CHAPTER 3: “I THINK WE NEED A NEW NAME FOR IT”

The Meeting of Documentary and Reality TV

Jocelyn Pimental & Justin Ernst

What this chapter teaches you…

Ways to recognize the differences between a documentary and a reality television show

To explore how network’s interwork brand image and marketing into these programs

To look past the textual elements of programs and focus more upon the extratextual factors in order to better understand what you’re watching

Documentaries at a glance… Educational Informative Authentic Ethical Social Engaging Independently Produced Serve Public Interest Focuses on the mundane

Reality TV at a glance…

Commercial Sensational Popular Obsessive Exploitative Manipulative Focuses on entertainment

An American Family

Focused on the Loud family and aired on PBS

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Difficulty of classification

“I do not think American Family should be called a documentary. I think we need a new name for it, a name would contrast it not only with fiction, but with what we have exposed to up until on TV.” –Anthropologist Margaret Mead

Even today critics don’t know whether to consider it an observational documentary or an early form of reality tv.

Reality tv transformed to documentary

FOX vs PBS -American High

-Different brand image-Financing Structure-Target Audience

Both networks aired American High, with little success, but presented it differently

American High

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FOX VS PBS

FOX- “Other shows are not real the way our show is…. Our show is a drama series with real characters and real stories that continue over the course of the year.” –Director R.J. Cutler

Adjective choice in promos: real, bold, entertaining

PBS- “An observational documentary in the tradition of PBS.”- CEO of PBS Pat Mitchell

Adjective choice in promos: authentic, remarkable, meaningful

HBO: The documentary powerhouse

HBO is not limited to censorship content like FOX or PBS is victim to

Most of documentary programming featured adult oriented content

HBO target audience is considered “responsible, mature and tasteful”

America Undercover

America Undercover

Comprised of a series of investigative documentaries focusing on labor struggles, racial profiling, terrorism and sex

Marketed in such way to intentionally blur boundaries between reality tv and documentary

“If you could see it on A&E, if an advertiser would sponsor it, then I don’t want it put on HBO, because people are paying to see something a little spicier.” –HBO Head of Adult Documentary Shelia Nevins

American Undercover

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In Conclusion

The generic instability of shows like American High and America Undercover demonstrate just how difficult it is to define documentary and reality tv outside of reception and content

Networks are able to mold viewers perception of a show based on their perceived values

The distinctions made between these formats are usually only based on our need to categorize them into either entertainment or educational

Quiz Documentaries focus on what? _______ Reality television focuses on what?_______ American Family aired on which station?

_______ Which 3 adjectives were used to describe

American High by Fox? _____ _____ _____ Which 3 adjectives were to describe American

High by PBS? _____ _____ _____ Who said, “If you could see it on A&E, if an

advertiser would sponsor it, then I don’t want it put on HBO, because people are paying to see something a little spicier.”? _______