History of Reality TV

Reality TV has become one of the fastest growing genres of television. Per VOX in 2015 there were more than 750 reality tv shows airing. The first reality TV show is credited to Candid Camera, 1948, which was a spinoff from The Candid Microphone, a radio show from 1947 that focused on practical jokes. This show would continue to air under various versions until 2014. After this show PBS decided to release a show by the name of An American Family in 1973, docu producer Craig Gilbert “set out to capture the living patterns and mentality of a fairly typical middle-America household but instead recorded the drama of a family in the process of coming apart” (Gray, Tim, 2018). Then later in 1974 the BBC released The Family in the UK which had the same concept (Guinness World Records). In 1988 Fox released COPS, a show still popular today, which is an unscripted docuseries following cops on the job. It wouldn’t be until MTV’s The Real World in 1992 that reality TV would begin to be noticed. Shortly after Survivor was released in 2000 and the nonfiction/non-scripted format would be the catalyst to all the reality TV shows we now have. It would be 2003’s The Simple Life which showcased socialites Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie doing odd jobs, that would inspire Kris Kardashian to petition for her family to have their own reality tv show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The show premiered in 2007 and Kim Kardashian quickly became one of the most famous women in the world. The reality TV world would just keep growing, in a 2009 study showed that there were subgenres of reality TV, "gamedocs", dating programs, makeover programs, docusoaps, talent contests, court programs, reality sitcoms, and celebrity related programs.

Do you enjoy reality TV? What do you think about the rate at which reality TV shows are being released? Let me know in the comments below.

Bibliography:

“First Television Reality Show.” Guinness World Records. Accessed May 24, 2023. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-television-reality-show.

Nabi, R.; Stitt, C.; Halford, J.; Finnerty, K. (2006). "Emotional and cognitive predictors of the enjoyment of reality based and fictional television programming: An elaboration of the uses and gratifications perspective". Media Psychology. 8 (4): 421–447. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1207/s1532785xmep0804_5?needAccess=true

Hill, A.; Weibull, L.; Nilsson, A. (2007). "Public and popular: British and Swedish audience trends in factual and reality television". Cultural Trends. 16 (1): 17–41.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09548960601106920

“All Reality TV Shows Index @ Reality TV World - News, Information, Episode Summaries, Message Boards, Chat and Games for Unscripted Television Programs.” Reality TV World. Accessed May 24, 2023. https://www.realitytvworld.com/realitytvworld/allshows.shtml.

Gray, Tim. “Before ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians,’ There Was PBS’ ‘an American Family.’” Variety, January 12, 2018. https://variety.com/2018/vintage/features/reality-tv-an-american-family-1202660360/.

James, Emily St. “750 Reality TV Shows Aired on Cable in 2015. Yes, 750.” Vox, January 7, 2016. https://www.vox.com/2016/1/7/10728206/reality-shows-how-many-peak-tv.