OPINION

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By Eliza Stone

Every Monday night, at 7:58 p.m. on the dot, you will find me in my living room enduring the last few minutes of Jeopardy before tuning into The Bachelor. A few minutes later my mom, Susan Stone, pretends to grumble about how ridiculous the show is but also finds herself sucked in. Even my younger brother dips in and out during the episode to watch the rose ceremonies or joke about the contestant’s ridiculous job titles or sob stories. I love reality TV and would consider myself somewhat of an expert in the subject. I will watch any and all reality TV shows, no matter how outlandish. 

J. Gideon Sarantinos, a screenwriter in feature film and TV, has divided reality TV into seven categories.  Legal reality TV like Judge Judy and social experiments like Trading Spouses are two categories I’m not very interested in. I enjoy travel shows, like Below Deck, when they’re on, but don’t consistently tune in. Lifestyle shows, like Say Yes to the Dress and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, are fun to watch from time to time, but watching episode after episode begins to get boring.

Reality TV stars Kim and Khloe Kardashian surrounded by bodyguards and paparazzi. Photo credit: Karo Sahakyan.

Charlotte Smith (‘22) loves transformation or self-improvement shows and says, “My favorite reality TV show is Unexpected on TLC. I find the show to be very entertaining as teens try to navigate their way through the new world of parenthood, all while dealing with school, as well as friend, parent, family, and relationship drama.”

My personal favorite groups are documentary and competition reality TV shows. Documentary shows feature constant filming to capture daily events and drama that occurs along the way, like Keeping up with the Kardashians. Documentary shows often appear to have minimal editing, but many conversations and events are edited for added drama. Competition is possibly the broadest category, including shows like The Amazing Race and dating shows like Love Island.

Reality television began with MTV’s The Real World, where seven young adults were confined to a New York City apartment and filmed at all times. The Real World aired in 1992 and, in a time before social media, was unique in its inside look at the lives of average people. It did not shy away from serious topics such as race and sexuality, and the original first season cast from New York City recently reunited to discuss how society has (and hasn’t) changed since 1992. 

Season 12 Bachelorette Jojo Fletcher and her group of 30 men on night one. Photo credit: Jons1992.

My love for reality television began at a young age with Survivor, a reality competition show that began in 2000, where 20 average Americans are divided into tribes and sent out into the wilderness of some tropical island to fend for themselves, all while competing in challenges and voting each other off. There are international versions of Survivor, but to compete on American Survivor you must be an American citizen. However, as I’ve gotten older, competition shows have interested me less, and I now prefer dating and lifestyle reality shows. In Middle School, Dance Moms was my reality obsession, and my family fled the kitchen every Tuesday night so they didn’t have to watch the screaming matches between the moms and the crying children.

My borderline addiction to The Bachelor franchise started in 2016, with Nick Viall’s season as The Bachelor. After watching the extravagant travel, dramatic catfights, and heartbreaking eliminations, I was hooked. While many think reality television is trashy and scripted, I see it as a great distraction from my day-to-day life. Nothing brings my family together like nightly Love Island during quarantine or a debate over the best Survivor player of all time. 

My favorite part about reality shows is how easy it is to become attached to the cast members. I often find myself keeping up with them between seasons by following them on social media. It is easy to feel like you really know them after watching their show, and I think this is what makes reality TV so addictive. 

Survivor host Jeff Probst reading votes at a tribal council. Photo credit: Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue.

Lauren Watts (‘22) is an avid Survivor fan and described her love for the show by saying, “I love seeing how each of the different aspects of the game affect the players’ strategies. It’s also really interesting to see the different personalities. My brother and I always watch it together, which makes it fun to have someone to discuss it with!” Like in my own family, reality TV goes further than just the show by providing an entertaining conversation topic. My mom and I love to predict who will go home every night on The Bachelor, and we used to have our own versions of competition shows like Master Chef Junior at home with my family.

With the decline of cable television and the rise of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, reality television has taken on new forms. Netflix has produced many of its own reality shows, like Selling Sunset and Bling Empire, both of which I watched during quarantine and loved. Netflix releases these shows all at once, instead of weekly episodes in the style of traditional television, making them perfect to binge-watch. These documentary-style shows sucked me in, and I watched them both very quickly. While Hulu has yet to produce an original reality show, they entered the world of reality TV by signing a multi-year deal with the Kardashian family, who will continue their reality empire after Keeping Up with the Kardashians on the cable network E! comes to an end this year. 

While reality shows like The Bachelor are stereotypically considered to be more for girls, Jay Seevers (‘22) also tunes in every Monday night. He said, “I watch The Bachelor because it’s a nice distraction from homework and all of the stressful things happening on Monday nights.” A few years ago, the mostly male Sports Discussion Club at Collegiate also loved The Bachelor and would devote their clubs meetings to recapping and predicting each episode. 

Reality shows provide a glimpse into another real person’s life, and while most normal 29-year-old men aren’t dating 30 women at once, like this year’s Bachelor Matt James, it’s refreshing to think about someone else’s life instead of your own for an hour or two. Smith agrees with this, saying “Unexpected makes me realize how lucky I am to have supportive parents and friends. It also makes me realize that my life could be way more stressful than I feel like it is at times!”

Although reality television tends to have a bad reputation, and I can’t deny the Kardashians or the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo family aren’t the best influences, I believe reality television captures the most extreme people in society. However, that is what makes it interesting. I mean, a reality show following me around would be pretty boring. I also strongly prefer a reality show to a more traditional sitcom or drama show. Watching a reality show and observing real lives is just so much more intriguing and addicting than watching a show with characters and a scripted plot. So, no matter how cheesy or tacky reality television may be, you can bet I’m tuning in for all the drama, gossip, and catfights.