Reality Shows Across Networks

Much like the PBS program, The Great American Dream Machine, served as a precursor to many popular sketch comedies as Laurie Ouellette mentions, An American Family was just the first of a plethora of reality shows centered around families. However, it is clear from our screenings in class that there is a distinct difference in the PBS program and the TLC reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. An American Family attempted to show an honest and accurate representation of a family in America, while Honey Boo Boo attempts to do the same on the surface at least. The main difference between these two programs as well as the others that I will discuss in this post is that the PBS programs' main goal is the educate while Honey Boo Boo and other similar shows strive simply to entertain and usually do so by dramatizing reality.

According to Bourdieu’s ideas about taste and class distinctions one might assume that people who enjoy watching PBS programs are middle and upper class people. However, in my experience this does not always ring true. A person’s taste is not always an accurate indication of their class status. I grew up watching PBS children’s programming because my parents did not want to pay for a satellite dish, so my choices for TV watching were limited. This was also true for many of my other childhood friends. The lower income of our families is actually one reason we watched these kinds of programs. So for this assignment I thought I would watch some of the shows that I often watched with my parents: Nature, Antiques Roadshow, and Rick Steve’s Europe.

Each of these shows, like The Great American Dream Machine, now has their own counterparts on other networks, but with significant differences in the aesthetics. For example I watched a Nature documentary called “The Beauty of Ugly” which discussed animals with ugly features that serve important functions in the survival of those creatures. The main purpose of this episode was to inform and educate the viewers about specific animals and their functional but ugly features. In contrast, the programs that now populate the Animal Planet network are much more concerned with entertaining their viewers than actually educating them. In particular there is a show called My Cat From Hell in which a cat behavior specialist comes into people’s homes and teaches them how to train their out of control kitties. This program as well as others on Animal Plant tends to dramatize reality and turn it into a dramatic story rather than a factual representation of reality. In many episodes of My Cat From Hell the owners of the cats will describe how the uncontrollable behavior of their pets is ruining their lives and their relationships with their spouses or roommates. During the interview portion of the show, dramatic music will play alongside montages of a cat attacking her owners, and the owners will describe how they feel “betrayed” or even scared to live in their own house.

Once this problem is introduced the rest of the episode will focus on the cat behavior specialist solving the cat’s behavioral problems and thus also solving the relationship problems of the cat’s owners. Obviously this is very different from a PBS Nature documentary in which the main purpose of the episode is to educate the viewer, and there is no attempt to dramatize reality or turn it into a melodramatic tale.

Similarly, the PBS program Antiques Roadshow has several copycat shows on other networks that drift over the potential educational value and instead concentrate on creating a more dramatic and entertaining story. On Antiques Roadshow the most climactic moment is always right before the appraisers announce the worth of the item, before that moment they simply talk about the history behind the item. The History Channel’s Pawn Stars operates in a similar fashion. Customers come into the pawnshop usually to sell their items but then a tense negotiate takes place between the customers and the pawnshop owners. While Pawn Stars does provide a brief historical account of the objects it usually does not come from an expert appraiser like Antiques Roadshow. The reality show interview format is also used heavily in Pawn Stars when the customers tell the story of how they acquired their objects and how much they hope to sell them for.

This is clearly quite different from the format of Antiques Roadshow which is more concerned with telling the history of the objects and the amount of worth and not actually concerned with whether the owners will sell them.

Finally PBS’s Rick Steve’s Europe is a travel show that tells viewers the best landmarks to visit when travelling. The host visits specific sightseeing attractions and relays the historical importance directly to the audience. So just like the other PBS programs, its main concern is to educate viewers and provide them with information for their own trips to Europe. Its reality show counterpart can be seen in CBS’s The Amazing Race where teams of two compete in a race around the world. The historical significance of many of the stops is glossed over or mentioned briefly only to explain the particular task or test they must complete to move on in the competition. Furthermore, The Amazing Race is first and foremost a competition show, so great importance is placed on the drama and excitement of that competition, leaving the educational portions of the show as a second thought. Once again, entertainment and drama take precedence over educational material.

Obviously the PBS network is meant for people with a particular taste aesthetic while similar shows on other networks are aimed at different audience. Bourdieu might suggest that this means these shows are aimed at different economic classes. However, taste is not always that simple. As I mentioned before it was my family’s lower class status that originally limited me to watching PBS programs for entertainment, and now I have watched and enjoyed watching every program mentioned in this post. So Bourdieu’s ideas of aesthetic taste reflecting class distinctions may not always hold true.