Reality TV dates back to the 1940s with shows like Candid Camera and live broadcasts of events like The Miss America Pageant. Cops, which debuted in 1989, is considered a predecessor to shows like The Real World and Survivor. The idea of combining competition with unscripted TV came from the Swedish show Expedition: Robinson, which inspired Mark Burnett’s Survivor. Many other reality shows have emerged, but there is some question as to how real they are, with most combining real and fake moments.
People who date the beginnings of reality TV to MTV’s The Real World or the CBS network’s Survivor have been out for several decades. There have been a number of unscripted and live television shows dating back to the 1940s. Among them, Candid Camera, which debuted in 1948, is often considered the first example of reality television, in which people were unknowingly exposed to pranks or silly situations by host Allen Funt.
Some contests or game shows have also been considered early versions of reality TV, as have live broadcasts of programs like The Miss America Pageant and the Oscars. There’s nothing more real than David Niven’s 1974 ad lib comments at the Academy Awards when a streaker crossed behind him onstage. Most television historians do not include documentaries or long news articles in this category, but again these have piqued people’s interest a lot. Anthropological studies of tribal groups, or watching the news “unfold” itself through television coverage of events, such as the assassination of President Kennedy, could be called the ancestors of modern reality TV.
Another example that predates The Real World is the show Cops, which debuted in 1989. This was a few years before MTV embarked on its ambitious production and showed police officers in different cities making arrests or dealing with people who behave in a criminal or dangerous fashion. The program is the longest running of such shows and began its 25th season in 2012.
Many people see the aforementioned shows as predecessors to shows like The Real World and the reality TV boom that occurred in the 2000s with shows like Survivor and American Idol. What the MTV program offered was a look at seven strangers who all occupied the space in the house together over a period of several months.
MTV almost didn’t start this trend, and at the very beginning of their conception of the series, they thought about having the actors perform scripts that would seem close to reality. Instead, the creators of the show ultimately opted to provide video viewers with voyeurism and an opportunity to see the “real life” of different people. Of course, as with all “reality” TV, these real lives were shown when they were at their most tense or dramatic; it took the editors hours of film to produce what aired on television, since real life doesn’t always make for the most emotional television moments.
The idea of combining competitive elements with unscripted TV came in the form of a Swedish TV show called Expedition: Robinson which first aired in 1997. This was three years before the first airing of Survivor and, in fact, inspired Mark Burnett’s Survivor, who had to borrow the concept from the creators of the Swedish show. Many other countries have also produced similar shows, but the most famous of these on American television is undoubtedly the Burnett variation of the Swedish show, which debuted in 2000.
Since Survivor, other contest reality shows have emerged, and some like American Idol, America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, and The Bachelor, have been big hits. Indeed, many minor celebrities felt that contributing to or being the subject of a reality show could boost their careers, leading to “celebrity” shows like The Anna Nicole Show, The Osbournes, and Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. Other celebrities have tried to compete in programs similar to the Survivor format or game show, leading to programs such as Celebrity Fit Club and Dancing with the Stars.
A huge range of reality shows are still on TV, but there is some question as to how real they are. Most combine some real moments with some fake ones. For example, not all of the competition footage in Survivor features the contestants, some is recreated afterwards to provide aerial footage. The “live” performances on American Idol and especially the judges’ commentaries can be prepared in advance when the judges attend the dress rehearsal. Celebrities who allow camera access often write in their contracts the ability to veto any scene they don’t want shown. It’s semi-real, usually unscripted, but not exactly “real” in the sense of total access to all footage without editing for dramatic purposes.
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