Researcher Published by CQ Press, a Division of SAGE CQ www.cqresearcher.com Reality TV Is it harmless entertainment or a cultural threat?

n the blink of an eye, it seems, reality television has be- come a certifiable global pop-culture phenomenon. Critics generally dismiss it as a crude form of entertainment that I appeals to the lowest common denominator, but reality tIelevision’s high ratings and ability to create pop culture icons (and its low production costs) are undeniable. While “unscripted” reality television shows have replaced many scripted shows, the genre has been tarnished by accusations of racism and stereotyping. Questions have also been raised about reality television’s social

value — or lack thereof — and its ability to distort young view- Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and other “Jersey Shore” cast members have amused and outraged millions of MTV ers’ perception of life. The genre has also been rocked by real-life viewers with their antics. The show’s second season debut drew 5.3 million viewers and was the highest- rated cable broadcast of 2010 among young viewers. scandals that mirror the wild antics the shows encourage to boost viewership. While reality TV has repeatedly been called a superficial I cultural fad, it continues to grow, leaving many television writers N THISREPORT and cultural commentators worried about its impact on mainstream S THE ISSUES ...... 679 TV entertainment. I BACKGROUND ...... 686 D CHRONOLOGY ...... 687 E CURRENT SITUATION ...... 692 CQ Researcher • Aug. 27, 2010 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE...... 693 Volume 20, Number 29 • Pages 677-700 OUTLOOK ...... 695 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 698 THE NEXT STEP ...... 699 REALITY TV CQRe search er

Aug. 27, 2010 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 20, Number 29

• Has reality TV caused a Reality TV Gets ‘Worst’ MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin 679 coarsening of society? 680 Rating [email protected] Most Americans think reality • Does reality TV perpet- ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS: Kathy Koch uate harmful racial, gender TV has changed society for [email protected] and other stereotypes? the worse. Thomas J. Billitteri, [email protected] • Does reality TV distort ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost how young viewers per- 681 Americans Prefer Sitcoms ceive life? Over Reality TV STAFF WRITERS: Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel Twice as many Americans CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Roland Flamini, BACKGROUND watch sitcoms. Sarah Glazer, Alan Greenblatt, Reed Karaim, Barbara Mantel, Patrick Marshall, In the Beginning 684 ‘Idol’ Is Most Popular Tom Price, Jennifer Weeks 686 Prime Time Show DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis “Candid Camera” began The Fox talent show aver- surprising real people in aged 23 million viewers. ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa 1948. FACT-CHECKING: Eugene J. Gabler, Chronology Michelle Harris Rise of Modern Shows 687 Key events since 1939. 688 Fox’s “Cops” began trailing real police on busts in Straight Talk From a 1989. 688 Reality TV Producer “Young, attractive people The Last Decade behaving badly always works 689 CBS launched the U.S. for television.” A Division of SAGE versions of “Big Brother” and “Survivor” in summer 691 Will ‘American Idol’ Finally PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER: 2000. Win an Emmy? John A. Jenkins Judges dislike shows featuring trashy players like ‘Jersey Copyright © 2010 CQ Press, a Division of SAGE. Shore.’ CURRENT SITUATION SAGE reserves all copyright and other rights herein, unless pre vi ous ly spec i fied in writing. No part of this Watching Reality TV With Going Too Far? publication may be reproduced electronically or 692 a Critical Eye 692 The First Amendment otherwise, without prior written permission. Un- Viewers must remember, “It’s au tho rized re pro duc tion or trans mis sion of SAGE copy - offers wide latitude on not reality, it’s entertainment.” content. right ed material is a violation of federal law car ry ing civil fines of up to $100,000. At Issue Legal and Regulatory 693 Can’t we just sit back and CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional 694 Action enjoy reality TV? Quarterly Inc. The focus of state and CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- federal initiatives is on free paper. Pub lished weekly, except; (Jan. wk. 1) child labor, indecency and FOR FURTHER RESEARCH (May wk. 4) (July wks. 1, 2) (Aug. wks. 2, 3) (Nov. embedded advertising. wk. 4) and (Dec. wks. 4, 5), by CQ Press, a division For More Information 697 of SAGE Publications. Annual full-service subscriptions Organizations to contact. start at $803. For pricing, call 1-800-834-9020. To pur- OUTLOOK chase a CQ Researcher report in print or electronic Bibliography 698 Selected sources used. format (PDF), visit www. cqpress.com or call 866-427- 695 Technology and 7737. Single reports start at $15. Bulk purchase dis- Creativity The Next Step counts and electronic-rights licensing are also avail- Shows in 3-D could be 699 Additional articles. able. Pe ri od i cals post age paid at Wash ing ton, D.C., around the corner. and ad di tion al mailing of fic es. POST MAST ER: Send Citing CQ Researcher ad dress chang es to CQ Re search er, 2300 N St., N.W., 699 Sample bibliography formats. Suite 800, Wash ing ton, DC 20037.

Cover: Getty Images/Jason Merritt

678 CQ Researcher Reality TV BY MARYANN HAGGERTY

orado, Richard Heene, whose family had been on “Wife THE ISSUES Swap,” was convicted of stag- fter six seasons of gos- ing the “balloon boy” hoax after sip, bikinis, plastic he falsely reported that his 6- A surgery, hook-ups and year-old son, Falcon, had float- break-ups, “The Hills” came ed away with a Mylar balloon. to an end on July 13. For one Michaele and Tareq Salahi, vying last time, its beautifully lit, for roles on “Real Housewives beautifully shot, beautifully of D.C,” allegedly crashed a White blonde young female stars ag- House state dinner. In other ver- onized over their mid-20s life sions of “Housewives,” women crises and shared their screamed, turned over tables, dreams for the future. and showed up in sex videos. Kristin Cavallari, who has Some developments are spent much of her life in front even more troubling. Ryan of MTV’s cameras on “The Jenkins, a contestant on VH1’s Hills” and its predecessor re- “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” r ality soap opera, “Laguna o was found dead, seemingly n n

Beach,” told her friends she o a suicide, after he had been C

was ready for a clean break. s sought in the murder of his i r

Her on-again, off-again affair K ex-wife. The network pulled / s with hunky Brody Jenner was e the show. Adam “DJ AM” g a

off, and she wanted to start m Goldstein, a recovering drug I

y anew in Europe. On the day t addict who starred in MTV’s t e

she appeared ready to leave G “Gone Too Far,” which dealt for the airport, Brody was Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise targets a narrow with addiction and recovery, outside her home. demographic of 30-to-49-year-old women. Above, four of died of an overdose a few There were tears and hugs, “The Real Housewives of D.C.” Two other cast members, days after shooting wrapped. Michaele and Tareq Salahi, allegedly crashed a White but she got into the waiting House state dinner during casting for the show. In other The episodes aired several black SUV. Brody — the son versions of “Housewives,” women have screamed, months later, in late 2009. of Olympian Bruce Jenner, turned over tables and appeared in sex videos. And in Detroit, this past stepbrother to the flamboyant May 16, Aiyana Stanley- Kardashian sisters, boyfriend of singer Ever since “Survivor,” reality televi- Jones, age 7, was killed during a po- Avril Lavigne, star of at least two other sion has been an easy target for those lice raid that was accompanied by reality shows of his own — watched who see it as a harbinger of cultural cameras from the A&E series “The First her go. The iconic Hollywood sign loomed decay. It’s dismissed as lowbrow and 48.” The girl’s family is suing the po- in the hills in the far background. routinely slammed for being unreal. lice. In July, Detroit’s mayor fired Po- Then the cameras pulled back. Stage Critics say it eats up air time and job lice Chief Warren Evans, reportedly in hands scurried. Viewers saw — in re- opportunities that otherwise would be part because of Aiyana’s death. 3 ality, as it were — that Brody was available for better-quality scripted “Reality television” is an umbrella term standing on a Hollywood back lot. shows. Nonetheless, it has grown into that lumps together hundreds of pro- It was, show creator Adam DiVello a multibillion-dollar industry — talent grams. They can be classy. “Brick City,” said afterwards, a “wink” to viewers, an show “American Idol” alone brings in a five-part show that aired on Sundance, acknowledgement that this particular se- $500 million in ad revenue, the trade sensitively explored the obstacles and ries has been regarded as the most staged paper Variety estimates. 2 aspirations of the people of Newark, of reality television. That wink came 10 Much is indeed shocking or vulgar. N.J. They can be trashy. Not too far years after “Survivor” — generally con- Jon and Kate Gosselin, who were raising away, in Seaside Heights, the young sidered the show that changed TV — their children onscreen in “Jon and Kate partiers of “Jersey Shore” amused and first appeared on U.S. broadcast televi- Plus Eight,” ended up in a messy divorce outraged millions on MTV with their sion on May 31, 2000. 1 that played out in the tabloids. In Col- crass attitudes and hot tub escapades.

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 679 REALITY TV

List.’ Those are three very different Reality TV Gets ‘Worst’ Rating shows.” A higher percentage of Americans think reality TV has changed His magazine split its awards into subgenres, with separate awards for de- society for the worse than more than a dozen other recent techno- sign, food or home programming, as

logical and social changes. well as best docureality (“Brick City”),

Opinions on Technological and Social Changes best docusoap (“Gene Simmons Fami- ly Jewels,” A&E), best competition/lifestyle (“The Biggest Loser,” NBC), best com- petition/talent or studio (“RuPaul’s Drag Cell phones Race,” Logo), and more. For both broadcast and cable net- Green products works, the forces driving reality pro- gramming are economic. Simply put, E-mail reality is cheap. The Internet In a scripted drama, actors must be

paid, along with writers and the rest of Increasing racial/ethnic diversity

r the creative team, points out Marc Berman, e

k c a television analyst with Mediaweek, a

Increased surveillance/security e B trade publication. “It’s expensive to do, d i

BlackBerrys/iPhones v a even as opposed to, say, ‘Survivor.’ On D /

s ‘Survivor,’ the winner’s getting a million Online shopping e g

a dollars, the second runner-up is getting m I

News and entertainment choices y $100,000. If you add up salaries for ac- t

t e tors on a scripted series, it’s going to be G Genetic testing a hell of a lot more than a million dol- lars,” he says. Acceptance of gays and lesbians At the time “Survivor” debuted, the Social networking sites Change for the top broadcast drama, “ER,” cost an es-

better timated $14 million per episode, ac- Cable news talk and opinion shows Hasn’t made much difference cording to pop culture observer Robert More people in stock market Don’t know Thompson, a professor at the S.I. New- Change for the house School of Public Communica- Internet blogs worse tions at Syracuse University. “ ‘Survivor’

is not cheap, but it’s sure cheaper than Reality TV shows that,” he says. More people getting tattoos The economics are especially attrac- tive for cable channels, says Doug Gomery, 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 resident scholar at the Library of Amer- Source: “Current Decade Rates as Worst in 50 Years,” Pew Research Center for the ican Broadcasting at the University of People and the Press, December 2009 Maryland. To fill their schedules, “they make what I call cheap shows — shows Who knew a lifestyle could be sum- Realscreen, a trade publication for that track a very small audience, b ut th at marized as “GTL” — gym, tan, laundry? the non-fiction film and television in- audience is valuable.” A show wher e Entire channels are filled with cook- dustries, in 2010 presented its first Fac- people try on bridal gowns won’t draw ing shows or programs that teach peo- tual Entertainment Awards. A recurring blockbuster crowds, but it will draw ad- ple how to decorate, how (not) to industry complaint is that television’s vertisers seeking brides-to-be. dress and how to buy and sell real Emmy Awards lump all reality shows Something like Bravo’s “Real estate. Audiences follow the lives of together, explains Realscreen editor Housewives” franchise, he says, is reach- crab fishermen and cupcake bakers, Barry Walsh. “Things like ‘Antiques ing out to a narrow demographic of as well as minor celebrities known Road Show’ are up against ‘Dirty Jobs’ 30-to-49-year-old women. “Their moth- mostly for being on other reality shows. and ‘Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D ers used to watch soap operas.”

