Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction -- Studying Reality Television -- What Is Reality Television? -- Part Overviews -- References -- Part One: Producing Reality -- 1: Mapping Commercialization in Reality Television -- Paid Programming: The Branding of Broadcast Content -- "Made possible by" -- Social television -- Merchandising -- Commercialization of and by participants -- Cutting Costs -- Commercialization as Topic -- Strategic consumption -- Hyperconsumption as spectacle -- Business reps -- References -- 2: Reality Television and the Political Economy of Amateurism -- The Assault on Labor -- A Symmetrical Bargain? -- References -- 3: When Everyone Has Their Own Reality Show -- Getting Real -- The Work of the Real -- Experimental Reality -- Productive Surveillance -- "Attention Capital" in the Information Economy -- Total Information Awareness Resurrected -- References -- 4: Cast-aways: The Plights and Pleasures of Reality Casting and Production Studies -- The Labor of Studying Reality Labor -- Casting Work and Commodity Exchange -- Casting in "New Economy" Contexts -- Cultural Dynamics in Emotion Work -- Unwrapping the Wrap -- References -- 5: Program Format Franchising in the Age of Reality Television -- Overview -- History -- Commodifying Commerce and Culture -- Program Franchising and Structural Change in the World Television System -- Franchising Majors -- Researching Format Franchising -- Conclusion -- References -- Part Two: Television Realities -- 6: Realism and Reality Formats -- Reality and Value -- Denotation and Observation -- The Significance of Narrative Structure -- References -- 7: Reality TV Experiences: Audiences, Fact, and Fiction -- Reality Television Experiences -- Sense and Performance -- Cultural Contexts -- Conclusion -- Research Note -- Acknowledgments -- References.

8: From Participatory Video to Reality Television -- The Roots of Reality Television: Realism/Participation/Celebrity -- Critiques of Media and Culture -- Domestic Drama and Simulation -- Later Experiments -- References -- 9: Manufacturing "Massness": Aesthetic Form and Industry Practice in the Reality Television Contest -- Historicizing Massness -- Qualities of Massness -- Massness is aesthetic -- Massness is spatial -- Massness is demographic -- Massness is logical -- Implications of Massness -- Conclusion -- References -- 10: God, Capitalism, and the Family Dog -- Meeting the Dog and His Family -- Making Meaning: The Family Dog -- The Chapmans: Family, Fiction, and Flexibility -- Dog the Bounty Hunter: Family Life and Family Work -- Bail Bonds 101 -- Dog's God: Prayer Circles, Sermons in the SUV, Parking-Lot Rituals -- The Family, Capitalism, God, and Dog -- References -- Part Three: Dilemmas of Visibility -- 11: The Bachelorette's Postfeminist Therapy: Transforming Women for Love -- An Industry -- Setting the Scene -- Postfeminism and Therapeutic Transformation -- A Strategy for Love: Career on the Back Burner -- A Risk for Love: Jobless but at a Man's Disposal -- Love versus Career: A Gendered Struggle -- Closing Thoughts -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 12: Fractured Feminism: Articulations of Feminism, Sex, and Class by Reality TV Viewers -- The Double Standard: Sex and the Reality TV Viewer -- Social Class and Reality Television -- Jersey Shore -- The Bodies of Jersey Shore -- Feminism, Postfeminism, and Sex on Reality Television -- The Episode -- Methodology -- Responses: Feminism and the Double Standard -- Conclusion -- References -- 13: "It's Been a While Since I've Seen, Like, Straight People": Queer Visibility in the Age of Postnetwork Reality Television -- Talk Shows and Cultural Visibility -- Reality Television and LGBT Visibility.

Dualcasting and Consumption-Friendly Programming: The Prominence of Gay Style Mavens and BGFs -- Narrowcasting, the Drama of Groups, and the Compromised Visibility of Queer Worlds -- Conclusion: Expansions and Contractions -- References -- 14: The Wild Bunch: Men, Labor, and Reality Television -- Masculinities Now -- Tracing a History -- Reality Television -- The Criminal/Errant Body -- The Working Community -- New Masculinities and New Men -- Conclusion -- References -- 15: The Conundrum of Race and Reality Television -- Postracial Television -- Borrowing Conventions and Expectations of Racial Conflict -- The Problem with Postracial Authenticity and Neoliberal Individualism -- What Is "Authentic" about Race to Audiences of Reality Television? -- Some Final Thoughts on Reality Television and Racial Representation -- References -- 16: Tan TV: Reality Television's Postracial Delusion -- Whiteness as Blankness - The Real World: San Francisco -- Ethnicity: "Other: Tan" - Jersey Shore -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Part Four: Empowerment or Exploitation? -- 17: Reality Television and the Demotic Turn -- Performing the Self -- Reality Television and the Construction of Cultural Identities -- References -- 18: DI(t)Y, Reality-Style: The Cultural Work of Ordinary Celebrity -- Ordinary Celebrity and Self-Service Television -- Ordinary Celebrity: Class and Cultural Hierarchy -- Who Wants to Be Ordinary - and Why? -- Power, Performance, and Democratization -- References -- 19: Reality Television's Construction of Ordinary People: Class-Based and Nonelitist Articulations of Ordinary People and Their Discursive Affordances -- Ordinary People and Reality Television -- Identity Struggles in Reality Television -- Defining Ordinary People -- (De)validating Ordinary People in Reality Television -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References.

Part Five: Subjects of Reality -- 20: Mapping the Makeover Maze: The Contours and Contradictions of Makeover Television: Commodity Radicalism: The Revolution Starts Now! -- Scared Straight: Change or Die -- The Naked Chef Gets Radical: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution -- References -- 21: House Hunters, Real Estate Television, and Everyday Cosmopolitanism -- Introducing House Hunters -- The House Hunters Franchise and Real Estate Television -- The Diversity/Equality of House Hunters -- The Cosmopolitan Appeal of House Hunters -- References -- 22: Life Coaches, Style Mavens, and Design Gurus: Everyday Experts on Reality Television -- Experts of the Ordinary -- The "Ungendering" of Expertise? -- Gurus of Good Taste -- Lifestyle, Consumption, and Branded Expertise -- Governing the Citizen-Consumer -- Reality Experts in a Global Context -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 23: Reality Television Celebrity: Star Consumption and Self-Production in Media Culture -- Stardom and Celebrity Culture -- Starring in Reality: The Production and Consumption of Reality Television Celebrity -- Decoding "Snooki": Celebrity and Social Stratification -- Celebrity Selves: The Business of Contemporary Identity -- References -- 24: Producing "Reality": Branded Content, Branded Selves, Precarious Futures -- Producing the Industry: The Genesis of "Reality Television" and Its Low-Cost Production Model -- Business Makeover™: Reality Television, Branded Content, Branded Formats, and Brand Extensions -- Producing "Selves": Reality Television and the Monetization of Being -- Reality Television, Social Media, and the Reputation Economy -- Producing Reality -- References -- Part Six: Affective Registers -- 25: A Matter of Feeling: Mediated Affect in Reality Television -- Reality, Materiality, Affect -- Affected Bodies and Awkward Materialities.

Attachments and Intimacies -- References -- 26: "Walking in Another's Shoes": Sentimentality and Philanthropy on Reality Television -- Sentimentality and the "Worth of Feeling" -- The "Giving Citizen" -- The Secret Millionaire Discovers a "Whole New World" -- The Deserving Rich and the Deserving Poor -- "Rich Man, Open Up Your Heart and Mind" -- The Importance of Feeling -- Conclusion: The Double Edge of Sentimentality -- References -- Part Seven: The Politics of Reality -- 27: Reality Television, Public Service, and Public Life: A Critical Theory Perspective -- The Talk Show and the Public Sphere -- The Audience -- Sustaining a Critical Theory of Popular Culture -- Reality Television: The Case of Little Angels -- Parenting and Governance -- Conclusion -- References -- 28: Reality Talent Shows in China: Transnational Format, Affective Engagement, and the Chinese Dream -- Reality Television: Between the Province and the State -- Super Girl: "Voting Drama" and Fan Engagement -- China's Got Talent: Global Format and Subdued Response -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 29: Reality Television from Big Brother to the Arab Uprisings: Neoliberal, Liberal, and Geopolitical Considerations -- Politics, Economy, and Media in Bahrain: The Saudi Factor -- Bargaining for Reality: National Reputation and Institutional Brand -- References -- Index.