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Reality Television

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Reality programming is here to stay

written - 09/02/2005

Thousands of years ago people put on plays and told stories for entertainment, but when the printing press was invented, books became a more popular way of passing on entertainment and information. At that time, many people complained that society would become stupid because rather than master the art of story telling, they would just read from books. Then just in this past century movies and TV became the most popular method of entertaining, and people fretted that we are becoming stupid because we are not bothering to read and instead just watch TV. Now the intellectuals are complaining that we are getting stupid as we watch reality programming rather than scripted stories.

With all these forms of entertainment, the goal has been to pass on a story about the human existence that will make us laugh, cry, learn, etc. But in order for that story to be compelling, it has to have a sense of reality to it. The audience has to be able to believe that somehow, this story has a real connection to our own lives. Thus it is no surprise that reality shows are so easy to make wildly popular.

The only reason reality programming has recently hit the scene is because technology has only recently made it possible. Twenty years ago, the idea of following someone around with a camera and microphone was too big of a project and not fast nor nimble enough to capture the speed of real life. In fact as the size and quality of cameras continue to improve, we can expect more breakthroughs in the scope of reality programming. Eventually there will be people who are literally on camera 24/7 broadcast live on the internet and viewed directly through your TV. This form of entertainment is not inferior and is not for the "stupid", but instead it is the latest advancement and best method of story telling available.

People still...