680 CQ Researcher While some “Housewives” have agents, they don’t have a union, unlike Americans Prefer Sitcoms Over Reality TV the soap operas. And while even the Almost twice as many Americans prefer sitcoms to reality television most popular reality shows don’t do (left). Less than 20 percent have actually voted in televised talent well in reruns, they don’t need to. “They contests such as “American Idol” (right). don’t make a lot of money, but they make consistent money,” Gomery says. As that finale of “The Hills” teased, Have you ever voted for a both fans and detractors have long de- contestant in a televised talent bated how real all this “reality” actu- Do you prefer to watch contest such as “American Idol” reality TV or sitcoms? or “Dancing With the Stars?” ally is. The consensus: Not very. In April, when VH1 announced it was going to shift away from its tack- iest shows such as “Flavor of Love,” 60% 52% 100% 82% network president Tom Calderone told 50 80 40 Mediaweek: “As much as they’ve en- 29% 60 30 joyed the ‘Love’ franchise, our audi- 19% 40 20 17% ence was getting a little fatigued by 10 20 all those manufactured reality shows. 0 0 They want more authenticity in their Reality TV Sitcoms Neither Yes No reality, which isn’t to say that it can’t be comedic and light.” 4 * Figures may not total 100 due to rounding. Thompson says, “If we were sud- Sources: Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, October 2009 (left); Pew denly to find out that the voting on Research Center, January 2010 (right) ‘American Idol’ was a total sham, that nobody actually counts the votes, that participants in artificial situations? Of But such issues don’t scare away would be a big deal. People would course. Do they feed them lines? Maybe. viewers. As Thompson says, “There care about that. But if someone hears, For several years, the Writers Guild are times when a reality TV show can oh, on ‘Survivor’ they reshot one of of America has campaigned to orga- be just what the doctor ordered.” the scenes so they could get it from nize the largely non-unionized shows. Some would even argue that real- above, I think most people shrug their The union maintains that story pro- ity TV can be good for you. For in- shoulders and say ‘so what?’ We’re ducers, segment producers and story stance, “Extreme Makeover: Home talking about shows where guys are editors have writers’ responsibilities. Edition” builds houses for needy fam- dating 25 women at the same time!” “The difference between shows like ilies. There has been criticism that these In the 1950s, a forerunner of today’s ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Survivor’ families are exploited for strong rat- reality programming was engulfed in is how the source material is gener- ings and cheap tears, and that in some scandal when it was revealed that some ated. Reality writers don’t script each cases, they may be left in a different quiz shows, including the popular line for a professional actor to speak. but still bad situation. Nonetheless, “Twenty One,” were rigged. Early this Instead, these writers must use exist- sheltering people who might other- year there were echoes of that scandal ing footage to work backwards from wise be homeless is generally con- when Fox pulled “Our Little Genius” the ending in the most interesting way sidered a social good. amid allegations that the young con- possible,” the union said in a 2007 re- In June, Realscreen editor Walsh testants were coached. The New York port called “Harsh Reality,” based on moderated an industry panel that dis- Times reported that the Federal Com- a survey of 333 reality TV workers. 6 cussed the good reality TV can do, munications Commission was investi- “Sixty-nine percent of reality writers focusing on shows such as “Biggest gating, but there have been no re- create storylines or outlines based on Loser,” “Intervention” and “Hoarders” ported results, and the FCC does not previously shot footage. Fifty-five per- that aim to solve social or personal comment on investigations. 5 cent create ‘paper cuts,’ which consist problems. “Obviously, there’s a More common are questions about of written outlines for a reality TV voyeuristic element. It is television degrees of fakery. All the shows are episode. Fifty-four percent write mate- after all; by the nature of television, edited so there’s a story line, some rial for a host to read or for characters there’s going to be a camera, filming more than others. Do producers put to read as a voiceover,” the report said. somebody,” he says. “I think what pro-

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 681 REALITY TV

ducers for those have to do is nego- It’s not just the anonymous masses say it’s not meant to be taken all that tiate a balance between the voyeuris- who are concerned. “I think of how seriously. tic elements and actually putting for- generations of kids are watching this Andy Dehnart, a visiting assistant ward a sincere and educational yet program and are gaining permission professor of journalism at Stetson entertaining document of what this to treat other people that way, to judge University in Florida and editor of problem is and how it can be solved.” them and to say nasty things to them. Reality Blurred, a Website, is one of As reality TV enters its second I think that’s a terrible thing,” renowned the defenders. He maintains that the decade after “Survivor,” here are some singer Michael Feinstein said about best of reality television can be “very of the issues being discussed: “American Idol” during a session with compelling, and often better than the Television Critics Association in scripted TV.” Has reality TV caused a coars- August. He was appearing before the Of course there are bad patches, he ening of society? critics to promote a three-part PBS says. “I think in those disturbing mo- Americans say they really, really special about the history of American ments, it’s worth questioning whether don’t like the influence that reality music. “To see a show where souls the show is constructing a stereotype, television programming has had on are dismissed wholesale in that way which is sometimes true, or if the show their culture. In late 2009, the non- is a very sad and dangerous thing.” 8 is holding up a mirror to us which is profit Pew Research Center interviewed “Whether reality television is guilti- sometimes saying, this is what we look 1,504 U.S. adults about their impres- er than other forms of programming, like as a culture.” sions of the decade He adds, “If you that was ending, in- think back to the Jerry cluding which social Springer days, I think a and technological lot of time the criticism changes had been just comes from a level for the better and of discomfort. It’s easier which for the worse. to sort of want to imag-

Overwhelmingly, n ine that’s fake or that the a

the respondents m show is just creating t l A

picked reality TV as that, rather than think- i z

a villain: 63 percent u ing about how this is the S / said it was a change s way we actually are e g

for the worse, with a sometimes as people.” m I just 8 percent say- Rich Juzwiak, a se- y t t

ing it was a change e nior editor at VH1.com, G for the better. By a / blogs about that chan- C B

large margin, it was A nel’s reality shows, the least-popular Reality TV programs such as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” — in which over the years trend tested. The which volunteers build dream homes for needy families — have included some of runner-up — more have been praised by critics for doing social good and those most often criti- not dwelling on voyeuristic elements. people getting tat- cized as bad influences. toos — was con- Where many cultur- sidered a change for the worse by just I don’t know,” says Realscreen editor al critics are quick to slam “Jersey 40 percent. (See graph, p. 680.) Walsh. All types of media have the Shore,” the drunken, screaming hit on A recent article that appeared on “capability of informing and inspiring VH1’s sister channel MTV, Juzwiak is CNN’s Website, headlined “In defense society,” he says. For instance, he says, an unabashed fan. “Extreme human of reality TV,” drew almost 200 com- “Deadliest Catch,” with its portrayal of behavior is the point, and they have ments, most highly negative. As one the pressures and rewards of a blue- extreme human behavior coming out commenter wrote, “Reality TV teach- collar lifestyle, “can do a lot of good of their pores.” es the scum of our society that they for a mass audience.” In his blog, he’s frequently catty, a actually have value when in reality He points out that many people reflection of the assumption that his their only purpose is to be organ believe reality television simply re- audience is in on the joke. For instance, donors and scientific experimentation flects what’s going on in our soci- his headline on a recap of the first on their corpses.” 7 ety, rather than hurting us. Others episode of “You’re Cut Off” was “Your

