FADE IN, December, 2002
AS AMERICA IDLES, WAITING FOR THE SPAWN OF SURVIVOR AND THE OSBOURNES TO HIT THE AIRWAVES, FADE IN DELVES INTO THE ANATOMY OF “REALITY” TV
By Anna David
When Kelly Clarkson became America’s Idol, 22.8 million viewers tuned in – marking the first time Fox had finished first in the weekly household ratings for something other than the World Series, Super Bowl or Emmy Awards.
In reality, however, we the public have been feeling the effects of reality TV for the past few years – after all, Survivor had taught us to use words like “alliance” and “immunity challenge” in everyday conversation, Temptation Island had made us realize our mates maybe weren’t so bad and The Weakest Link had shown us just how lucky we were not to have been raised by a stern British taskmaster. Just like all the major networks and cable channels that have been scrambling together a slate of reality TV shows for the past few seasons, we’ve accepted that “reality” is now a genre unto itself.
Of course, the concept of shows about real people in artificial environments – or catching them when they don’t know they’re being watched – isn’t exactly new. ABC’sAmerica’s Funniest Home Videos and MTV’s The Real World have been on the air over a decade – and Candid Camera dates back over 50 years. But these days, when shows like the Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres are looking to cast real people and catch them coping with the challenges the original versions fictionalized and others are determined to find the world’s funniest person (NBC) or simply the “ultimate girl” (ABC), it seems almost difficult to find a good-old fashioned sitcom or drama.
“I think, like anything, it’s cyclical,” observes Mark Sonnenberg, executive vice president of E! Networks. “I worked at ABC when they said that comedy was dead – right before a show called Cosby came along and revitalized the sitcom.” In the case of reality, it wasn’t one show that launched a sensation but several. Some insiders cite the enduring success of The Real World as the instigator, others focus on the inanely addictive Blind Date, while others point to Survivor and The Osbournes, American Idol and even the made-you-embarrassed-to-be-American Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?
We can all come up with a slew of depressing theories as to why reality programming is so successful of late. One is certainly that in a culture where fame is increasingly valued over seemingly all else, the vicarious thrill we get from watching Gervase or Puck average launched into the spotlight is powerful. There’s also the fact that our society’s increasing isolation makes us crave artificial intimacy. “I think a lot of people feel like like they actually know the kids on The Real World, that they’re their friends,” says Matt Kunitz, who was a producer on the show before producing Fear Factor and Dog Eat Dog. And how about the fact that with 500-odd channels to choose from and attention deficit disorder the ruling state of mind, how could we pick anything else? “Look, if you haven’t watched Becker for the past three years, you’re not going to tune in because you’re just not going to know what’s happening,” explains Kunitz. “But every year of The Real World is completely fresh.”
