Cue the Sun

Emily Nussbaum knows what she is talking about in Cue the Sun -- the Invention of Reality TV.  

The New Yorker staff writer, and Pulitzer Prize winner, interviewed over three hundred individuals including newtwork executives and cast members.  Nearly all consented to being identified as they wove stories of the behind the scenes antics and politics on numerous reality shows.

Several years ago, I stumbled up an expose entitled The Lie About the Truck which focused mainly on the secret life of Survivor - a show I never miss, and which I admit to watching reruns on streaming channels. I became obcessed and had to dig back into Survivor archives to see for myself that the horrible events described actually took place. They did. That disappointed me - especially the descriptions of the disrespectfiul conditons in Figi that went  unrepaired by the production teams. I continue to watch hoping that over the years, things may have changed.

Having weaned myself from The Bachelor and The Bachelortte, I jumped right back into the kerfuffle when a favorite customer, 80+ year of Roberta, began dropping by once a week with her Wednesday afternoon commentary on the ladies' clothing - or lack of - , the pathic scenes where the contestants stood side by side with a pleading "choose me" look on their faces, and the hot hot tub scenes. I liked Roberta and wanted to be able to share that coversation with her.  But really, who dreamed up the idea of a game show where the prize is a human being, gift wrapped in a barely there bikini?

With the emergence of AI, the popularity of fake news networks, and the fictional ramblings of some politifcal candidates,  you have to question just how real reality TV is.  Thank goodness for Nussbaum for stepping up to investigate, giving us 20 pages of endnotes.  YES! even more inside scoops on this relatively new entertainment form.   Or is it?

The researcher takes us back to the early day of radio, where late night hours were filled with whispered confessions over the airwaves.  Early network TV shows gave us weepy mothers on Queen for a Day, begging for a wash machine so she doesn't have to launder diapers by hand, and so her older kids can go to school and not be teased for wearing dirty, smelly clothes. We learn way too much of Chuck Berres whose every idea turned to gold even though he appeared to be low the the cerebral chain of giftedness. 

Of course, this book is filled with humor.  You will shake you head and utter "You're kidding" on just about every page.  Sure, you can read the book for the inside tales of these new programs, but the author's main focus is on how society, politics, and religion supported the developement of these shows, as well as how these shows changed our mindsets about what is ascceptable and even admired in today's world.  I wonder what the next entertainment incarnation will be.  

Forgot to mention that the last chapters are about Donald Trump's show The Apprentice.

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