How have game shows influences reality TV?
Hills (2005) identifies three genres as the as the main influences creating reality television – tabloid journalism, documentary television and popular entertainment. In the category of popular entertainment likes game shows, exhibiting interactions between non-professional actors and celebrities. These game shows survived during the 1990s as they were cheap and easy to produce and the public liked the level of participation and interaction they received as part of the audience.
The traditional television game show has now been adapted to fill the role of the reality game show hybrid, which again relies on audience participation. Now we see the likes of Big Brother, American Idol and Survivor where the mix of luck, knowledge and skill are still significant factors, but now there is the idea they these ordinary people are completely there for the viewer’s pleasure, able to be seen through multimedia and any given time. The contestants are still playing a game as such, but they are now, in this new hybrid reality game show, susceptible to another harsh reality which is the desires of the audience.
REFERENCES:
Hill, A. (2005) The rise of reality TV. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television (pp. 15-40). Oxon: Routledge.
Interesting response.
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