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Extreme Makeover: The Buried Life

1440 Words6 Pages

Just a decade ago, reality television programmes were considered a fad. Today, they have exploded into a phenomenon that takes over primetime television all over the world. Since the beginning, reality television is known for the bad reputation and it’s criticisms. Many condemn it for being cheap, sensationalised and promoting immoral values and lifestyles. However, these criticisms over-generalise the entire genre of television based on a small number of lousy shows. There are a diversity of reality shows out there that endorse good causes and community values. For example, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a community-oriented show which rebuilds houses for the less fortunate families. The Buried Life is about a group of friends travelling …show more content…

As Christopher Bell had put it, American Idol attracted an average number of 25 million viewers per episode, which is the population Missouri, Maryland, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado altogether or greater than the entire population of Australia (8). NCIS came far behind in the second position with the rating of about 19 million viewers per episode (Gorman). Clearly, reality TV shows have the mass appeal and are here to stay. Unlike the obvious status of reality TV shows in our lives, their definition is more complicated than that. Even though people have some ideas of what reality shows are, there is no clear-cut description of this genre. Fishman and Cavender defines them as having similar features like the news while being shown in prime time, or even being rerun like entertainment programmes (3). On the other hand, Anita Biressi and Heather Nunn refer to reality shows as a rise in a “variety of ‘new’ or more often hybrid genres” which was introduced in the 1990s (10). Video diaries, game shows, talent shows, talk shows, observational documentaries, dramatic reconstruction, CCTV, camcorder-based and emergency services programming make up this genre of television which have one common …show more content…

It promotes self-discovery and personal growth through ordinary and relatable characters. It actively reaches out to present the minorities and often-misunderstood people, which provides viewers to an opportunity to learn about different views and lifestyles. Additionally, the genre of reality television is proven to be a profitable asset to the media industry. Therefore, it is only sensible that we need to eradicate the stigma that comes with watching and enjoying reality

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