Reality TV

""If reality TV has taught us anything, it's that you can't keep people with no shame down.""

- Liz Lemon

"Reality" television is a genre of television programming in which the (mis)fortunes of "real-life" people (as opposed to fictional characters played by actors) are followed. The native habitat of Reality TV Tropes, if you will.

There are three main types of reality TV. In the first, the viewer and the camera are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities. This style of filming is often referred to as "fly on the wall". The "plots" which are compiled for the program often resemble soap operas, hence the description "Docu Soap".

Though there were earlier precedents on radio and television, the Ur Example for this type of reality show was probably the PBS series An American Family. Twelve parts were broadcast in the United States in 1973. The series dealt with a nuclear family going through a divorce. The parents had several children and one of them, Lance Loud, was openly homosexual; he occasionally wore lipstick and women's clothes and, in the second episode, took his mother to a drag show. Scholars sometimes mention that Lance came out of the closet on TV, but this is technically incorrect—he was simply homosexual without announcement. His family confirmed that he had been out for some time. An American Family was controversial in its time and was excoriated by the press, particularly The New York Times, which published a piece criticizing the series and especially Lance Loud. However, this didn't stop it from achieving Ratings in the 10 million range, proving that there was an audience for reality TV as early as The Seventies.

In 1974, a counterpart programme, The Family, was made in the UK, following the working class Wilkins family of Reading. Australia saw Sylvania Waters in 1992, about the nouveau riche Baker-Donaher family of Sydney. Both attracted their share of controversy.

Perhaps responsible for inspiring the recent interest in reality television is MTV's The Real World, one of the first reality programs to gain mainstream popularity. A new subset of this type has recently emerged in which the daily lives of celebrities are portrayed, many of them Famous For Being Famous. Examples include The Anna Nicole Show, The Osbournes and Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

In the second type, hidden cameras are rolling when random passers-by encounter a staged situation. The reactions of the passers-by can be funny to watch, but also revealing to the truths about the human condition. Allen Funt, an American pioneer in reality entertainment, led the way in the development of this type of show. He created Candid Microphone, which debuted on the ABC Radio Network in 1947, and the internationally successful Candid Camera, which first aired on television in 1953. He later produced a feature-length reality-film in 1968 entitled What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?. The film was a hidden-camera study of sexuality and mores of the time. For example, in one staged situation, passers-by encountered an inter-racial couple.

In the third type, the so-called "reality game shows" (see Reality Show), participants are filmed intensively in an enclosed environment while competing to win a prize—thus they are game shows and discussed more thoroughly in that article. The reality game show genre has become pervasive enough to be parodied by Spike TV with The Joe Schmo Show.

One difference that makes these more like "reality television" than other game shows is that the viewing public and/or the contestants usually (but not always) play an active role in deciding the outcome. Usually this is by eliminating participants (disapproval voting, often one per week) or voting for the most popular choice to win (with some other voting system). Some popular reality-based game shows of this sort are Big Brother, Survivor, and American Idol. There is also a Spanish-language show taped for Latin American audiences, Protagonistas De La Musica, filmed in Miami by Telemundo USA.

However, given that producers can control the format of the show, as well as manipulate the outcome of some of them, it is questionable how "real" reality television actually is.

See also Reality Show, Reality TV Tropes, The Truman Show, EDtv

Documentary style
(Some of the shows in this section are arguably true documentaries, in which the producers make a good-faith effort to document their actual subject, not interfering with the events just to make a better story.)


