In your mind what started the "reality" show ga-ga mania?

Actually, IMO, what started it was, American television producers getting the idea from Japanese/overseas TV producers.

From what I remember, these type of programs became mainstream in other countries quite a while back. I think it just took American television a few years to catch up.

 

I don't know who started it (Personally I think the success of Survivor after it's initial year did), but they better not run into me on the street, because these reality shows are annoying. Especially that Joe Millionaire crap. Resorting to lying to get cheap ratings, how classy.

 

I think the concept/idea got started during the threatened Screenwriter's Guild / Actors strike. Networks needed potential replacement programming, and Survivor was great because it had no actors. Once it took off, everyone copied the idea -- just like the Game Show fad after Millionaire was a hit.

Actors screwed themselves with the threatened strike.

 

MTV Real World was the first I can remember. But Survivor made it huge. Thank God fads do not last for ever (I.E. Swing Dancing).

 

"Real World" brought to us by MTV.

 

I'd say it was the first Survivor show. I was addicted to the first season of Survivors after I watched it for the first time. I tuned in every week until the very end rooting for the old man (Rudy). I've tried to get into the other seasons of Survivor and the other "reality" shows, but nothing has come close to the first Survivor in my opinion.

The fact that you can make these shows for very cheap compared to sitcoms like "Friends" and they get good ratings will always be a winner. When you think about it, the actors on "Friends" are getting a million each per episode, while the winner of Survivor only gets 1 million for like 15 episodes! When you think about it,the total purse for survivor is probably only around 1.3-1.5 million. Pretty cheap!

 

Bad boys, bad boys, whacha gonna do when they come for you?

 

Lead in the water supply leading to a major drop in the average IQ....

 

Agreed. Didn't this show premier in 1989, compared to The Real World in the early 90s?

 

"Cops" - 1989
"Real World" - 1992

I forgot about "Cops", perhaps because I've never watched it. Nevertheless, I think we have a winner.

 

I forgot about "Cops", perhaps because I've never watched it. Nevertheless, I think we have a winner.

But neither of those shows really started the "mania". They existed, and a few people watched them, but they never were ridiculously popular like the boatloads of them we have now.

 

I don't know what started it - probably multiple factors as described above - but I wake up every morning hoping it will have played itself out. After the tragic events in 2001, I thought at least that people would be thinking a little more seriously and would realize how tacky and tasteless many of these shows are. But no, they just went right back to producing them and watching them a few months later.

If these shows had anything to do with reality itself, I'd be watching them all the time. But they don't. Just a bunch of contrived situations. Don't tell me these people are acting "normal" with cameras and stage lighting all around them.

And, one female's point of view: I don't know who's watching these things, but it's not me. If I was single, I wouldn't exactly fantasize about meeting a supposedly rich guy who is self-absorbed enough to desperately want to appear on a TV show. Also don't understand the women on the shows who fall for that (how well can these new couples possibly know each other?). I prefer regular guys whom I know from my own life.

 

Chuck Barris.

This claim comes about from the man himself in all the press for "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." Give it a thought. The voyeuristic charge of "The Dating Game" and "The Newlywed Game" is exactly the same as the one "Joe Millionaire," "The Bachelor," and to a lesser degree "Survivor" and "Road Rules" provide.

"The Real World" is the first contemporary version, but that was a glitzed, "cooked for drama" version of the 1973 (?) PBS series "An American Family."

 

What about "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"?

I remember when that was the most popular show on television. I think that may have started the "reality craze" of modern television.

 

I'll have to disagree here... this is a game show as is all of Chuck Barris' creations...

 

Here's a cool link for all you 'reality tv' fans...

http://www.fansofrealitytv.com

they have a bbs and lots of shows are discussed.

 

Bring on the RUNNING MAN. You know you would watch it. You take the prisoner's and use them as the contestants and if they win they get better privileges. And public executions that by itself would lower crime in this country greatly

 

I know it's not a follow the mold of a typical reality show, but Unsolved Mysteries is an early predecessor to the current reality TV black hole we're currently in. Re-enactments of real crimes and mysteries along with interviews from those actually involved.

Heck, anybody remember "Ripley's Believe it or Not" when it was hosted by Jack Palance? "That's Incredible", hosted by John Davidson, Cathy Lee Crosby, and Fran Tarkenton? Both of these can be considered "reality shows", when you think about them. Basically, a "reality show" is any entertainment based TV show (sports, talk shows, and game shows excluded) that focuses on real people or real life events. I'm sure some old timers can name some TV shows from the 60's or 70's that follow this mold...