Is reality TV truely real?

Question

People say that Laguna beach is real and I know that it's not because I'm into photography and there's no way they could get those shots and it be not planned. Also, they never stumble on their words or seem natural of what they're saying. it must be fake and i've heard the actresses on that show say it was too.
now real world and i think it real but they cut all their time down so that it looks dramatic all the time but in reality, it wasn't.
I love NY, Rock of Love, A Shot at Love, Charm School...I don't know how all that works. I think that the break up of I Love NY was only to promote I love NY2 but the rest of it could truely be "real" and they chose ridiculous crazy people 'cause then we would all watch it...there really are crazy people like that i have met.
so what do you all think? if you have any basis besides opinion, please tell me so i can look it up as well.

Answer 1

I think they all have degrees of "realness", but no show is 100% real because: A) Everyone knows of the cameras and B) Real Life can be boring sometimes

Answer 2

I don't think much of reality TV is real. The main reason is because everyone is pre-selected. The women on 'The Bachelor' are picked because they're attractive by society's standards; if the show was truly 'real', they would just find however many random women on the street. The choices for 'A Shot at Love' work the same way. Everyone is pre-screened to make sure they'd be interesting to watch on television. They pick someone who's going to clash with others; they pick someone who wants to be everyone's friend; and did you ever notice how they are typically attractive people that you would want to date? Producers would never make a show with a bunch of 'ugly' people in it. The majority of reality shows are totally staged.

The best "reality" show I've ever seen was 'The Joe Schmo Show' and it was anti-reality. A team of writers and actors spent over a year preparing a fake reality show, with fake characters, in order to do a type of psychology experiment on their average guy. There is a lot that goes into the show behind the scenes, and I think that series (I only saw season one, but it was fantastic) really provides a good example of that.

Answer 3

In addition to what's been mentioned, the producers have a great deal to do with the outcome of shows - especially shows like Big Brother, Survivor, etc. Any time you see folks talking alone away from a group with just the camera man & sound guy isn't just thinking out loud. They're answering questions that have been posed to them by a producer. Even on Survivor, tribal council looks short but in reality can last 3 or 4 hours...lots of time for Q&A. Depending on how questions are composed or phrased can give quite a lot away to a contestant. On Big Brother, someone can be in the diary room for 5 minutes or two hours. The DR knows what everyone in the house is doing/thinking/confessing. How can he not influence the contestant being interviewed in some way?

There's several interesting books about reality TV and just how real it is.

Am waiting for some of my favorites to start again,

LR

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reality-TV-Real-Debating-Matters/dp/0340857358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Loving-Big-Brother-Surveillance-Performance/dp/0415275385/ref=pd_sim_b_img_3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shooting-People-Adventures-Reality-TV/dp/1859845401/ref=pd_sim_b_img_2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reality-TV-Critical-Institutions-Politics/dp/0742527484/ref=pd_sim_b_img_5

Answer 4

I always thought that Laguna Beach and The Hills were just bad soap opera's for teenagers. People who try to tell me that these are real people in real situations come across as naive morons to me.

Anyway, I kind of feel bad for people who take what they see on these reality shows as the real deal. Between them "re-shooting" scenes and them cutting and chopping and editing things to look one way, when they were really another; no telling what the actual truth is.

They should put the same caption on reality shows as they used to put on those psychic hotline commercials:

For Entertainment Purposes Only.

I love a reality show, but to me, the people participating are all playing a role and are just actors, when it boils down to it.

Answer 5

Lot of reality shows they add things things to make the show more interesting. Have the time the stuff that they shot is boring so they have do some stuff in, like maybe get to off the main stars to have a fued. And reality games show such as the apprentice, they have alot of things that are staged.

Answer 6

well today's reality shows are more focused on drama and other stuff that draws viewers to the show more than actual reality.
plus there are cameras everywhere... just think: how would you act if you had a camera following you every min of the day? i sure know that i wouldn't be wearing my holy pjs and all... but i wouldn't be wearing a designer dress to bed either lol..
we all act differently when cameras are on us.


but i still love love love all those shows!!!
i am a Reality Show junkie