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A review by kewlkat70
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
informative
medium-paced
3.75
Nussbaum is an engaging writer and the research and interviews she did for this book were top notch.
Unfortunately she covered ground that any schlub that has followed reality TV since The Real World already knows. It is an in-depth review of heavily trodden ground.
She focuses mainly on the early creators and the workers that started on the ground floor, the camera persons, the editors, the casting reps.
She talks about the self awareness of the reality show participants and how they learned to game the system and how Trump used the genre to build his brand from a washed up mobbed up bankrupt loser into whatever he is today.
Meanwhile she either misses the online fandom, the watchers who love to hate, the snarkers (TWOP recaps, Gawker, the subreddits) that knew what reality TV was doing. To her the audience is unaware and gullible, believing all along the narrative that the producers had created for them. Sure that audience existed and more so as many went so far as to create parasocial relationships with cast members or to elect Trump.
She also stuck to the big names of reality TV and missed some of the more salacious stories, many of which I had followed and forgotten. The scandals and when bad ideas turn really bad (like the violence of Cheaters). The humiliation shows like kitchen nightmares or Trading Spaces Or the window into mental health like Intervention or Hoarders. Or the popularity of "nice" show like The Great British Bake off.
I would not recommend this book if you are already familiar with the genre as it's mostly about shows you already know everything about. It's interesting to read about the creators but in the end it doesn't reveal anything that we didn't already know.
Unfortunately she covered ground that any schlub that has followed reality TV since The Real World already knows. It is an in-depth review of heavily trodden ground.
She focuses mainly on the early creators and the workers that started on the ground floor, the camera persons, the editors, the casting reps.
She talks about the self awareness of the reality show participants and how they learned to game the system and how Trump used the genre to build his brand from a washed up mobbed up bankrupt loser into whatever he is today.
Meanwhile she either misses the online fandom, the watchers who love to hate, the snarkers (TWOP recaps, Gawker, the subreddits) that knew what reality TV was doing. To her the audience is unaware and gullible, believing all along the narrative that the producers had created for them. Sure that audience existed and more so as many went so far as to create parasocial relationships with cast members or to elect Trump.
She also stuck to the big names of reality TV and missed some of the more salacious stories, many of which I had followed and forgotten. The scandals and when bad ideas turn really bad (like the violence of Cheaters). The humiliation shows like kitchen nightmares or Trading Spaces Or the window into mental health like Intervention or Hoarders. Or the popularity of "nice" show like The Great British Bake off.
I would not recommend this book if you are already familiar with the genre as it's mostly about shows you already know everything about. It's interesting to read about the creators but in the end it doesn't reveal anything that we didn't already know.