I just read that. Shocking is the word. It all seems so real...

You didn't really think that "Reality Television" was real did you?

Well, color me disillusioned. :p So when they say, "I can totally see myself in this room," it's already a done deal.

My Realtor was on the show, and she confirmed this. There would be no way to guarantee they would get house at the end if it wasn't determined in advance. I thought I remembered an episode where they did not get a house, though.

I have seen several where they didn't get a house or decided to put their search on hold. It is obvious that the people are not seeing the houses for the first time -- the comments are just not natural reactions -- not that they aren't genuine, they just aren't fresh, if you know what I mean.

I am surprised that they used homes that weren't even on the market. It makes me want to go back and see their episode and hear the comments they made about their friends' houses.

For years my son worked in the TV industry.

According to him - 'All' shows - especially reality TV is faked. Sadly, this includes many news programs too.

DH best friends son and wife did "wedding" reality show
Bride and groom were somewhat scripted but not the grooms family, they were given suggestions. Did have a nice wedding out of it though. This was about 4 years ago and all the shows have since become more "polished"

"This article was on yahoo...shocker! Didn't we already all know this?"

In other important discoveries the sky is blue, and grass is green.

It is entertainment, NOT reality.

Faked or not...I enjoy looking at homes in other parts of the country/world. Satisfies my voyeuristic side...

Personally, I do watch those shows, too, and am SO relieved. I've worried tremendously about all those dysfunctional house hunters and their peculiarly unformed tastes and elastic checkbooks. Now I can relax and just keep an eye on the hairstyles.

I like to houses in other places too.

My niece was on a reality show where the "stylist's pickiest client" was given a haircut, etc. and was supposed to hate it, and she was coached to say how many problems she had with the stylist, and the stylish was coached to say that my niece was a real b1t(h, etc.

My niece loved the haircut, and the stylist and my niece actually get along, but the stylist did remind my neice that crying was often part of her appointment, so the "difficult" part was real.

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I know someone who was on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and although he was kind of messy, he basically signed a contract that he was not allowed to get a haircut for x before the show, he was not allowed to shave for a number of days, and he was not allowed to do ANY grooming or bathe for day or two before the show. They also trashed his apartment. He was more interested in it as an aspiring actor, and he wanted "tape". But it was a total set up.

It's nice to say that it's entertainment, not reality--but that isn't true. Entertainment makes its own reality. Ideas enter the popular consciousness, then everyone forgets how they got there. Repeat lies frequently, and they become true. Example: First-time home buyers who now demand stainless and granite are a product of HGTV's fake reality. No one stops to think, "Hey, I asked for that only because I saw it on a scripted TV show!"

"According to him - 'All' shows - especially reality TV is faked. Sadly, this includes many news programs too." ~ doc8404

I'm quite curious, how are news programs faked?

I'm going to pretend I didn't just read that.

I worked in TV news -- never saw or knew of anything "faked" but photographers do get shots called cutaways for editing purposes that are filmed when the interview is over.

Regarding news being faked, I read an article awhile ago that was discussing how reporters were filming flooding in Bangkok earlier this year. While the flooding was really bad out in the countryside and in some areas of the city, the reporters were often shooting from the nicer, mostly unaffected parts of the city. They would find one small area (basically a large puddle) that was was flooded, stand in it and report about the devastation on an otherwise dry street while the locals looked on at the crazy western reporters standing in a puddle...

I remember Cokie Roberts--one of the "serious" Washington reporters who likes to tell us all what is reasonable to think--standing in front of the White House in a raincoat. Except it was a studio backdrop of the White House. Doubt it was raining in the studio. Also loved all the times that Andrea Mitchell reported on Alan Greenspan, forgetting to mention she was his wife.

About twenty years ago, a study revealed that over 80% of the stories in the Wall Street Journal came from corporate press releases. Obviously the number is much larger now. I can't think of any news item that doesn't originate in a PR office or industry trade group.

Something happened during the pre-trial period of the current Sandusky trial, involving a member of the national media and the police that was not reported on any news station or in any newspaper anywhere, and never will be.

I don't know that "faked" is the right word but heavily censored and manipulated is descriptive.

Here's my favorite fake news clip.

Here is a link that might be useful: Reporter in Canoe

I would like to write a response, but "House Hunters Int'l" is on TV right now. Gotta go!

vicki, that might be my favorite now too! Too funny to see those guys walking through ankle deep water while she paddles away! hahaha

In full disclosure, I do watch lots of HGTV and house hunters...even knowing how fake most of it is. I could look at houses all day long...which reminds me, I used to watch realty shows on tv to see the pictures of the houses for sale. I still look at house listings frequently online just to see what's inside =)

Last year there was a family in France who had blogged about their HHI experience. I still enjoy the show even though I know its faked. Property Virgins may be scripted, but I do remember a couple of shows where the buyers ended up not buying for various reasons.

That footage with the reporter in the boat... I know the area and have seen the force of the Passaic River when it floods. I don't doubt for a minute that her producers didn't want her anywhere near the deep water and the river. While that particular area she was in was fairly shallow, the water rises pretty quickly during floods and rescue by boat is fairly common.

Is this the one you were referring to, katsmah? I linked their episode below.

