How The Genre Has Consistently Re-Engineered Itself Into New Life

Reality TV shows have been a cornerstone of the entertainment industry since the 1940s with America’s Candid Camera, with a sizable evolution after the inception of social media.

This resulted in many production companies getting involved in the genre to capitalize on the public zeitgeist of increased communication capabilities and the avid interest of seeing a very close-up and – seemingly authentic – view of people’s lives.

With high demand, reality shows have allowed their talent to receive profitable salaries through totally day-to-day situations. One example is Keeping Up With The Kardashians that started in 2007 and the hit series Big Brother that began airing in 2000 and promoted a more game show based concept in the genre.

The audience plays a key role

Specialists magazine, Psychology Today, assured that people enjoy reality shows because they connect with empathy. The perspective of seeing every aspect of someone’s life unfold in front of them presented somewhat of a unique experience that harnessed a societal fascination with how people live.

An acute sense of this by some members of the industry allowed reality shows to garner high guarantees of financial and professional success, as long as your lead talent – or concept – can capture public fascination. Reality shows evolved over the years into many hit sub-genres as a result. True crime, cooking, incidental and dating are some of the cadres.

Aspects of reality TV have also filtered into factual pieces, recent examples being how the titular characters of Tinder Swindler and Tiger King were able to leverage their notoriety into reality-based money-making opportunities outside of their documentaries on Netflix.

Several noteworthy stars have had reality series over the years. T.I, Whitney Houston, Russell Simmons, Diddy, Brandy and Ray-J, Paris Hilton, Ozzy Osbourne, Gordon Ramsay, Hulk Hogan, and Snoop Dogg, to name a few.

One consistent fact has been that series featuring a titular character, of some noteworthiness, has significantly raised the profiles of the supporting cast around them. Often making them stars in their own right. The most successful example of this of course is Kim Kardashian.

Writer, actor, and producer Adam Moryto, who owns a gap financing and film production company as well as a crypto fund, plans to enter the genre with a series dedicated to extreme fishing. Where box office stars feature in a more character-driven format, minimizing the non-scripted nature of the area.

For Moryto, the modern-day production of a reality show should be viewed similarly to a Hollywood movie production. While it is true that these shows are based on real experiences, he feels they must be heavily scripted to empathize with audiences.

“The principal with reality has always been to orchestrate situations and create dramatic precedent on-set, so people onscreen can operate and take advantage. Sometimes you have to go through a lot of film to get those moments but when you do, they’re golden.”

“It’s already so heavily planned as a genre, adding even more scripted elements will probably not be seen as out of the ordinary.”

Moryto added that planned elements, in his experience, won’t be skewed as being inauthentic. He has worked with Academy Award winners Jennifer Connelly and Forest Whitaker and other notable actors, including Stephan James, Travis Fimmel and Nicolas Cage in the past. His upcoming projects include Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new TV show shooting in Toronto this spring. Producer Scott Carlson heralded Moryto saying he is, “one of the most naturally gifted talents I have ever seen.”

“Acting and performing to me is the purest form of creation. It can’t be mimicked and it can’t be repeated. No two performances are ever the same, even if by the same actor. Every take is different, every delivery is different, even if only slightly, and every performance is completely organic and original.”

“I find being pleased with your performance is also good for your self-esteem. It’s something you don’t need to be afraid to be proud of.”

The passion for Moryto to get into reality TV, in regards to his new fishing expedition, came from travelling the world and fishing in Marlin tournaments in Grenada, Tobago, Costa Rica, and Barbados. He came 9th out of 227 anglers in the 2018 Offshore World Championship in Costa Rica and now owns a fishing guide business in Muskoka.

More than entertainment?

Beyond entertaining and appealing to different audiences, reality shows can have deeper intentions, such as becoming a teaching tool, according to the American College of Education.

Shows such as Shark Tank or House Hunters reflect real work situations that can be used as a strategy to improve the pedagogical approach with different teaching styles.

“It goes to show that with a little creativity and planning, even reality TV can be retooled into something more than entertainment to binge-watch on the couch”, stated the American College of Education.

Through reality TV people have had a keen sense of being inspired, entertained, provoked and shocked over the years. The perceived positive examples of the industry come when the journey to success – whether financial or otherwise – is portrayed onscreen.

With this however, we have also had TV that has inadvertently created mental health issues.

A report released before the start of a new series of Love Island by The Mental Health Foundation surveyed 4,505 adults, between the ages of 18-24, and found that reality TV directly caused one in four people to worry about their body image.

There have also been links, found by psychologist Bryson Gibson of Central Michigan University, connecting higher narcissism scores to individuals’ exposure to reality stars that exhibit the behavioral trait, and a recent stern look into the mental health of onscreen talent as the genre has been rocked by high-profile suicides linked to the sector.

Even with the sometimes negative associations and positions around it however, the niche is still as popular as ever in a new age of the genre.