Blog #7

So I just finished watching cops, the episode consisted of a high-speed chase, a man being caught with crack, a fight in a trailer park, and a domestic violence dispute .  A pretty satisfying episode if I do say so myself.  Cops is one of the very few reality television shows that I can bear to watch, and I only watch because I’m a criminal justice major so I can learn a lot just from watching the way police officers handle different situations.  So my reasoning for watching this reality TV show isn’t because I’m trying view the other side of the glass, it is for me to gain knowledge about my major.  In this example of reality TV the situations aren’t scripted or pre-planned; they are 100% real which seems to set itself apart from other shows in this same category.  Shows like Jersey Shore and Survivor, contain small aspects of reality but are also thoroughly planned.  I have noticed that they tend to pick what I would consider to be “good-looking” officers, I have encountered cops who are far less than what you would call “good-looking.”  This leads me to believe that the producers of cops strategically pick which officers have camera crews placed with them.  Other than that small thing, Cops is a pretty realistic show.  As viewers we basically control what happens in reality TV in most cases.  The people in charge of a reality television show knows what’s “in” or cool to the majority of people and their goal is to appeal to as many people as possible.  They do this so they can get the maximum number of viewers which equals the maximum amount of profit available.  So the interests of people can sway the events that take place in a reality TV shows.