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A review by coralinejones
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
3.75
I had fun! This is well researched and you can tell this was a bit of a passion project for the author.
I love(d) reality TV slop and am crazily familiar with so many shows in the genre. I acknowledge it's hard to write about every reality TV show that's ever existed, but I must admit I'm disappointed that some of my ultimate faves did not make the cut here. What about Jersey Shore? America's Next Top Model? Flava Flav? Even a small nod to Bad Girls Club? I get not having an entire section dedicated to some of these, as they are on the raunchier side (though, that didn't stop the author from commenting heavily on The Dating Game from the 70s and how racy it was for the times) but I'd argue their place in pop culture is EXTREMELY too high for them to be missing altogether... So many people who were on the shows I just mentioned went on to be HUGE in pop culture. From memes, to online celebrities, to regular celebrities??? Previous stars who went on to continue their legacy BECAUSE of their show like Tyra Banks. I mean... having a whole chapter to The Apprentice? Fr? I guess...
To me, the beginning buds of this novel is what captivated me most; even gave me this eerily sense of unease as each encounter went by. A mix of "I never knew this existed..." to "I can't believe this was allowed to shoot / air at one point..." Which makes for good literature, not gonna lie. I loved knowing to bare bones start of reality TV regardless of how unethical it really felt early on. It was this bittersweet mix of feeling for those involved but also remembering my personal enjoyment of the genre.
I found myself Googling some of the earlier mentioned shows and programs as I wanted to put a face to the names and events, and honestly? It made the experience of reading Cue The Sun even better. I even felt inspired to try and find episodes of some of these shows so I could possibly see it through the lens of the audiences of the past.
Positives aside for a moment, I was also terribly disappointed in the direction of this novel at certain points. I mean, for the most part, Nussbaum just recounts what happens in the firs 1-2 seasons of each show, with a little backstory of how it came to be, and a whole lot of nothing about the producers and some of the cast members after the fact, which I didn't particularly care for. I kind of wanted more behind-the-scenes information regarding these shows and some more of the drama that ensued during filming, which brings me back to my original point of how some of the shows excluded from this narrative surprised me all things considered. I mean, again, where was the mention of TLC as a whole? MTV's boom of 16 and Pregnant? Teen Mom????
Great book regardless. Would love if this author made a part two that included the timeline of some modern reality TV; hopefully including interviews and facts about the cast of those shows as well.
I love(d) reality TV slop and am crazily familiar with so many shows in the genre. I acknowledge it's hard to write about every reality TV show that's ever existed, but I must admit I'm disappointed that some of my ultimate faves did not make the cut here. What about Jersey Shore? America's Next Top Model? Flava Flav? Even a small nod to Bad Girls Club? I get not having an entire section dedicated to some of these, as they are on the raunchier side (though, that didn't stop the author from commenting heavily on The Dating Game from the 70s and how racy it was for the times) but I'd argue their place in pop culture is EXTREMELY too high for them to be missing altogether... So many people who were on the shows I just mentioned went on to be HUGE in pop culture. From memes, to online celebrities, to regular celebrities??? Previous stars who went on to continue their legacy BECAUSE of their show like Tyra Banks. I mean... having a whole chapter to The Apprentice? Fr? I guess...
To me, the beginning buds of this novel is what captivated me most; even gave me this eerily sense of unease as each encounter went by. A mix of "I never knew this existed..." to "I can't believe this was allowed to shoot / air at one point..." Which makes for good literature, not gonna lie. I loved knowing to bare bones start of reality TV regardless of how unethical it really felt early on. It was this bittersweet mix of feeling for those involved but also remembering my personal enjoyment of the genre.
I found myself Googling some of the earlier mentioned shows and programs as I wanted to put a face to the names and events, and honestly? It made the experience of reading Cue The Sun even better. I even felt inspired to try and find episodes of some of these shows so I could possibly see it through the lens of the audiences of the past.
Positives aside for a moment, I was also terribly disappointed in the direction of this novel at certain points. I mean, for the most part, Nussbaum just recounts what happens in the firs 1-2 seasons of each show, with a little backstory of how it came to be, and a whole lot of nothing about the producers and some of the cast members after the fact, which I didn't particularly care for. I kind of wanted more behind-the-scenes information regarding these shows and some more of the drama that ensued during filming, which brings me back to my original point of how some of the shows excluded from this narrative surprised me all things considered. I mean, again, where was the mention of TLC as a whole? MTV's boom of 16 and Pregnant? Teen Mom????
Great book regardless. Would love if this author made a part two that included the timeline of some modern reality TV; hopefully including interviews and facts about the cast of those shows as well.