Reality television by no means a new phenomenon. While the genre has only recently moved into virtually ever corner of network and cable programming schedules, it has been around in different forms the early days of television. This course will survey both the history of reality television starting in the postwar era and the ways in which the genre has both borrowed from and distinguished itself against documentary. In doing this, this course will also cover issues such as the construction of realism through aesthetic practice, the practice and ethics of documentary, the new business of television, technologies of surveillance, the politics of authenticity and television's particular relation to the play between ordinary and spectacle. Students are expected to view screenings both on reserve and online.