Reality TV essay

Hi all
I have an essay about reality tv and the essay topic is " What the future hold for 'Reality Tv' ?

I need your help with giving me ideas in which I can began writing my essay !?

Thanks

Try to think of how far TV has come in the last few years.... While "MTV'S Real World" has been around for over 20 years, new shows like "Survivor" and "American Idol" have not. Try to think about where we will be in the future as far as a society.... play on that. Now, reality tv shows go for money and "love" (if you can call it that). What if reality tv was for something more? Your life? Your family? Your future? etc?

Good luck

Do you think it will be a good idea to mention for example the pros and cons of each reality tv show !?

I think that you can include that as long as it pertains to the future of reality tv... For example, you coul dsay something like this:

"Because early reality television shows seemed very rehearsed and scripted, the future reality television shows will......" If you go that route, be sure to tie in our the "new" reality tv shows will be better than the "old" ones.

How do you think I can form arugments about the topic !?

Do you watch reality television shows? What do you not like about them? I rarely watch them, just American Idol (I am afraid... a 24 year old American Idol watcher!). Do you like that they seem scripted and rehearsed? Do you like that they are crazy (Survivor, Big Brother)? Do you like informative reality tv (I heard about a television show that reminded me of punk'd, but with real people and real issues, such as immigration, etc)? Your dislike of current reality tv shows can help you create the "future" reality tv shows.

Let me know if you need any other help!

Hope that helped!

You might find it useful to research where reality TV came from any why, in spite of its lack of popularity, it continues to dominate our sets. The number of television viewers has been declining steadily for awhile now, and reality television has exacerbated, rather than ameliorated, this trend. However, television studios continue to produce reality television series because they don't have to hire expensive teams of scriptwriters or pay the actors anywhere near as much as they would have to give to actors working on a scripted show. In other words, reality television is really cheap to produce compared to good shows, which makes it more profitable as it becomes harder to convince advertisers to pay for air time because of declining viewership. But, the execrable nature of reality television also speeds that decline in viewership, hence driving down the advertising revenues still further. How will studios respond as this trend continues?

Do you think it will be a good idea to mention a survey about " why people watch reality tv" !?

It could be useful. The reasons why people watch reality TV will presumably influence the way it develops. If people watch it because they enjoy seeing other people backstabbing and plotting against each other, then we would expect reality television in the future to involve more contrived situations that force people to plot and scheme to succeed (so more Survivor type shows). If people watch it to cheer for the success of someone "normal," then we might expect more shows that give ordinary people a chance to become famous (so more American Idol type shows). If people watch reality TV for both of these reasons, then you might begin to see hybrid shows, perhaps versions of American Idol that allow contestants to find ways to weaken or strengthen their competitors.

Thanks all for your help
I have another question do you think I could mention the public controversy about reality tv as public controversy might affect the future of reality television !

What do you mean? I have read about how COPS and WILDEST POLICE VIDEOS glorify controversial practices such as racial profiling, etc., promoting public approval for inappropriate practices by over-dramatizing everything.

Ha ha, have you seen the show called Celebrity Rehab? That is crazy...

Anyway, you can indeed mention such controversies, as long as you back up your claims by citing articles and evidence...

Controversies are by definition interesting, and you should therefore definitely include them if you can do so without going off-topic. Try to avoid merely mentioning that something is controversial, though, and explain what exactly the objections to reality television are. The problem with merely saying that something is controversial is that doing so automatically indicates a bias against it. So, for instance, when Kevin writes about "controversial practices such as racial profiling," it implies that he is against racial profiling. Otherwise, he would presumably have written something about the controversial practice at some airports of refusing to take race into account when screening passengers. A controversy by definition means that there are at least two camps, one that supports the controversial idea and one that opposes it. Therefore, the opposite of the idea must also be controversial. So, if a political who believes in, say, criminalizing abortion, can be described as having controversial beliefs, then so too must a politician who believes in keeping it decriminalized. Thus, saying that something is controversial should not be used as an argument in and of itself against it. You should instead identify the issue as controversial, then give the main reasons why some people oppose it, and then discuss whether this opposition is likely to impact the direction of the show. Don't forget that, because controversy is interesting and sparks discussion of the shows, the shows' producers may actually want to make their shows more controversial in order to drive up ratings.

some reality tv are going somewhere and some arent. Reality tv like contests are good thing and some are dont like charm school or the hogans.

Tv shows some have a moral to teach and some dont.

If you make a list of current reality television shows and see which ones are getting good ratings and which ones aren't, then find common elements within the shows in each group, you can probably make same fairly accurate predictions about where reality television is heading.

Look back into how reality tv has changed over the years and you can probably see where it is going.

Talk about the good of reality tv

reality tv is so entertaining

That is a very interesting topic. I would love to write about reality TV, since I watch it like all the time! I think that reality tv will definately will around in the future..