682 CQ Researcher Civilization Has Been Declined.” On The group “has gone on record since Ten years of reality programming that summer 2010 show, after their the show’s debut condemning its de- “have been an erasure of the concept credit cards were theatrically declined, piction of a false ‘reality’ in which peo- that the women’s movement, the civil nine rich, spoiled young women lived ple make a living by disrespecting their rights movement . . . have ever exist- together in a middle-class home. They great heritage and demeaning them- ed,” she says. “The problem is in think- actually — gasp — had to learn to selves,” Joseph V. Del Raso wrote. “We ing that the entertainment options we’re cook and clean up for themselves. These implore MTV to focus on responsible being presented with are harmless fluff. self-described princesses were walking behavior and stop promoting cultural They’re not.” (See “At Issue,” p. 693.) proof that money doesn’t equal class. stereotypes. People are watching only There are increasing levels of prod- “I feel professionally I can make in disgusted fascination.” 11 uct placement in scripted shows, too, but fun of their ways, because isn’t this Of course reality programming de- such deals — think of the judges on the point of the show?” Juzwiak asks. picts stereotypes. “And so does ad- “American Idol” drinking Coca-Cola — The second season debut of “Jer- vertising. And so do political leaders’ are an integral part of why tight-budget sey Shore” drew 5.3 million viewers, statements and so do all kinds of other reality shows work economically. “In script- almost double the show’s average last things. I mean, if one cares to look ed entertainment, there are some shows year, according to MTV, and was the very hard, American culture, Ameri- that are incredibly stereotypical, and highest-rated cable broadcast of 2010 can popular culture in particular, is some that are incredibly nuanced. There’s among those ages 12 to 34. 9 But that filled with, seething with, stereotypes a range. In reality TV, they do have writ- number is small compared with net- and misogyny and all of this kind of ers, they do have editors — but they work broadcasts; it would not have stuff,” says Thompson, the Syracuse never have nuance. There are always the ranked near the top 10 for broadcast University professor. same stock characters: the bitch, the slut, shows that week. 10 “Is ‘Jersey Shore’ filled with stereo- the douchebag, the prince charming, the The University of Maryland’s Gomery types of certain kinds of people? Ab- angry black woman,” Pozner says. points out that decades ago everyone solutely! Some of them are completely As far as race, in the first part of watched three or four TV networks. over the top, and that’s really in a lot the 2000s, most reality shows dealt Now, cable is more like radio, with small of ways what that show is sort of about. with race by marginalization, tok- audiences, a wide variety of choices and Did ‘The Sopranos’ include stereotypes enization or typecasting, she says. But little mass effect — far different from the of Italian-Americans? Yes, it absolutely a change came with VH1’s “Flavor of networks that dominated popular cul- did. It was also one of the greatest shows Love” in 2006, which showcased clown- ture from 1949 to 1982. “That world is ever made, but you can’t argue against ish rapper Flavor Flav as he looked long gone,” he says. the fact that yes, it had these stereo- for love, or something, amid a crew types.” (And the Italian-American Foun- of outrageous would-be girlfriends. Does reality TV perpetuate harm- dation also condemned that show.) From then on, Pozner says, a whole ful racial, gender and other “Are commercials a constant string subgenre has embraced portrayals of stereotypes? of messages about beauty and body blacks that are “extremely focused on It was a scene too implausible for type and gender and all of that kind minstrel-era stereotypes.” fiction: On July 27, Snooki rang the of stuff? Absolutely. And none of this Tokenism on all fronts is trouble- bell to open trading on the New York is stop-the-presses news,” he says. some, says Allendra Letsome, mem- Stock Exchange. But it’s far from harmless, critic Jen- bership vice president of the Na- It was all part of the whirlwind of nifer Pozner maintains. Yes, magazine tional Organization for Women. If publicity surrounding the second season ads and 30-second TV commercials have there are eight or nine people in a of “Jersey Shore,” with its beach house long sold us such messages. But real- cast, she says, one will be a black full of “guidos” and “guidettes.” And Nicole ity TV takes it a step further by craft- man, and three will be women — “Snooki” Polizzi is an important part of ing entire shows around advertiser pitch- “never more than half” — and per- the business of parent company Viacom. es. “Those shilling narratives have been haps a Hispanic or Asian. “You see But not all the attention was posi- transformed into shilling reality shows the same thing in many scripted tive. A few days later, Snooki was ar- that pretend to be about who we are,” shows. . . . One is enough, whether rested for disorderly conduct, then re- says Pozner, director of Women in it’s scripted or reality.” leased. And in a letter printed in The Media and News and author of Reality The stereotyping is not necessarily Washington Post, the president of the Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About malicious, others point out. “Because National Italian American Foundation Guilty Pleasure TV, scheduled for publi- of the nature of television and cast- lashed out at the show. cation in November. ing, a lot of times they go for easy

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 683 REALITY TV

and many critics criticize, but it also ‘Idol’ Is Most Popular Prime-Time Show produced one of the few non-white

“American Idol” is the most popular reality TV show (left) as well as winners, Yul Kwon, a Korean-American lawyer who has since gone to work the most popular broadcast primetime show (right). for the FCC. There are also situations where re- Top TV Shows, Top Reality TV Shows, ality TV busts stereotypes. “It has the Broadcast Prime-Time, Broadcast Prime-Time, ability to introduce us to people who 2009-2010 Season 2009-2010 Season we wouldn’t have met otherwise,” (among 18-49-year-olds) (among 18-49-year-olds) Dehnart says. An oft-cited example is the third Average Average season of “The Real World,” set in San Show Network viewers Show Network viewers Francisco and shown in 1994. Pedro (in millions) (in millions) Zamora, an HIV-positive gay man, “American Idol” FOX 23.0 “American Idol” FOX 23.0 grabbed the show’s spotlight and ed- “American Idol “American Idol ucated its young viewers about what it Results Show” FOX 22.0 Results Show” FOX 22.0 was like to live with AIDS. Zamora died “NFL National “Dancing With shortly after the series aired. Post-Game the Stars” ABC 19.1 Activists continue to praise MTV’s Show” CBS 19.5 “Undercover depiction of gay people. In July, the “NCIS” CBS 19.3 Boss” CBS 17.8 Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against “Dancing With “Dancing With Defamation rated MTV “excellent” on the Stars” ABC 19.1 the Stars its Network Responsibility Index, the “Sunday Night Results Show” ABC 14.8 first time such a high rating had been Football” NBC 18.7 “Survivor: awarded. “From their inception, MTV “Undercover Heroes-Villains” CBS 12.6 programs like ‘The Real World’ and Boss” CBS 17.8 “Survivor: ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ have of- “NFL Sunday Samoa” CBS 12.3 fered richly diverse portrayals of gay Post-Game “The Bachelor” ABC 11.6 and transgender people that help Show” FOX 16.8 “Amazing Americans better understand and ac- “NCIS: Race 15” CBS 11.1 cept our community,” GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said. 12 Los Angeles” CBS 16.1 “Amazing “The Mentalist” CBS 15.4 Race 16” CBS 10.4 Does reality TV distort how Source: Bill Gorman, “Final 2009-10 Broadcast Primetime Show 18-49 Ratings,” young viewers perceive life? TV by the Numbers, June 2010 Where some people see reality tele- vision as one more hazard for young categories of people so they kind of and you apply, and you end up with people growing up today, Thompson, fit into expectations from audience the same person or same type of per- the popular-culture professor, sees it as members,” says Dehnart of Reality son over and over again.” a possible career path. Blurred. “Then there’s also the self- But producers can break the cycle, As he gauges what a lifetime of selecting part of the shows, which is he says. He cites “Survivor,” notable in watching such programs has meant for that if someone tries out for a TV its early seasons for its extreme white- his students, he says, “The biggest ef- show, they probably are watching a ness. “A couple of years ago they had fect it’s had is that some of them con- previous season. . . . So, if you’re one their very controversial ‘race war’ sea- sider it now one of the options they very narrow type of anything, whether son, which was they had four tribes, may have if they want to become fa- you’re a white religious conservative white people, Asian people, black mous. I have had a lot of students girl from the South or you’re an African- people and Latino people, and what who have aspired to try out for ‘Amer- American male who grew up in the they did was go out and basically re- ican Idol,’ some of whom have actu- inner city, or any of these sort of slots cruit a bunch of people.” ally done it. ‘The Real World’ comes that they tend to fill, you might sort That premise for season 13, broad- to campuses for auditions on a regu- of say that guy or girl is just like me, cast in 2006, made many viewers cringe lar basis.”

684 CQ Researcher As far as other “big lation,” a group of researchers behavioral kinds of wrote recently in the Jour- things,” he says, “obvi- nal of Broadcasting and Elec- ously, the culture we tronic Media. They also consume comes in an found that reality shows aggregate and helps to contain much higher levels shape who we are. The of verbal aggression — in- books that we read, the sults, name calling — than movies that we watch scripted shows. 13 and all the rest of it ac- The researchers evaluat- crues and adds up to- ed and compared a selec- gether to shape the con- tion of scripted and un- tents of our minds.” But scripted shows, counting not if a kid watches a stunt only the frequency of vari- on “Jackass” and imi- ous types of aggression but tates it, “and it gets re- also whether it was justified ported all over the or rewarded. “Such aggres- news, and it essential- sion often helps the contes- ly says reality TV is tant to ‘get ahead’ in the pro- killing a generation of gram, for example, by our kids? I think that is defaming another contestant’s really, really overstated. reputation or by turning con- “Most of my students testants against each other,” that I talk to about re- they wrote. “However, the

ality TV watch it very V extremely high levels of re- T

much in the same mode M lational aggression in reality that I as a 50-year-old Take a group of attractive, racially diverse twenty-somethings, put programs are somewhat them up for a year in a nice house and then watch the fun. That’s adult do, which is of- the successful formula for MTV’s “The Real World” — which alarming, given the realistic tentimes very much debuted in 1992 and set the stage for similar encounters among portrayal of the aggression.” tongue in cheek.” strangers in shows such as “Survivor.” The popular series has just How does that affect Melissa Henson, di- completed its 24th season in New Orleans with the cast members young people? Lead re- rector of communica- above. MTV has picked up the show for at least four more seasons. searcher Sarah M. Coyne cau- tions and public education for the Par- higher levels of violence tend to behave tioned in an e-mail interview that she ents Television Council, an advocacy more violently,” she says. “Kids who are hadn’t personally studied the long-term group that frequently criticizes TV vul- exposed to higher levels of sex in media effects of reality viewing. “However, watch- garity, separates reality programming tend to become sexually active earlier ing a heavy diet of aggression (which into two categories. A lot of it can be in life than peers with less exposure. reality TV is high on) can have a long- family-friendly, she says — for instance, “Because kids are seeing people term effect on both aggressive attitudes ‘American Idol’ or ‘Extreme Makeover: close to their own age behaving a cer- and behavior,” commented Coyne, an Home Edition.’ tain way on these reality programs, assistant professor at the School of Fam- “And then there’s everything else.” they tend to accept that that’s norma- ily Life at Brigham Young University. She says, “What we have found is tive behavior.” Others caution that reality shows that they do contain higher levels of Unlike scripted television — think, for can provide warped role models. “On profanity and foul language. They also instance, of cop shows like the popular reality TV, they can get away with a tend to include more aggression.” “CSIS” — most reality programs stop little more distortion than a scripted While not much research has been short of portraying physical violence. In- television show would,” says Letsome, done specifically on how reality TV af- stead, they contain a lot of what acad- the NOW vice president. “There’s fects children, Henson says it’s possible emics call relational aggression. “Such glamorization of drunkenness and ca- to extrapolate from generalized research behavior involves direct harm to rela- sual sex. It reinforces the most im- on how media affects behavior. “And tionships or the social environment and mature actions of our entire society.” what the vast body of research indi- includes gossiping, spreading rumors, When high-school students in par- cates is that kids who are exposed to social exclusion and relational manipu- ticular see such behavior held out on

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 685 REALITY TV

television as the It Rich,” which ran in norm, it distorts their prime time from 1951- perceptions of what’s 55, the desperate con- acceptable. “It sends testants answered quiz

a message to the next a q u e s t i o n s t o e a r n p a

generation that this C enough to solve their

l l

is what I have to do, e woes, but even if they n r

this is what is ex- o lost, they could still turn C /

pected of me when s to the “Heart Line.” View- e g

I get to college or a ers could call in to offer m I

get to the business these poor souls cash, y t world,” she says. t merchandise or jobs. e G

Among college / “To some it was TV’s s e students, though, the r noblest hour, helping u t c

effects of reality tele- i those less fortunate than P

vision are less than e most through the chari- f i L pessimists fear, says ty and goodwill of view- e m

