By Josephine MosongoOver the past decade, reality television has seen a dramatic increase in popularity — so much so that whenever you turn on the television there is likely to be a reality show going on.
The Amazing Race, Survivor, The Bachelor and Big Brother are just some of the popular reality shows.
Because of this, people have found new ways to recreate some of these shows making the concepts quite repetitive, but still fun to watch.
Each year more shows are created and the more they increase in number the more ridiculous they get.
OCCASIONAL FIX
Keeping up with the Kardashians, Love and Hip Hop, Real Housewives of New York/Atlanta/Orange/Beverly Hills/Miami, Teen Mom, Sister Wives, Preachers of LA, Jersey Shore, Toddlers and Tiaras, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo… the list is endless and they have taken over television.
Kenya has not been left behind and can boast of shows like Tujuane, Are You My Type, Slimpossible, Sakata, Tusker Project Fame and Twende Kazi.
Anything under the sun these days can be turned into a reality show, fuelled by the fame hungry society we live in. It has become very easy to find "stars" to headline in any show.
As much as audiences still love to get the occasional fix of sci-fi, fiction or thriller doses, reality shows have found a way of creeping up on the list of must-watch television.
Some programmes like The Office have resorted to and capitalised on documentary or reality show form of filming (mockumentary) and as a result attracted an even bigger fan base.
This has clearly worked in their favour as they always scoop several awards each year.
At the same time, not everyone would publicly admit to watching reality shows and some would even go as far as claiming they only do so for research.
But either way it has become a guilty pleasure that some do not want to get rid of. So what has made reality shows better to watch than sitcoms or soap operas?
FEEL GOOD FACTOR
Let's face it, we love to watch people get into trouble and see how they will dig themselves out of it; we love to see people make fools of themselves and think, "who in their right mind would do that?"
If someone is willing to make a fool of themselves then someone somewhere is definitely willing to watch.
Some of these stars make us feel like geniuses once they open their mouths. It is not very often that you get to hear rich people say dumb things and get away with them by tossing their hair, batting their fake eyelashes and topping it with a fake laugh and voila, all is forgotten.
But guess what, in reality television the dumber the sentiments, the more the attention gained.
The fact is reality shows make viewers feel good about themselves because half of the things that "we" normal folk get away with are never seen on camera.
It is not a secret that most of these shows are scripted and only remain "real" to a certain degree.
It is only when plates start flying, tables are flipped over, chairs thrown back and cups are hurled towards someone's head that you know the situation is as real as it gets.
In some twisted way viewers find this exhilarating and humorous and even turn some of these episodes into conversation starters.
As dysfunctional as some of these characters are, they make one feel normal and good about oneself. And as audiences keep watching, they also start to fall in love with them, choosing sides and picking favourites.
They do make viewers believe that anything is possible, that a former dancer who married and divorced Kelsey Grammer and had children via a surrogate just to maintain her figure could potentially be pocketing an eight figure salary.
Who knew having octuplets and a cheating husband qualified someone as a star?
If that were the case, then a significant population in Kenya deserved its own reality shows.
Thanks to reality shows, we now have common people who do common things, or nothing at all, rubbing shoulders with talented people on the red carpet who have spent all their life working hard to perfect their crafts. That does not sound fair, does it?
CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE
Reality shows are perhaps the cheapest way producers can get a show off the ground.
It is simple really: come up with a simple theme, find people with time on their hands who desperately want their 15 seconds of fame, rent a house or buy them lunch for their date and you have hours of viewing pleasure at a fraction of the cost.
You don't even need to pay them and if you must, then peanuts will do because at the end of the day the producers are doing them a favour.
Instead of paying millions of shillings for just one actor, reality shows can get away with just a few thousand shillings per actor and keep the show on air for a few seasons.
But as their popularity increases, these stars gain a huge following and those bright enough will translate this into monetary benefits.
No-one really thought much about Snooki from Jersey Shore other than being the butt of nasty jokes.
She, however, came out of the show with a book deal which got published, had a short stint on Dancing With the Stars and a cameo appearance on Supernatural.
Kim Kardashian may perhaps be the best success story in the world of socialites.
What seemed like a nightmare after her infamous sex tape with Ray J leaked turned out to be the proverbial gold mine that catapulted her and the entire Kardashian family into a household multi-million-dollar name.
When Keeping Up With The Kardashians began filming, Kim initially got paid $15,000 (Sh1.2 million) per episode but that figure has now more than doubled to a staggering $40,000 (Sh3.4 million).
Now a savvy business woman and model, one might even say she is the reason why shows like Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York and Khloe and Lamar were created.
PUBLICITY STUNTS
She also started D-A-S-H, a fashion boutique chain with her sisters and has a few fragrances to her name.
Her 72-day marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries got her so much backlash from the public claiming it was a publicity stunt, but she took it in her stride and is now about to get married to rapper Kanye West.
With a networth of $40 million (Sh3.4 billion) she has cemented her place as one of the most controversial, talked about and wealthy celebrities.
We get caught up in the lives of snobby and bratty rich kids who do nothing but spend their parents' money all day and wonder why anyone would think being a pregnant teenager qualifies one to be a star.
But we also root for our favourites in shows like American Idol that are purely based on talent, or wager on the season finale on shows such as the Biggest Loser with real people and real weight problems trying to stay healthy.
As long as the world is full of ambitious people trying to make a name for themselves while indulging in their egotistical need to be seen by everyone for good or bad reasons, there will always be a lifetime of material for reality shows and endless viewing hours for us while curled up on our couches as we eat our popcorn, tweet and update our Facebook status during commercial breaks.
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