REALITY TELEVISION.

At any given moment of the day, you can turn your television on and a reality TV show will be playing on nearly every channel. Reality shows are defined as “television programs that present real people in live, though often deliberately manufactured, situations and monitor their emotions and behaviors,” according to MSN Encarta. Reality shows today can go from an intimate interpersonal experience between two people to anything else imaginable, such as jumping off cliffs only to provoke a few laughs and a few more broken bones. There are reality shows about business, cooking, law, relationships, jobs, fitness, surgery, sports, home repair, car repair, even life repair. If you can think of it, chances are, it has already been thought of and will be featured on VH1. The monstrosity of reality TV is something not easily ignored.

The big question is how did reality TV become so big that we cannot seem to block it out anymore? Some may think reality TV began with the famous opening: “This is a true story… of seven strangers…picked to live in a house…work together and have their lives taped… to find out what happens…when people stop being polite… and start getting real… The Real World.” However, MTV’s depiction of what life is like when complete strangers live together was not the first reality TV show. The first reality TV show debuted in1948 when Candid Camera was aired. As time went on, so did unnecessary spin offs of Candid Camera—like MTV’s Punk’d and Fox’s COPS.
The Real World is credited, however, to creating the bombardment of reality TV. The Real World was a contrived effort of Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. It aired May 21, 1992 from its first location of New York City. General themes of prejudice, romance, sexuality, politics, religion, life-threatening illnesses, marriages, and fights are what got The Real World through its 21 seasons with a 22nd on its way out of Cancun, Mexico.