Hey, Sean, that is a very interesting discussion of the way we reveal our opinions based on what we call "controversial." It certainly is good advice to not merely mention that something is controversial and then move on without explanation. Controversy demands explanation.

I definately agree. Controversy can not be well supported if there is no explanation! Good luck with this essay!

Jenn

Hey Kevin. It's something I've noticed when reading newspapers. When a reporter mentions that someone has controversial views, that reporter normally means that he/she has views that the reporter disagrees with. This isn't always the case, though. Sometimes, if a practice or view is always referred to as controversial in the mainstream media, even the supporters of that practice or view begin to refer to it as such, so I took a bit of a chance is using your original post as a example. Sorry if in fact you are a strong proponent of racial profiling -- I certainly didn't mean to misrepresent your views. :-)

Sean, that's funny. No, don't worry about offending me, especially when you are pointing out interesting things about language! It is interesting that the way people use "controversial" can reveal something about them. Now that I am thinking about it, I think it is like this:

If I assert that a particular practice is "controversial" when others see it as normal, it might reveal that I am opposed to it... but actually, I know that for me, the way I use the word "controversial" is always to refer to the fact that an issue is full of controversy. I mention that some issue is controversial in order to explain the role it plays in relation to whatever I am writing about. So, I have a clear purpose for describing something as controversial, and when there is a clear use for the word, it might be doing something other than subtly revealing a personal bias.

So, your scrutiny of people's use of that word is interesting, but it is an inexact science! :) If it was an exact science, you wouldn't have to wonder what my stance was on racial profiling, ha ha. The truth is, I think, that racial profiling is something that law enforcement and security officers can't help but use. We make associations as our methods of learning, and cops use their intuition as methods of getting stuff done. Put those two together, and you find yourself making little decisions all day long based on associations that don't necessarily mean anything. Personal associations are made about all sorts of things, but it is a touchy subject when people make associations involving skin-color. The associations we make are faulty, for sure, but we can't help it! So, I am certainly against racial profiling, in the same way that I am against any other discrimination, but I know that people can't help it!

Sorry for the rant.

Ah ha! So, I was right in my initial conjecture that you were against racial profiling, a conjecture that I made based on your use of the adjective controversial! I rest my case :-). Of course, you were bound to be either for it or against it, so I suppose I had a 50-50 chance to begin with. I shall have to do more research to validate my hypothesis . . .

Reality TV is just another product and it is no different from any other commercial venture. To see what future it has, track the viewing stats for each show that interests you over time. What trends are there in viewer numbers? Have more recent reality tv shows had audience uptake to the extent of previous shows. And can taking a break for a few seasons breath life back into an old show (look at the new Dr Who from the BBC for a good example of this). After all, we seem to like remakes these days. Perhaps we are just running out of ideas.

Or perhaps it is simply easier and safer to go with a product that has been proven to appeal to the public?

-You can talk about how reality TV will change the intended audience over the years
-You can talk about the implications for "real" actors and actresses, will the loose their jobs/status etc
-How reality TV has changed over the years bringing more violence, sex, glorifying idiotic behavior etc

I think you can write about Why do some ppl enjoy watching reality TV? why are they popular? And from there discuss about the possible changes in these factors, hence make a prediction in future development of reality TV

maybe they are gonna strike the laws in future!!!

Talk about reality tv like Survivor etc

We can also relate to reality tv in our everyday lives.

I love how this thread keeps going probably long after the paper was turned in, lol.

The threads close automatically after a certain period of inactivity, but if people keep posting, the threads continue to exist, even if the original author has no more use for the advice. I suspect this occurs mostly with threads that indicate an interesting topic. For instance, most people find the topic "Reality TV" interesting. Its something that most people on the forums can comment on intelligently, even if they don't really watch reality television themselves.

I'm sort of divided on how these threads should be handled. On the one hand, they distract from newer threads by people who still need help, so maybe they should be deleted. On the other hand, if people are still interested in the topic, then who's to say that they can't learn something by reading the thread and contributing to it?

Yeah I was a little shocked at the amount of responses to this thread but then I looked at them and I saw that alot of them were kind of... repetetive or unhelpful. Like some people would just post one brief sentence that says something really generic but is not very helpful at all. Im not trying to insult anyone but it kind of bothers me because it seems like they are just posting in order to fill the quota that is required instead of actually trying to be helpful. There were alot of great responses in this thread and good conversation but then there seemed to also be people just trying to take advantage of the thread's popularity. Of course what I'm saying now doesnt have to do with the thread topic either but I thought it would be something else to think about.

Well, this could easily turn into a whole new discussion. I think I'm going to go ahead and close this thread. Hopefully it helped the original author, but it seems to have fulfilled its purpose.