Reality TV
Isn’t it interesting how reality TV has become an entertainment cornerstone? It plays on the rubber necking that people do whenever they see humans interacting in a way that is outside of what is perceived as conventional or “normal”. We pass people arguing and we quietly stare out of the corners of our eyes. We pass the police talking to someone and we look and then roll through in our minds a myriad of reasons why they may be being stopped. We see people on TV put into difficult and trying circumstances and we wonder both how they will react and how we would react if we were in their shoes.
The number one question I am asked about being on realitytv, dragonsden,
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:52 pm
What’s cool is that the unnormal is often the normal let out of the closet. (Hey, that person thinks like me!) It gives us greater incentive (or caution) in being ourselves.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:19 am
“We see people on TV put into difficult and trying circumstances and we wonder both how they will react and how we would react if we were in their shoes. ”
It gets even more *entertaining* when people put THEMSELVES into difficult and trying circumstances….
April 15th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Reality T.V. is so successful because people can relate to the ‘non-actor’, the average Joe, so to speak. We all love to be entertained by big budget movies but on a daily basis we know that our lives are far from the lives of those characters in scripted movies and sit-coms.
As a master of improvisation for over 22 years, I find that the best material comes from the spontaneity of the moment, when you least expect something, when it isn’t scripted or rehearsed. It’s all about trusting your instincts, honing them and delivering everything ‘in the moment’.
May 26th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Thanks, good article.
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Arlene– thank you for valuing measurement in communications. Thank you for inspiring so many Canadian women like me. I wish I got to tell you that in person when I met you on set yesterday. You rock!!
August 10th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Hello Arlene,
My name is Kevin Kinsella and I am a risk management consultant. I saw you on TV and was so impress by you. I do not have a big company like yours, but I am very passionate about the business. I love your website and your energy. You inspire me. Thanks!
August 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
The reality TV wave comes with the same mirage as blockbusters and sitcoms. The illusion in this case is placed at a different angle and that is at eye level with regular people. The public shouldn’t be fooled, since there are rigorous selection processes that the big corporate networks adhere to in order to add that character flare through the hopeful candidates that apply. I agree that it is a successful avenue in the television industry as it enables the general populous to sympathize and associate with the contestants individual character. There are few reality shows that are actually in a sense educational such as CBC’s Dragons Den, which only illustrates a partial fluff of the actual corporate world.
Another positive though would be that reality TV does drive individuals to reach certain ideals they may have. One trend though that can be notices in all these reality TV shows is that they all follow the same hierarchy that readily visible in business today (CEO, Management, Staff, Competition, Success measures, etc…). Makes one wonder what the global example is here?
August 17th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Вот про все это я почитал с превиликиминтересом. И с удовольствием прочитал бы еще больше! Планируете ли дальше писать на эту же тему? Спасибо
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Reality televison as an entertainment form fails to excite me. This is partly on principle as it short-circuits the creative process, denying gainfuil employment to those who do create - writers, actors, directeors, et al. Consequently, while it satisfies the profit imperative of producers and networks, it leave this viewer cold.
Reality TV is also unsatisfying to me as an otherwise passionate ‘rubber-necker’ because of its vampiric nature. I don’t especially derive pleasure from seeing others humiliated.
Yet J’adore Dragon’s Den. Seeing the entreprenurial spirit celebrated as it is on this show, learning what works and doesn’t work, and sharing the agony and ecstasy of the particpants, albeit viacriously, makes for a sublime pleasure. The insights and repartee of all the dragons is an essential. The variety of views is part of what makes the show work.
February 10th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Hi Arlene…I’m your biggest fan….
Will you meet me for coffee…next time your in Toronto…pleeeeeeeeease..?
Bhavini