Week 11-12: Reality TV [Julie]

How does Hill define reality TV?

The definition Hill (2005) gave reality TV is “Reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming” although there is no single or concrete definition for this genre. That definition is more traditional and was commonly used in the past.

With the rise of current reality TV, it becomes more difficult to give reality TV a definite definition due to the different ideas the creators and the viewers have of the TV sub-genre. Hill (2005) continued to say “The term usefully merges factual programming with entertainment-based television, and highlights hybridization, a common generic feature of most reality programs”. This can be used to describe the more current types of reality TV such as game shows like Survivor and The Biggest Loser and drama reality TV shows like The Hills. These shows are considered ‘factual’, especially in US where the shows are created and produced where the audiences are able to have a voyeuristic view of other people’s lives as they go through ‘real’ situations. In contrast, audiences in the UK deems shows that deals with themes of current affairs or similar to documentaries as more ‘factual’ and defines reality TV as such. ‘Docudramas’ such as Cathy Come Home were much more watched in the UK and shook the nation because it dealt with real social issues that viewers of that time were actually living through. Although the portrayals of the characters in the show were over-dramatized and it was scripted, Cathy Come Home had a strong sense of what was ‘real’.


Reality TV creates a different close connection to the audiences compared to dramas or movies. In reality TV shows, we as the audience know that the people we are watching are ‘real’ people and not actors. Although we can understand when the ‘real’ people are acting in an over-dramatized manner, it still gives the audience a sense of ‘I could be that person’ feeling while watching reality TV. For shows such as The Hills, the audiences are able to go through the lives of the people in the show as if they are with them. Viewers are able to feel the emotions and the events in the lives of the characters and decide what is fact and what is scripted. Hill (2005) emphasized that the main point of reality TV is that the audiences are connected to the show and that “‘reality’ is connected with audience understanding of the performance of non-professional actors in the programs, and the ways ‘real people’ play up to the cameras”.


Ultimately, reality TV has no set definition. Only that it is an ever evolving genre of television set to entertain people by providing a voyeuristic window in the lives of ‘real people’.

Reference:

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.