Also, here's an update on their experience:

http://ratherbeinparisblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/house-hunters-goes-to-france-update.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Family in France' experience with HHI

HGTV's facebook status:

"House Hunters Fans, thank you for taking time to visit our page and share your comments about the production of the show. We wanted to take a moment to address some of the concerns you've expressed here. House Hunters is all about the journey of finding the perfect home and we�ve been bringing people enjoyment with this show for 13 years. The people you see in the show are real people who have... really been searching for a home. They�ve negotiated and paid for the home with their own money, moved in and made it their own. We simply shorten a very lengthy process for television. We hope you continue to enjoy the show not only for the entertainment value, but also for the practical home buying and selling knowledge gained from the House Hunters experience."

If you look at HGTV's own website, where it says something like "want to be on a show..." or whatever....

for HH it states you must be under contract already.

Same with the Property Brothers.

Our realtor was on it too. She said it took 6 days to film the one episode. They were told what to say. "This is a bathroom on the right". She told us it was very awkward because she never would show a house like that.

And as far as Virgins, I watched with a close eye one episode because it was in Wilmington. And they were doing the "waiting for her to present the offer" while they sat in the locally famous Charcoal Pit. The funny thing was the people who were sitting behind the host would be there, and then gone, be there, and then gone. So obvious that it was filmed over and over again to get it right, and that really no time elapsed when she went to "make the call".

Personally, I'd like to find out how scripted the David Bromstad Color Splash show is....you know from personal experience. He still hasn't called me about those margaritas on the back deck....or decorating my home for me. David, are you out there? Call me...

Beekeeperswife, how do you feel about David's show now that it's in Miami? I sympathize on him wanting to be "home," but I'm just not getting it together with this locale. The plastic animal heads are beyond horrible just for starters. I wonder if his relocation to Miami had anything to do with Curb Appeal's move to the Bay Area?

As far as HH being scripted, I don't really mind. I would feel really bad if those people actually made insta-decisions on something as important as buying a house. We pretty much stick to HH Int'l and watch it to see what all those places look like. I've loved seeing some of the places like Morocco where as a visitor you'd never see past the gate in the wall into those amazing houses built around a courtyard. Same for some Central American locations. Fun.

Loving this thread!

How about all the local news stories that are just promos for a business? Lately, our local abc station has been running lots of 'news stories' on Disneyland.

We just take it as a cue to turn off the tv.

suzannes1, I loved Color Splash when he was in SF. Apologies to those who live in the Miami area, but that vibe isn't for me, so I no longer watch the show.

I don't know if Curb Appeal moved out of the Bay Area and then back, but that's where it started and the first year or two were taped there. The original host, Rick Spence, is a friend of my daughter's and I lobbied mightily to get my house's front yard redone on the show. I got a call from a producer, but it never went any further than that. I ended up redoing it myself last year.

I think most all reality shows are faked so this one is no surprise. For whatever reason ( extreme tax credits me thinks
), I guess it seems that Louisiana has become the epicenter of reality tv. Someone sneezes it becomes a reality series here. My dad had a personal experience with one of these and it is completely fake and just seeing the commercials and watching a couple of episodes of another show I know it is fake as it is filmed in my town. I do like watching the houses on HH and HHI even though it is set up.

Louisiana,

Pleaes tell me Duck Dynasty is the one in your town! I almost feel sinful for liking that show but it really cracks me up!! I'm just glad they're in Louisiana and not here in Arkansas...we get a bad enough rap as it is ;)

I still watch HH and HHI, but I do so on TiVo. An episode takes me about 15 minutes.

I remember when they first started HH in the 90's. It was done in Los Angeles and they would follow the buying process, telling you how many homes they had looked at without always showing the same number of homes. They did do the fake call from the agent and, let's face it, most of us AREN'T actors.

It didn't dumb down to the formula it is now. But since I'm addicted to real estate, it's still my Crack.

All I can handle of HH are the last five minutes. All I need is the final (cuz they redo it after every commercial break) overview of #1, #2 and #3 and then what it looks like x months after they've moved in. Thank God they've dispensed with the oh so suspenseful call from their agent. And Suzanne Wang, with her weird emphasis on certain words.

Eyegirlie, you guessed it. I am where they film DD. The street they film the title sequence on is not where they live. That street is behind my house and they don't live on it (not because they can't afford it b/c they totally can). They actually live in the town across the river. The episode where the mom and dad go to look for a new house was totally set up as the realtor they used was an actor and the first house they looked at is not for sale. I also have a pretty strong feeling the dad would never move from where they live now. The couple of other episodes I watched were all set up as well. I have to admit when I first saw the ads for this show I thought "are you kidding me?" But after watching it a couple of times it is okay. The oldest has a dry humor and the dad is a lot more entertaining than I ever thought he would be. I think I understand the premise of the show as it is to teach life lessons. Turns out it is not as bad as I thought it would be.

Duck Dynasty? I had to look it up. OMG!

Series introduces the Robertsons, a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream as they operate a thriving business while staying true to their family values and lifestyle.

I live in a neighboring town from DD and just knew they would show this area as the stereotypical backwoods Louisiana south, and I suppose they did, but I think it is hilarious once I decided to check it out. Not necessarily as bad as I thought and cracks me up. Just have to get past the huge beards, etc. If I ran into any of them around town, they'd scare the heck out of me for sure. And, no, the vast majority of us don't look, act, or talk like that--or certainly not to that extreme.

OK, House Hunter is fake, now I want to know if the show where they stage the house for sale is also fake?

Now I'm windering if "Love it or List it" is faked, too. Sometimes they have (what appears to be) some real conflict, and they do have a real decision to make.