The reality of it is, reality TV is here to stay

Many have suggested that the knife-wielding incident earlier this summer on CBS's "Big Brother 2" poses the question how far will "reality TV" go? Until somebody dies? Until something dramatic reverses the trend, the practitioners of the genre will continue to explore the many possibilities unscripted fare offers.

Producer Michael Davies ("Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?") returns this season with three new shows: "Smush" (USA Network), a game show about inventing new words; "Ultimate Reality" (A&E), in which a single contestant fulfills a lifelong fantasy; and "The Runner" (ABC), in which a "runner" competes for more than $1 million. (Hosts Bo Dietl and Brian Michael Jenkins are pictured at right.)

For years, "the theory was that the only television programs that could exist on prime-time television were either sitcoms, dramas, or newsmagazines. If you look at television in any other country," Mr. Davies says, "that is a kind of perverse notion." What you have now in the United States, the British-born producer says, is an audience exploring other kinds of entertainment.

From an economic standpoint, reality shows are attractive to the networks because they're cheap to produce. For example, according to The New York Times, a half-hour episode of "Spy TV" costs NBC about $400,000 per episode - compared with $5.3 million per episode for "Friends."

"You don't have to make massive commitments to the producers [and] the talent" to make unscripted shows, Davies says. "So I think this trend will continue as long as producers produce responsibly and produce ideas that they're genuinely passionate about."