Ever thought about the effort that is put into making a reality show look real?

Most of the 'execs' of these reality shows do the same or even more work to find the concept, the unique location, the target audience and yes the actors (the casting).

I believe that the people are real as in they do not use mannequins or animated or computer-generator images, but as far as they think and behave in the show that's not real.

Now what would usually happen is similar to what people may not know has been a pre-cursor to the reality show - that is the Talk show with a live audience.

Most real people would love to be on TV as a part of a famous talk show, even if it were a local gathering outside a news-station (ever seen NBC's The Today Show?). Here the concept may not be the same, but consider an Oprah Show or Dr. Phil Show. Patrons must go through a screen process where they apply to be on the show. The producers screen them out, but not as stringent as the newly evolved Reality Show. In a talk show the difference (except for the special guest who is mostly an already accomplished celebrity or if not they have a one-off story to fame cause by either tragedy or special experiences or lifestyles of interest) is that the star is the host. In the reality version of TV. they want us to believe that they are taking completely random strangers off the street to make up the cast of a game, a contest or just some simple spying into a person's life (eg. Jessica Simpson and recently Charlie Sheen's ex-wife). But they don't they choose people that look a certain way, people that look a certain way or live a certain place and if not are willing sign a piece of paper that can change all that either effectively or by just agreeing to go along with the terms.

The most reality that comes out from these shows is in shows where the persons must exhibit some form of talent. Shows that meet the 'near real' criteria are (in order of 'most-real' to 'least-real') American Idol (or any singing competition), Dancing with the Stars or So you think you can dance and then for the bronze shows like America's next top model or The Apprentice.

Of course the same dynamics is effected in choosing the participants but it decreases directly as the 'real' factor of the participant's role increases. If the show’s participants do not have to exhibit any activity that can be deemed as special then they are just unrecognized actors trained to act and look real. Shows on this order are: The Bachelor(ette), Survivor, The Real World, Celebrity Reality Shows etc. These shows are fake!