The Sleuthsayer
"Just when you thought the Reality TV genre might become yesterday's fad,"
writes USA Today, "the appeal is stronger than ever." As one ad exec
raved: "The appetite is insatiable." As is ours for "theirs"...
"The newest additions to the world of television are Reality Stars,"
notes VH-1. "For more than a decade now, TV has been building a growing
audience of viewers tuning in to watch programs involving 'real-life' people
like themselves in extraordinary situations. From Big Brother (we've got four
sexy 'sisters') to Flavor of Love (nine nymphs de-nuded herein) to the Real
World (see our foxy foursome) and beyond, America just can't get enough of Reality
TV and its memorable players."
We find them manwrable two...and have thus honored the genre with the first
magazine ever devoted entirely to uncovering the hottest "Reality ShowOffs"
gracing the boob tube! Think of them as American (Nude) Idols...
As defined by Wikipedia: "Reality Television is a genre of programming
which documents actual events (including six of 'America's Horniest Home Videos')
and features ordinary people" (with extraordinary pulchritude). Reality
Television covers a wide range of formats, from game shows and contests (like
Idol, Fear Factor and Rock of Love) to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions
like Big Brother" (we're watching too...turn the page). Critics complain
that the term 'Reality TV' is somewhat of a misnomer"-though we've
got the real deal whenever they peel.
Screenwriter Sheryl Longin, a self-described "reality show addict,"
attributes their appeal to the fact that "seeing real people act naturally
(and an naturel) matches viewers' expectations of human body language (it's
universal, see Norway's Linni Meister, p. 16): As one reviewer put it: "Reality
TV is the liveliest genre on the set right now. It has engaged hot-button cultural
issues- class, sex, race-that respectable television rarely touches."
We're in touch with the sex part...
As the producer of the venerable Real World series (our second section) concludes:
"I think it could go on forever." Like, we hope, this magazine...which,
with this issue, celebrates our NINETEENTH Anniversary!
Keeping It Real,
Sleuth