Television Entertainment And Reality Television
In this essay I will discuss the television reality series Survivor and how its content can be linked to the communication theories of media studies. The appetite for reality television began with Candid Camera, which aired from October 1960 to September 19671. ... The trend toward more dramatic entertainment is evident with the harsher, edgier, and more dramatic television shows like ER, NYPD Blue, Law and Order, and CSI. These shows try to engage us with events that are characterized as real, but they are not what we would consider reality television, mainly due to the known outcome and predicted scripted nature of the show. We define reality television as viewing ordinary people (not actors) interacting in a manner that is unscripted and unrehearsed, almost documentary in style2. The comparison to that of a documentary implies that the reality show is authentic, true, and non-fictional. Reality television always has some large prize at the outcome for the winner. ... Survivor and is owned by CBS and produced by Mark Burnett’s company SEG (Survivor Entertainment Group). ... But why has reality television become so popular? One could argue that we have little choice in the matter as reality television shows like Survivor have several advantages over the more conventional studio based programs. ... This is one demonstration of the power that the network can instill on our selection of television programs. ... However, this is far from the truth; there are many instances where the contestants have publicly stated that what we saw on television was shown in a completely different context than what was intended. ... The producers rely on the delivering the reality TV formula: be provocative, sensual, voyeuristic, and edgy. ... ”5 When a viewer watches the contestants performing selfish and heartless acts on network television, a certain approval results giving a sense of validation. Not only does reality TV satisfy a voyeuristic tendency in viewers, but when viewers see the contestants doing things they themselves are doing, or wishing they could do, it somehow justifies their own poor choices. ... The producers intentionally choose people who they think will satisfy a few key television musts: they must be telegenic, they must have outgoing personalities and they must be willing to sign their lives over to the network. ... Why would anyone actually want to be on Survivor or any other reality television show? ... Mark Burnett stated that: Survivor is as much a marketing vehicle as it is a television show. ... Its the future of television."3 It should come as no surprise then, that many of the contestants try to capitalize on their newly found stardom by appearing on other television shows, appearances of the most recent Survivor outcasts appear on David Letterman, The Early Show, Hollywood Squares, JAG, Nash Bridges, The Guiding Light, and VH1 to name a few6, 8. ... If that’s not enough, producers have marketed products in the show itself: Survivor anticipates the future of television advertising in the age of "smart" home video recorders. Fearful that viewers will circumvent commercials inserted between program segments, television networks are embracing product-placement strategies that embed consumer goods into program content. ... In this light, Survivor is not merely entertainment; it is a multidimensional marketing platform that includes television, home video, book and music publishing, and the World Wide Web. ... It is tossed around by the producers to whom we are at mercy: Equally important, reality television provides an exceptional vehicle to illuminate the relationship between television form and content--sport, entertainment and information programming, and advertisements--with other forms of social knowledge and cultural practices.