Reality bites

Reality TV hit us like a freight train some time in 2000.

Barely a day went by without a show based on "reality", in various guises, dominating the channels.

Viewing figures were high, press coverage usually favourable and Reality TV "Stars", such as Jade Goody, Brian Dowling and Ben Fogle enjoyed great success - they became television hosts and launched books, perfume and featured in magazines.

Our voyeuristic streaks thoroughly enjoyed watching people merely exist.

So far, so perfect. So where did things go wrong?

Viewing figures began to steadily drop as people became disenchanted with reality TV.

Perhaps the sudden (or so it seemed) change from realistic filming to increasingly meddled with scenes caused this turnaround.

Reality TV, it appeared, was becoming less and less realistic.

The interference of producers made Big Brother, arguably the most famous (or should that be infamous) reality TV Show, less like the social experiment it was peddled as and more like a scripted soap.

Contestants were plied with alcohol before being forced to share beds.

Is it any wonder that the sex-starved little mites began bed-hopping?

American "reality" show The Hills is actually broadcast with a disclaimer informing viewers that "some" scenes were scripted for entertainment purpose.

But surely the entertainment of reality shows is the realistic and fly-on-the-wall nature of the show?

Jade Goody's spectacular fall from grace on Celebrity Big Brother 2007, signaled the end of the Big Brother spin off as we know it.

It returned in 2008 to E4, rather than primetime Channel 4, and did not feature Celebrities as housemates.

Viewing figures had plummeted. It was ironic that the very type of show that had found her "stardom" would present her as a racist bully, and result in over 44,000 complaints to Ofcom.

Viewers also began to find the endless stream of people desperate for fame, but lacking any discernible talent, tiresome.

Even more troubling though, was how these people were exploited by producers on talent shows and reality shows.

People with past mental illness, such as anorexia in the case of Nikki Graham, were paraded on television as "entertainment".

Voyeurism no longer seemed innocent and fun, it had become cruel, false and slightly sinister.

And therein lies the problem. Reality TV has become a dirty word with negative connotations.