How much of reality TV is scripted and how much is real?

Sounds interesting.

The Amazing Race is about the only RTV show I have really gotten into. I think I got into that show about the season when they had that midget lady as one of the racers.

 

yes

 

We are Kosh

 

Of course, some of them really are naked (Tai decided to strip on Survivor this season, and sometimes people's clothes accidentally get pulled off in some of the challenges).

The "clips" episodes of Big Brother are obviously scripted. I find it utterly impossible to believe that Evil Dick and his equally evil daughter, Danielle, would have just sat around the dining table and reminisced about their former housemates for an hour. They couldn't stand any of them, it was mutual, and they couldn't stand each other. So this sudden "Do you remember when so-and-so said/did this on Day 45?" (and then the clip follows) is so incredibly, obviously fake.

There's an interview on YouTube in which Jeff Probst mentions the idea they briefly had for a "Celebrity Survivor" season. Of course it would ostensibly have been for charity, but I just can't see anything like that working. It's iffy enough when people like Lisa Welchel go on the show and pretend to not be a well-known former child actress. She only got away with it as long as she did because most of her tribemates were too young to remember The New Mickey Mouse Club and The Facts of Life. Some of the older players realized fairly soon, though. It was only at the end when it looked like the guy they voted off might out her true identity, from sheer spite.

Gah. I wonder how much of Kevin O'Leary's ridiculous wannabe-Prime Ministerial ambitions his American audiences have heard about. He dropped out of the CPC leadership race too late to keep his name off the ballot, so some twits will waste votes on him.

I was in London Drugs a couple of months ago and happened to glance at some of the boxes in the breakfast cereal aisle. One of the clerks pointed at what I was looking at and said, "That was on Dragon's Den!". I told her I'd never buy anything with such a revolting name (it was rather disgusting, and no, I don't remember what it was; I just wondered WTF the marketing people had been thinking when they chose that name).

We have a thread going about the current seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race.

They're over this week, but Big Brother is starting next month.

Of all the CBS 'reality' shows, I think The Amazing Race comes closest to being completely unscripted. Some of the contestants on that are just too nasty and stupid and compass-challenged to not be genuine.

There's someone I know on another forum who would be so perfect for the Canadian version of The Amazing Race (Canadians aren't eligible for the American shows). He's well-traveled, isn't afraid of either heights or eating weird food, and loves interesting new experiences. No luck yet in nagging him into it, but maybe some day...

 

Wasn't there a team on a previous series of Race that couldn't tell North from South even with a compass? Or could have been a GPS but I remember they got lost and lost the round.

 

Oh, of course. I didn't mean to say that they would either, when some of these shows have one-time appearances. In fact, I kind of forgot about the one-time format. What you say also applies to Shark Tank/Dragon's Den. What I was saying applied more to competition shows such as American Idol where the drama simmers for an entire season. I've known people who've auditioned and were passed by, not because they weren't any good, but because it wasn't what producers were looking for. Producers go out looking for very specific personalities, regardless of talent.

They honestly probably have no idea he even had his hat in the ring. To American audiences he's probably just another overinflated ego.

You mean the cereal's name was disgusting? Was it the "Holy Crap," by any chance? If so, I've had the same reaction. You would think that they would have been given advice about changing the name. If it's the same one I'm thinking of, it's expensive and they must not be doing themselves any favors with any lost potential sales. It sounds like something a kid had come up with that would be OK as an inside joke, but not the name of a real product. Oh, the name turns heads, I'm sure, but probably not a good way. I have to admit, that's one success story that's really puzzled me.

 

I would exclude more procedural shows like food competitions from the 'reality' designation. I'm a fan of Bar Rescue and Brew Dogs as well but would think of them more as a procedural than a reality show.

Yeah, it is pretty clear some of the structural elements of the show are partially scripted. Like, on Big Brother the person directing the competition is clearly repeating from an earpiece. On Survivor I think they will do things like ask people to repeat something they just said for the camera, or re-shoot a team finishing the challenge. But my point is, the editing does not change the result of the game, so much as polish the presentation. They may re-frame emotional dialog but won't fake emotional dialog that didn't happen.

 

This. And bear in mind that in these shows, take 43 minutes, subtract 25 minutes for the structural parts of the show like competitions and eliminations, they only need to find 18 minutes of material in half a week of footage.

 

There seems to be at least one team every season who can't tell one direction from another, but it was especially noticeable this season. One of the teams imploded when the woman kept insisting (correctly) that the map indicated which way was north, south, etc. and the man kept bellowing about "magic pieces of paper" (apparently he never learned to read maps) and insisting they do it his way.