Gomery, who teach- i ers. To others, it was one T es history of media “Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour” was among the first reality of the most sickening at the University of television shows in the postwar1940s. It debuted in 1948 along with spectacles ever seen on Maryland. Sure, stu- Allen Funt’s “Candid Camera,” which successfully transitioned a TV screen, exploiting dents follow “Amer- from “Candid Microphone” on radio. those same unfortunates ican Idol,” but they for the vicarious thrill of care more about social media. “Reality The show caught real people on viewers and the selfish gain of adver- TV is an adult form,” he says. “College camera, with their real reactions to ab- tisers,” according to TV historians Tim students are much more interested in surd situations. Its signature line be- Brooks and Earle Marsh. 16 other things. . . . If you want large au- came a cultural staple: “Smile! You’re In 1973, PBS aired a reality mile- diences, you can’t rely on college stu- on Candid Camera!” stone, the 12-episode “An American dents. Reality TV really works because “We’ve always had reality television, Family.” For seven months, cameras it’s one of the few genres that people always,” says Berman of Mediaweek. followed the William C. Loud family born between 1945 and 1963, the Baby Would-be stars sang in hope of fame of Santa Barbara, Calif. During the Boomers, like. You can’t get those kinds on shows such as “Original Amateur series, Pat and Bill Loud’s marriage of numbers without them.” Hour” (1948-60), precursors of the fell apart, and their son Lance came hopefuls on “American Idol.” Quiz out as gay. The show was a hit. shows abounded, as did silly skit shows This was classy public television, a involving audience members. On cinematic documentary. But the de- “Beat the Clock,” which first aired in bate over it sounded similar to what BACKGROUND 1950, the challenges weren’t as wacky surrounds the louder, trashier shows as on, say, today’s “Wipeout,” but they of today. “The program has been still involved plenty of whipped cream hailed as a bold experiment in jour- In the Beginning in the face. nalism and as a work of art compa- On “Queen for a Day,” women told rable to ‘The Death of a Salesman’ or lmost as soon as there was TV, their hard-luck stories, and the studio the birth of the novel,” TV critic Tom A there was reality TV. After World audience decided by its applause which Shales wrote in The Washington Post, War II, popular radio entertainers moved of the tear-stricken contestants was the a week before Pat would ask Bill for to the budding television networks — most deserving of prizes. For instance, a divorce, in front of the world. “But in 1948, “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” in 1960 Mrs. Clarice Singer received praise has hardly been unanimous. debuted on the new medium, as did not only a special bed for her para- Some critics, calling it pseudo-sociology, Ted Mack and his “Original Amateur lyzed brother but also a brand-name have charged that the program reveals Hour” and Allen Funt, longtime host of dinette set, tape recorder, appliances little about American families because “Candid Microphone,” whose “Candid and more, each presented with a short the wealthy Louds are so atypical. Some 14 15 Camera” appeared on ABC. pitch from the sponsor. On “Strike Continued on p. 688

686 CQ Researcher Chronology

1984 2001 1930s-1970s Cable Act largely deregulates the Academy of Television Arts and Sci- Television becomes the dominant cable television industry, leading ences adds an Emmy category for mass medium. to explosive growth. outstanding reality program. An award for outstanding reality com- 1939 1989 petition follows in 2003 and one for Radio powerhouse RCA inaugurates “Cops” joins “America’s Most Want- outstanding host in 2008. the first regular TV broadcasts at the ed” on Fox. New York World’s Fair. President 2002 Franklin D. Roosevelt officially opens 1990 “The Bachelor” debuts on ABC on the fair and becomes the first presi- “America’s Funniest Home Videos” March 25, becoming the most popu- dent to appear on television. debuts on ABC. lar of many reality dating shows. . . . “American Idol,” clone of a popular 1941 1992 British talent show, debuts on Fox On July 1, NBC and CBS are grant- “The Real World” debuts on MTV. on June 11 and dominates ratings ed commercial licenses for their The first season puts seven young for the rest of the decade. New York stations. After the Dec. 7 strangers together in an apartment attack on Pearl Harbor, develop- in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. 2003 ment of commercial TV stops. “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” 1994 premieres on Bravo in June and 1946 “Real World III,” set in San Fran- transforms the highbrow entertain- After the war, networks begin to cisco, features Pedro Zamora, an ment channel into a reality power- broadcast regular series program- HIV-positive gay man, and sparks house. Other cable channels begin ming. dialogue about AIDS among to enthusiastically embrace “reality.” housemates and viewers. Zamora 1948 died shortly after the series ran. 2007-08 TV’s growing popularity attracts Strike by TV writers gives a further established radio stars. . . . Allen 1999 boost to reality shows, by now a Funt’s “Candid Microphone” be- “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” staple of every network. comes “Candid Camera.” already a hit in the United King- dom, is telecast on ABC as a spe- 2009 1973 cial two-week summer event, host- MTV’s tried-and-true premise of Public Broadcasting System shows ed by Regis Philbin. Astoundingly putting young strangers in a house “An American Family,” a 12-part successful, it returns as another with a hot tub heads to the “Jersey documentary about the William C. special in November, then a regu- Shore.” Loud, hard-drinking “guidos” Loud family of Santa Barbara, Calif. lar series in January, sometimes and “guidettes” including “Snooki” Its focus on developing characters running five nights a week. and “The Situation” create so much beyond the typical two-hour docu- pop culture buzz that they’re able mentary is a precursor to modern • to hold out for big pay jumps for reality programming. the second season.

• 2000s Reality moves 2010 from freak show to mainstay. “Undercover Boss” debuts after the Super Bowl and becomes the sea- 1980s-1990s 2000 son’s most-watched new series. . . . Reality television takes on its “Who Wants to Marry a Multi- Discovery Channel’s “World’s Dead- modern shape. Millionaire” airs as a one-time liest Catch” depicts a family’s emo- special on Fox on February 15. . . . tional vigil surrounding the death of 1981 “Survivor” debuts on CBS May 31, fishing boat captain Phil Harris. The MTV is launched with the music becomes the year’s top-rated se- death itself is not on screen, but video “Video Killed the Radio Star” ries. “Big Brother” follows on CBS the farewells are. . . . “Survivor” by The Buggles. on July 5. host Jeff Probst and British chef Jamie Oliver win Emmy awards. www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 687 REALITY TV

Straight Talk From a Reality TV Producer “Young, attractive people behaving badly always works for television.”

oug DePriest jokes that as an executive at Discovery Com- had great characters, but they were very serious survivalists on munications he “quite possibly warped the values of an some level, or they were great triathletes, or something about D entire generation” by helping to launch the “World Poker them made you believe they could win. Tour.” Now, as president and co-founder of Big Fish Entertain- Then Mark Burnett, who created that, came up with the ment, in Bethesda, Md., he produces shows for Discovery, National idea of “Survivor.” That was kind of the beginning of, we’re Geographic and other cable channels. His newest shows include casting characters, we’re putting them in a situation, we’re “D.C. Cupcakes,” about two sisters who run a bakery in Wash- controlling and manipulating a situation. ington, and one about a military bomb squad in Afghanistan, or Then, what starts to happen is people realize that if you what DePriest describes as “a real life ‘Hurt Locker.’ ” can get characters big enough and compelling enough, you DePriest recently discussed Reality TV with writer Maryann can start to hit the kind of numbers that cable networks need Haggerty; an edited transcript of his comments follows: to have a good business. That’s probably the beginning of “Jer- sey Shore.” Go out and find the most outrageous “guidos” and Evolution of Reality “guidettes” and have them do something that they normally do. Public television is the mother of all reality programs be- Then of course go out and manipulate everything you can pos- cause they’re the ones that actually supported the family-based sibly manipulate, create problems, or allow problems to fester, series where a crew would go live with a family for a year, or keep people up so long that they can no longer function. and they would create a short series about it. That was com- pletely what I call just fly-on-the-wall reality. Outrageous Characters As cable grew, you begin to see programs that were based You’re now finding outrageous personalities and creating more on a situational reality. You would be housed in something, television shows around them, [such as] “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” whether it was a police department or a fire department or what- In some form or fashion you need something that stops the ever, but it was all based on what people did. That’s sort of what remote. So reality has a celebrity, a B-level celebrity who is happened [with] “The World’s Deadliest Catch.” It’s reality, because being put through something really, really difficult, as in the you are following these people, but in essence, you are creating [drug] rehab shows. Even those, they seem exploitative, but in characters out of these people, long-running characters. the long run that guy really is doing serious rehab. At the same time, you start seeing [shows] where things are But that’s kind of what the key is. You have to have a per- literally being cast. They’re either cast against a format, or they’re sonality that’s larger than life. Visually different helps a lot — cast against a situation. “Survivor” actually started as the “Eco- it’s not a surprise that Dog looks like he does, that Snooki looks Challenge,” where you cast people who were competitive and like she does. The reality is that the people are real. Whether

Continued from p. 686 on city streets, first aired on Fox in 1989. Perhaps the biggest step in the evo- have said, too, that the film is inad- The network was already airing “Amer- lution of reality TV came on cable TV. missible as a document because no ica’s Most Wanted,” which showed re- “It wasn’t until the premiere of ‘The family could live with a film crew for creations of crimes, but this new show Real World’ on MTV in 1992 that we seven months and remain natural, obliv- portrayed arrests as they happened, with began to witness the emergence of ious to the camera. . . . The Louds no host, no voiceover and no script. In many of the textual characteristics that themselves have joined the criticism, 2010, season 22, it remained a mainstay would come to define the genre’s cur- claiming that they were misled about of Fox’s Saturday night programming. rent format,” according to the editors the filming and that the portrait of Over on ABC, beginning in 1990, of a 2009 book on the history of re- their family is inaccurate.” 17 people were turning their own cam- ality TV. “By casting young adults in eras on family and pets to make “Amer- a manner intended to ignite conflict ica’s Funniest Home Videos,” another and dramatic narrative development, Rise of Modern Shows show that continues to thrive 20 years placing the cast in a house filled with later. And all over daytime TV, ostensi- cameras and microphones, and em- onetheless, cameras both hidden bly everyday people started appearing ploying rapid editing techniques in an N and omnipresent continued to fol- on talk shows such as “The Jerry Springer overall serial structure, the producers low real people. “Cops,” which trailed Show,” in contrast to the traditional created a text that would prefigure pro- real police on busts in trailer parks and celebrities and show biz types. grams such as ‘Survivor’ and ‘Big

688 CQ Researcher there’s a level of reality after that it’s also got a stereotype.

that just depends on the net- t I don’t mean that in a nega- n work and the series. e tive sense, I just mean that as m n All these formats are re- i in recognizable. There’s even a t r

peatable. If you find the e kind of a fantasy about peo- t n

right character and it’s the E ple from New Jersey who are

h

right story line and it hits s larger than life. It’s almost like i F

with the viewers for what- being able to deliver on a car- g i

ever reason, then it’s some- B icature that America already

thing you can continue to © identifies with. do. So that makes sense for “The stresses of a business make for good television,” says It becomes less and less real a company, because devel- producer Doug DePriest, left, creator of “D.C. Cupcakes,” all the time. The stakes are so about two sisters who run a bakery in Washington. opment costs are what kill high with a lot of these reali- television companies. You ty shows, what is real anymore? can’t afford to develop 20 shows and only sell one. That one “Snooki” and “the Situation” are negotiating $30,000-an-episode better be “American Idol,” or eventually you’re just going to deals to go on “Jersey Shore” and be in what is probably a be swallowed up. fairly scripted program. It’s now about performing. If you watch a “Project Run- Reality TV Today way,” it’s kind of hard to believe that anybody is saying any- What I look for is something in which there’s already a ker- thing that’s actually an original sentence. Every scene, the nel of a compelling interest. So with “D.C. Cupcakes” my feel- stakes are so high, it’s all so valuable. You can’t afford to have ing was — and it’s just intuition — there’s something very com- ratings slip. pelling about cupcakes. So the subject matter itself works. I don’t have any problem with this, because it’s all enter- There’s a story line between two sisters, that’s something we tainment. It’s just that. I don’t even think we should call real- all relate to. Then there’s the fact that it’s a business that ac- ity programs reality programs. You know, I watch “Jersey Shore” tually creates something that people care about. The stresses with my 15-year-old, just turned 16. The kid’s a straight-A stu- of a business make for good television. dent, she’s got her life together. She loves “Jersey Shore.” She’ll Go back to “Jersey Shore.” Young, attractive people be- just look at me and go, “I know, they’re unbelievably stupid, having badly always works for television. Throw in the fact but aren’t they entertaining?”

