week 12

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Looking at RTV shows, we can see there is a large selection of shows that cater to different niches, these can be specific shows like; “Is it really dough”, with Scott Weiner, and Mark Icono, which follows two pizza nerds, eating and trying different styles of pizza, and deciding whether or not it can be considered a pizza. Because of hyper-specific shows like that, defining RTV can be difficult. Reality shows were intended to give the public a window into the lives of others, allowing for wider reception and audience interaction. The advent of greater hybridity, in my opinion, has added to the fanbase of the genre as the audience are able to have a greater choice in preference. 

In my opinion, reality tv should be considered its own genre, as the shows that are labelled as RTV don’t fit in any other genre other than documentary. The shows have a semi-scripted format, where situations are fabricated and the people in the show merely react to whatever situation they are presented with. Shows like, “Survivor”, where contestants are landlocked on an island and are one-by-one voted off the show if they compete poorly to the challenges they are faced with. Game shows like this have the same appeal as gladiator fights, as the audience watches in amusement as contestants battle head to head, getting eliminated each time they fight. There is no category this would fit in other than reality tv.

When reality television first began with shows like MTV’s The Real World, where a bunch of young angsty 20-somethings would live in a house in close quarters, and the show would stem from the internal conflicts and relationships they develop from living in close proximity to one another. The fights tended to be over nothing, but the drama was riveting, this led to the advent of similar shows like; Big Brother and Love island, with more focus on romance and relationships.

Other genres of shows like; comedy, also have a high level of hybridity, as comedy can come from all sources, yet its validity as a genre is never doubted, only because it is one of the oldest genres. I believe reality television is already and should be considered to be its own genre as shows that are described ad “reality tv”, don’t really fit into other genres, due to it being highly unscripted and also at the same time scripted.