Good points Harrald. Another way they keep the budgets down for these so-caleld "reality" shows is that they don't have to pay writers. A friend of mine lives in L.A. (where he went to try to make it as a writer). He's been working as a "story editor" for some of these shows, which basically entails sitting through hours of raw footage trying to find something to cull together into some kind of story. I make fun of him endlessly for this.

The only "reality" tv I watch is sports.