Reality Television

It seems this whole decade has been dominated by reality television. When you flip through  channels, their are tons of reality based programming. I’m not hating on it, because I enjoy many unscripted shows. It just amazes me that over this past decade how the face of television programming has drastically evolved.

Looking back, the one show that I think may not have started the trend, but at least made it more mainstream was the original Survivor, Borneo edition. I say this because MTV’s The Real World, maybe one of the first Reality TV shows. I think I was in Grade 9 when Survivor premiered on CBS. I remember everyone talking about it and how crazy it was and we are now in 2010 and their producing new versions of the show. It may not be as popular as it once was, but I think it paved the way for reality shows to be accepted in mainstream programming. After Survivor, shows like Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Fear Factor all appeared and were really successful with the ratings.

What made reality television so appealing?

Its because people can relate to the contestants whom appear to be average citizens unlike actors an actresses where their lives are scripted and almost fairytale like.  I still vaguely remember the names of the original cast of Surivor. Obviously Richard Hatch, the first winner, Rudy the retired army Veteran. Jarvis the athletic councilor. Susan with her feisty attitude but I can’t seem to remember her job. Colleen, the adorable girl who later starred in some commercials and I think  a movie with Rob Schneider. I can’t remember the last girl on this poster though.