Why Do People Watch Reality TV?

Although there were many reality type shows since the dawn of television, and there were popular shows featuring interesting behavior of unscripted non-actors, such as Real People in the 70s and Bloopers in the 80s, reality TV has really taken the networks by storm. The medium is a boon to film editors who have to deal with countless hours of everday life to sort out on film, but it has left script writers unemployed. If a writer can formulate more exciting plots and snappier dialogue, one may ask “Why do people watch reality TV?” After all, isn’t television usually a way to escape humdrum reality? Aren’t fictional characters more interesting than the guy next door?

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Apparently not, according to those who love these shows. The trend began with The Real World on MTV which followed the day to day life of typical roomates in their 20s. In the beginning, there were people asking “Why do people watch reality TV” until they gradually became fixated, if not obsessed, with the adventures of the real people who were being documented. Fiction and plots soon began leaving people cold, and the public became hungry for more reality TV shows. Today, Survivor, the Apprentice and other shows follow ordinary people in extraordinary situations (or in the case of the Osbournes, bizarre people in ordinary situations).

Why do people watch reality TV? Cynics might call it voyeurism, but more optimistic types ascribe it to the average person’s genuine interest in the lives of other people and a general dislike of what is considered “fake”. The citizens of the world are relating to each other on much more intimate terms given the proliferation of the internet, cell phones, digital cameras and the like. The taste for reality TV reflects this trend.

Although every trend has an equal and opposite counter-trend. Script writers need only wait a few years until the public grows tired of reality TV and prefers well-crafted story lines and witty dialogue. In a few years, people may once again be asking “Why do people (still) watch reality TV?”

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