The Real Reality: Why The Newlywed Game was the Ultimate Reality TV Show

The Web site realityshows.com lists 50 reality shows currently airing on television. These range from well-known shows like American Idol and The Apprentice to more cult-like shows such as Pussycat Dolls and The Two Coreys. Love them or loathe them, reality shows are here to stay.

The relatively recent trend towards so many reality shows can be explained due to the success of Survivor. Once a new show comes on and hits it big, you are guaranteed to see countless different versions of the same thing, as it's always easier to rip off a successful idea rather than come up with an original one.

Also, reality shows have the added advantage of being relatively cheap to produce. Further adding to their appeal is the usual format of rotating contestants. This way, no one develops into an un-replaceable star that the network might have to pay a large sum of money to keep on the show.

With reality TV being such a big industry, the normal question is - what was the first reality TV show? If you ask 10 different people, you're likely to get 10 different answers. There's no definitive definition of reality TV, so it's hard to pinpoint its birth.

The early days of television when shows were broadcast live certainly has a claim to be reality TV. The nightly news could have a claim, as well. Some people might even go so far as to say that sports are reality TV.

In my mind, the first reality TV show was The Newlywed Game. This was a game show developed by the legendary Chuck Barris and it first aired on ABC in 1966. The Newlywed Game was certainly not the first game show to air on TV. And it wasn't even the first game show to revolve around contestants' personal lives, as The Dating Game debuted in 1965.

Rather, what set The Newlywed Game apart was the honesty of the show. While participants in The Dating Game could easily plant a friend in the audience to give them hints as to the attractiveness of the various bachelors or bachelorettes, contestants on The Newlywed Game were on their own.