What Your Reality Show Isn't Telling You

1. "Step aside, crime dramas. There's a new sheriff in town."

In case you haven't noticed, reality shows are staking out more and more space in network lineups. In 2001, according to Ted Magder, chair of NYU's Department of Media, Culture and Communications, major networks devoted three hours a week of their prime-time schedule to reality TV and "challenge" game shows. The number increased to eight in 2002 and jumped to more than 20 in 2007. Today reality TV accounts for 20% of prime-time programming on network television.

Fueling the trend is the format's comparatively low production costs: typically less than a third of what it takes to produce hour-long dramas. But the bottom line behind the reality boom is ratings. In a Nielsen report for the 2006-07 season, reality shows accounted for six of the top 10 most-watched programs, including all of the top five.

What's behind our fascination with reality TV? Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University communications professor, says an "evolutionary quirk" compels our curiosity about how others live and function. "It's why we peer into other people's medicine cabinets," he says. "We can't help it; we're naturally voyeuristic."

2. "The reality is, it's fake."

Seasoned viewers know that what gets called reality on these shows is often fairly contrived. But few fans know the extent to which the producers mold both people and situations to fit their scripts. It's common, for example, to feature actors in the role of supposedly real people, says Jeff Bartsch, a freelance editor who has worked on reality shows: "Producers have to do this sometimes because they're looking for a specific type of person to fit a role."

But it's in filming and editing where the magic truly unfolds. Using endless hours of footage, editors often craft whole sequences using a technique called "Franken-biting" to weave together disparate clips, or they'll dub in contestants' words out of context -- something Patrick Vaughn knows all too well. A former contestant on CBS's The 'Amazing Race,' Vaughn says he was surprised to hear his own voice encouraging the group to find cabs to finish a leg of the race, and recalls that producers were the ones who instructed them to take taxis. A spokesperson for CBS says the change in transportation was "a safety precaution" and that the dubbing of Vaughn's voice "was done to better describe the scene to the viewer."

3. "Once you sign our release, we own you."

It's no joke, according to Jameka Cameron, a recent contestant on the CBS reality show 'Big Brother': "When you sign that document, you're basically signing away all of your rights -- everything." (Cameron refused to be more specific, due to legal concerns.) So what exactly does she mean by "everything"?

A look at the participant agreement form from CBS's controversial 'Kid Nation,' in which unaccompanied minors struggle to create a society in a desert town, sheds some light on the extent of control the makers of these shows wield over contestants. For example, producers have sole discretion in determining what, if any, medical procedures should be sought in cases of injury, even though they don't guarantee the credentials of their medical staff.

Furthermore, producers are not liable in cases of death or injury of a contestant during the course of filming on location, and they can't be held responsible if a child contracts an STD or becomes pregnant. Says CBS: "The series was filmed responsibly and within all applicable laws in the state of New Mexico at the time of production."

4. "Our background check's a joke."

The way reality shows examine the backgrounds of their participants is an area of concern among legal experts. And for good reason -- producers love characters who are great at creating conflict, and they'll overlook important personal information to get them. In 2001's 'Big Brother,' contestant Krista Stegall had a knife held to her throat by another cast member who, it turned out, had previously been arrested for theft and assault charges. (Stegall sued; the case was settled out of court.)

Larry Waks, an entertainment lawyer in Texas, says background checks are "still an evolving area" in reality TV and that the big networks are getting stricter. But the problem is far from fixed. In October, after one of VH1's 'America's Most Smartest Model' contestants was arrested for allegedly groping a woman at a party, it was revealed he'd served time for assault, harassment, criminal contempt and trespassing. ("We do thorough background checks," says a spokesperson for the show. "We're continuing to investigate the matter.") Los Angeles entertainment lawyer Neville Johnson doesn't like what he sees. "I'm concerned about the characters they recruit for the sake of drama," he says.

5. "Even our crew members don't know what they're in for."

Participants on reality shows aren't the only ones who don't know what to expect from the experience -- crew members are often subjected to highly unpredictable situations as well. Osvaldo Silvera Jr., a director of photography who's worked on shows including 'Top Chef' and 'Miami Ink,' says the first rule he learned on a reality set was "always keep your camera rolling no matter what." That included the time he followed a subject into a room only to have the door slammed in his face, hitting his camera and knocking him to the ground. Cinematographer Aaron Schnobrich recalls filming a reality pilot in Red Square during a demonstration. "One of the camera operators was hauled off by officers in front of me, and I barely escaped from being caught," he says.

How do shows prepare crew members for such crazy working conditions? Mostly, they don't. "Not in the sense of confrontation management or anything like that," Schnobrich says. And since the cameras are usually manned by freelancers rather than union labor, producers face little if any resistance. "Especially in reality TV, everyone works freelance," Schnobrich says. "It's the trick of the industry."

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