Of course they got lost, and they were eventually eliminated. I'm not sorry to see them gone.

Sometimes they recruit people, too. Remember that incredibly skinny woman on Survivor several years ago? I heard it said that she's the only person ever to go on that show and actually gain weight. She made it fairly close to the end, but she was just skin and bones. The producers recruited her after seeing her in a bar somewhere, and thought, wouldn't it be cool to have this person on the show. She didn't know much of anything about Survivor, and didn't really care. I guess she saw it as an opportunity to make some money and agreed, not realizing she'd get farther than she expected.

What annoys me is what he would have done if he'd actually stayed in the race and won. He had no intention of moving back to Canada or running in a byelection. You can't run a federal party from a shopping channel set in the U.S. He'd have quit and they would have had to have another race.

Yeah, it was "Holy Crap." I told the clerk I'd never buy anything with a disgusting name like that.

Well, the Big Brother speeches about how the nomination ceremonies are run are obviously scripted, and it's obvious that they've either memorized those speeches or are reading them off a teleprompter.

 

Well, he probably didn't realize how much work it would end up being too. In fact, when he announced his was dropping out, it was all about how he had realized it was going to be insurmountable for him. It's good that he realized this ahead of time, unlike some other person we know. If he hadn't done that, it would have wasted a lot of time, effort, and money, especially if it came to quitting and forcing another race like you mention.

I don't think I've ever seen them in boxes, only small bags. And if you think about it, it's all rather pretentious of them, given the name and how expensive it is. And if they'd decide to change the name at some point, I don't think I'd buy it anyway as the damage would already be done. I wish they'd had thought about the kind of image of their company they were giving people.

 

I was watching something on tv or youtube and they were talking about how on "American Idol" that most of the interaction between the judges and the singers are fake. For example when they have a singer up their just to be made fun of, in reality they are usually polite to them, instead of making funny faces and stuff like that.
PLus they put plants, into the audience and you know it when you see people acting like some joke made is like the best joke ever told. The audience member starts jumping up and down and going all crazy like.
Also on "Pimp my Ride" I think it was called, they sometimes would take back all they stuff they added to someones care once the episode was filmed.
I got to admit I really dislike reality tv, because it takes timeslots away from scripted shows that might actually have some creative merit to them. One exception is "Comic Book Men." I know it's fake but I find the guys in it to be funny and it is talking about stuff that appeals to my nerdness.

Jason

 

MKR..... We have that here and often it's not about the cooking but the drama between contestants. It's always advertised here as being all about the drama.

In the most recent series of this here one contestant served her plate of food to another at the table and he said, and I kid you not he said "thank you slut" and that caused a minor media storm.

Afterwards there were allegations the producers told him to do that.

 

The only reality TV show I watch is "Comic Book Men", and it's pretty obvious that it's largely scripted, if not completely. The way they always go some place, have celebrities come to the store, film that intentionally shitty commercial, it's obvious they don't do stuff like that for the reasons they give on the show, but because the episodes would get old real quick otherwise.

Also, I recently watched the documentary "Batman & Bill", which featured illustrator and author Arlen Schumer, and I instantly recognized him from an episode of "Comic Book Men" where he appeared as a guy trying to scam Walt.

So, yeah, it's obviously scripted. But I still enjoy it. More than I probably should.

 

What I like about the show is that even though I think most of it is fake I do think the people's personalities on it are proably true to how they are in life. Plus it was created by Kevin Smith and I feel like he is a pretty honest guy.
Jason

 

OMG found a youtube about the slut thing.

 

I wouldn't call Comic Book Men a reality show. It's a talk show, complete with guest appearances and stupid skits.

 

OOoooh what was that show where people competed by dressing up as super heroes?

 

I remember that! It stared Stan Lee but I can't recall the title. I also think when they won they got a comic book made about the character they invented and also they had superhero contests where each person had to do some heroic thing. Also they lived together as well. It was on the Sci-Fi channel.

Jason

 

There is always the documentary about the TV show "Everlasting", might be worth a watch.

As for the rest, I worked for docutainment productions and we did candid camera shows and conflict between neighbours shows.
Half of the victims of the hidden camera sketches were cast weeks before that, around 200 extras were cast in one year as far as I can remember.
As for the neighbours, I don't have a clue besides misusing the mediator role to instil conflict.

Anyway, the documentary I linked to above is worth a watch.