reality tv

How Real Is Showtime’s The Real L Word?

It’s no secret much of reality TV is scripted — and if it’s not scripted, it’s, ahem, “edited.” So how does Showtime’s The Real L Word measure up against The Hills or Real Housewives?

Well it’s not as storyboarded as The Hills, which wasn’t even really a reality show. And where Real Housewives has obvious storylines in place, for now The Real L Word seems a big more organic. That doesn’t mean producers aren’t using reality TV’s regular toolkit of gimmicks to go from reality to reality TV.

Autostraddle has an enthralling conversation with Carly, a producer in the genre. And if you’re watch L Word, you’ll enjoy the scene-by-scene analysis of what’s real vs. what’s been pieced together in post-production. Says Carly as a general rule: “Audio only gets choppy like that when you start cutting it up. If you only hear it, and the person isn’t on screen saying it, chances are it’s ’cause edits are in there. A rule of editing: there’s usually a reason for the cut, especially in docu-shooting.”

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