Reality shows all claim to present ordinary people in unscripted situations. But how real are they really? Does it matter?
To begin with, unscripted television is not that novel an idea.
Game shows have been around since before the United States entered the Second World War. But the current “reality show” idiom in which contestants are eliminated by their peers instead of by a system appeared nine years ago when “Survivor” contestants began getting “voted off the island.”
Much of what makes these shows exciting is that nobody knows what’s going to happen. It’s riveting to watch people double-cross each other as they compete in the wide variety of competitions throughout the season. If it were orchestrated, it’d lack suspense and just be boring. That’s what’s so upsetting about the longstanding allegations that “Survivor” may actually stage some of its events and possibly even, gasp, not take place in the wilderness that they portray. If the drama of the show was created by an off-screen writer, then the appeal is written off as well.
“The Hills,” “Laguna Beach” and “The City” are all lost causes. Their air-headed, spoiled, twenty-something contestants all behave like scripted soap operas characters even when they aren’t acting. Whatever claims to reality the shows might have are lost in the knowledge that MTV produces the crucial events in the shows’ story lines, even scripting dialogue. If these key elements are staged, how do we know that the characters and emotions aren’t as well?
At the same time, we all accept that what we’re seeing isn’t real life. In real life, you have to do homework and pay bills. When the girls on reality dating shows fight over who is the most “real,” it’s a joke. They’re all fake. In real life, you don’t lounge around Beverly Hills swimming pools competing for the love of a has-been 80s hair band singer.
The recently launched “Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew” raises many of the same questions. Under the care of Dr. Drew, the ultimate reality tv doctor, B-list celebrities attempt to pinpoint how and when their sex addiction began and how to cope with it. Never mind that having too much sex isn’t exactly a “real” problem for most people. Putting a bunch of spotlight seekers in a house with like-minded people and cameras galore hardly seems like a recipe for healing. The show clearly feeds the contestants’ addiction to attention and presents a subject that is simply too personal for TV. As the actors are all obviously trying to make a name for themselves, it seems possible that they’ve manufactured the entire issue just to get the role.
“Steven Seagal: Lawman,” a new show premiering on A&E Dec. 2, is probably the most ridiculous of these shows yet. I’m giddy just writing about it. Seagal (the ponytailed Chuck Norris) brings his marshal arts skills and terrible acting to a real life job as a deputy sheriff in his hometown in Louisiana. The show focuses on his life on and off duty in the post-Katrina bayou, perhaps capitalizing inappropriately on the storm’s devastation. Also, as an arrested criminal asks in the show’s preview, how the hell is Seagal a cop? Seriously. He was barely believable as an actor. Will his cop role be any better at swaying audiences?
As dismaying as some of these recent shows appear, don’t reject the entire genre. There still are some shows that keep it real while they keep us entertained. “COPS” and “48 Hours” are technically documentary shows, and both stay true to what happens on the streets. “Project Runaway,” “Top Chef,” “Deadliest Catch,” and “Miami Ink” all provide insights into fascinating professional worlds we wouldn’t otherwise get to experience. And, while the “reality” of the pulp reality shows may not really be real, it sure beats the reality of the everyday grind.