Boo Hoo Honey!

[operalover21]

If this depiction of a "family" was real, it sure as hell wouldn't be on TV, much less popular enough to generate these posts.

 

Of course, it's real. It's far too bizarre for it to be fiction.

[instudiocity]

Of course, it's real. It's far too bizarre for it to be fiction.

Tell that to Storage Wars aficionados:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/11/storage-wars-fake-lawsuit_n_2279176.html

 

And to House Hunters fans:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/06/authenticity-of-hgtvs-house-hunters-questioned/

 

All Reality Shows are scripted. All Reality Shows push story lines to extremes in order to attract as large an audience as possible. If they were as boring as real life, who would watch them?

[josephga]

All Reality Shows are scripted. All Reality Shows push to story lines to extremes in order to attract as large an audience as possible. If they were as boring as real life, who would watch them?

 

 

This; anyone who watches knows on the real housewives the normal sane ones dont last long or don't get invited back. go on there as some completely out of control bitch piss everyone off have weekly melt downs ratings go up so does pr episode salary

[RockHard]

Of course, it's real.

 

Not quite. All Reality TV is manipulated and created. The story lines may not use word-for-word scripts, but the direction and shoot schedules are known long before each shoot begins.

[jjkrkwood]

tell that to storage wars aficionados:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/11/storage-wars-fake-lawsuit_n_2279176.html

 

and to house hunters fans:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/06/authenticity-of-hgtvs-house-hunters-questioned/

 

all reality shows are scripted. All reality shows push to story lines to extremes in order to attract as large an audience as possible. If they were as boring as real life, who would watch them?

 

I love Hoarders

[josephga]

I love Hoarders

 

Have you seen the ones where the hoard animals? this one guy had 18 dogs 16 of them Chihuahuas

[instudiocity]

Have you seen the ones where the hoard animals? this one guy had 18 dogs 16 of them Chihuahuas

 

What about the guy in the Mojave Desert of California with 2,500 rats? He had to sleep in a chair in his shed because the rats were pulling out his hair to build their nests.

 

But even watching Hoarders, there is a story line being followed and some of the 'on the fly's are definitely scripted.

[josephga]

I've heard moonshiners on discovery channel is scripted. I've watched it and its more of a reenactment. No real moonshine is even made and the main guy Tim went legal 5 years ago

[MsGuy]

LOL, if it were real, the Feds would have long since just seized the tapes and the whole lot of them, producers included, would be under indictment.

[josephga]

out of all of the ones I've seen imo Deadliest Catch probably comes the closes to reality

[operalover21]

Tell that to Storage Wars aficionados:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/11/storage-wars-fake-lawsuit_n_2279176.html

 

And to House Hunters fans:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/06/authenticity-of-hgtvs-house-hunters-questioned/

 

All Reality Shows are scripted. All Reality Shows push story lines to extremes in order to attract as large an audience as possible. If they were as boring as real life, who would watch them?

 

Sorry, you're just wrong. Period. Staging certain things in certain ways on some shows doesn't mean it's "scripted."

[josephga]

I think it's more staging manipulated and created than actually reading from a script. they create events for people to go to placing everyone in place for something to go down. they might have some event where everyone goes but say one person then they would encourage conversation about that person. say for instance everyone went to this event and I couldn't go. and say maxwellsmart talked shit about me lol the producers would encourage someone to run back and tell me. then the producers would set up dinner plans for the 2 of us so we can go at it lol

[Steven_Draker]

Just how real are reality TV shows?

Shows may exist in a middle ground — not fully scripted nor completely true

By Michael Ventre

 

 

When Jason dumped Melissa for Molly on the "After The Final Rose" show following ABC’s “The Bachelor,” it wasn't just Melissa who smelled a rat. Many viewers reacted as if they had been suckered into a reality TV Ponzi scheme. The blogosphere was dense with hot-blooded commentary, mostly involving the word “rigged.”

 

When Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was still dancing on “Dancing with the Stars,” he said in a Facebook post: “The producers play games to get viewers and don’t disclose the (voting) numbers. If they disclosed the numbers, it would be less of a game, but still suspect. If tomorrow, they claim I’m in the bottom 2 dance teams, including viewer votes, I believe that’s an outright lie.”

 

Wozniak did end up in the bottom two, but by then he'd backtracked, calling himself a “heel” and a “loudmouth” and apologizing for questioning the show.

But the seeds of reality discontent have already been planted, spouted, raised to full growth and pruned for display. Perhaps only cockeyed optimists believe reality shows are completely on the up-and-up; then again, maybe it’s just the most suspicious conspiracy theorists that believe every detail is as meticulously planned as an episode of “CSI.”

 

Yet it could be that there is a middle ground that is most akin to the semi-improvised “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” in which an outline for a plot is prepared, but where it goes from there is anyone’s guess.

