Real but Not Really: The Reality Tv Genre

Kate Woodward

MCJ 162

T Th 8-9:15

Real But Not Really: The Reality TV Genre

When Philo T. Farnsworth invented the electric television, he probably did not think that it would be used to show people eating bugs, finding husbands based on votes of viewers, or living on deserted islands. But that is exactly what you can see any given night on television now. This newest form of television programming fad is the reality television genre. Reality television is now on every station, every night, everywhere. The web page Fact Monster credits the beginning of reality TV as beginning around 2000 when a little reality game show called Who wants to be a Millionaire hit television screens. Millionaire saw the rebirth of game shows but also started the most popular television genre in years. Some say that MTV's The Real World was the first popular reality based show, but until Millionaire there were no