Was reality television ever really a bold experiment? In a manner of speaking, reality television is as old as television itself. News reports, game shows and talk shows are all a form of reality, however simulated and rehearsed they may be. Therefore, the first true reality shows was the 1940's prank reality show Candid Camera. This was followed by game shows like Beat The Clock and Truth or Consequences. Other groundbreaking shows in the reality genre surely include the United Kingdom's Seven Up!, the PBS Series An American Family, The Jerry Springer Show, Cops, and MTV's The Real World. It was only in the new millennium that reality television was actually packaged as a new style of genre and tweaked to depict a contemporary America through the most unsightly of real life characters.
Critics say that reality television requires no talents or understanding of craft to participate in. When speaking of the "actors", this is certainly true. People don't act in reality shows--they simply react and portray themselves reacting to various situations. These reactions may be exaggerated for theatrical effect, nevertheless, it is the same overreaction that rings true to character—the reality of people, unscripted and behaving as badly or as saintly as they desire. Reality television has been a huge boom in recent years and this unique style of genre has found itself taking center stage across the country. Hit shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race and The Apprentice helped to improve awareness of the genre and now most networks and cable channels feature a large chunk of reality programming.
Several of these shows take place in the city of Los Angeles. Who can blame participants for being excited about reality shows? Reality shows have been responsible for catapulting many everyday hopefuls to celebrity status and even their own career. Here are a few of the more popular reality television series to have taken place in Los Angeles.
Some of the most popular reality shows have come to Los Angeles, including The Real World and The Apprentice. The Real World: Los Angeles first aired in 1993 as The Real World: California, but was changed to avoid confusion with subsequent seasons taking place in San Francisco and San Diego. The cast of real life characters included Aaron Bailey, Beth Stolarczyk, David Edwards, Dominic Griffin and Irene Berrera. The Apprentice came to Los Angeles in Season 6, and 32 year-old attorney Stefani was hired. The Road Rules was MTV's second reality TV show and this Los Angeles based production debuted in 1995. Top Chef is another reality show based in Los Angeles and features cooking as the theme, along with a panel of celebrity judges. Many of these reality TV shows have strong roots in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California. You may run into some memorabilia of these shows in the Los Angeles area, though reality shows do have the tendency to travel to various locations in the state and across the nation. Reality shows celebrate the best and worst of American culture—come to Los Angeles to make your reality show dreams a reality!
