Page 77 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 3

c. What do you learn about the country from watching the program?
1. Worldview
2. Cultural attitudes, values, behaviors, preoccupations,
myths
3. What are the characteristics of the hero? The villain? What
is the significance of your findings?

Genre Analysis: Formulaic Approach • by Kim Wood

Soap Operas and The Bachelor: A Comparison
of Formulas

These days reality TV is a hot commodity for major television networks.
With shows like Fox’s American Idol, NBC’s The Apprentice, and CBS’s
Survivor consistently dominating television ratings each week and new
reality shows constantly being added to prime-time lineups, it is practi-
cally impossible to dismiss this pop culture phenomena as a fleeting
trend. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences could not. In 2003,
the ATAS added a new category to its fifty-fifth annual Emmy Awards
ceremony—Outstanding Reality/Competition Program—which was
won by CBS’s Amazing Race. Other media forms are also starting to
accommodate the idea that reality shows are here to stay. Reality Check,
a special interest publication devoted entirely to the coverage of reality
shows and the celebrities who have emerged from them, hit newsstands
in mid-January of 2004.
With viewership and popularity both high in numbers, reality televi-
sion programs show no signs of dying out anytime soon. With that in
mind, it is important to recognize the attributes that make these shows
so successful.

What Formulas Breed Reality TV Success?

Some claim that reality television’s unscripted approach makes for in-
novative programming, but take away the shows’ use of real people and
real dialogue and you may find there is not much innovation there at all.
In fact, many reality shows seem to follow derivative formulas commonly
used in conventional scripted television programs. The formulas used in
daytime soap operas, for instance, are the same formulas used in many

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