Hey, it's as real as any of the other ones.
Posted on 09/02/2013 6:22:23 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
TV Reality shows have become incredibly popular the past few years. However, some Reality Shows are more real than others. Therefore, rate the TV Reality Shows in terms of how REAL they are.
At the bottom in terms of reality, I have to list "Amish Mafia." Even its name sounds unreal. And even more unreal than the sound of the show title is the show itself. Yeah, like Amish folks are going to pay protection money to Lebanon Levi. The show is soooo unreal as to make the viewer laugh which is why I watched it during the first season. But any relationship at all with reality is pretty much missing.
At the other end of the scale I would rate "Deadliest Catch" as the among the most real of the Reality Shows simply because you can't goof around too much on those boats catching crabs. Too dangerous. Of course, that doesn't mean it is completely real. Anytime you have a camera on people, that fact alone will make them act as a bit different.
My personal favorite TV Reality show is "Storage Wars" in part because I used to do that years ago for a time. Okay, perhaps the storage bins are seeded but I did once buy a bin for just 10 bucks and found a few hundred bucks worth of Black Hills gold jewelry in it. I also like "Storage Wars Texas" but "Storage Wars New York" is unbearable. Not only does the location seem wrong, I just don't like the characters. Is it still on the air?
Finally, some of the shows I have a hard time getting into. Like "Jungle Gold." I mean do you really want to travel all the way to Ghana to lose your shirt to chase dubious gold deals? I just don't get it.
Least real? MSNBC.
1) They are not ‘reality’.
2) They are contrived and scripted
3) They are way outside the norm on advertising with respect to content vs. advertising.
4) Complete waste of time.
The least real reality shows?
Media coverage of any speech/press conference by Hussein 0bami or Jean Francois Kerry!
Top Shot
Not really because you learn about a lot of cool stuff on some of the shows. I like when they get info on the different stuff on "Storage Wars" and a lot of people like "Pawn Stars" for the same reason. I used to do the storage bin auction bit so it brings back memories for me.
Stupid me-—— but what IS a ‘ reality show’ ? How real is something when a camera is following someone around, and you are posing for a camera? Since I’ve never watched one, I shouldn’t judge, but they border on unreality to me.
Waste of time is in the eye of the beholder. It is a hobby, then maybe not a waste of time, but something contrived isn’t really representative of what I’d call an open opportunity for learning and enjoyment.
Producers love them because of the attention grabbing potential coupled with dozens of ‘hanger moments” that keep the viewer on station throughout the interminable commercials.
Most?
First season of the Real World back in like 1989.
How It’s Made
Least?
All of them. Everyone on those shows talk in that weird, what I call, “Reality TV show accent”, where they stare wide-eyed at a camera, slightly off to the side, and speak
as if they are reading something for the 5th time.
Usually some absurdly dramatic stuff that never happens in real life.
“We have a huge order to fill today. If we dont get 13,000 cupcakes out the door, and to Egypt, before 5:00, this could be the end of us!”
I always thought Axe Men was fairly realistic. I’m sure it’s scripted in some ways, e.g. Shelby, but I’m not sure how much scripting they can do. The editing is probably contrived more than the show is scripted.
I think the Pawn Stars show is pretty close to reality except that they have to pre-determine and research the items they are going to discuss and then line up the experts.
I think the people on those 2 shows and Duck Dynasty are pretty close to how they are in real life. Or I could be wrong.
“Barter Kings” makes me chuckle. They take a worthless object and trade up and up and up until they get a motorboat just in time for a planned late afternoon boating trip. I have been doing barter for years and in REALITY it is much more subtle. You have to trade for things of approximately equal value. You can do good on barter but it doesn’t happen near as fast nor with items of such obviously unequal values as on the show.
for later
What is a reality show?
First 48 - I think that is pretty real and unscripted.
Walking Dead? :^)
There was one inadvertent but very real moment on “Storage Wars.” It was when a guy who worked for Jarrod and Brandi’s helper, Mark, quit on them. My guess is that Mark was being paid very little by Jarrod and Brandi and just got disgusted at his treatment so he just up and angrily quit on camera. The camera followed Mark but he told the camera to leave him be. It was sort of a very embarrassing moment for Jarrod. And I think that was very real, not staged. I don’t think either Jarrod or Brandi ever referred to that incident again.
Hey, it's as real as any of the other ones.
Somebody tell the sheriff on “Moonshiners” to just watch the show and he will be able to ID the culprits and bust them right away. And does Tickle really deserve his own reality show?
Like..
Deadliest Catch
Gold Rush, although Todd is wearing on me.
Top Shot
Call of the Wildman,Turtleman, Some of the scenes are contrived . 5 guys in a brightly lit stall,
The fox, coyote, etc. is obviously thrown in the door.
But the characters crack me up, esp. Squirrel.
Dislike..
Jungle Gold, 2 shady hustlers IMO. I have a Ghanian friend that was in
Ghana a few months ago. He said the Gov. tossed them out.
I think you are correct. The situation is set up, and the people say and do ... whatever. Then it's edited into something watchable by the show's intended audience.
I like "My Fair Wedding."
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