2022-05-17
46 分钟BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
The dumbest genre in entertainment or the one that tells us the most about ourselves.
Since its conception, reality TV has divided its viewers.
But we think it's possible to enjoy it whilst also questioning the ethical foundations upon which it was built.
I'm journalist and broadcaster Pandora Sykes.
And I'm investigative journalist Shirin Kahler.
And a large part of our friendship has been spent discussing reality team tv.
We've both been fans since we first watched Big Brother as preteens and we've spent a fair amount of time defending reality TV when people are snobby about it or dismiss its importance in our wider culture.
But we've also been troubled by the exploitation, the lack of aftercare, the impacts of sudden fame.
In this 10 part audio documentary for BBC Radio 4, we'll be bringing an analytical eye to a genre that influences almost every walk of life celebrity, music, fashion, beauty, dating and even politics.
Over the last six months, we've rewatched hundreds of hours of reality TV and spoken to over 60 show creators, producers and iconic reality stars in order to chart reality TV's evolution and explore the ways in which the format needs to change.
This is Unreal.
A critical history of reality tv.
Please note there will be strong language throughout the series.
If you go on that show, it's effectively like getting a ticket to the chocolate factory.
It's like going to Harvard, it's like going to Oxford.
In fact, it's more lucrative than going to Oxford.
The entire possibilities for your life, your earning potential, it changes.
Your social status, it changes.
For some listeners, this theme tune will make you sigh happily in recognition.