1-4-5 Formula

Analysis of Reality Television:

Formulas

            Reality TV is becoming more popular, with shows like, American Idol and Joe Millionaire out-rating popular TV series. Reality shows ranked 4 out of the top 5 shows most viewed on Nielson Company’s list (Monaco, 2011). With increasing popularity, there has to be a formula to these shows that keeps viewers wanting more. In order to recognize the patterns, you must depict the differences and similarities of the shows.

            The competition shows all have real people performing activities related to the theme of the show and foregoing weekly elimination until a winner is crowned. The “finding love” shows have real people vying for the attention of the bachelor or bachelorette. Once again, a weekly elimination is performed leaving two “contestants” for the picking. The makeover and improvement shows share the theme of a person, car or home is stripped away of all things bad and made over to a glamorous look, ride or curb side appeal.

            After viewing the different types of reality shows the only difference one can see is the themes of the shows. They all seem to follow the same formula. There is a beginning, middle and an end. The format of the shows is the same. Bad Girls Club and Jersey Shore film real people living in a house together doing what they do and towards the end they go on a mini-vacation together. All of the reality shows have “confessionals” where the cast can vent or speak freely with the privacy sought after. These shows also have a reunion after the airing for the viewers to hear and see the reactions of the cast after the show airs.

            Some other obvious formulas can be displayed with runoff shows. Project Accessory is a runoff program of Project Runway, with the competitors designing accessories for outfits. Personally, I have only seen the show once but it followed the exact same format as Project Runway.


http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:RPeIpxrmsUsJ:www.news.ku.edu/2011/october/28/realitytv.shtml+&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us