 * Sixteen and Pregnant (2009)
 * 30 Days (2005)
 * Ace of Cakes (2006)
 * Airline (UK; ITV's imitation of Airport)
 * Airline (US; 2004 on A&E Network)
 * Airport (UK; BBC show that made Jeremy Spake famous)
 * American Casino (2004)
 * American Chopper (2003) (Discovery Channel)
 * An American Family (1973)
 * American Guns (2011) (Discovery Channel)
 * American Hot Rod (2004)
 * American Pickers (2010) (History Channel)
 * American Restoration (2010~) (History Channel)
 * Auction Hunters (2010)
 * Ax Men (2008) (History Channel)
 * Big Rich Texas (2011) (Style Network)
 * Billy the Exterminator (2009) (Discovery Channel)
 * Cake Boss (2009)
 * The Casino (2004)
 * Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within (2002)
 * The Colony (2009) (Discovery Channel)
 * Dallas Divas and Daughters (2009) (Style Network)
 * Deadliest Catch (2005) (Discovery Channel)
 * Destination Truth (2007)
 * Dirty Jobs (2003) (Discovery Channel)
 * Dog Borstal (2006)
 * Don't Tell My Mother
 * Dual Survival (Discovery Channel)
 * Escape to River Cottage (1999) (UK)
 * The Family (1974) (UK)
 * Family Plots (2004) (US; A&E Network show about a mortuary in San Diego)
 * Fight Quest (2007-2008) (Discovery Channel)
 * The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants (2011)
 * Fraternity Life (2003)
 * Gold Rush (2010) (Discovery Channel)
 * Ghost Adventures (2008)
 * Ghost Hunters (2004)
 * Heavy (2011)
 * Holmes On Homes (2001)
 * Ice Road Truckers (2007) (History Channel)
 * I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (2002-)
 * Its Me or The Dog (2005)
 * Intervention (2005)
 * Jersey Shore (2009, most people know it because of Snooki)
 * Lagos Airport (UK; Channel 4's take on Airport focusing on the third world conditions in and around Nigeria's main airport)
 * Laguna Beach (2004)
 * The Littlest Groom (2004)
 * Man vs. Wild (2006) (Discovery Channel)
 * Man Woman Wild (2010) (Discovery Channel)
 * My Super Sweet Sixteen (2005)
 * NHL 247 (2010)
 * Nineteen Kids and Counting (2008-)
 * Pawn Stars (2009~) (History Channel)
 * Pit Boss (2010)
 * Pit Bulls and Parolees (2010)
 * Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal (2008) (A&E)
 * Rachael Rocks (2004)
 * Real People (1979)
 * The Real World (1992)
 * The Restaurant (2003)
 * Say Yes to the Dress (2007)
 * Sons of Guns (2011) (Discovery Channel)
 * Sorority Life (2002)
 * Starting Over (2003)
 * Storm Chasers (2007) (Discovery Channel)
 * Storage Wars (2010)
 * * Storage Wars: Texas (2011)
 * Survivorman (2004) (Discovery Channel)
 * Swamp People (2010) (History Channel)
 * Sylvania Waters (1992) (Australia)
 * That's Incredible! (1980)
 * Toddlers and Tiaras (2009)
 * True Life (1998)
 *  U8TV: The Lofters (2001) (Canada)

Historical re-creation

 * The 1900 House (1999) (UK; living in historical conditions. Also shown on PBS)
 * The 1940s House (2001) (UK)
 * Churchill's Secret Agents: The New Recruits (2018) (UK-US; American version of British simulation of the World War II Special Operations Executive training course).
 * Colonial House (2004) (US; PBS show set in the American frontier of 1628)
 * Frontier House (2002) (US; PBS show set in the American frontier of 1883)
 * Klondike: The Quest for Gold (2003) (Canada)
 * Le Moyen 1903 (2003) (Switzerland/TSR)
 * Pioneer Quest: A Year in the Real West (2000) (Canada)
 * Quest for the Bay (2002) (Canada)
 * Regency House Party (2004) (UK) * The Edwardian Country House aka Manor House (2002)
 * The Ship (2002) (UK)
 * Warrior Challenge (2004) (US)

Dating

 * The 5th Wheel (2001)
 * Average (2003)
 * The Bachelor (2002)
 * The Bachelorette (2003)
 * Bachelorettes in Alaska (2002)
 * Blind Date (UK) (1985)
 * Blind Date (US) (1999)
 * Boy Meets Boy (2003)
 * Cupid (2003)
 * Daisy of Love (2009)
 * ElimiDATE (2002)
 * EX-treme Dating (2002)
 * Flavor of Love (2006)
 * For Love or Money (2003)
 * For the Love of Ray J (2009)
 * I Love New York (2007)
 * Joe Millionaire (2003) and The Next Joe Millionaire (later the same year)
 * Married by America (2003)
 * Megan Wants a Millionaire (2009)
 * Millionaire (2003)
 * Mr. Personality (2003)
 * My Antonio (2009)
 * My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé (2004)
 * Outback Jack (2004)
 * Playing It Straight (2004)
 * Real Chance of Love (2008)
 * Rock of Love (2007)
 * Streetmate (UK)
 * Temptation Island (2001)
 * Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? (2000)
 * Would Like To Meet (UK)

