Hill (2005) defines reality TV as a wide range of things. He says the term describes a "range of popular factual programming". He also states that there are many styles involved with reality TV. We see this when looking at the huge differences between shows like Jersey Shore, Big Brother, and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
Hill describes one of the ways that reality TV has become so diverse is the passage of time. He states that originally it was documentary style footage from police and emergency services, but that now Reality TV can essentially mean anything. This is more true now than it even was in 2005. Weddings of young gypsys, the spoilt life of rich tanned monkeys, and entire channels for food programs are overwhelmingly prevalent.
Another reason Reality TV is the way it is, Hill describes, is because of the cannibalisation and feeding frenzy of the television industry. Television producers will take what works well about one show and then merge it with another to create a new genre. This is not a rare occurrence so new styles of Reality TV are popping up all over the place.
In essence, Reality TV is a hard genre to pin down. They are often just flavour of the month shows, just to be rebirthed in a slightly different skin. The term means so much that it almost means nothing.
References:
Hill, A. (2005). The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp 14-40). Oxon: Routledge.
I like your last sentence - "The term means so much that it almost means nothing" lol.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it really is just more a flavour of the month genre. And ever evolving genre, spinning off in different directions
Thanks a lot! I think a lot of it is just where the money is at the time. Like a lot of people will watch a certain type of reality show at once, but get bored of it quickly because there isn't a whole lot of substance, then moving on to the next new show.
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