When Candid Camera debuted in 1948, it saw unpredicted and unprecedented success — its ability to capture real people in sordid situations amused millions for decades. In 1973 the face of television shifted again with the debut of An American Family — the first “real” reality show that broke middle-class American notions and conventions by showcasing the William C. Loud family in a 12-hour “documentary.”
But reality television has clearly come a long way since the days of Candid Camera and An American Family. It’s tantalizing to think about whether or not the writers of the 1998 film The Truman Show or the 1999 film EDtv were aware of just how prophetic their fictionalized reality-based worlds actually were.
When Survivor debuted in 2000, it marked the beginning of what was to become a massive cultural shift. Sure, shows like The Real World, COPS, America’s Most Wanted and America’s Funniest Home Videos had found their niches, but the platform was about to change.
A rapid succession of shows like Big Brother, The Amazing Race, America’s Next Top Model, The Bachelor and ratings darling American Idol inspired so many carbon-cut cable versions — designed to shock viewers into submission, that the market toed the line of over-saturation.
The genre has become so popular that earlier this year the Primetime Emmy Awards announced a brand-new category — the best reality TV host. Furthering that announcement, and perhaps even celebrating it, came yesterday’s announcement that this year’s 60th anniversary show would be hosted by five reality hosts: Jeff Probst (Survivor) Tom Bergeron (Dancing With the Stars), Ryan Seacrest (American Idol), Heidi Klum (Project Runway) and Howie Mandel (Deal or No Deal).
The hosts (minus Seacrest, who fielded it solo last year), will be joining the ranks of Lucille Ball (1961), Frank Sinatra (1968), Johnny Carson (1971-74), Mary Tyler Moore (1976) and Ellen DeGeneres (2005).
“This is a nod in the direction toward reality programming that television has been taking for almost the past 10 years,” explains Murray Pomerance, one of Ryerson University’s founding professors of media and society, frequent guest lecturer and author of The Horse Who Drank Too Much. “It’s a way of not only advertising reality programming — very broadly — but also putting a special celebratory light on it.”
Pomerence argues that one of the reasons reality television programming has become such an increased part of our culture is the apparent reflection of our own experiences, a reflection that is selective in the layers it chooses to portray. “Reality television shows skew everyday life toward the commercial advantages of the producer, just like all of the rest of television.”
But others are capitalizing on the commercial advantages and the fascination of the “everyday folk;” those who are lining the streets in droves to get on these shows too. Robert Galinsky, founder of the three-month-old New York Reality TV School, is currently booked up to two months in advance and is gearing up to produce his own reality show based on the school. Galinsky takes a more positive approach to the Emmy announcement, foreshadowing a newfound legitimacy in the genre. “The trend is going towards building people up instead of tearing people down. Initially it was all about seeing how you could deface somebody in a reality show — people are tired of that,” he explains.
It’s a thought stream that seems to be working — after three months in business, Galinsky (who is quite experienced in the industry) has been receiving calls from casting directors, even from those in Canada.
“Part of the reason we see all of these crazy antics on the television is that these people are all stressed out. They’ve had their phones and computers stripped away and they’re sequestered in the unknown. So we try to take people into the unknown zone so they can be really in touch with what their issues are, be ready to put those out in the open, be confident about it, be authentic and genuine — nobody wants to watch a fake,” he concludes. “[The hosting panel] will help to progress what has happened with reality television.”
“The five of them hosting the Emmys has been a long time coming,” agrees Murtz Jaffer, the "World’s Foremost Reality Television Expert" (he’s having it patented) and the host of Canwest’s new fall show Reality Obsessed. “The host category should have been there a really long time ago — before the whole competitive category The Amazing Race has swept for years.”
But his comments and title don’t mean Jaffer doesn’t have his concerns about where the genre is heading. He points to shows like I Love Money, Flavor of Love and Rock of Love as examples: “That kind of reality is a lot trashier than the network prime-time Survivor, Big Brother or The Amazing Race. Obviously they’re going to have the niche market of people who want to escape and want to revel in their own lives by watching the misery of others. That’s sort of the path we’re heading toward and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Reality TV needs to broaden the demographic and [the Emmys] is a great way to introduce the category.”
No matter how we look at it, reality is here to stay. As Pomerance points out, even our scripted television is reality based — the CSI franchise, NCIS and House are just some examples. “Even though Mad Men is a period piece it’s still about the reality of the advertising business,” he argues.
With eight new reality series and 14 returning ones scheduled on the six main Canadian networks this fall, reality TV now accounts for almost 25 per cent of our upcoming programming. And there were those who predicted Survivor would never last.
Thoughts? amber@tvguide.ca
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