Law Enforcement/Military

 * American Fighter Pilot (2002)
 * Bait Car
 * Boot Camp
 * Combat Missions (2001)
 * COPS (1989)
 * Dog the Bounty Hunter (2004)
 * Real Stories of the Highway Patrol (1994)

Makeover

 * A Makeover Story (US)
 * Bar Rescue
 * Beauty and the Geek (US)
 * Changing Rooms (UK) = Trading Spaces (US) (2000)
 * Extreme Makeover (2002)
 * How Clean Is Your House? (2003) (2004) (UK)
 * Life Laundry (2002) (UK; house clearance)
 * Kitchen Nightmares
 * Knock First (2003)
 * Monster Garage (2002) (US)
 * MTV's MADE
 * On the Road with Austin and Santino
 * Queer Eye For The Straight Guy (2003)
 * Restaurant: Impossible (2011)
 * Restoration (2003) (UK)
 * The Swan (2004) (US)
 * Tabitha's Salon Takeover (2008) (US)
 * Trading Spaces: Home Free
 * What Not to Wear (US)

Life Change

 * Bully Beatdown (2010) (US)
 * Clean House (2003) (US)
 * Faking It (2001) (UK; remade in US in 2003)
 * Holiday Swap (2003) (UK)
 * It Takes a Thief (2005-7) (US)
 * Its Me or The Dog (2007) (UK) (2008) (US)
 * Losing It With Jillian (2010) (US)
 * Masters And Servants (2003) (UK)
 * Supernanny (2004) (UK) (2005) (US)
 * Til Debt Do Us Part (2005) (Canada)
 * Trading Spouses (2004) (US)
 * Wife Swap (2002) (2003) (UK)

Docusoaps starring celebrities

 * Breaking Bonaduce (2005)
 * Britney And Kevin Chaotic (2006)
 * Brooke Knows Best (2008)
 * Gene Simmons Family Jewels (2006)
 * Hogan Knows Best (2005)
 * House Of Carters (2006)
 * Ice Loves Coco (2011-2012)
 * Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2007–present)
 * Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami (2008)
 * Living Lohan (2008)
 * My Fair Brady (2005)
 * Newlyweds (2003)
 * New York goes to Holly wood (2008)
 * Rich Girls (2003)
 * Scott Baio is 45 and Single (2007)
 * Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant (2008)
 * Strange Love (2005)
 * The Anna Nicole Show (2002)
 * The Hasselhoff's (2010)
 * The Osbournes (2002)
 * The Simple Life (2003)
 * The Simple Life 2 (2004)
 * The Surreal Life (2003)

Hidden camera

 * Americas Funniest Home Videos (1990)
 * Boiling Point (US) MTV
 * Candid Camera (1948)
 * The Jamie Kennedy Experiment (2002)
 * Punk'd (2003)
 * Scare Tactics (2003)
 * Trigger Happy TV (2002) (UK; launched comedian Dom Joly)
 * TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes (1984)
 * Undercover Boss (2010)
 * What Would You Do (2009)