 

“Certainly, reality TV is a very manipulated format where the basis of it is that real people are put into unreal situations to create a story,” said J. Rupert Thompson, a director and producer who includes “Big Brother” and “Fear Factor” among his credits.

 

“As soon as they get into an unreal situation,” Thompson said, “one could argue that it’s scripted, because the situation is created by the producers. What makes it so compelling is that you never know what a real person’s reaction to an unreal situation will be. That’s why you get such great stuff on reality TV.”

 

But do viewers care if their shows have been, say, artificially enhanced?

“I think there are both types out there,” Thompson said. “I think some demand credibility and others just want to be entertained. I think the educated viewer knows what reality TV is and what it has become.”

 

Call it ‘partially scripted television’

 

Ray Richmond is on a crusade. The longtime television critic for the Hollywood Reporter, who now blogs about entertainment and pop culture at manbitestinseltown.com, said he has been trying — so far unsuccessfully — to have the term “reality television” switched to “partially scripted television.”

 

“It started with the first of the new reality generation, that being (1992's) ‘The Real World,’” Richmond said. “While ‘The Real World’ isn’t fully scripted, participants have maintained that there was meddling by producers — denied by all involved — to stir the pot and ratchet up the soapy conflict.

 

Celebrity Sightings Reality shows shoot many more hours of footage than what can be shown in a 30- or 60-minute program, leaving editors to splice together selected footage in order to tell a certain story.

 

"The editors have grown to become the new storytellers, altering sequences and the course of events and contextual elements to weave together a story that’s radically different from what went down," says Richmond. "And as more than one person has pointed out, is it possible for people on ‘Survivor’ to starve to death when there’s a junk-food-laden craft services table just outside of camera range?”

 

But does it matter? Among the top 10 shows in Nielsen ratings for the week of March 23-29, two installments of “American Idol” and two of “Dancing With the Stars” ranked in the top six. Clearly, people watch, despite the turmoil over what’s real and what’s not.

 

Some parts are real: No one is dancing for Steve-O

“I think people do care whether their favorite show has been tampered with,” noted Lynette Rice, who covers television for Entertainment Weekly. “Every year, fans of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ threaten to boycott the show because they feel ABC manipulated the votes and the wrong D-level dancer won. Despite this, viewers still show up in droves, because when it’s said and done, there aren’t producers out there manipulating Steve-O’s legs while he’s fox-trotting. He’s doing it all himself.

“Not everything about reality shows can be manipulated.”

 

Yet Richmond remains highly skeptical. He feels that despite the popularity of reality shows, the public is being sold a bill of goods. If he’s correct, expect more controversies to come.

 

One surfaced recently, when the New York Daily News published a story claiming the final four on "American Idol" had already been chosen by the judges (meaning viewer votes meant nothing).

 

That story would seem to have been disproved just one week later, when Alexis Grace, a contestant listed among the supposed final four, was eliminated, but the controversy lives on. One reader posted to the Daily News' story: "Of course Alexis was voted off. After this article, American Idol had her voted off."

 

Richmond doesn't see things becoming any less murky in the future. “We can expect that more and more reality shows will be scripted, albeit unofficially," he says. "It’s important to keep in mind that almost nobody involved with these shows will ever acknowledge the wizard behind the curtain. There is almost an element of collusion on everyone’s part, or a code of silence, to never let on, lest the pot of gold disappear.

 

“What they are doing on these shows is taking a kernel of fact and using it to construct a multi-pronged piece of fiction in the guise of truth and actuality," Richmond said. "This makes for a product that’s not only mislabeled but disingenuous and deceptive.”

 

Still, the reality TV police aren’t cracking down, fans are tuning in, and studios and production companies continue to rake in moolah.

And Entertainment Weekly's Rice doesn't see reality TV vanishing any time soon.

 

“The bottom line: reality shows — especially the gold standards like ‘Survivor,’ ‘Amazing Race,’ ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘American Idol’ — remain more popular than ever because a) no one’s come up with better ones, and b) a lot of scripted TV out there is just not as entertaining," she says. “Until someone creates a really good comedy that will have me laughing harder than I do at ‘The Bachelor,’ I’ll keep tuning into the best Rose Ceremony ever!”

 

source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30092600/ns/today-entertainment/t/just-how-real-are-reality-tv-shows/#.UMvY3o7FXMA

[RockHard]

Sorry, you're just wrong. Period. Staging certain things in certain ways on some shows doesn't mean it's "scripted."

 

Actually, you're just wrong. PERIOD!

 

"Scripted" is a pretty common industry term in the context of Reality TV. Even game shows have a script. But no one would use the term when talking about a TV drama.

[instudiocity]

Sorry, you're just wrong. Period. Staging certain things in certain ways on some shows doesn't mean it's "scripted."

So come argue with me and my production homies. We script the shit out of shows everyday. And I mean more than staging, but less than exact dialogue. Getting amateurs to repeat their lines with the right emotions is impossible but letting them tell the script's storyline in their own words can be hilarious when it's not totally fucked up.

