Does Reality TV Survive?
Sarah Johnson
T/R 11-12:15
Research Paper
7 Dec 2010
What Makes Reality Television Survive? In the year 1992 a new idea was introduced to America and it was called reality television. MTV produced a show called, The Real World that had seven strangers living in a house together and had everything they did filmed. After many failed attempts at trying to make this reality trend catch on, CBS launched Survivor, which pioneered the way for all reality shows to follow in the next decade. It was a show about people battling it out in two separate tribes to their wits end in the jungle and it spread like wildfire across America. Survivor premiere debuted to 28 million viewers and is still on today, a decade and 21 seasons later (McCraley). Reality …show more content…
Reality TV allows us to do just that; we can watch a show Monday night and then have something to talk about the next day at work or school. We can have a common interest with someone without really having to like the same things. Curiosity also plays a role in our obsession with this trend, viewers will imagine themselves in these certain situations and think how they would react but the difference is the viewers get to watch from afar and not have any consequences for what they might choose (Hotchkiss par. 2). Reality television has completely changed the entertainment industry in that it creates a fun way to follow these participants and since they are real people with real conflicts their lives matter to us. This seems to be one reason surrounding why reality television has become so captivating for America and just why it is undeniably here to stay for the long …show more content…
Kathleen King, who is a motivational keynote speaker, believes that Survivor uses their contestants as characters as a marketing strategy. If situations can't be resolved in a timely manner, people grow frustrated and bored with them. Our brain starts telling us, through our emotions, that it is time to move on. For a show to be successful, it has to introduce a parade of situations, just like real life would. So, how does a show keep us engaged in between situations? What keeps us tuned in? The characters . Characters are what we connect to. Characters engage us at a completely different level than situations. Situations are an intellectual challenge. Characters create emotional bonds. We care what happens to them (King). This caring, this connection, provides the emotional overtones that keep the situations of Survivor consistently
T/R 11-12:15
Research Paper
7 Dec 2010
What Makes Reality Television Survive? In the year 1992 a new idea was introduced to America and it was called reality television. MTV produced a show called, The Real World that had seven strangers living in a house together and had everything they did filmed. After many failed attempts at trying to make this reality trend catch on, CBS launched Survivor, which pioneered the way for all reality shows to follow in the next decade. It was a show about people battling it out in two separate tribes to their wits end in the jungle and it spread like wildfire across America. Survivor premiere debuted to 28 million viewers and is still on today, a decade and 21 seasons later (McCraley). Reality …show more content…
Reality TV allows us to do just that; we can watch a show Monday night and then have something to talk about the next day at work or school. We can have a common interest with someone without really having to like the same things. Curiosity also plays a role in our obsession with this trend, viewers will imagine themselves in these certain situations and think how they would react but the difference is the viewers get to watch from afar and not have any consequences for what they might choose (Hotchkiss par. 2). Reality television has completely changed the entertainment industry in that it creates a fun way to follow these participants and since they are real people with real conflicts their lives matter to us. This seems to be one reason surrounding why reality television has become so captivating for America and just why it is undeniably here to stay for the long …show more content…
Kathleen King, who is a motivational keynote speaker, believes that Survivor uses their contestants as characters as a marketing strategy. If situations can't be resolved in a timely manner, people grow frustrated and bored with them. Our brain starts telling us, through our emotions, that it is time to move on. For a show to be successful, it has to introduce a parade of situations, just like real life would. So, how does a show keep us engaged in between situations? What keeps us tuned in? The characters . Characters are what we connect to. Characters engage us at a completely different level than situations. Situations are an intellectual challenge. Characters create emotional bonds. We care what happens to them (King). This caring, this connection, provides the emotional overtones that keep the situations of Survivor consistently