Social Experiment Reality Television



Social experiment reality television often comprises large groups of people that are larger than the average cast for a reality television show to get a larger-than-life view of what would happen if certain social constrictions were abated or increased in highly artificial settings or else in the natural environment with a lot of interference by the show's staff to modify the natural environment. Social experiment reality television has a more serious following than other forms because the audience is generally more interested in political and psychological ramifications of it.



Wife Swap was a tremendous example of a social experiment because it forced people to switch wives, and the wives had to live by the new family's rules. The wife could possibly even learn something through the experience. Other shows in the category include Holiday Showdown, The Bad Girls Club, Secret Millionaire, Faking It, and Shattered. Shattered was had a lot of controversy involved because the contestants were tested for how long they could go without sleep.



Let's examine a few of the social experiment shows that have piqued some people, engaged others' interests, and created a morbid curiosity in people.



The Bad Girls Club was a show that appeared in America as reality television, and it was created by Jonathan Murray and produced by Bunim/Murray Productions. This company is notable for also producing the Real World. The show follows a set of seven women that have enormous personal, behavioral, and emotional problems, and they live together for four months. Cameras follow their relationships, ups and downs, and conflicts. The final season took place in Miami.



The Secret Millionaire is a show that originated in the United Kingdom, and it has millionaires that go in secret to poor communities and make a pact to give away hundreds of thousands of pounds to ordinary people. Community members are told that the cameras are there to present it as a documentary. In each show, a millionaire goes without his luxurious life and takes on a secret identity and lives in a community undercover in a poor area of the country for ten days. These millionaires live on a small budget with no new conveniences, and they must find a new way to get ahead in the community that includes working, volunteering, and enjoying the simple pleasures of a low-budget life. They live alongside the locals, and they give money to whomever they think deserves a cut of their money. On the final day, the millionaire reveals his identity, and he gives them gifts of hundreds of thousands of dollars to make their lives better. The first millionaire ever appear to on the show was Ben Way. He was only 26 at the time.



Shattered was another program from Channel 4 which debuted in the United Kingdom. Ten participants were told to go without sleep for a week while their actions were constantly observed. The housemates had to go through performance testing every day, and they had go through a multitude of challenges. They were competing for a potential prize of 100,000 pounds, but if anyone closed their eyes for ten seconds, the prize amount would be reduced by 1,000 pounds. The contestants were allowed to sleep one hour per day. Without this small caveat, the show might have seen as too dangerous, and it could have been damaging to the health of those involved in the process. There were tests each day of performance in memory, clock, measurement perception, reaction test, mental agility test, and stroop test. The two people that had the lowest performance from the tests had to go through a challenge later that night with the loser being evicted and removed from the house. Each day, one contestant was chosen by the others to undergo a You Snooze You Lose challenge. There would be a massage, cuddling, bedtime story, watching paint dry, counting sheep on television, or a lecture in mathematics. These familiar anecdotes to weary insomniacs were systemized for the show's performance. There were several adverse reactions throughout the show that included dreaming while awake, delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and sleeping while standing. Some contestants left shortly after the show started after talking with a psychiatrist.



There are unique draws to social experiment reality television that some audiences find sickly fascinating.



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