[instudiocity]

Actually, you're just wrong. PERIOD!

THANKS! Mr Hard!

 

"Scripted" is a pretty common industry term in the context of Reality TV. Even game shows have a script. But no one would use the term when talking about a TV drama.

Because it would be redundant!

[operalover21]

So come argue with me and my production homies. We script the shit out of shows everyday. And I mean more than staging, but less than exact dialogue. Getting amateurs to repeat their lines with the right emotions is impossible but letting them tell the script's storyline in their own words can be hilarious when it's not totally fucked up.

 

Then name the shows, the writers, and exactly what you do. Be a whistleblower. Don't hide. On the other hand, let's face it, who the fuck cares?

[RockHard]

Then name the shows, the writers, and exactly what you do. Be a whistleblower.

 

Just to prove that you're wrong, and your gasbag-troll style of posting embarrasses only you? You're kidding, right?

 

 

Don't hide.

 

Dude, get real. (I'll show you mine after you show me yours.)

 

 

On the other hand, let's face it, who the fuck cares?

 

Considering your bullish, motormouth performances on this site, it's easy for one to believe you care very much.

 

Who cares about the real in Reality TV? Absolutely no one. It makes a lot of money. Audiences either like the shit or not. They tune in or not. There's always been a history of junk TV ever since its invention. Bad movies get made, too.

[instudiocity]

Then name the shows, the writers, and exactly what you do. Be a whistleblower. Don't hide. On the other hand, let's face it, who the fuck cares?

Just because you're a Stupid-Idiot doesn't justify me outing myself at work. Remember jerk, it's an anonymous board that allows you to act like a jerk.

 

But you are an ID-10-T ERROR - PERIOD! Stupefyingly SO! You don't read the trade pubs? You can't even do your own Google search? HERE, IDIOT!:

 

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/structured-reality.html

 

How about from Wikipedia? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television

Participants are often placed in exotic locations or abnormal situations, and are often persuaded to act in specific scripted ways by off-screen "story editors" or "segment television producers", with the portrayal of events and speech manipulated and contrived to create an illusion of reality through direction and post-production editing techniques.

 

The term has even jumped The Pond: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/feb/08/is-time-up-for-towie

 

How about everybody's favorite Kardashian? http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/04/kim-kardashian-admits-to-fake-marriage-scripted-reality-show-pla/

 

Now leave RockHard alone!

[+ WilliamM]

By Michael Ventre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The bottom line: reality shows — especially the gold standards like ‘Survivor,’ ‘Amazing Race,’ ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘American Idol’ — remain more popular than ever because a) no one’s come up with better ones, and b) a lot of scripted TV out there is just not as entertaining," she says. “Until someone creates a really good comedy that will have me laughing harder than I do at ‘The Bachelor,’ I’ll keep tuning into the best Rose Ceremony ever!”

 

 

I believe "The Amazing Race" has won an Emmy as the best reality show every year for the last decade. I can see hundreds of ways that the race could be manipulated. Last Sunday a gay couple (The Beekmans--Josh and Brent) won a million dollars after doing poorly in almost every other leg of the race over eight or nine weeks. In the final, three teams had to complete four tasks. All three teams spent three to four hours completing the final task, a language task at the U.N. in New York. The Beekmans won, but the second place team was not far behind. Teams often select taxis to get from place to place; the taxi drivers sometimes get lost. If all of that, and much more, is fixed, it would be really interesting to know how it is done.

 

I understand selecting France as the place for the next to last leg helped the Beekmans as did New York City as the final leg, but it still seems very hard to rig the entire race...guess I am a fool for believing that any part of TAR is real.

[RockHard]

Not all Reality TV is the same.

 

guess I am a fool for believing that any part of TAR is real.

 

When it comes to "contest" Reality TV, the jury is out on honesty. These contest shows have structure, direction, and working scripts, but it is possible the "winners" win with integrity. If the winners are rigged and that information gets out, it could ruin the success of the show. These days, it's very difficult to get more than two people to honor a code of silence. It would be almost impossible to keep fraud a secret.

[RockHard]

Now leave RockHard alone!

 

LOL. No problem. Soap-operalover doesn't scare me.

[instudiocity]

LOL. No problem. Soap-operalover doesn't scare me.

Well, at least someone got one of my jokes! ROFL!

[EZEtoGRU]

Just because you're a Stupid-Idiot doesn't justify me outing myself at work. Remember jerk, it's an anonymous board that allows you to act like a jerk.

 

But you are an ID-10-T ERROR - PERIOD! Stupefyingly SO! You don't read the trade pubs? You can't even do your own Google search? HERE, IDIOT!:

Now leave RockHard alone!

 

Nice way of disagreeing without being disagreeable.

[instudiocity]

Nice way of disagreeing without being disagreeable.

 

You can only point out stupidity some many times before it begins to rub off! FYI, there were two jokes in that post. Rock Hard caught one. No one else has posted about the second.