Reality shows also often use a host to run the show or a narrator to tell the story or set the stage of events that are about to unfold.
Unlike scripted shows like sitcoms, dramas and newscasts, reality TV does not rely on writers and actors, and much of the show is run by producers and a team of editors.
Ol Rusty is a sweet man with a kind heart but is he too weird to find love?
Rusty was given the chance to chat with four amazing ladies, for three minutes each live on the radio.
So, you're home on the couch in front of your new plasma screen with a few hours to kill.
You start channel-surfing and come across a show with people slurping a concoction of maggots and hissing beetles for a chance to win 50 grand.
Who in the world are New York and Tila Tequila, and why do they have their own shows? And, finally, how do people come up with this stuff -- and how real are these shows anyway?
Reality TV has morphed from radio game show and amateur talent competition to hidden camera stunt show to dating show to documentary-style series.
In a highlight clip that finds the cast explaining why their season—and representation of queer people on television—is so important, one member offered a straightforward assessment: “If you have a reality TV show that includes the entire spectrum of, like, racial, sexual, and gender identities, you’re gonna have a really interesting show!
” And he’s right—the season is already among the show’s best.
The genre now encompasses unscripted dramas, makeover sagas, celebrity exposés, lifestyle-change shows, dating shows, talent extravaganzas and just about any kind of competition you can think of (and a few that you probably can't).
In the fall 2007 season, there were more than a dozen reality shows in prime-time slots on major networks and cable channels.
Whether the show takes place in a real setting with real people (much like a documentary), shoots in front of a live studio audience that participates in the program, or uses hidden surveillance, reality TV relies on the camera capturing everything as it happens.