Is Your Life a Reality Show?

Reality shows. They've been a staple of television since its inception, when shows like "Queen for a Day," "Candid Camera," and "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" showcased 'ordinary' people. However, ever since "Survivor" demonstrated in 2001 that you could create a hit show by putting carefully selected 'ordinary' people in a stressful setting, reality shows have popped up on every network. There is even a reality network.

I received a lot of reality pitches over the years from producers, viewers, and people I met at cocktail parties. The pitch from non-professionals was usually the same: "My job/life is fascinating. I'm sure if you sent cameras to follow me around you'd have a great reality show."

That might be true if you were a cop ("Cops" is still very successful) or a bounty hunter (it's worked out for "Dogg, the Bounty Hunter"). However, the fact is most people's lives are not dramatic and they like it that way. Think your teenagers are tough now? Wait until you put them on television. Be honest -- do you think your job would be easier if cameras recorded your every move? Would you be happier if you got home from work and faced intense dramatic situations every twenty minutes?

If you answered no to the last two questions, please don't try to pitch your life as a reality show. You won't be happy. But say you're still convinced that is your ticket to fame and fortune. Take step two: List the events that take place during that day the might interest an audience. If you can't list at least ten events, your life might not be the stuff of great drama. In an average one hour reality episode, you need at least one dramatic/audience grabbing event each segment -- that's an average of seven to ten each show.

If you've got your ten incidents then start having some fun. Write an outline for a one hour show based on your day. It should be at least two pages long, to make sure that you really have enough incidents to fill up an hour show. Too much work for you? Then you probably don't really want to make your life a reality show. If you don't care enough to write an outline, why should the audience care?

We'll talk about what you can do with your outline in an upcoming post.