Harsh Reality: Tales of the Z-List from a Reality Show Booking Agent

Reality television: a loaded phrase if ever there was one.  To some, it connotes trash:  Snooki, Honey Boo-Boo, the Kardashians. People who are pathetic, immoral and disgusting. To others, it says irresistible entertainment: passion, hilarity, love and obsession. 
Whatever your feelings about it, there’s no doubt that somewhere, somehow, you have come in contact with some form of reality TV.  The very first reality television program premiered on MTV in 1992—The Real World.  That one show spawned an entire industry, and created a new kind of celebrity— what author Andy Binder calls “The Z-list Celebrity”. In Andy’s world, reality television and the Z-list celebrity is neither trash nor passion, but a way of life. 
Reality shows, despite their claims of unplanned spontaneity, are carefully crafted vehicles populated by various familiar “types.”   There’s the cocky attention-getting male who has appeared on eight reality shows and calls himself “Mr. Beautiful.” The sweet country girl with a boyfriend of five years back home. The Guido-loving girl, who tries to bring home a different guy every night. The Mormon from Utah who has never seen a naked girl in person.   And the list goes on.  These characters represent the full spectrum of American society, and they all play their parts with conviction and relish.
But what happens when the cameras stop rolling? What are the real lives of these reality stars like?   Does it mirror in any way what we see on their TV shows?   Harsh Reality will take a look at the hidden world of reality TV fame, a world Andy Binder witnessed first-hand while running Tobinder Talent Booking.
 
"1126486149"
Harsh Reality: Tales of the Z-List from a Reality Show Booking Agent

Reality television: a loaded phrase if ever there was one.  To some, it connotes trash:  Snooki, Honey Boo-Boo, the Kardashians. People who are pathetic, immoral and disgusting. To others, it says irresistible entertainment: passion, hilarity, love and obsession. 
Whatever your feelings about it, there’s no doubt that somewhere, somehow, you have come in contact with some form of reality TV.  The very first reality television program premiered on MTV in 1992—The Real World.  That one show spawned an entire industry, and created a new kind of celebrity— what author Andy Binder calls “The Z-list Celebrity”. In Andy’s world, reality television and the Z-list celebrity is neither trash nor passion, but a way of life. 
Reality shows, despite their claims of unplanned spontaneity, are carefully crafted vehicles populated by various familiar “types.”   There’s the cocky attention-getting male who has appeared on eight reality shows and calls himself “Mr. Beautiful.” The sweet country girl with a boyfriend of five years back home. The Guido-loving girl, who tries to bring home a different guy every night. The Mormon from Utah who has never seen a naked girl in person.   And the list goes on.  These characters represent the full spectrum of American society, and they all play their parts with conviction and relish.
But what happens when the cameras stop rolling? What are the real lives of these reality stars like?   Does it mirror in any way what we see on their TV shows?   Harsh Reality will take a look at the hidden world of reality TV fame, a world Andy Binder witnessed first-hand while running Tobinder Talent Booking.
 
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Harsh Reality: Tales of the Z-List from a Reality Show Booking Agent

Harsh Reality: Tales of the Z-List from a Reality Show Booking Agent

by Andy Binder
Harsh Reality: Tales of the Z-List from a Reality Show Booking Agent

Harsh Reality: Tales of the Z-List from a Reality Show Booking Agent

by Andy Binder

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Overview


Reality television: a loaded phrase if ever there was one.  To some, it connotes trash:  Snooki, Honey Boo-Boo, the Kardashians. People who are pathetic, immoral and disgusting. To others, it says irresistible entertainment: passion, hilarity, love and obsession. 
Whatever your feelings about it, there’s no doubt that somewhere, somehow, you have come in contact with some form of reality TV.  The very first reality television program premiered on MTV in 1992—The Real World.  That one show spawned an entire industry, and created a new kind of celebrity— what author Andy Binder calls “The Z-list Celebrity”. In Andy’s world, reality television and the Z-list celebrity is neither trash nor passion, but a way of life. 
Reality shows, despite their claims of unplanned spontaneity, are carefully crafted vehicles populated by various familiar “types.”   There’s the cocky attention-getting male who has appeared on eight reality shows and calls himself “Mr. Beautiful.” The sweet country girl with a boyfriend of five years back home. The Guido-loving girl, who tries to bring home a different guy every night. The Mormon from Utah who has never seen a naked girl in person.   And the list goes on.  These characters represent the full spectrum of American society, and they all play their parts with conviction and relish.
But what happens when the cameras stop rolling? What are the real lives of these reality stars like?   Does it mirror in any way what we see on their TV shows?   Harsh Reality will take a look at the hidden world of reality TV fame, a world Andy Binder witnessed first-hand while running Tobinder Talent Booking.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781681570730
Publisher: Cardinal Publishers Group
Publication date: 05/01/2018
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range: 3 Months to 18 Years

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 The Insanity Begins 7

Chapter 2 Gig #1: Veronica and Rachel 21

Chapter 3 The World of "Real" and the Z-List 35

Chapter 4 The Roster Expands 39

Chapter 5 Reality Love? 61

Chapter 6 Post Reality Love 77

Chapter 7 Contest Winners 95

Chapter 8 Beads and Bobos 109

Chapter 9 The Z-Girls 129

Chapter 10 Can Do No Wrong 141

Chapter 11 Jersey is on the Map 155

Chapter 12 Downhill 175

Chapter 13 The Last Straw 189

Chapter 14 Just When I Think I'm Out … 197

Chapter 15 Onward and Upward 207

Chapter 16 The Future of Z 225

Acknowledgments 231

Appendix 233

About the Author 239

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