Ah, reality television… it’s just as if fate used a script. Well, perhaps if fate was a producer who was a bit more concerned with DRAMA than other aspects of one’s life. Isn’t it amazing how none of the people and situations on these reality shows seems boring? Because, hey – God knows boring stuff never happens in reality, right? And if (heaven forebid) something boring does happen in real life, isn’t it neat how it is always over and done in the space of a commercial break? The question has been asked – are reality shows really real? The answer, of course, is (drum roll please)… Well… NO (Duh!)
Reality shows, for the most part, can’t be real for the simple fact, they have an editor and producer… does your life have those? Reality shows can’t survive having a few boring months in a row. Can you imagine if all life was like that – drama, comedy, or extinction all of the time? I know some people who seem to thrive on drama (it’s just the people around them who don’t like it) but even their unnecessarily self-complicated lives have boring spots – some lasting days at a time. That doesn’t work on TV, however. Entertain me or I’m flipping channels.
If a group of people are filmed all the time, something dramatic or funny is bound to happen sooner or later. Of course, in this case, it’s still real – just very carefully selected. All of the boring bits (hopefully) end up in the digital dustbin or the proverbial “cutting room floor.” The boring can be rendered enticing, often times with a few pokes of the editing fairies wand. There’s a practice in editing that’s come to be called frankenbiting; essentially, this practice is extreme editing that can warp almost any conversation into whatever the producer wants. Rearranging what’s said or altering context can radically change what appears to be said and heard. Frankenbiting has proven to be unnervingly common in our so-called reality TV genre.
Another way to tilt reality toward drama is by choosing participants very carefully; selecting them for maximum watch-ability. Many shows benefit from a villain, that guy or gal everyone loves to hate. Cast selection for reality shows is by no means random. Cast selection interferes with authenticity, however; so, is this show reality TV or not? Production costs can be quite expensive; so, many producers are unwilling to leave their reality shows to the vagaries of fate and chance. Naturally, that’s yet another point where they diverge from the real.
My real (there’s that word again…) objection to reality shows is when they are carefully scripted, and meticulously practiced. Life isn’t scripted. If someone handed me a script for my life, my first instinct would be to slug them (Instant Drama). My suspension of disbelief allows me to ignore the fact that reality shows are edited for maximum effect, as well as the fact that participants are not as random as producers would have you believe; and, lastly, that the contestants/participants are placed in situations designed to generate maximum drama. All that I can accept, but when they start handing out scripts or altering things behind the scenes at that point I finally say no. The reality show has ceased to be reality. So much of this reality is fake; it’s actually rather surprising when you stumble across those bits that are real. So, without further ado, let’s bounce through a few shows with a little bit of a reality check:
Amish Mafia – The local Amish community the show depicts doesn’t believe it when they chance to see episodes of the show when out in nearby communities. Also, the police in that area don’t believe a word of it, either. So, in the words of a famous Comic Book Guru, ‘Nuff said.’ Bar Rescue – This is one of the real ones; apparently, they do select the rescues for maximum drama. There is a lawsuit pending, however, that suggests possible fakery; we await the results. Cops – is real; wife-beaters and all. Duck Dynasty – the anti-gay remarks made by the star hav
e created a scandal. The rightness or wrongness of that action is, though, a separate issue from the realism of the show. The majority of red necks are anti-gay but the stars of this show aren’t even real rednecks! Say what? You heard me – the ‘red necks’ are fake. This is a family of upwardly-mobile professionals who were retrofitted to become red-necks by A&E. The duck-call business was real and it’s even been enhanced by their backwoods makeovers; now they’re ‘reality’ show stars, as well. This begs the question – was the anti-gay scandal staged for ratings and just got out of hand? I have to cry foul on Duck Dynasty. Keeping up with the Kardashians – is scripted. Kitchen Nightmares – some scripted scenes and an abysmal success rate with the restaurants combine to make this something I wouldn’t dream of watching. Undercover Boss – I have to admit, I like this show. The complaints about it are exactly what you might expect – the changes implemented are not far-reaching enough, only the employees the boss interacted with get improved treatment (unless in those few rare cases it went totally the other way), and the bosses in question are just hamming it up for good publicity. At least the depiction of altruism and corporate responsibility is uplifting, versus some of the go-for-the-throat infighting on other reality shows. Storage Wars – The producers had items planted for the cast to find. Surprise! Survivor – has used body doubles ‘to make shooting easier’ … really? Is that all the use you got out of them? It seems like the mere presence of body doubles might inspire some people to base trickery. Note: this isn’t an ‘official accusation’ … I’m just saying that if I were a ratings-driven producer and I had this interesting resource right there available, in-between the ‘official uses’ I might be driven to what I’ll call ‘fits of creativity.’ Also, several of the people voted off have claimed meddling in the tribal council votes by the producers. Is it sour grapes or perhaps something more? WWE – Does anyone who hasn’t suffered a severe blow to the head believe any of this is real? Even with careful choreography these guys still get injured. Can you imagine how many maims and deaths would occur if it was real?
That’s just a short list, admittedly. ‘Reality TV’ covers a little over a sixth of our TV viewing spectrum. If an overly fake show has good ratings, let’s just call it a drama and honestly leave it at that. As for the rest, well, maybe it’s time to cut the dross, save the few that are real gems and start looking for the next big wave of entertainment programming elsewhere. I’d really like to see that. For real.
- Montgomery Crew - February 22, 2023
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