Stars on Reality Shows

Although reality shows have cast members who have different personalities they do get casted different ways. It seems nowadays there are reality shows with people who are upper class. It seems that the only shows that casts everyday citizens are the competition shows. When MTV came out with the Real World in 1992, there were seven ordinary middle-class people casted for the show. Now, reality shows cast people who have a following or are wealthy. Although the audience might not know whom they are watching the show, once introduced to us we see that they have a bit of wealth and are known in other ways. Although having the reality show can catapult them into more stardom does it might give them more of a platform to be who they are and where they want to take their brand.

Not all networks do proper background checks on their cast members. In the MTV Real World contract, it states that they do not have to do background checks on cast members. But it does state that they will not do any publicity without the producer’s agreement. These cast members are chosen from casting auditions and they choose specific people that they feel will make a great diverse show. For other reality shows, these shows are pitched to the networks because they feel these specific people have a great interesting story.

            Some people watch reality television because there are interesting story lines or maybe because we want to escape our reality just like scripted television shows. With Bravo’s The Real Housewives series, these wives lead fabulous lifestyles that the viewers might feel envious. With shows like Duck Dynasty, Keeping up with the Kardashians and The Osbournes, people liked to see how families cope with issues that other families might deal with. Although Lindsay Lohan is an actress whose star has fallen, Oprah Winfrey decided to do a reality show on her. People might watch the show to see if the gossip blogs and magazine accurately portray her or they might watch to see if they’ll show all the drama that seems to follow her.

            With blogs and gossip sites becoming more popular, viewers watch the shows to see these real life soap operas stories play out. In a world where we want to know more information about these stars, we watch these shows to get a more of an insight on their life or see how they handle living with complete strangers. Producers and Casting Directors do a great job casting the right people for the show to entertain the audience. With Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise continuously changing wives they do keep the cast members who are known to be more controversial. In the end, it doesn’t really matter if you have a brand, a following prior to the show or an unknown as long as you bring the drama and controversy, viewers will watch.