Reality Tv Shows

3295 Words14 Pages
Sarah González Media and Society Christopher A. Chavez Reality TV shows Introduction Reality Television is a media category that can be divided into different types of programs. They are shows that are meant to portray real life situations and to depict reality as it is. Media, and especially television has tried to make sure that there is a type, or a category to match different types of personalities in their audiences, thereby, broadening their viewing rates. There can be reality TV shows aimed at parents (Supper Nanny) or aimed at teenagers (such as; Big brother, Survivor etc…), aimed at home construction and maintenance (Hometime) or even aimed at entire families, such as game shows. It is an interesting topic, as it appears that now most of the channels available on television, or even all of them, seem to have a show or two that can be categorized into Reality TV. The fact that they are everywhere, implies that these type of shows have great audience ratings and that are very much liked, or accepted by the general public. This paper aims to discover when this reality TV “fever” started by depicting a brief history of the subject as well as discussing where and how the genre stands now. After addressing the past and the present, it is thereby important to address the future of this genre. The paper will conclude with an overall conclusion as well as a personal view discussion of what Reality TV shows mean and their consequences to the audiences and the general public. Reality TV history: Recalling from the media and society class, one of the reality shows that can be thought of is that of Lumiere brothers in the 1890s. They portrayed regular people doing regular things like leaving a factory (as we saw in class). However, if we want to focus on television series as reality television shows then it is more appropriate to say that one of the first
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