Reality TV: Realism and Revelation

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Columbia University Press, May 11, 2005 - Social Science - 224 pages
This book analyses new and hybrid genres of television including observational documentaries, talk shows, game shows, docu-soaps, dramatic reconstructions, law and order programming and 24/7 formats such as Big Brother and Survivor.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
1 Reality debates
9
2 Real lives documentary approaches
35
from docudrama to new observational documentary
59
from video diary to Errol Morris
70
narcissism and selfrevelation
95
from talkshow to lifestyle programming
108
reality crime television
118
8 Man in a glass box
131
Reach for the stars celebrity social mobility and the future of reality TV
144
Notes
156
Bibliography
167
Index
179
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About the author (2005)

Anita Biressi is senior lecturer in cultural and media studies at University of Surrey, Roehampton. She is the author of Crime, Fear and the Law in True Crime Stories (2001).

Heather Nunn is senior lecturer in cultural studies at University of Surrey, Roehampton. She is the author of Thatcher, Politics and Fantasy: The Political Culture of Gender and Nation (2002).

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