For a number of years now, Plugged In has communicated that “reality TV” is often anything but.
Of course, we weren’t the first ones to bring this bit of news to the tube-watching public. Just Google the subject sometime and you’ll find numerous articles from reality show producers, stars and writers who openly admit how they take significant liberties with the facts to make programs more compelling and improve ratings.
Despite knowing all this theoretically, I, along with millions of others, have been drawn to one specific “reality” show that in my mind seemed above the fray: Alaskan Bush People. If you’re not familiar with this popular Discovery Channel program, it’s essentially the story of a nine-person family that (we’re told) is trying to live off the land in one of the wildest and remotest part of Alaska.
Now, when I say “above the fray,” I’m not saying that I believed everything I was watching was 100% genuine and spontaneous. But I would have to admit, I thought most of it was, and the parts that were doctored were more along the line of re-enactments rather than total fabrications.
But as the number of episodes I viewed increased, I began to have doubts. For instance, one family member (Solomon “Bear” Brown) covers himself in mud to sneak up on a deer while hunting. I thought to myself, I can’t imagine the cameraman (or woman) that’s following him around is covering himself/herself with mud, too. And if they’re not doing it together, what good is it doing?
Then there was a scene in which the Brown boys (five men in their 20s and 30s) head out of the Alaskan bush where they “happen” to meet three young ladies at a pizza joint. Once again, I asked myself, Was that a set-up, or did they really just run into these three single ladies while the cameras were rolling?
Another scene involved a boat the family had just “bartered” for sinking right next to a dock. The family seems to escape the perilous craft just in the nick of time. The patriarch bemoans the family’s loss of “everything” they owned. Now, mind you a lot of the boat is underwater, but it’s still very visible from the surface. I said to myself, I know the water is cold, but it wouldn’t take much to have one or two of the young men dive down and rescue some of the family’s belongings.
So, with these misgivings lingering in my mind, I took the next logical step (for me): To ask Google, “Is Alaskan Bush People fake?” Oh, my, did that open a Pandora’s box I had not expected.
I began to realize that this Discovery Channel program that I had been trusting to be “above the fray” appeared to be as fictional as Jurassic World. The difference is that everyone knows Indominus Rex doesn’t really exist, but not everyone knows that the Brown family—at least as nine people hunting and fishing to survive in the depths of the Alaskan wilderness—probably doesn’t exist either.
I even found a Facebook group of 11,000 set up for the sole purpose of debunking the “reality” of ABP. While I understand that not every bit of “proof” offered online is any more accurate than the claims of the show itself, there does seem to be some common threads. Photos, social media posts and other newspaper/TV stories collaborate the idea that the Discovery Channel takes great liberties. I’ll highlight just a few:
* Despite viewers being told the Brown family was living in the extreme wilds of Alaska when it moved to the Copper River area, evidence suggests that the family was merely filming on a five-acre tract of land leased by the Discovery Channel. This tract of land is not only not in some remote stretch of wilderness, it’s in a subdivision, close to a main road, with a pizza restaurant just a mile away.
* Despite viewers being told the Brown family left the above location because they had been fired upon in the night by angry neighbors, it now seems clear a neighbor shot fireworks at a helicopter overhead, angry that his peaceful Alaskan life was being trampled on by filming crews.
* After the family leaves the Copper River area and moves to an “uninhabited” island near Hoonah to survive off the land, a number of Alaskans have pointed out that the family often (maybe even most of the time) lives in nearby lodges and commutes to the alleged home site for filming purposes.
* Even if the family was living on their “uninhabited” island 24/7 as claimed, a number of viewers have pointed out on Facebook that the island has about 1,200 residents and four small towns—not quite an unpopulated piece of real estate.
As I mentioned above, these four points are just the beginning when it comes to allegations of phoniness. Now, my point here isn’t to rag specifically on Alaskan Bush People. I simply want to re-remind you (as well as myself) that “reality” TV can be quite fictitious with writers, editors and producers manipulating what ends up on the TV set. There are worse things you could do with your time than watch reality TV—depending on what you watch. Some reality shows are among the most family friendly television programs around. Still, if you decide to watch the likes of The Biggest Loser, The Bachelor, Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch, keep a healthy dose of skepticism about you at all times.
Longtime television critic Ray Richmond has been trying—so far unsuccessfully—to have the term “reality television” switched to “partially scripted television.” Recently, he talked to msnbc.com’s Michael Ventre about just how “real” reality television actually is.
“What they are doing on these shows is taking a kernel of fact and using it to construct a multi-pronged piece of fiction in the guise of truth and actuality,” Richmond said. “This makes for a product that’s not only mislabeled but disingenuous and deceptive.”
Editor’s Note: Bob digs further into the world of reality television in his upcoming interview with Schy Gleason, a finish editor for a number of reality TV programs. Catch this Part 2 blog next Wednesday.
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