Categories of Reality Television

Categories of Reality Television

Is the "Real World" really the real world? This MTV production is one example of reality television. The definition of reality according to dictionary.com is "the quality or state of being actual or true." More and more prime time television shows on television are becoming reality series. There are different forms of reality television shows. Reality television can be broken down into three categories, team-based elimination, individual elimination, and non-elimination. Most of these reflect the competitive spirit of America that would not exist without prizes.

Team- based elimination is one category of reality television. One example of team-based elimination is "Survivor". "Survivor" is about a group of Americans that are assigned to two teams and dropped off in an uncivilized, remote area of the world. Like most team-based elimination shows it consists of two opposing teams that learn to work together to win challenges and eventually more money than the average person will ever make in over eight years. The competitors have opposing personalities and comes from different parts of the United States, but they must work together to survive elimination and come closer to the one million dollar prize. The game encourages team work, because without teamwork the teams would lose the challenges that are presented to both teams. Even though the challenges are staged, they push the competitors to extreme emotional, physical, and mental states. The challenges are rewarded with prizes for the winning team. The losing team must vote one of its members off the island. Other team-based elimination shows like "The Apprentice" and "The Biggest Loser" have similar qualities. In "The Apprentice," the prize is not money. The prize is a chance to be the one of Donald Trump's project managers in one of his multi-million dollar organizations. Again there are two teams that are narrowed down to a few individuals and the teams must work together on the challenges. The losing team is sent in front of Donald Trump and those contestants must tell him what went wrong fight to not be fired. "The Biggest Loser" takes obese individuals and teaches them how to lose weight with only a healthy diet and good exercise. There is a team composed of men and a team composed of women. There are physical challenges and the team that loses the challenge must vote one of their own off the show. The person who loses the most weight at the end wins the prize money. Each contestant in each team-based elimination show is driven by the need to win. These teams eventually are narrowed down to a few individuals and the characteristics change to that of individual elimination.

Individual elimination is also one form of reality television without unique characteristics. Teams do not exist in individual elimination. "Fear Factor" is one form of an individual elimination show. Here the competitors must face the common fears of the average American, including heights, insects, snakes, and the laws of physics to name a few. Everyone must fend for themselves and whosoever is the most fearless and sometimes physically able wins the prize money. "Joe Millionaire" is another example of an individual elimination reality series. In this show many gold-digging beauties compete for a handsome single man. The women are told that Joe is a millionaire. Each woman does everything she can to keep Joe from voting her off. When one woman is chosen, the man's true identity and gross income are revealed. He is a carpenter that only makes $30,000 a year. If the winner accepts him as he is and decides to stay with Joe, then the both of them receive one million dollars to their surprise. In each individual elimination show