From the course: Career Path Counselor: Making It in Media and Entertainment

The creation of “real” TV

From the course: Career Path Counselor: Making It in Media and Entertainment

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

The creation of “real” TV

“

- I was a 70s baby, so you know give it to me The Jeffersons, Good Times, like all of those shows. Brady Bunch, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, we're all of the ones. And then I could literally quote lines from today, Gilligan's Island. I mean, I think I've watched every episode. But, probably my you know top favorite, which probably influenced me the most and I didn't even know it was I Love Lucy, which is just you know the best television ever. I have to throw in Carol Burnett also though, got to throw in Carol Burnett. The shows I mentioned you know Fantasy Island, Love Boat, you know Dynasty. You wanted to see something that was other wordily, that was how the other half lives, and kind of that other side. So what you start to see with Oxygen, and certainly when I came over to MTV and you're seeing The Real World, and you're seeing all of these shows, that are like, "No, I want to see myself." Maybe slightly more outrageous, but I want to see how I'm living, or how people like me live, or how people live like me across the country. So, I think it was really the beginnings of that, putting a mirror to yourself, and what does that look like, and how can I make it funnier, or more glamorous. But it's real, it's not something else that I can't attain. MTV and Real World which started before I got there, but it was like right in the thick of it when I got there, and certainly I was there for Jersey Shore and kind of the, let's take reality TV up a notch won't we. You know Real World was really the beginning of reality TV. But and then it just kind of really snowballed from there. But if you go back in time, that was the seminal moment. And I think it was born out of a brand just like Oxygen, MTV knew their audience better than anyone else. They curated and developed, and you know leaped into the life of their audience, which allowed them to create such an iconic brand as Real World. And which could say and live on for so many, you could put it on at any point actually right now. And if you really think about it, all of these shows are basically a kind of spin off of that initial concept.

Contents