What is a reality show? According to the definition given by one of the Internet sources, this is a kind of demonstration of reality, a mapping of events occurring in a confined space during a certain period of time, shot naturally on a camera. Human nature is such that we like to watch other people, moreover, sometimes, being carried away by some show, we completely forget about our own life, so eagerly watching the existence of others. Reality shows - the list is really endless, this is what determines their popularity: everyone can find something that will be interesting to him.
A bit of history
The first programs of this format appeared on domestic screens in the zero and immediately won the love of viewers. Frankly speaking, the best reality shows are a list consisting almost entirely of programs that were released during this period. Today they are not so popular, it is likely due to the emergence of other forms of entertainment. But some Russian reality shows, the list of which, as already mentioned, is long and varied, go out to this day. During their long existence, they have replaced a huge number of locations, participants, leading and other integral elements. The funny thing is that many viewers can no longer see these “interesting” reality shows, the list of their minuses includes a huge number of points, but for some reason new episodes are filmed day after day in which new and old characters live their lives under the gaze of the audience.
"House 2"
Listing all the Russian reality shows, the list of which would stretch over several pages, is too complicated a task, but it’s still worth mentioning at least a few, the most beloved and popular, or maybe long ones.
Undoubtedly, the most famous is the television project Dom-2, which at one time was positioned as a continuation of the first part of this reality. It is noteworthy that the "House" went on just a few months, while the famous "House-2" has been on the screens since 2003. The participants in this reality show are a list of thousands of names. For some of them, Dom-2 became a lucky ticket — Victoria Bonya, Alyona Vodonaeva, Rustam Solntsev, Stepan Menshchikov — these names are familiar to too many viewers, and it was Dom-2 that became their launching pad. No one knows how long this scandalous project will last.
"Last Hero"
The famous zeros were marked by another high-profile reality show. Russia (the list of such projects which at that time was very small) “with a bang” accepted the sensational project, which is an open tracing-paper from Western television. And now we will talk about the "Last Hero".
Abandoned on the island, without basic survival skills, amenities and other things - this is the essence of the project. Sixteen participants, divided into two teams, perform a variety of tasks, from running around on sandy beaches with some kind of burdens to catching crabs with their bare hands. At stake is the right not to fly out on a weekly ballot. Is everything ingenious simple? Of course, how else to explain the fact that "The Last Hero" was released from 2001 to 2009? And today, many people remember the Bi-2 song "Lost" from the screensaver of this reality.
"Blonde in Chocolate"
Continuing the theme of copying Western shows, you can not ignore the scandalous "Blonde in Chocolate." Everything revolved around Ksenia Sobchak, who at that time was probably the most famous brawler of the Russian show business. A man with a camera followed her around the clock, filming any of her movements, recording every phrase and then showing it to the public. Sobchak was compared, by the way, with Paris Hilton, who was also famous for her love for such “publicity”. It’s hard to say if there was at least some benefit from this reality show, the list of its minuses very much exceeded the list of pluses (if in the same “Last Hero” one could at least get information about survival in difficult conditions, then in this situation something new was quite problematic), but people, especially teenage girls, liked it.
"Bachelor"
However, in no case can we say that Russian reality shows are a list that remained exclusively in the zero. Today new projects are being created, in which people from all over the country and, sometimes, from near and not very abroad take part. A huge plus of modern reality is that they have a little gone from the scandal that was inherent in the zero, they have become more mature, so to speak: they still filter what is happening on the set.
Of the relatively new projects that are popular today, one can name the “Bachelor”. One and a half or two dozen girls are fighting for the heart of a rich, beautiful and further on the list of a young man. First, you first need to get into the project: casting is not enough, since the bachelors themselves test the applicants in the form of conversation-acquaintances to understand whether it makes sense for a particular candidate to participate in the project at all (at this stage, the ladies jump out of the cakes, and they learn songs in languages that they don’t understand, and what they don’t do). It is terrible to imagine what these ladies are capable of in a critical situation, which undoubtedly can be attributed to a constant stay with each other. The winner of the project (and weekly voting is also held there, at which the macho ousts one of the pretenders to his heart) will receive a marriage proposal. True, despite the fact that at the end of each of the six seasons that have come out to date, the couple formed, not one of the bachelors ever combined the ties of Hymen with his chosen one.
"Top model in Russian"
Well, how can you ignore the American reality show, the list of international copies of which really breaks all records? It is created for young girls, showing them that with due persistence you can fulfill absolutely any dream. In this show, there are from fifteen to twenty participants competing in their professional skills, and only the best of the best gets this very “golden ticket” for a serious career, bypassing the thorny path that you usually have to go on. It’s easy to guess - “Top Model in Russian”.
The original show was launched back in 2003 by the American top model Tyra Banks, for the twenty-two seasons that appeared on the screen, a huge number of girls and guys of different levels of training, in appearance, character passed through it, and only some of them got the right to continue career, with the support of Tyra.
In 2004, seeing the success of the project on Russian TV, Fyodor Bondarchuk announced his own reality on the same theme, “You Are a Supermodel”. Later came the projects "Podium", and "Top Model in Russian", and many, many other similar projects that today continue to be popular with viewers.
Conclusion
It is worth noting that the reality show market has diversified significantly today. In addition, there are a huge number of programs that are released exclusively at the regional level and are simply unknown to the mass audience, for example, “Just Business”, filmed by South Ural television, in which participants promote their business projects, fighting for their financing.
PS
In the twenty-first century, the existence of reality shows has become much easier thanks to the Internet: some programs are only available online, which, of course, narrows their audience, but at the same time it has certain advantages. The most famous Internet reality at the moment is a program about the life of the tiger Amur and the goat Timur in the Primorsky safari park. After the predator unexpectedly did not touch his “dinner”, but, on the contrary, made friends with him, this couple became favorites of zoophans from all over Russia and neighboring countries. The only drawback of this project is the periodic refusal of the park server to withstand such a load, but at the same time, this reality, so strikingly different from what we used to look under a similar name, makes it clear that everything is fine in our life.