Brother,’ ” they wrote. “It could also Fox jumped in during the February The show scored big ratings, but the be argued that ‘The Real World’ trained 2000 sweeps period with “Who Wants union between Rick Rockwell and Darva a generation of young viewers in the to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” Conger was anything but blessed. He language of reality TV.” 18 The two-hour special was condemned wasn’t really a multimillionaire, and a for- This was not solely an American as trashy, crass and exploitative before mer fiancée had obtained a restraining phenomenon. Indeed, the deregulation it was broadcast, and from there things order against him after charging him with of European television in the 1990s only got worse. Fifty women paraded abusing her. The marriage was quickly meant more channels, with more time before a “multimillionaire,” who picked annulled. It seemed all the critics agreed: to fill on tight budgets. 19 Among the his favorite and married her on screen. Reality TV was a fiasco, an embarrass- most successful shows in the late 1990s “At the end of those two hours, if you ment worse than the worst predictions. were the Dutch hit “Big Brother” and the turned down the volume of your TV Swedish smash “Expedition Robinson,” and you listened real carefully, you could the precursor to “Survivor.” hear Western civilization crumbling The Last Decade The British game show “Who Wants around you,” popular-culture professor to Be a Millionaire” also spawned a Thompson said at the time. (He now ut over at CBS, a network that U.S. version, which became the says he was overly glib: “I don’t think B long had embraced its Tiffany biggest hit of the summer of 1999. As [the show] has damaged our culture in image, plans continued for two shows millionaire fever infected the nation, significant ways.”) that would make 2000 the summer of

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 689 REALITY TV

reality — the U.S. versions of “Big Brother” and “Survivor.” The Swedish predecessor of “Sur-

. vivor” had been a magnet for contro- c n I

versy, especially because participants s n

o voted their fellow players off the is- i t a

c land. The first contestant to be boot- i n

u ed committed suicide. Routinely, more

m than half of Swedish TV viewers m o

C watched each episode, a spectacular

y 20 r ratings success. e v

o Prior to “Survivor’s” debut on May c s i 31, 2000, U.S. critics were prepared D to be appalled. “This summer may turn all of us into Peeping Toms, yet that voyeurism may be the series’ least creepy social aspect. This is also the n

i summer when Darwin meets Orwell, a t e

r with the survival of the fittest cap- g

e tured by ever-present cameras,” cul- S

e

L ture critic Caryn James wrote in The

l

a 21

c New York Times. Many writers also s a

P managed to bring in William Gold- / s

e ing’s Lord of the Flies. g a But viewers loved it. “Survivor” m I

y was the top-rated show of the 2000- t t

e 2001 season. “That first summer of G ‘Survivor’ was some of the most ex- citing television I had watched in a career of lots and lots and lots of television viewing,” Thompson says. y

e “Even the really trashy stuff, if it’s k r

a done well . . . it can be really quite L

m pleasurable. I think for us to look a

d down our noses at some of this stuff A /

s is kind of disingenuous when we ac- e g

a tually watch it and sometimes we can’t m I wait for the next episode.” y t t

e In the decade since, reality televi- G / sion has become a staple, rather than C B

A a curiosity. In June 2002, “American Something for Everyone Idol” debuted, and its mix of young talent, outspoken judges and viewer Reality television offers shows that have broad appeal as well as programs voting has kept it atop the ratings sea- geared to niche audiences. Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” (top) son after season. Even though num- portrays the real-life events on commercial fishing boats in the Bering bers weakened in early 2010, it was Sea during Alaska’s king crab season. E!’s “Keeping Up With the still the top-rated show in the spring. Kardashians” (middle) documents the lives of the three famous-for-being- On cable, reality has become al- famous sisters. ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” lets viewers select the most the norm — it’s news when a best dancer among celebrity participants. Nicole Scherzinger — lead cable channel originates scripted pro- singer for the pop group Pussycat Dolls — won this year along with dance partner Derek Hough. gramming, such as AMC’s “Mad Men.” Continued on p. 692

690 CQ Researcher Will ‘American Idol’ Finally Win an Emmy? “Judges are disgusted by shows featuring trashy players like ‘Jersey Shore.’”

t’s not a daring prediction: blogger Robert Licuria thinks always gravitates towards the high-brow,” Licuria says. “If a show “The Amazing Race” could win another Emmy this year. has some snob appeal or a cool factor, it is likely to be nom- I Ever since the academy that gives out the coveted golden inated until it falls out of favor. For example, back when ‘Queer TV statuette established a category for Outstanding Reality- Eye for the Straight Guy’ was the watercooler show of the mo- Competition in 2003, the CBS travel-game show has won — ment, it won the Reality award without much trouble. Shows seven times in a row. like ‘American Idol’ and ‘Dancing With the Stars’ are mainstays “I would suggest ‘The Amazing Race’ will win again, and my in the Reality-Competition Program category because they re- only hesitation is that voters may eventually wish to reward TV’s big main big broadcast network hits, while ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Project mammoth hit/money-maker Runway’ are now perennial nom- ‘American Idol,’ which has inees because they are hip crit- never won,” says Licuria, who ical darlings.” makes awards predictions for He adds, “The point is, you the Los Angeles Times blog aren’t going to see ‘The Biggest Gold Derby and on his own Loser,’ ‘Jersey Shore,’ ‘Big Brother’

Website, Awards Heaven. r or ‘The Bachelor’ in the running. e t

The winner in that cate- n They just aren’t cool, they aren’t i W

gory will be announced Aug. ground-breaking, and they don’t n i

29 on the “Primetime Emmy” v set the ratings on fire.” e

show. The winners in two K Even more, “Emmy voters are / s

other reality TV categories e snobs,” says Tom O’Neil, the g were announced on Aug. 21 a chief awards writer for the Los m I at the Academy of Television Angeles Times. “Look at the y t t

Arts and Science’s Creative Arts e shows that won best series the presentation, which mostly G most times in recent years — The call-in show “American Idol” is seeking its first Emmy concentrates on technical cat- win for Outstanding Reality Competition, an award ‘Frasier’ and ‘The West Wing’ in egories such as cinematog- established in 2003 and presented seven times the comedy and drama races. raphy, casting or costumes. in a row to CBS’ “The Amazing Race.” Both snooty programs. Voters The winner for Outstanding are disgusted by shows featur- Reality Program that night was “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” ing trashy players like ‘Jersey Shore’ and ‘Kardashians.’ ” * in which the popular British chef went to a West Virginia town But it takes more than cool to win, and that’s where ‘Amaz- full of overweight people and taught them to eat more sensibly. ing Race’ has the edge, O’Neil explains. The awards voting The winner for Outstanding Reality Host was “Survivor’s” process also gives it an advantage. “Less than 100 judges view Jeff Probst, who has won each year since the award was set one sample episode of each nominee. They see DVDs of sam- up in 2008. (Probst himself wasn’t there; after the category was ple episodes. ‘Amazing Race’ is a taped show comprised of bumped from the big prime-time show, he said it conflicted slick editing. Also contestants are paired up. Part of the thrill with his shooting schedule.) Licuria was right in his prediction of watching the show is to view the dynamic fights, jokes and for that category, made before the show. “He’s going to win affection between the pairs. because he deserves it,” he said. “ ‘American Idol,’ by contrast, is a live show featuring solo The roster of nominees in each category is a review of what contestants. Much of its appeal is in the suspense over who’ll the TV industry considers the best of reality. In the Competi- win. Since ‘Idol’ is the highest-rated show on TV, that means tion category, where the nominees haven’t varied for years, the most judges have probably seen it during its first airing. When contenders besides “Amazing Race” and “American Idol” are judges view the DVDs of nominees, many of them had not “Dancing With The Stars,” “Project Runway” and “Top Chef.” In previously seen ‘Amazing Race.’ ” the plain reality category, where nominees shift more to reflect what’s new each year, Chef Oliver beat “Antiques Roadshow,” — Maryann Haggerty “Dirty Jobs,” “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” “MythBusters” and “Undercover Boss.” “Generally, the reality shows that are nominated in the Reality * The judges are television professionals such as writers, directors, categories are the big hits and the critical darlings. The Academy producers, reporters, editors and cinematographers.

