A lot of people would say that the first of the modern crop of reality TV shows was Survivor, which is only about a decade old. But that was not even close to the first reality show. When you go back a little bit further, you can say that some early reality TV was Road Rules and The Real World, which are around 20 years old. But then again, those were not even the first of the reality shows. The medium of reality TV is almost as old as the entire medium of TV itself is, going almost all of the way back to the 1940s. And of course, just like every other type of TV, reality TV evolved right along with the medium’s evolution from a huge, expensive box of vacuum ray tubes, all the way through to today’s high definition, low price, three dimensional collection of fancy scientific things that nobody without an advanced degree really understands.
The thing about reality TV is, its form is always different with the times in which it exists. While the reality shows of yesteryear may have focused more on the interaction between a host (who was in on the gag being played) and the people who generally fell for it hook, line and sinker, today’s shows are far different. In most of them, the contestants are not being tricked anymore- they walk in as willing, knowing participants. And often enough, they walk out after having either been voted off, or after having been eliminated through some sort of a physical or mental challenge.
Maybe the biggest question of all is, what really defines a reality TV show? Is it reality when an actor ad libs a line and they keep it? Is it reality on a game show, when a contestant comes up with a gut bustingly hilarious answer? Of is it reality TV when they show police and fire fighters doing what they have to?