I know that reality TV sort of got its start in the '90s with The Real World, but I don’t think the reality TV era really started until the 2000s. The Truman Show came out in 1998, and I think The Real World (starting in 1992) and Survivor (starting in 1997) are the only ones to predate it.
I think The Truman Show was more a critique of the increasing obsession with celebrity and tabloid news in general than it was of reality TV. In particular, the media frenzy that was the OJ Simpson trial.
However, when I started this comment, I didn’t realize how early The Real World was, so maybes the Reality TV Era did start earlier than I thought. I always associate it more with the writers strike in 2007-2008.
I know that reality TV sort of got its start in the '90s with The Real World, but I don’t think the reality TV era really started until the 2000s. The Truman Show came out in 1998, and I think The Real World (starting in 1992) and Survivor (starting in 1997) are the only ones to predate it.
I think The Truman Show was more a critique of the increasing obsession with celebrity and tabloid news in general than it was of reality TV. In particular, the media frenzy that was the OJ Simpson trial.
However, when I started this comment, I didn’t realize how early The Real World was, so maybes the Reality TV Era did start earlier than I thought. I always associate it more with the writers strike in 2007-2008.