overcome problems or fears: Click for Freaky Eaters

Gok’s Fashion Fix, Ten Years Younger, What Not to Wear where real people with problems of body image, style or confidence are exposed onscreen, remodelled by experts, re-invented as better people, and ‘premiered’ to the world.

The Social Experiment Show A ‘people experiment’ where a situation is set up and observed, e.g. Wife

Swap – conflicting class values and life-styles within the home – exploring parenting, social relationships, domestic organisation, gender roles, work, etc. Click for Wife Swap

Blood Sweat and T-shirts – assumptions of affluent Western teens challenged through experience of harsh lives of other cultures. Click for Blood Sweat & T-Shirts

Secret Millionaire – a social experiment with positive outcomes. Click for Secret Millionaire

The Choir – encouraging participation; teaching boys to enjoy singing; uniting divided communities; mending ‘Broken Britain’ through song.

The Reality Game Show Essentially a popularity contest set in a highly constructed

experimental situation under 24-hour surveillance. Includes elements of many other reality genres, e.g:

tasks and challenges – create tension and entertainment

personal confession – as in the Diary Room

personalities selected for their ‘conflict potential’: heroes and villains

suspense – evictions and a final resolution

controversy – opportunities for discussion, water-cooler moments, press coverage e.g. Big Brother, I’m A Celebrity…

The Reality Talent Show

Competition – auditions, tension, conflict, skills development

A format – recognisable, familiar, same but different

Talent (or not) – entertainment and diversion – it’s fun!

Celebrity judges, real-life personal stories or journeys

Inclusiveness – anyone can enter

A long-term process building to a mega-event

A vote and a winner – resolution! (e.g. The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent).

Reality sub - genres

Can you now place the programmes you have been given into their correct sub-genre

On the reality TV spectrum , decide where your programmes lie in terms of:

How ‘natural’ it is How ‘constructed’ it is How ‘entertaining’ it is considered to be

Reality TV genre – learning summary

Constantly changing and evolving Broad sub-genres and hybrids Sub-genres have their own unique

characteristics Sub-sub genres have come about as the

genre has grown and sub genres have become more defined