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 691 REALITY TV

Watching Reality TV With a Critical Eye Viewers must remember, “It’s not reality, it’s entertainment.”

lthough reality television is designed to appeal to the It’s those questions, being aware of who makes these programs, couch potato in us, it’s possible to watch even the silliest what’s their purpose, who benefits from shows like this and A shows with a critical eye, according to media literacy who might be harmed by shows like this.” advocates. “These reality shows are meant to be And that’s important because real- mindless entertainment, but there’s a dif- ity TV can send powerful, negative ference between that and killing your brain messages, says Andrea Quijada, ex- cells,” says Liz Perle, editor in chief at Com- ecutive director of the Media Literacy mon Sense Media, a nonprofit Website that Project, an Albuquerque, N.M., group rates entertainment for age-appropriateness. that develops school curriculums in Perle outlines the following basic steps media literacy. “We do think reality that parents in particular can take to help TV is unique in its ability to reinforce young people make sense of what they dangerous stereotypes effectively,” she watch: says. “Even though many people who • Question “reality” as TV defines it — s watch it say, ‘Oh, I know it’s sort of s Talk to kids about how the shows are made e t

made up,’ there’s something about the n — explain that there are editors and pro- u fact that it’s called reality that some- o ducers, and how that’s different, for instance, C

l

how still gives it a different sense of a from a 24-hour webcam. “It’s not reality, it’s m

credibility that people aren’t willing to e entertainment. The minute a kid makes that J /

give a sitcom or a drama.” s shift, it changes their expectations.” e g

Quijada’s group says the key to a • Discuss with children how partici- m I

media literacy is deconstructing the pants on the shows behave, and how that y t messages that each show carries. The t differs from the way people should be- e

organization maintains an extensive G have. “If this person acted this way in your Website explaining the process, Reality TV shows created around home, what would you or your family do?” www.nmmlp.org. outrageous personalities — such as “Dog • Talk — especially with older teens For both adults and children who the Bounty Hunter” — are reminders that — about why networks air so many re- watch a reality TV show, it’s impor- much of reality television is geared toward ality shows: to make money, more cheap- entertainment and excitement, not tant to understand “how we know ly than with scripted shows. “Kids are necessarily faithful depiction of real life. what we know,” says Cynthia Scheibe, very capable of understanding the busi- associate professor of psychology at ness behind reality shows.” Ithaca College in New York and executive director of Project When children can discuss what producers do to get their Look Sharp, another media literacy initiative. attention, and why, then they can consciously choose whether “You’re thinking about how it affects you, about how it may to watch and, with guidance, what to watch, Perle advises. “Kids affect other people and you’re evaluating it with respect to bias want to know these things; they don’t like to be manipulated.” and perspective and point of view and credibility,” she says, — Maryann Haggerty “and asking key questions, always, about what you’re seeing.

Continued from p. 690 Globally, reality has become an es- He cited a study that estimated the The broadcast mix shifts from year tablished form of entertainment. Glob- global format business was worth to year. For instance, in the writers’ strike al format companies, many based in $2.4 billion in 2004, and growing. years of 2007-08, reality programming got Europe, “generate program ideas, sell While developed countries such as a boost. In the 2008-09 season, reality concept rights, provide detailed pro- Japan produce their own often out- shows accounted for 28 percent of tele- duction manuals, offer consultancy rageous concepts, networks in many vision’s 199 primetime programs, ac- service, supply computer software and smaller economies rely on franchised cording to Nielsen. 22 Going into this create graphics and set designs to aid formats to fill the air. fall’s season, networks aren’t premier- licensors in localizing formats,” ac- Cultural elites around the world con- ing many new reality shows, but they cording to DePaul University commu- demn reality programming, McMurria aren’t pulling many old ones, either. nications professor John McMurria. 23 Continued on p. 694

692 CQ Researcher At Issue:

Canyes ’t we just sit back and enjoy reality TV?

ANNA DAVID JENNIFER L. POZNER CULTURAL COMMENTATOR AND EDITOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WOMEN IN MEDIA OF REALITY MATTERS (HARPERCOLLINS, & NEWS, AUTHOR, REALITY BITES BACK: 2010), A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ABOUT THE TROUBLING TRUTH ABOUT GUILTY REALITY TV; WWW.ANNADAVID.COM PLEASURE TV, TO BE PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER.

’ve heard all the criticism about reality television. The way hat does it mean to be an American in the 21st cen- it’s eating away at our intellects, tarnishing our souls and tury? According to reality television, women are catty i destroying our minds. The fact that it glamorizes ordinary w bitches, stupid bimbos and greedy gold diggers whose — or, increasingly, horrible — people and hands them high- worth can only be measured by their physical measurements. profile media careers that they in no way deserve. The way it’s Straight, single gals are pathetic losers and, we’re led to be- cheap and vulgar and takes away programming hours that lieve, it’s hilarious when they get mocked, dumped or could be given to culturally positive new shows. And I’m not punched in the face. Black and Latina women are violent, saying the opposite — that reality television is all good. I’m “low class” and “ghetto,” while men of color are buffoons, merely pointing out that it isn’t all bad. thugs and criminals. And even during the worst financial crisis Consider the (often unspoken) reason many reality TV fans since the Depression, it’s “important” to blow a year’s salary tune in: to compare our lives to the ones we see televised. And on bridal gowns, couture clothes and luxury vacations. here’s what most of us come to realize: We don’t have as many And it’s all happening in the name of “reality.” dramas and aren’t living as large, especially if we watch Bravo. Nearly every night on every major network, “unscripted” And yet, we can’t help but notice if we watch enough, we (but carefully crafted) dating, makeover, lifestyle and competi- seem to be yhappier than tehese people.s Not all of us and not tion shows glonrify and revive regoressive stereotypes most of us all the time, but if we note the material blessings they have assume died 50 years ago. and then consider what we can determine about their mental This isn’t accidental. Take it from Fox alternative entertain- health, we can’t help but see that having “it all” does not ment president Mike Darnell, who brought us such classy happiness make. Could there be a more important message to concoctions as “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” “Joe be taking in and passing along to our children? Millionaire” and “Temptation Island.” The secret to his ratings I also believe we can learn about ourselves from what success, he once told Entertainment Weekly, is that he makes form of reality television we watch. Idealists who want to be- sure his series are “steeped in some social belief.” lieve that lives truly can change overnight, that a teenager can Throughout the decade, this influential form of media has go from working the Burger King drive-thru one day to fulfill- erased all signs that the women’s rights and civil rights move- ing her lifelong dream of becoming an international pop star ments ever happened. Reality TV’s masterminds have accom- the next, gravitate toward “American Idol.” People who like plished what the most ardent fundamentalists could never the idea that order can be restored to our often chaotic lives achieve: They’ve created a world in which women not only tune into “Nanny 911” and “The Dog Whisperer.” Those who have no real choices . . . they don’t even want any. want to be reminded of why it’s not a good idea to drink ex- Reality shows can be fun, compelling and cathartic. And after cessively every night — or to showcase your not-fully-formed a long, stressful day, it can be comforting to zone out with personality to the public in your twenties — watch “The Real mindless entertainment. But it’s just that instinct we have to re- World.” The list goes on. I have to believe this form of self- sist. Advertisers and media producers want us to watch their of- analysis is at least as effective as a Rorschach test. ferings passively, to turn our brains off and let their messages Finally, reality TV shows us that the world isn’t quite as wash over us uncritically. Product placement sponsors collabo- overwhelming as it can sometimes feel. Part of the thrill of this rate with producers to determine who will be cast, how they’ll form of entertainment is that the people we’re watching look be edited, how stories will unfold, and what messages will be more like us than the air-brushed celebrities we’re used to see- sent about gender, race, class, sexuality, beauty, and violence, all ing in our magazines or on our TV screens — they, in fact, in an attempt to get us to think less and buy more. could be us. We feel like we know them, in much the same We do ourselves a disservice by watching reality TV with way that Facebook makes us feel like we can know everyone. our intellects on pause. We can enjoy the catharsis and fanta- The universe thus feels a little smaller and perhaps a bit safer. sy these shows offer, but unless we engage our critical filters, Besides, we work hard. Don’t we deserve to turn our brains we leave ourselves open to serious commercial and ideologi- on autopilot and relax a bit with something that doesn’t require cal manipulation. a lot onof brain power — at least every now and then? www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 693 REALITY TV

Continued from p. 692 Tareq and Michaele Salahi, now ap- mon Sense Media, a nonprofit group wrote, including, “those who pleaded pearing in the Bravo series “Real that reviews and rates media for age- for viewers and politicians to ‘ignore Housewives of D.C.,” came to pub- appropriate content. the antics of those TV idiots’ on ‘U.K. lic attention by allegedly crashing a She argues that government does in- Celebrity Big Brother,’ the Chinese White House state dinner in late 2009; deed have a role in protecting chil- Communist Party that rolled back federal and Virginia prosecutors are dren, “not just from inappropriate con- ‘vulgar’ talent contests, U.S. acade- still weighing whether to charge tent but also from targeted marketing,” mics who defended the boundaries them. In Detroit, where a police raid especially on broadcast TV. “As long as between entertainment reality TV and accompanied by reality cameras re- the public owns the airwaves, and we serious news, or Indonesian politi- sulted in the death of a little girl, it do, there is a role.” She and other ad- cians who dismissed popular super- is the child’s family, not the govern- vocates maintain that children are es- natural reality TV.” ment, that has sued. pecially susceptible to subtle commer- Yet people watch. Thus, while Amer- With the increasing popularity of cial pitches because they are still icans debate what “American Idol” and shows that examine the treatment of honing critical skills. the rest of reality programming says mental problems, such as “Hoarders,” But the exact nature of that regu- about their nation’s culture, the rest of questions arise about the propriety of latory role remains uncertain. For in- the world votes for its own favorite presenting troubled people on air. For stance, the FCC has no authority over singers, as it has since “Pop Idol” first psychologists, it’s a hot ethical issue, cable television. “Should cable be reg- aired on British television in 2001. Ac- says Nancy McGarrah, an Atlanta psy- ulated?” Perle asks rhetorically. “They’ve cording to Fremantle, the company that chologist who has been active in these gotten a free pass so far. These are controls the Idol franchise, “Since then, discussions. tough questions.” the format has aired 137 series across Ethically, psychologists should not 43 territories, with a proven track record make diagnoses unless they have per- of success in every country where it sonally evaluated a patient. If they Legal, Regulatory Action has been aired.” 24 have evaluated someone, then they have an obligation to respect patient tate and federal laws and/or reg- confidentiality. A psychologist may dis- S ulations that could affect TV are cuss a case, but only with the sub- being considered in these broad areas: CURRENT ject’s informed consent. The problem, • Child labor: One of the hottest she says, is that a troubled person discussions about reining in reality tele- may not be in a position to give truly vision is taking place not in Los Ange- SITUATION informed consent. “I feel very un- les or Washington but in Harrisburg, Pa., comfortable on some of those shows where legislators this fall likely will take watching someone disintegrate on up the issue of child labor laws. Going Too Far? camera,” she says. Pennsylvania is home to the Gosselin Appearing on TV can be very ap- family, the large brood featured on TLC’s n some countries, such as China, pealing — McGarrah has been on nu- “Jon and Kate Plus Eight” and its suc- I government censors are stomping merous news shows herself, she says. cessor “Kate Plus Eight.” Jon and Kate down on reality shows that don’t fol- TV provides mental health profession- are father and mother, now divorced, low the party line. 25 But in the Unit- als with a valuable platform for edu- with eight kids, in the form of a pair of ed States, the First Amendment means cating the public. But psychologists twins and a set of sextuplets. that you can’t censor or ban television should always keep patient welfare in Republican state Rep. Tom Murt has concepts, and that the government’s right mind. “That’s not an actor playing a repeatedly questioned whether the chil- to control content is limited. But how part. This is a real person,” she says. dren are working legally and has about those circumstances where real- One problem with asking whether pushed to change the state’s child ity shows seem to enable horrendous reality shows go too far is that the labor laws. Show executives say they’ve behavior, or even foster crime? Is there definition of “too far” differs depend- complied with the law, and state labor anything we can or should do? ing on who’s watching and who’s ask- department officials have defended the Generally, those issues are worked ing. “Some families are horrified by legality of work permits issued. out within the existing legal system, the talk of the judges on ‘American Murt says his interest began with a and the solutions have been highly Idol,’ and some love it,” says Liz Perle, panel discussion by former child actors specific to each incident. For instance, co-founder and editor in chief at Com- who outlined working conditions and

