Fox caused a stir among magicians in the late 1990s with the Masked Magician who broke the “code” by giving away tricks of the trade. Today reality shows are slowly going through a similar process. Unscripted television appears to have moved far beyond familiar practices such as Frankenbiting (taking clips out of context to construct a particular story or create suspense) toward more elaborate forms of staging.
Netflix’s new dating reality series “Perfect Match,” which features former stars of other reality shows like “Love Is Blind,” “Too Hot to Handle” and more, is an example of this. Francesca Farago, who fans dubbed the villain in Season 1 of “Too Hot to Handle,” returned in “Perfect Match” and quickly took on the role of villain again. An example that the roles are repeated and so is the script.
Evolution
To understand the development of the segment to this point requires a little history. It’s been almost a quarter century since “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” was released in 1999, quickly followed by “Survivor” and “Big Brother,” establishing the enormous potential of unscripted shows.
First wave shows largely came from producers with news or documentary experience who came from true stories that gave rise to reality television. But in the years since then, the demand for new shows has given rise to a new generation that has become accustomed to producing reality shows, more inclined to take shortcuts.
Many of them aspire to be filmmakers and storytellers, so why limit the toolbox to what is documented? And the same goes for channels, not very patient, or conveniently practical, when a program needs to be funny or dramatic.
As Spike Original Series Executive Vice President Sharon Levy said, “Manipulation is okay in certain cases. “You don’t always have the five years to sit and wait for the required shot.” Levy recognized that time was the enemy more than money, when channels compete to air a large menu of programs.
Armed
“Gigolos,” the Showtime series about male escorts, is actually pure fiction: “No one depicted on this show was paid in exchange for engaging in sexual activity,” warns a caption at the end of the show that should be called “Consensual Adult Sex.” , although it is a less promotable title.
And TruTV barely hides the staging of its programming. “TruTV series feature real people and are based on real situations. But due to production needs, some scenes are recreated,” they acknowledged on that network. “Most shows are set up,” Mike Fleiss, producer of “The Bachelor,” said bluntly. “Outside of talent shows and ‘The Bachelor,’ where we spend a lot of money and time to make sure it’s real… 80 percent of reality shows are scripted. “Things arrive already planned.”
And other veteran producers have echoed this, privately complaining about the inherent disadvantage of striving to make real reality shows when others have no qualms about putting them on. The assumption is that viewers don’t care. However, the industry has not had a genuine debate about the risks (if any) of becoming more brazen in artifice.
Stereotypes
MTV’s “Jersey Shore” marks a belated epiphany about the direction of reality television: scripted, stereotype-filled context that resulted in the crucifixion of writers on social media.
Of course, there are other more decent options. Producers can use editing techniques to carefully craft the stories they want to tell, and the selection of celebrity hopefuls gives them multiple options for developing the story. And extravagant and exaggerated behavior is rewarded with maximum exposure: it is the model of the latest editions of local and neighboring Big Brother.
The selection of participants is inclined towards people who are or embody characters, and who meet various clichés. “Let’s Talk About Pep” and “Fantasia for Real” from VH1. They follow musical acts by Sandra “Pepa” Denton and “American Idol” contestant Fantasia. They present themselves as a comedy block, approximating UPN’s “Girlfriends” and a single mother comedy, respectively.
In “Fantasia,” the “characters” include the singer’s 28-year-old brother, Teeny, who embodies the stereotype of the “spoiled kid” who tests out expensive cars and responds with horror to the suggestion that he get a job. The character is designed to become the featured protagonist of the series, but in a negative way.
by RN
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