Troy DeVolld, a producer behind some of the most successful Reality TV shows including ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ and ‘The Surreal Life,’ says the “The Reality Effect” has taken hold more and more as reality TV shows have proliferated.
So, what is the reality effect? It’s the impact that Reality TV shows are having on the amount and success of the scripted programming that makes its way on to TV.
Troy Devolld is author of 'REALITY TV: An Insider's Guide to TV's Hottest Market.'
“It’s my belief that Reality Television put a huge damper on the public’s appetite for whimsical and fantastic prime time network television,” says DeVolld, who is also the author of the new book REALITY TV: AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO TV’S HOTTEST MARKET(Michael Wiese Productions, August 2011, paperback). He points to the failure to revive some of the more fanciful TV programs of the 70s and 80s, such as updated version of The Bionic Woman in 2007 and the remake of Knight Rider in 2008. Both flopped in the new TV climate that Reality shows have created.
The Reality Effect can also be seen on the television drama, says DeVolld. “Many scripted dramas are now more graphic in an effort to achieve heightened realism.” It’s why CSI Crime Scene Investigation, with its mangled corpses and vivid crime scenes, treads on territory that shows like ER, which were once seen as gritty and explicit, didn’t dare traverse.
What does this mean for TV as we knew it? It means that scripted shows are much fewer in number than they have been in the past and that they now have to struggle harder for airtime and success. “With the exception of a lull in production during the aftermath of 9/11, when some networks grew skittish that we’d all had an overdose of “reality” and needed a break from it on television, Reality programming has continued to wrestle more and more airtime away from traditionally scripted shows,” says DeVolld.
DeVolld also sees a flipside to the Reality Effect. “Reality TV has become fodder for scripted TV,” he says. Shows like The Office and Reno 911! mirror Reality TV. Other scripted shows have drawn their concepts from Reality TV. These include HBO’s The Comeback and Total Drama Island, an animated series for Cartoon Network that sends up the Survivor franchise. Reality TV has also been satirized on individual episodes of everything from The Simpsons to popular crime dramas. “Reality TV is now inextricably entwined with traditionally scripted made-for-TV programming,” says DeVolld. It’s the new reality.
To arrange an interview with Troy DeVolld contact Lorna Garano, 510-922-9765, [email protected]
MORE ABOUT TROY DEVOLLD
Troy DeVolld survived careers as an executive assistant and comic book artist before finding his way into Reality Television, where he currently works as a Supervising Producer. Since relocating to Los Angeles from Tampa, Florida, in late 2000, Troy has worked on many top Reality shows including The Osbournes, The Surreal Life, Dancing with the Stars, Flipping Out, and Basketball Wives. He shared a Daytime Emmy® nomination in 2009 as a Producer on Style Network’s Split Ends. Troy has had the pleasure of lecturing on the topic of Reality Television production to students and alumni of schools as diverse as Northwestern University, The University of South Carolina, and his own alma mater, Full Sail University, which honored him with induction into their Hall of Fame in June of 2010. He is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The Writers Guild of America West’s Nonfiction Writers Caucus, and the Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors. Troy lives in North Hollywood, California.
Visit him at: www.realitytvbook.com.
PRESS CONTACT
Lorna Garano
510-922-9765
SOURCE: Reality Effect
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