The Wrong Word

[mishalak]

I had a thought about the terminology used for television today. Why do we call shows where there is a series of contests in a studio "game shows" while we call shows that have a series of contests that involve outdoor settings and social completion "reality TV"? Really aren't they all just game shows with different ways of building tension or drama?

If I was going to make a distinction between all these types of game shoes I think I would term them something like "quiz shows", "athletic competition shows", and "contest shows".

Comments

[bovil.livejournal.com]

"unscripted" == "reality"

"game shows" aren't equated with prime-time.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Bah <waves hand dismissively> These social competition game shows are considerably more scripted than the average quiz show.

And game shows certainly are prime time these days. Anyone for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire or Wipe Out?

[almeda.livejournal.com]

I am inordinately fond, especially when exhausted, of Hole in the Wall.

It makes so much sense that it started as a Japanese show ... I'd been guessing Korean, but the 'penalties' aren't bizarre enough for a Korean game-show, based on the (non-language-understanding) random viewings of random ones I've gotten on our a-different-foreign-language-every-two-hours station here in Chicago.

I watch them because they're bizarre, and because I love trying to deduce the rules. :->

[almeda.livejournal.com]

For me, the line between 'reality show' and 'contest show' lies somewhere in the messy area where the drama and 'storylines' take over from the actual competition, in terms of minutes of airtime.

Which is why I can watch Beauty and the Geek and America's Next Top Model, but not things like Fear Factor, Biggest Loser, Super-Nanny, Wife Swap, etc.

There's just too much 'look at the freaks! Laugh at them!' going on.