When is reality not reality? When it's a myth. Once described by The New York Times as "gross-out shockumentaries and socially unreedeming freak shows," reality TV programs have defied cynics with their staying power and cross-cultural audience appeal. Could there be a logical reason?
2 Dec 2005 12:00
Venessa Paech
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Television
Once described by The New York Times as “gross-out shockumentaries and socially unreedeming freak shows,” reality TV programs have defied cynics with their staying power and cross-cultural audience appeal.
Beginning with television itself, in the form of Candid Camera (debuting in 1948, “the first and longest running reality-based comedy program”), and ‘transformative’ game shows like Queen for a Day, the Big Brother wave is nothing new. The latest undulation of reality programs and their clones was triggered in the mid 1980s, when US and European broadcasters, facing rising production costs and labor issues, began in earnest the hunt for affordable, marketable alternatives to conventional program formulas.
Venessa has worked as an actor, singer, producer, choreographer, director and writer in New York and Australia. She earned a BFA in Theatre from New York University (Tisch School of the Arts) and an MA in Creative Media from the University of Brighton (UK). She was head of Community for Lonely Planet for several years and is currently Lead Community Manager for Community Engine. She is a published social media scholar and regularly speaks and consults around online communities: clients include Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Live Performance Australia, Ad:tech, Eye For Travel, Media140, Australian TAFE Marketing Association, SitePoint, Social Media Club Melbourne, Print NZ and more. Venessa is the former Editor of Arts Hub Australia.