694 CQ Researcher the problems they faced later in life. “It Murt says, “We really were not seek- • Indecency: A federal appeals was almost painful to watch,” he says. ing a confrontation with reality TV or court on July 13 struck down part Murt contacted one of those actors, any particular TV program.” But Kate of the FCC policy on indecency, say- Paul Petersen, who was a Mouseke- Gosselin’s brother told him that the Gos- ing it was unconstitutional. The rul- teer and for many years played Jeff selin children were being filmed during ing on so-called “fleeting expletives” Stone on “The Donna Reed Show.” private moments, including toilet train- came in a case known as Fox v. FCC, Now he runs A Minor Consideration, ing. “They had a fake Christmas in the which involved instances of cursing a child actor advocacy group. Petersen middle of July just to get the kids on on a variety of TV shows on sever- points out that child actors are specif- film,” Murt says. “There were concerns al networks. It’s highly likely the case ically exempted from federal labor laws. about the welfare of the children.” will go to the U.S. Supreme Court, That means rules are which could decide to set at the state level. address how the FCC reg- California has long had ulates indecency. the strictest rules, with The appeals court called limits on working the policy as it’s now ap- hours, requirements for plied unconstitutionally on-set teachers, and vague. Currently, the FCC requirements that chil- can restrict indecent mate- dren be paid separate- rial on broadcast TV or ly from their parents radio between 6 a.m. and and that some of their 10 p.m., when it’s consid- pay be held in trust. ered most likely that chil- He also points out dren will be watching. (Ob- that reality television scenity can’t be broadcast shows tend to shoot in at any time; there’s a three- the states with the lax- pronged legal test for what’s n est laws. For instance, a obscene. 26) However, the m s the 2007 show “Kid Na- s commission has no au- u S

tion” was set in New y thority over cable TV, or m

Mexico, which had A over broadcasters outside / y few rules. It caused a r those hours. e v

storm because 40 chil- o What effect a change in c s dren went largely un- i the indecency policy D supervised for 40 days, r could have on reality tele- o f

except for production s vision is unclear. Over the e g crews. Many states a years, there have been a m I don’t regard appearing few complaints about in- y t t

on reality TV as work, e decency on network real- even if children are on G ity shows — for instance, Jon and Kate Gosselin, who were raising their eight children camera most of the day. onscreen in TLC’s “Jon and Kate Plus Eight,” ended up in a in 2008 the Parents Tele- Producers say the kids messy divorce that played out in the tabloids. The show vision Council filed a com- aren’t working; they’re continues as “Kate Plus Eight” amid concerns that plaint about a brief glimpse simply being filmed as the show may be flouting child-labor laws. of a male sexual organ on they go about their “Survivor.” CBS responded life. “Over 200 kids are currently ‘not But shouldn’t the state trust par- that the image was both fleeting and employed’ on reality shows across the ents to know what’s right for their inadvertent. country,” Petersen says. own children? Petersen, the Holly- For the most part, though, the But any actor knows that whenev- wood veteran, laughs and quotes one broadcast networks edit their shows er cameras are on, it’s work, he says. of his fellow former Mouseketeers: to conform to the existing policy, “Reality shows are misnamed,” he says. “Just seeing a kid in show business with liberal use of pixelation and “They are commercial productions in tells you all you need to know about bleeping. On cable, just about any- every sense of the word.” the parents.” thing short of obscenity goes.

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 695 REALITY TV

• Embedded advertising: There’s ducers might think twice before cast- no need to wait for the commercials. ing the famously plastic-surgeried Joan Watch any episode of “The Biggest OUTLOOK Rivers in another season of “Celebrity Loser” and you’ll hear mention after Apprentice.” mention of brand-name products the He adds, “If you’re doing “Jersey contestants use to lose weight. There’s Technology and Creativity Shore,” you don’t go out and get the little doubt what brands of appliances pimpliest kid on the block.” are installed on “Extreme Makeover: s with the rest of American tele- The success of the movie “Avatar” in Home Edition,” or what kinds of make- A vision, the outlook for reality pro- 2009 increased interest in 3-D on the up are used on “America’s Next Top gramming depends both on techno- big screen and on television. There are Model” or “Project Runway.” logical changes and creative leaps. 3-D televisions on the market, but not Even more than scripted television, But the biggest questions right now many have sold, and there’s not much reality TV embraces product placement revolve around one man, Simon Cowell, programming. Swann doesn’t foresee embedded in the show. According to who has stepped down as host of “Amer- knives flying out of the hands of Top Nielsen, the media tracking company, ican Idol.” The acerbic Brit is the high- Chefs and toward viewers anytime soon. eight of the 10 top shows by number est-paid person on television, accord- “3-D is in its infancy now and may of product placements in 2009 were ing to The Hollywood Reporter, which never get out of the crib,” he says. reality. (And that’s because everyone ranked him No. 1 on its Reality Power But some programming could em- accepts WWE wrestling as scripted.) list in both 2009 and 2010. 27 brace it, predicts Walsh of Realscreen. These placements, also known as em- What will happen to “Idol” without Discovery Communications, Sony and bedded advertising, are a key part of him? And can Cowell replicate his suc- IMAX have teamed up to develop an the business model. They’re likely to cess with his new talent-search show, all-3-D channel, the companies an- become more prevalent, not less, as “X Factor,” which has been a hit over- nounced in January. There’s no launch television adapts to the ad-zapping re- seas and is set to debut in the Unit- date set. But Walsh points out that ality of Tivo and other digital video ed States in 2011? As they used to say many of the company’s channels recorders. on TV, stay tuned. have programs “tailor made” for 3D. In July 2008, the FCC opened an On the technology front, the tran- “Animal Planet could certainly have inquiry into possible regulatory ap- sition to high-definition television is fun,” he says. proaches to embedded advertising, well under way. That means the scenery Television, like the rest of the es- collecting more than 200 comments. shots on “Survivor” are even prettier tablished media industry, continues to Entertainment and advertising indus- than they used to be. But “Big Broth- speculate and experiment with com- try representatives argued that current er” is still shot the old-fashioned way, puter-related technologies. How will practices aren’t deceptive. Numerous which provides a bit of camouflage Facebook, blogs, Twitter and other so- child advocacy groups argued for in- for people who aren’t looking their cial media affect programming? Will creased rules, including simultaneous best around the clock. High-definition the Internet and television converge ticker-style notifications of paid place- (HD) TV is notoriously unforgiving in ways yet unknown? If an increas- ments that would run along the bot- about blemishes, wrinkles and the like. ing number of people, particularly tom of broadcasts. The growth of HD means, “you have young people, watch entertainment on The FCC has not taken any further to be careful choosing people,” said the Internet via streaming video, how public action. A commission spokes- Phillip Swann, president of TVpredic- does that affect the economics of broad- woman would not comment on the tions.com, a Website that tracks TV cast and cable? status of the inquiry. technology. For instance, he says, pro- Reality TV has been at the van- guard of interactivity. Viewer voting is an essential part of “Big Brother,” “Amer- About the Author ican Idol” and others. A recent New Maryann Haggerty is a freelance journalist in Washing- York Times article detailed the many ton, D.C. For more than two decades she was a business ways that Bravo uses social media to 28 and real estate reporter and editor for The Washington Post. fine-tune its reality shows. She holds a bachelor’s degree from George Washington As far as the future, reality TV “is University and has watched every episode of “Survivor.” never going to go away,” Mediaweek analyst Berman says. “It’s not new, it’s a staple and it’s very valuable.”

696 CQ Researcher Don’t expect reality programming to become high-toned, says Andrea Quijada, executive director of the Media FOR MORE INFORMATION Literacy Project. “I feel like the vol- For all practical purposes, all television channels have their own Websites, as do all ume has just been slowly turned up. reality shows. Many also have numerous fan Websites, which shift depending on Every time a new show comes out, the popularity of the show. Gossip about reality TV shows dominates such general they’re testing new boundaries or in entertainment sites as tmz.com. There are recaps aplenty on TV criticism sites such as televisionwithoutpity.com. And there are also sites that blend news, gossip and some way they’re getting a little bit recaps, such as realityblurred.com. Here are nonprofit groups that cast an out- more offensive. I’m not seeing that sider’s eye on these shows: changing right now.” Juzwiak, the VH1 blogger, says, “We Common Sense Media, 650 Townsend, Suite 375, San Francisco, CA 94103; are only becoming more fascinated (415) 863-0600; www.commonsensemedia.org. Provides information and educational with ourselves as a culture. It’s a kind materials about the media for children and families. of cultural narcissism that we have. National Association for Media Literacy Education, www.namle.net. Dedicated Human interaction and human be- to advancing media literacy education among students, teachers, scholars and havior fascinate us. So, as long as we community activists. can have that, and the people look a Media Literacy Project, 6400 Wyoming Blvd., N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87109; little bit different, the scenarios are (505) 828-3129; www.nmmlp.org (soon to move to www.medialiteracyproject.org) slightly different, I think I cannot see Cultivates critical thinking and activism and committed to “building a healthy us running out of fascination.” world through media justice.”

Parents Television Council, 707 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2075, Los Angeles, CA 90017; (213) 403-1300 or toll-free (800) 882-6868; www.parentstv.org. Seeks to Notes “promote and restore responsibility and decency to the entertainment industry in answer to America’s demand for positive, family-oriented television programming.”

