All about reality TV shows

Television shows have a great variety when it comes to entertaining their audience. Often times, new idea innovations entering this field add to the already kaleidoscopic spectrum and revolutionize the concept of entertainment. Visual media, being highly effective, demands ever newer techniques to convey the myriad ideas of new thinkers to effectively impress the target audience.

New and future reality shows have joined this train, further enriching the infinite potential of television. Reality shows are generally inexpensive and consistently hit their target.

A reality show should not be confused with a documentary where subjects are directed to ignore the camera and act naturally. The television show features talents chosen from ordinary people and non-actors trained by profession. Hell’s Kitchen, a famous cooking contest, has successfully completed up to 7 seasons. Television producers shoot footage of several hundred hours per episode and then creatively edit to make it presentable. Many reality shows resort to in-between clippings of confessionals where private conversations are recorded to narrate. Reality shows took a new twist with The Bachelor, a series in which a single man chooses a girlfriend from 25 potential women.

Creativity, originality and innovative approach have added new varieties and one like Big Brother, made about a man in his twenties in a well furnished apartment, and recording his public movements. This show has generated a lot of audience and popularity. One would remember the Jade Goody episode that had become the talk of the town.

The most popular reality show was CBS’s Survivors in 1999. Participants have to survive through various tasks that test their physical and mental strength. Needless to say, it received unexpected rave reviews for its success compared to reviews from all other reality shows. The success heralded a host of another very famous show, American Idol, which encourages and empowers budding singing talents across America. This program has become so popular that it is being adapted in many different countries.

Recently there has been some sense of gradual dimming of these shows judging by the lack of interest shown in the reality TV reviews. The issue has probably worn off, but finding an effective alternative has not been so easy either.