Reality TV

How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.

Hill (2005) pointed out that “reality TV” is simply defined as a series of popular factual programming. “Reality TV” is about capturing and filming a television based on real life events. The techniques that are commonly used in “reality TV’ are non-professional actors, hand held cameras, unscripted dialogues, surveillance footage and seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of the camera. Viewers are more interested in watching what people do in their daily activities and unfold on screen.

In the past, “reality TV” focuses on the daily routine and presents it to the public. Now, “reality TV” turned up to have a wider range of different features including game shows, cooking shows, entertainment shows and etc. Hills (2005) also stated that it can be quite difficult to differentiate between a documentary and “reality TV”. As quoted from Hill (2005), "Television thrives off new formats and, television often cannibalizes itself, feeding off successful genres and formats in order to create new hybrid programs". The process of television cannibalizing themselves has also resulted in redefining “reality TV” as an entertainment. A typical example of the hybrid genre programmes is known as “docu-soap” which is created by the combination of observational documentary genre and soap opera genre (Hill, 2005).

Using “Cathy Come Home” as an example, some “reality TV” does not consist of real-time events but can be categorized under the docu-soaps’s umbrella. This film was very successful in filming the reality and it did not use any effects or editing techniques. We can see how the popular factual entertainment as mentioned by Hill (2005) applies in the contemporary “reality TV” such as one of the game shows “Running Man” from South Korea. The genre of “reality TV” has changed now as the TV producers can edit the whole show they filmed and make it suitable according to the public’s preference. I agree that “reality TV” can be argued to be having more than one definition to it. 

Reference:

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television.(pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge