Greg Richburg wrote:
I have been asked to be on a couple reality TV shows, but they just take too much time.  Are they worth it?  I do have a normal job, and although I own my own company, I would still have to skip out on some clients. 

Has anyone had much experience with reality tv?  Please offer your input.

GR

Did you see the show with Branson?  The girl who started the Spanx.com line did real well with the exposure.  I am sure if you ask her, she would say it is worth it.  Is there a way you can get exposure for your line by virtue of your involvement in any of these deals?  I am starting an apparel company also (you can see my designs in my portfolio).  Gorilla marketing is key in building brand awareness these days.  I would take any chance I get if you could leverage it for your company's visability. It is also a great thing to be able to show potential investors that you are actively pursuing leveraged marketing tactics.

Jay Dezelic
Model/Photographer/Apparel Designer for JDEZ.COM
Modeling Portfolio

Rick Edwards wrote:
...and hopefully you get a job when your 15 minutes is up.
I can't think of one real star from the crop of "reality" shows.

"Reality shows" another great oxymoron

What you are saying is so not true.....reality tv stars go on to do a lot of things.  Look at Kelly Clarkson!!!  Hellooooo?!?!??!?!   Reality TV shows are the highest rated shows on cable television......also look at all the cats on The Apprentice they are all making bank with huge corporations and are ''celebrities'' in their own right....

adrienne of Zswana wrote:
I wanna be on the Real World!!

I'd like to rock your real world...

adrienne of Zswana wrote:
I wanna be on the Real World!!

sweety, that is all of our dreams as well, the problem is, is that you are sooo hot, you would instantly make it into an NC-17 rating!!!

Greg Richburg wrote:
I have been asked to be on a couple reality TV shows, but they just take too much time.  Are they worth it?  I do have a normal job, and although I own my own company, I would still have to skip out on some clients. 

Has anyone had much experience with reality tv?  Please offer your input.

GR

ditto


but i wouldn't want my business out there like that.

studio36uk wrote:
Being on the production side I assure you all, [Honest! Cross my heart and hope to die!] that most "reality" TV shows tend to be, and are intended to be, a sort of "collective joke" where the participants are expected to be the punch line.

If you haven't figured that out by now there is little hope for you.

Studio36

I thought we all knew that.  You are right!

Fear Factor, ewwww, what those people do!

Diana Moffitt wrote:
What you are saying is so not true.....reality tv stars go on to do a lot of things.  Look at Kelly Clarkson!!!  Hellooooo?!?!??!?!   Reality TV shows are the highest rated shows on cable television......also look at all the cats on The Apprentice they are all making bank with huge corporations and are ''celebrities'' in their own right....

American Idol is a talent show NOT a reality show
(it just gets a better time slot than Show Time at the Apollo)
if she couldn't at least sing she wouldn't have been there
Her latest album is a great step towards a really good career, but gimme a feakin' break, there ain't another real talent from any of these shows
and as far as the Apprentice, the guy that won the first year isn't working for Trump anymore.....
these shows are totally contrived to elicit a response, edited to show the "reality" that the creators and producers want you to believe

Doris wrote:
If you are also an actor, then doing a reality show will basically kill your career. 

You mentioned you have a business with clients.  Reality shows thrive on conflict and will warp any scene to create that conflict... this could make you look bad (even amongst the most innocent of scenes)... and as a result, this could cause you to lose those clients you have.

I would not recommend it.

I have seen two actor friends do reality tv... and they left LA a year later after they learned that no agency, no producer will take a chance on an already established "personality."  Once you've created a "personality" on a reality show, it becomes difficult for the general public to believe you as anyone except that person, so your chance at creating a personality or character for an acting role is shot.

Again, would not recommend doing reality tv.

not necessarily true.

A guy I know was on The Amazing Race and he has a national beer commercial running right now.

I know others have done reality and they're actually doing quite well with their acting careers also. It's just about how you market yourself.

JasonE wrote:
Most reality TV stars dont really do anything afterwards.  Unless you are on "The Real World/Road Rules" (then you get to do those challenges for money).  Or "American Idol" (if you win then you get a record deal) etc etc.

that's because most of them try to cash in all their chips with their reality fame.

The Art of CIP wrote:
"Reality TV Show"....  Isn't that an oxymoron?

beaten like a red headed step child

Aimercat wrote:

that's because most of them try to cash in all their chips with their reality fame.

Exactly

Doris wrote:
If you are also an actor, then doing a reality show will basically kill your career. 

You mentioned you have a business with clients.  Reality shows thrive on conflict and will warp any scene to create that conflict... this could make you look bad (even amongst the most innocent of scenes)... and as a result, this could cause you to lose those clients you have.

I would not recommend it.

I have seen two actor friends do reality tv... and they left LA a year later after they learned that no agency, no producer will take a chance on an already established "personality."  Once you've created a "personality" on a reality show, it becomes difficult for the general public to believe you as anyone except that person, so your chance at creating a personality or character for an acting role is shot.

Again, would not recommend doing reality tv.

I totally agree. Reality TV is basically a ploy by networks to save money. They can get 20 no-experience, "real people" contestants to compete for a chance to win the same salary that one trained actor or actress used to get paid weekly to shoot a decent sitcom.

The production costs are much lower too, so say all of my friends who deal with that side of the industry. I know a lot of producers out of work after their sitcoms were kicked off the air and replaced with these shows that basically shoot themselves, lol.

Basically, it's lowering the standards of the industry, in my opinion. I'd rather hold out and keep shooting infomercials to make ends meet until I can get a prime-time role that might actually lead to something more than 15 minutes of fame.

Doris wrote:
If you are also an actor, then doing a reality show will basically kill your career.

I, like yourself (as it appears), am not a huge fan of reality television I think its only means is due to producers running out of "good" television programs. But this is not true. There are many people who have been on reality tv and are actors now due to their "reality" experience. I don't know her name, but the girl from The Bachelor with bachelor Bob (who is now his wife) is on a daytime soap. Many other people have had soap careers from their reality tv experience.

Sarah Schaf wrote:

I, like yourself (as it appears), am not a huge fan of reality television I think its only means is due to producers running out of "good" television programs. But this is not true. There are many people who have been on reality tv and are actors now due to their "reality" experience. I don't know her name, but the girl from The Bachelor with bachelor Bob (who is now his wife) is on a daytime soap. Many other people have had soap careers from their reality tv experience.

Soap careers are really easy to get though because something is ALWAYS happening in a soap opera when you think of it, so they are always looking for new characters to fit the roles of the new affairs and all that other stuff.  Lets see her try to catch a role in a movie along the side of someone like Tom Cruise etc.

JasonE wrote:
[Soap careers are really easy to get though because something is ALWAYS happening in a soap opera when you think of it, so they are always looking for new characters to fit the roles of the new affairs and all that other stuff.  Lets see her try to catch a role in a movie along the side of someone like Tom Cruise etc.

Yes, but she is a return character and a main one at that and (I don't know what movie) she appeared in a movie-although it was not a lead role, it was one of the leads. Some of these people MAY eventually make it to be big, but how many actors are actually A-list anyway? Not many at all!

Sarah Schaf wrote:

Yes, but she is a return character and a main one at that and (I don't know what movie) she appeared in a movie-although it was not a lead role, it was one of the leads. Some of these people MAY eventually make it to be big, but how many actors are actually A-list anyway? Not many at all!

LOL, you do have a point