Reality game shows

 * The Amazing Race (2001)
 * America's Most Smartest Model (2007)
 * Back To Reality (2004) (UK)
 * Beauty and the Geek (2005)
 * The Benefactor (2004)
 * Big Brother (2000–present)
 * The Biggest Loser (2004–present)
 * Boot Camp
 * Canadas Worst Driver (2005–Present), except the contestants don't want to win the trophy.
 * Celebrity Fit Club (2005)
 * Dance Your Ass Off (2009)
 * Dog Eat Dog (2003)
 * Estate of Panic (2008)
 * Fear (2000)
 * Forever Eden (2004)
 * Fear Factor (2001)
 * Full Metal Jousting
 * High School Reunion  (2008)
 * I Love Money (2008)
 * I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (2002) (UK)
 * I Survived a Japanese Gameshow (2008)
 * Kid Nation
 * Mad Mad House (2004)
 * Mantracker
 * MasterChef
 * Model Flat (Fashion TV, 2002)
 * The Mole (2001)
 * The Murder Game (2003) (UK version of Murder in Small Town X)
 * Murder in Small Town X (2001)
 * Now Get Out of That (1981) (UK)
 * Paradise Hotel (2003)
 * Pirate Master (2007)
 * The Real Gilligan's Island (2004)
 * Road Rules (1995)
 * Shattered (2004) (UK)
 * Solitary (2006)
 * Survivor (2000)
 * The Tester (2010)
 * Top Shot (2010) (History Channel)
 * Total Blackout (2012)
 * Tough Enough (2001)
 * Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (2006)

Spoofs

 * Dead Set (2008)
 * Drawn Together (2004)
 * EdTV (movie) 1999
 * I Am Not Infected (web series) (2008)
 * The Joe Schmo Show (2003)
 * Joe Schmo 2 (2004)
 * Lifes a Zoo (2008)
 * Real Life (movie) (1979)
 * Series 7 (movie) (2001)
 * Smash TV (1990) has been described as "parodying Reality TV since before it existed".
 * Superstar USA (2004)
 * The Truman Show (movie) (1998)
 * Total Drama Island (2007)

Talent Searches

 * American Idol (2002)
 * American Juniors (2003)
 * Americas Got Talent (2006)
 * America's Next Top Model (2003)
 * The Apprentice (2004)
 * The Assistant (2004)
 * Australian Idol (2003)
 * Britains Got Talent (2007)
 * Can You Be A Porn Star? (2004)
 * Canadian Idol (2002)
 * Chopped (2009)
 * The Contender (2004)
 * Cupcake Wars (2010)
 * Dance Moms (2011)
 * Dragon's Den (2005) (UK, remade for the US as Shark Tank)
 * Dream Job (2004)
 * Fame Academy (2002)(2003) (UK)
 * The Glee Project (2011)
 * Got To Dance (UK, remade for the US as Live To Dance)
 * Hells Kitchen (UK, remade for US TV in 2005)
 * Last Comic Standing (2003)
 * Making the Band (2001)
 * Making the Band 2 (2002)
 * Next Action Star (2004)
 * The Next Food Network Star (2005–present)
 * The Next Iron Chef (2007,2009) (a spin-off of Iron Chef)
 * Performing As... (2003)
 * Pop Idol (2001)
 * Popstars (2000) (UK; launched bands Hear'Say and Liberty X)
 * Popstars: The Rivals (2002) (UK; launched Girls Aloud)
 * Project Runway (2004)
 * RuPaul's Drag Race
 * The Sing-Off (US) (2009–present)
 * So You Think You Can Dance (2005)
 * Star Search (1980s)
 * Superstar K (2009)
 * Ted Macks Original Amateur Hour (US) (1948-1970)
 * Top Chef (2006)
 * The Voice (2011, 2012)
 * The X Factor (2004)
 * Work of Art: The Next Great Artist (2010)

Fantasies Fulfilled

 * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition(US, 2004)
 * Jim'll Fix It (UK, 1975-1994)
 * My Super Sweet 16 (2005)
 * Pimp My Ride (US)
 * Prank Patrol (Canada, remade in Australia and the UK)
 * The Swan (2004)
 * Thrill of a Lifetime (1982–88 and 2002)

Survival
(Some of the shows in this section are arguably true documentaries, in which the producers make a good-faith effort to document their actual subject, not interfering with the events just to make a better story. Though some situations do seem staged or scripted. Individual episodes are deliberately set up.)
 * Dual Survival (Discovery Channel)
 * Man vs. Wild (2006) (Discovery Channel)
 * Man Woman Wild (2010) (Discovery Channel)
 * Survivorman (2004) (Discovery Channel)

Others

 * MythBusters (Discovery Channel)
 * Top Guns (History 2)
 * Oddities (Discovery Channel)