ISBN : 9782336291741
NEGOTIATING VALUE IN REALITY TV GAME SHOWS: FROM PROFESSIONAL TO AFFECTIVE LABOR
Toni Pape
Over the last fifteen years, reality television has had a significant impact on TV making and sparked a dynamic that is directly linked to the theme of "cost and gratuity": first, the production costs of reality programs are relatively low - in any case, lower than that of, say, a fictional television series of the same number of episodes per season. In addition to this, reality programs are extremely popular and thus create considerable economic value for production companies and networks. In other words: in today's television landscape, reality programs are a means of making a maximum of profit with a minimum of financial and professional investment. In this paper, I focus on reality game shows and talent contests in order to argue that these programs are particularly revealing of a shift in the status and value of professional labor1. Drawing on the examples of American Idol, I'm a Star… Get me Out of Here! and Celebrity Big Brother, I intend to show that these shows impinge on the value of professionalism...