Reality-based Sitcom Blog

Abstract:

Reality based sitcom can be considered a part of reality television.  After doing this paper there are actually eight subgenres when it comes to reality television.  The other thing is that the first reality based sitcom television had aired in the 1970s and the name was An American Family. The first reality based-sitcom was first aired on the PBS network. Something that was interesting was that after the 1970s reality based sitcom An American Family aired reality based sitcoms did not remain popular even though it was successful during the time.  Reality-based sitcom had finally reached it peek in the year 2002 it was actually thank to MTV network.

Introduction:

Reality based sitcom television seem to make up only one eight of reality television. In the Encyclopedia of Television: AC written by Horace Newcomb states “Reality television is a label  that encompasses a wide range of nonfiction formats, including gamesdocs, makeover programs, talent contests, docusoaps, dating shows, court programs, tabloid newsmagazine shows, and reality based sitcoms”(Newcomb 1900) . From this quote it is clear to see that when it comes to reality based sitcom it is the last thing to be considered reality television.

Literature Review:

The researchers that had their own version of reality based sitcom television were Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn, Horace Newcomb, and Susan Murray and Laurie Ouellette. Su Holmes and Deborah define reality television as “Reality TV has been applied, as well as the extent to which this has shifted over time with the emergence of further permutation in reality based text….definition is rather more than a matter of arguing over terminology, categories and discursive labels”(Holmes 2).  Horace Newcomb defines reality television as “a label that  encompasses a wide range of nonfiction formats, including game docs, makeover programs, talent contests, docusoaps, dating shows, court programs, tabloid newsmagazine shows, and reality-based sitcoms”( Newcomb 1900).  Susan Murray and Laurie Ouellette define reality television as “TV as an unabashedly commercial genre united less by aesthetic rules or certainties than by the fusion of popular entertainment with a self-conscious claim to the discourse of the real” (Murray 2).  From these quotes given by these researchers it is clear to see that they have different view of what they think that reality television is.

Explanation:

The research that was done was able to support what reality based sitcoms goals are when it comes to were Mark Andrejevic and Susan Murray and Laurie Ouellette. Mark Andrejevic book Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched. The main thing that Andrejevic talked about was what is to do a reality-based sitcom. Andrejevic stated “With the development of documentary film, recording the rhythm of daily life… a way of presenting the lives of other people….the advent of the reality genre takes place when documentary techniques are used not to document the daily life of geographically and culturally remote peoples but to study the lives of proximal, contemporary figures as representatives of typical-hence real- people” (Andrejevic 65). From this quote showed that Mark Andrejevic idea or goal of what is reality-based sitcom.  This quote supports the fact that reality-based sitcom deals with every day people.

Discussion:

. Reality television has come a long way since first starting out with reality based sitcoms. In Mark Andrejevic book Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched stated that “The turn to real families took place in 1973 with the release of the PBS series An American Family” (Andrejevic 66). This quote shows that when it came to reality based sitcoms it was first aired on the PBS network. The next reality-based sitcom did not come directly after that  show had went off the air the next reality show aired in the year 2002.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, when it comes to reality based sitcoms it is only one part of the eight that makes up a reality television. The parts that actually make up reality television are game docs,  makeover programs, talent contest, docusoaps, dating shows, court programs, tabloid newsmagazine and last but not least reality based-sitcoms. The first reality based sitcom was An American Family that had aired in the year 1973. The Osbournes reality based sitcom did not follow until the year 2002.  

References:

Andrejevic, M. (Ed.).  (2004). Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield

Campbell, R. , & Martin, C. & Fabos, B. (2014). Media & Culture: Mass Communication in A Digital Age. Boston, MA: Bedford/ST. Martins.

Dines, G.  & Humez J. M. (Eds.). (2011). GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS IN MEDIA A CRTICAL READER. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

 

Gillan, J. (2004). From Ozzie Nelson To Ozzy Osbourne. In Holmes, S., & Jernmyn, D. (Eds.),  Understanding reality television ( pg 55). Psychology Press.

 

Holmes, S., & Jernmyn, D. (Eds.). (2004). Understanding reality television. Psychology Press.

 

Jordan, C. (2011). Marketing “Reality” to the World: Survivor, Post-Fordism, and Reality Television. In Dines, G. & Humez, J. M. (Eds.). GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS IN MEDIA A CRITICAL READER. (pg 463).  Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 

 

Kompare, D. (2009). Extra Ordinary: The Osbournes as “An American Family”. In Murray, S., & Ouellette, L. (Eds.).  Reality TV: Remaking television culture. (pg 97). NYU Press.

 

Lewis, J. (2009). The Meaning of Real Life. In Murray, S. & Ouellette, L. (Eds.). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. (pg 288). NYU Press.

 

 

Magder, T. (2009). The End of TV 10: Reality Programs, Formats, and the new business of Television. In Murray, S. & Ouellette, L. (Eds.). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. (pg 147) NYU Press.

 

Murray, S., & Ouellette, L. (Eds.). (2009). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. NYU Press.

 

 

Newcomb, H. (Ed.). (2004). Encyclopedia of television: AC (Vol. 1). CRC Press.

 

Raphael, C. (2009). The Political Economic Origins of Reali-TV. In Murray, S. & Ouellette, L. (Eds.). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. (pg 119). NYU Press.

Written By: Shaunise Stewart