Word: shows
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...break down reality TV roughly into two major subgenres. The first - the big competition-event show - descends from Survivor and includes most of reality's big hits: Idol, The Bachelor, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, Project Runway. These shows mainstreamed reality TV for bigger, broader (and older) audiences by applying it to familiar genres: game shows, singing competitions, cook-offs, dating shows...
...time, there were a handful of reality shows on TV. Since then, we've seen 20 Survivors, 16 Amazing Races and 14 The Bachelors. We've seen Chains of Love, Rock of Love, Flavor of Love and Conveyor Belt of Love. American Candidate, American Gladiators and American Inventor. Anna Nicole, Kathy Griffin and Britney & Kevin. Design Star, Rock Star, Nashville Star and Dancing with the Stars. Joe Millionaire, Average Joe and The Joe Schmo Show. Shark Tank and Whale Wars, The Mole and The Swan. Fear Factor, The It Factor and The Benefactor. (Coming in 2011: Simon Cowell...
...other type of reality show descends from The Real World's naked voyeurism. Some of these shows are about celebrities, former celebrities or pseudo celebrities. Some are about therapy, about work or about parenting. And many are just about life. Bravo's Real Housewives series is still spreading across the country like Cheesecake Factory franchises. (The Salahis snuggled up to the President as candidates for The Real Housewives of D.C.) When Jon and Kate Gosselin drew 10 million viewers to watch their marriage end on TLC, reality TV proved it wasn't going into middle age quietly...
Will Offend for FameOf course, you don't reach that level of success without working for it. Kardashian, for instance, didn't get her show until a sex tape of her and an R&B singer became public. Which is another lesson of reality TV: outrageousness pays...
...more reality TV there is, the more outrageous you have to be to break out. Nadya Suleman, or Octomom, parlayed a horrifyingly dangerous multiple birth into a reality special, ending up - like her apparent model, Angelina Jolie - on the cover of Star magazine, showing off "My New Bikini Body! How I Did It!" Richard Heene convinced the world that his 6-year-old son was hurtling toward his death in a balloon. But as the veteran of ABC's Wife Swap knew, the show he was pitching - eccentric storm-chasing scientist and his wacky family - wouldn't even raise...