When did reality TV really start? As of today, who would society consider the father of reality TV, just like Freud is considered the father of psychology? The concept of reality began with the first show called Candid Camera. This show was created in 1948 and produced by Allen Funt, which initially appeared on radio as Candid Microphone in the 1940s (Wikipedia). The show was then put onto television by ABC and they kept the name Candid Microphone. Once NBC took over the show, they decided to change the name to Candid Camera. The purpose of this show is to capture people’s reactions to certain situations without them knowing that they were being captured on film. It was the one way to see what other people were really like and give a sense of reality.

Watching real, ordinary people became popular and grasping this new concept led to another reality show: Wanted. Wanted discussed crimes and criminals and included interviews with victim’s families as well as public authorities that worked on the crime cases. While it only lasted for one year, it inspired the hit television series, America’s Most Wanted, which aired in 1988 (McGee). America’s Most Wanted is still on air and has been for a while. This was a new reality show where it based itself on a different aspect of society, law. This intrigued many people to see more of what really goes on in other people’s lives.

What could be more intense then showing an actual crime reenacted and the current status of the crime being solved? A show where viewers can watch police officers and sheriff's deputies patrolling and doing other police work. The show I am talking about is Cops. This show was a documentary and soon after, the idea of a doing another would be even more interesting if done on a family. This show was known as An American Family.
This show seems so strange but it was the next piece to the success puzzle of reality TV and would lead to the next great show.

What new show would be next? What more can TV show that they already don't? Here is the hint: “This is the true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a house and have their lives taped, and find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting REAL. The Real World!” Of course, that new idea was The Real World which is still running strong today. The Real World has become very popular ever since its debut in 1991. After this reality show turned out to be successful, MTV wanted to expand on their new concept of seven strangers living together and make something even bigger. They decided to make these strangers travel together in a Winnebago to accomplish challenges together for prizes, which they decided to call Road Rules. This was only the beginning of many more shows to come from MTV and other networks to portray normal people.

Shows, like the ones that I have mentioned, began to get more viewers and the amount of new shows began to overflow networks. It gave more opportunities to capture more viewers which could potentially increase the amount of money they could make. The timeline below shows how many shows have started to bloom from the first, Candid Camera to the year 2002 (McGee). It is now almost 2006 and the amount of shows are still increasing and playing a big role in our society. As of now, reality TV has either already affected viewers or is beginning to slowly affect them, one show at a time.



Timeline

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103spring2002/gp8/complete%20reality%20tv%20report_files/image001.jpg∞

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103spring2002/gp8/complete%20reality%20tv%20report_files/image002.jpg∞


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