Reality Check - About Reality Television Shows

The Miss America Pageant, BigBrother..., names are many but they fall into the same genre of Television programming, 'Reality Television'. The shows include drama, comedy, entertainment, provided by a set of celebrities who are completely unknown to each other in real time, and how they perform and entertain people counts their stay/elimination. Be it a planned drama or a sudden take, their acts also influence people in the society both in a good and in a bad way. Though bad being little, when spoken in terms of entertainment, it does its best, which is why it stood the most successful genres in television programming.

It creates a platform for controversies among the participants, and makes people spend time on talking about this. In terms of how much positivity the show spreads we can first talk about a family like relationships with friends, how people can be with a set of completely unknown people, the entertainment it provides, provoking friendly nature etc.

Few Studies also say that reality television shows effect society:

Brad Gorham of Syracuse University, has an effect on the behaviors of people in society. He claims that people are easily influenced by reality television because they eventually copy the behaviors portrayed on television and use them in real life.

According to Philip Ross of International Science Times, reality television has a detrimental impact on our perceptions of the world based on an observational study from University of Winsconsin.

Based on another study from Lisa K. Lundy in 2008, researchers gathered 34 participants, conducted four groups to discuss the social effects of reality television. As a result, there were mixed comments on the term ‘reality TV’. In fact, most participants considered reality television as an escape from reality, an irresistible phenomenon, or immoral.