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Reality TV first started off in America and this concept has changed the world forever. The first show that caught Americans in the most awkwardest seconds by Allen Funt’s was the Candid Camera in 1948, to the realistic Loud family of An American Family in 1973, to the rat-eating challengers of Survivor in 2002, reality TV has entertained, stormed, and embarrassed millions of TV audience by the years. Keeping up with the changing times the program content too took changes.
For example, after WW II Americans unaccustomed the nighttime entertainment that TV could provide found it to be very amusing, few moments of embarrassment for the participants on Candid camera. The programs were aired each week, with different situations, in different cities of the U.S. The viewers would never know what would be aired or who would be there in it. Participants came across unpleasant situations manipulated by producers
TV was just becoming an addiction to the U.S. and majority if citizens wanted entertainment to come to their homes that was pleasant, uncomplicated and uncontroversial. By the 70′s the people were watching Vietnam War wanted more of television in their homes. In 1973, An American Family was shot by PBS that bought TV cameras to the house of the loud family. The entire America watched for 7 months the breakup of their marriage and confession of their son that he was a gay.
This indicated that people were ready to let them be filmed to any extent, something which was unthinkable by the candid camera. This program was unrehearsed and unscripted,10 years later the Louds allowed their lives to be revisited and thus started a barrage of advertisements for the show and generated record audiences. The name of the new show was An American Family Revisited. Many media scholars have denoted this reality show as the mother of all reality shows.
