‘Reality’ TV is not airing the reality

Reality TV has major prevalence in the entertainment industry, often introducing new celebrities into the public radar and creating iconic moments in pop culture.

But astute observers know one thing: Reality TV shows are far from real. In fact, many reality TV shows are known for their scripted and predetermined narratives.

One TV channel that airs a lot of “fake” reality TV shows is HGTV, known for its “House Hunters” series and spin-offs, where a client is shown three different properties from which they choose their dream home. In fact, Bobi Jensen, a former House Hunter participant, revealed on a blog that the three “randomly selected” houses presented in each episode of HGTV are actually chosen before filming.

Sometimes the properties being introduced are already sold houses with made-up price points. HGTV, in response to the revelations, claimed that these preliminary steps are necessary to ensure a certain level of quality when they film.

In an interview with Slate, blogger Marcelle Friedman stated that  by doing this, HGTV, exposes the public to misinformation about the process of homebuying while also glorifying it.

Many shows from the Cooking Channel, such as “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kitchen Nightmares,” both of which feature pop culture icon Gordon Ramsay, have been exposed for scripting and sabotage. In “Hell’s Kitchen,” producers often purposely spoil food in order to systematically anger Ramsay, who is known for his short temper, and create more entertaining drama.

“Kitchen Nightmares” exhibits a similar technique. In this case, producers often write dialogue for the restaurant employees to say, aiming to stir up conflict for the cameras. This scripted drama consequently heavily affects viewers’ opinions, causing public derision and mockery toward participants who don’t deserve it. These fabricated cooking shows can also negatively affect the careers of the many involved professional chefs and restaurant owners, which in turn can damage their livelihood.

Additionally, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” one of television’s longest airing reality TV shows, is constantly criticized and exposed for its obviously scripted plot and scenes.

In fact, two marriage proposals and a few fight scenes were completely staged by the producers. For example, Kim Kardashian's proposal scene was shot twice because Kris Jenner, Kim’s mother, was unsatisfied with Kim’s initial reaction. Even the house where the show is filmed is actually just an empty property to replace their real one. By any measure, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” is a drama, skewed to seem like reality.

Even if the events in the Kardashian show were real, I still wouldn’t watch the show due to the sheer stupidity of the plot and characters — which, might I add, is another common complaint. Now that I know about its scripted origin, I simply question the capabilities of the show’s writers.

Although these fabrications do help create the drama and ridiculousness that makes reality TV the guilty pleasure that it is, some shows, like “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kitchen Nightmares,” can raise serious ethical questions and criticism. Other times, the manipulation of reality that “reality” TV shows produce could just be the difference between authentic drama or possibly more entertaining — but fictitious — scenes.