Editing Reality television (section)

== Similar works in popular culture ==
A number of fictional works since the 1940s have contained elements similar to elements of reality television. They tended to be set in a [[dystopia]]n future, with subjects being recorded against their will and often involved violence.

* "The Seventh Victim" (1953) is a short story by science fiction author [[Robert Sheckley]] that depicted a futuristic game in which one player gets to hunt down another player and kill him. The first player who can score ten kills wins the grand prize. This story was the basis for the Italian film ''[[The 10th Victim]]'' (1965).
* ''[[You're Another]]'', a 1955 short story by [[Damon Knight]], is about a man who discovers that he is an actor in a "livie", a live-action show that is viewed by billions of people in the future.
* ''[[A King in New York]]'', a 1957 film written and directed by [[Charlie Chaplin]] has the main character, a fictional European monarch portrayed by Chaplin, secretly filmed while talking to people at a New York cocktail party. The footage is later turned into a television show within the film.
* "The Prize of Peril"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arthurwendover.com/arthurs/sheckley/prizep10.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051224121656/http://arthurwendover.com/arthurs/sheckley/prizep10.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 24, 2005 |title=The Prize of Peril |publisher=arthurwendover.com |work=e-text }}</ref> (1958), another Robert Sheckley story, is about a television show in which a contestant volunteers to be hunted for a week by trained killers, with a large cash prize if he survives. It was adapted in 1970 as the TV movie ''Das Millionenspiel'', and again in 1983 as the movie ''[[Le Prix du Danger]]''.
* [[Richard G. Stern]]'s novel ''Golk'' (1960) is about a hidden-camera show similar to ''Candid Camera''.
* "It Could Be You" (1964), a short story by Australian Frank Roberts, features a day-in-day-out televised blood sport.
* "Survivor" (1965), a science fiction novelette by Walter F. Moudy, depicted the 2050 "Olympic War Games" between Russia and the United States. The games are fought to show the world the futility of war and thus deter further conflict. Each side has one hundred soldiers who fight in a large natural arena. The goal is for one side to wipe out the other; the few who survive the battle become heroes. The games are televised, complete with color commentary discussing tactics, soldiers' personal backgrounds, and slow-motion replays of their deaths.
* "[[Bread and Circuses (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Bread and Circuses]]" (1968) is an episode of the science fiction television series ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' in which the crew visits a planet resembling the [[Roman Empire]], but with 20th-century technology. The planet's "Empire TV" features regular [[gladiator]]ial games, with the announcer urging viewers at home to vote for their favorites, stating, "This is your program. You pick the winner."
* ''[[The Year of the Sex Olympics]]'' (1968) is a [[BBC]] television play in which a dissident in a dictatorship is forced onto a secluded island and taped for a reality show in order to keep the masses entertained.
* ''[[The Unsleeping Eye (novel)|The Unsleeping Eye]]'' (1973), a novel by [[D.G. Compton]] (also published as ''The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe''), is about a woman dying of cancer whose last days are recorded without her knowledge for a television show. It was later adapted as the 1980 movie ''[[Death Watch]]''.
* "Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis" (1976) is a short story by science fiction author [[Kate Wilhelm]] about a television show in which contestants (including a B-list actress who is hoping to revitalize her career) attempt to make their way to a checkpoint after being dropped off in the Alaskan wilderness, while being filmed and broadcast around the clock through an entire weekend. The story focuses primarily on the show's effect on a couple whose domestic tensions and eventual reconciliation parallel the dangers faced by the contestants.
* The film ''[[Network (1976 film)|Network]]'' (1976) includes a subplot in which network executives negotiate with an urban terrorist group for the production of a weekly series, each episode of which was to feature an act of terrorism. The climax of the film has the terrorist group being turned against the network's own unstable star, news commentator Howard Beale.
* ''[[The Running Man (King novel)|The Running Man]]'' (1982) is a book by [[Stephen King]] depicting a game show in which a contestant flees around the world from "hunters" trying to chase him down and kill him; it has been speculated that the book was inspired by "The Prize of Peril". The book was loosely adapted as a [[The Running Man (1987 film)|1987 movie of the same name]]. The movie removed most of the reality-TV element of the book: its competition now took place entirely within a large television studio, and more closely resembled an athletic competition (though a deadly one).
* The film ''[[20 Minutes into the Future]]'' (1985), and the spin-off television series ''[[Max Headroom (TV series)|Max Headroom]]'', revolved around television mainly based on live, often candid, broadcasts. In one episode of ''Max Headroom'', "Academy", the character Blank Reg fights for his life on a courtroom game show, with the audience deciding his fate.
* ''[[Vengeance on Varos]]'' (1985) is a serial of the television show ''[[Doctor Who]]'' in which the population of a planet watches live television broadcasts of the torture and executions of those who oppose the government. The planet's political system is based on the leaders themselves facing disintegration if the population votes 'no' to their propositions.