1 Jocelyn Vena, “ ‘The Hills’ Finale ‘Ac- 10 Nielsen ratings, week of July 26, 2010. you get — Survivor,” The Globe and Mail, knowledged’ Its Hollywood Setting, Creator 11 Joseph V. Del Raso, “ ‘Jersey Shore’ kicks sand May 27, 2000, p. 8. Say,” MTV.com, June 15, 2010, www.mtv.com/ in the face of a great heritage,” The Washington 20 Verne Gay, “On Swedish Series, Some Cast- news/articles/1643778/20100715/story.jhtml. Post, Aug. 3, 2010, p. A14. aways Are Now Crying Foul,” Los Angeles Times, 2 Michael Schneider, “ ‘Idol’ Humming New Tune,” 12 “MTV becomes first network to receive an May 31, 2000, p. F4. Variety, Jan. 4-10, 2010, p. 13. ‘excellent’ rating in fourth annual GLAAD net- 21 Caryn James, “Darwinists Meet Orwell in a 3 Christine McDonald, Darren A. Nichols and work responsibility index,” GLAAD press release, Summer of Voyeurism,” The New York Times, Leonard N. Fleming, “Evans Fired as Bing www.glaad.org/page.aspx?pid=1563. May 28, 2000, Section 13, p. 4. Questions His Leadership,” The Detroit News, 13 Sarah M. Coyne, Simon L. Robinson and 22 blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_enter July 22, 2010, http://detnews.com/article/ David A. Nelson, “Does Reality Backbite? Phys- tainment/dramas-rule-primetime-lineup/. 20100722/METRO01/7220419/Evans-fired-as- ical, Verbal and Relational Aggression in Re- 23 John McMurria, “Global TV Realities,” in Bing-questions-his-leadership#ixzz0wEoN8koz. ality Television Programs,” Journal of Broad- Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture (2009), 4 Anthony Crupi, “VH1 revamps programming,” casting & Electronic Media, 54:2, 282-298, pp. 184-185, 197. Mediaweek, April 18, 2010, www.hollywood dx.doi.org/10.1080/08838151003737931. 24 “Idols,” Freemantle Media Website, www.fre- reporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/ 14 Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Com- mantlemedia.com/Production/Our_brands/Ido e3iec3c2452ddf8270c0bfb19e01bd79c5b. plete Directory to Primetime Network and Cable ls.aspx. 5 Edward Wyatt, “FCC Opens an Inquiry for TV Shows, 1946-Present (2007), p. 215. All 25 Xiyun Yang, “China’s Censors Rein In ‘Vulgar’ a Game Show on Fox,” The New York Times, broadcast dates in this section are from the Reality TV Show,” The New York Times, July 18, Feb. 20, 2010, p. B1. directory unless otherwise noted. 2010, p. A10. 6 “Harsh Reality: Working Conditions for 15 Excerpt available online at www.queenfora 26 www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene. Reality TV Writers,” Writers Guild of America, day.com/queen-for-a-day-clip6.asp. html. www.wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx? 16 Brooks and Marsh, op. cit., p. 1319. 27 “Annual Reality Power Report,” The Holly- id=2746. 17 Tom Shales, “On Camera Again,” The Wash- wood Reporter, May 22, 2010. 7 Todd Leopold, “In defense of reality TV,” ington Post, Feb. 22, 1973, p. C1. 28 Stephanie Clifford, “We’ll Make You a Star CNN Entertainment, July 29, 2010, www.cnn. 18 Susan Murray and Laurie Ouellette, Reality (if the Web Agrees),” The New York Times, com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/29/defending. TV: Remaking Television Culture (2009), p. 4. June 6, 2010, p. BU1, www.nytimes.com/2010/ reality.tv/. 19 John Doyle, Michele Sponagle and Henrietta 06/06/business/06bravo.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1& 8 Numerous reports from Television Critics Walmark, “Survivor techniques; Combine Greed, src=busln&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1281132 Association press conference, Aug. 5, 2010. Gilligan’s Island, and Millionaire; and what do 074-qtAQPNxv/fZBqhLQ21MkGQ. 9 MTV press release, July 30, 2010. www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 697 Bibliography Selected Sources

Books Taddeo, Julie Anne, and Ken Dvorak, eds., The Tube Has Spoken: Reality TV and History, University Press Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to of Kentucky, 2010. Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, A substantial portion of these scholarly essays from U.S., 9th ed., Ballantine Books, 2007. Canadian, British and Australian historians examines the sub- This definitive paperback encyclopedia of television pro- genre of reality history TV, where volunteers immerse them- vides background information on just about everything that selves in a historical setting. has appeared on the tube in prime time since the begin- ning. The descriptions beat those available on Web giant In- Walker, Mike, Get Real! The Untold Story: Sexy, Scary, ternet Movie Database and other Websites. The book has Scandalous World of Reality TV, Phoenix Books, 2008. been updated every few years, but by necessity, paper ver- A National Enquirer gossip writer dishes about the stars sions don’t include shows that appear after publication. On and background of reality television. Tiresome, breathless his personal Website, www.timbrooks.net, editor Brooks pro- style, but some interesting background tidbits. vides a few interim updates, plus very helpful links to other TV history sites. Articles

David, Anna, ed., Reality Matters: 19 Writers Come Clean Chapman, Mary M., and Susan Saulny, “A Tragedy in De- About Shows We Can’t Stop Watching, HarperCollins, 2010. troit, With a Reality TV Crew In Tow,” The New York Times, Editor David, who opines regularly on entertainment news May 22, 2010, p. A8. shows and Websites, has collected personal essays from con- The authors look at questions surrounding police work in temporary writers about what reality TV means to them. In- the age of TV cameras. cludes a funny, profane foreword by James Frey, whose much-publicized fictionalization of his own life story led to Gardner, Eriq, and others, “Reality Power: Special Report,” a televised apology to Oprah. David also weighs in with her The Hollywood Reporter, May 22, 2010, www.hollywood own humiliating experience with “wannabe fame.” reporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i4a68f0689d 02bf9eb3808bef75940285. Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette, eds., Reality TV: An industry publication takes a dollars-and-cents approach Remaking Television Culture, New York University Press, in this third annual package of articles, which includes a list 2009. of the 50 most powerful people in reality TV and is packed Seventeen scholars look at just about every angle of re- with insights into the business. ality television from an academic point of view — its his- tory, economics and effects on culture. They deconstruct Gold, Mattea, and Richard Verrier, “Children’s role is blurry a variety of light-hearted, familiar programs, viewing them in reality TV; Many don’t receive the protection of labor laws as serious texts indeed. Many of the essays are adapted and union rules,” Los Angeles Times, June 27, 2010, p. A1. from earlier works in disparate journals, making this a A Times investigation finds that “dozens” of children ap- solid collection of contemporary academic thinking about pear in reality shows without legal safeguards, but because popular culture. such programming is in a legal gray area, producers may not be committing crimes. Pozner, Jennifer L., Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, Seal Press, October 2010. Yang, Xiyun, “China’s Censors Rein In ‘Vulgar’ Reality A feminist media critic dissects reality TV and finds that it’s TV Show,” The New York Times, July 18, 2010, p. A10. not just harmless fluff. She aims to put sometimes-abstract Government censors in China are cracking down on shows arguments into concrete terms accessible to the same young with too much sexual content or outrageous conduct. audiences that reality producers strive to reach. Reports Robinson, Matthew, How to Get on Reality TV, Random House, 2005. “Harsh Reality: Working Conditions for Reality TV Writers,” The nuts-and-bolts advice about how to get a spot in Writers Guild of America, West, 2007. particular shows may be dated, but the behind-the-scenes This union report uses behind-the-scenes survey results to looks at how producers seek to fill their casts haven’t question employment practices in the largely non-unionized gotten old. reality TV segment.

698 CQ Researcher The Next Step: Additional Articles from Current Periodicals

Actual Reality McCall, Jeffrey M., “Should Children Be Props in Reality TV?” Providence (Rhode Island) Journal-Bulletin, Aug. 21, Funt, Peter, “Term ‘Reality TV’ in the Eye of the Beholder,” 2009, p. 7. Monterey County (California) Herald, Dec. 24, 2009. Growing up in the fishbowl of a reality television show The term “reality TV” has become too loosely constructed changes the kids’ lives, and not necessarily for the better. to include competitive game shows such as “American Idol.” Zurawik, David, “Advocates Say ‘Reality’ Shows Confuse Kiesewetter, John, “The Reality of Reality TV: We Love It,” a Kid’s Sense of Identity,” Lexington (Kentucky) Herald Cincinnati Enquirer, May 17, 2010, p. D1. Leader, June 15, 2010, p. B1. The popularity of reality TV stems from how the audience The use of children in reality television programs is garnering imagines itself on national television, regardless of whether more attention from lawmakers and mental-health experts. the actual shows are true depictions of reality. Stereotypes Ostrow, Joanne, “Just How ‘Real’ Are Those Popular Reality Shows on TV?” Houston Chronicle, March 21, 2010, p. 16. Cummings, James, “Reality TV Reinforces Stereotypes,” After nearly a decade, viewers have learned to watch reality Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, Aug. 22, 2009, p. A5. shows with a trained suspicion of disbelief. Reality television producers tend to choose contestants to manipulate situations and reinforce racial stereotypes. Criticism Lowry, Brian, “Stereotypes: Reality TV’s Dirty Little Secret,” Chen, Grace, “What’s the Price of Fame?” Home News Variety, Jan. 11, 2010, p. 16. Tribune (New Jersey), March 12, 2010. MTV’s “Jersey Shore” depicts many stereotypes about Italian- Reality TV shows that subject relationships to public criticism Americans that would normally result in writers being criti- are not innovative, but rather degrading. cized in a more scripted show.

Stuever, Hank, “ ‘The Real L Word’? Lamentable,” The Pak, Ellyn, “Asian American Men Too Sexy For Their Shirts,” Washington Post, June 19, 2010, p. C1. Orange County (California) Register, Nov. 13, 2009. The cable network Showtime has been criticized for follow- Asian males are much different from how they are depicted ing around lesbians who don’t want to look like lesbians. in movies and reality television.

Wyatt, Edward, “Two Shows Stir Publicity and Anger,” Whelan, Aubrey, “ ‘Jersey Doesn’t Stink’ Website Defends The New York Times, Dec. 7, 2009, p. B1. State,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 27, 2010, p. A1. ABC’s “Find My Family” has angered some members of the A new Website aims to dispel stereotypes propagated adoption community with its attempt to reunite now-grown against New Jersey by shows such as “Jersey Shore.” adoptees with their birth parents. CITING CQ RESEARCHER Impact on Kids Sample formats for citing these reports in a bibliography Couloumbis, Angela, and Amy Worden, “Pa. Says ‘Jon & include the ones listed below. Preferred styles and formats Kate’ Kids Need Work Permits, Trust Funds,”The Philadel- vary, so please check with your instructor or professor. phia Inquirer, April 15, 2010, p. B1. Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry says child- MLA STYLE labor permits should have been obtained for Jon and Kate Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher Gosselin’s eight children. 16 Nov. 2001: 945-68.

Goodman, Tim, “What’s Wrong With TV? Plenty,” Houston APA STYLE Chronicle, July 2, 2010, p. 5. Jost, K. (2001, November 16). Rethinking the death penalty. Shows such as TLC’s “Kate Plus 8” don’t seem to care about the damage they’ve done to the kids on the program. CQ Researcher, 11, 945-968. HICAGO TYLE Lithwick, Dahlia, “What Makes a Bad Parent?” Newsweek, C S Nov. 2, 2009, p. 22. Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher, Most Americans believe that children forced to appear on November 16, 2001, 945-968. reality shows are victims of parental abuse.

www.cqresearcher.com Aug. 27, 2010 699 In-depth Reports on Issues in the News

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