2001: Everyone remembers where he was on September 11, but also on April 26, for the launch of Loft Story – LEROUX PHILIPPE / SIPA
- On the occasion of 20 years of reality TV, 20 minutes offers a series of articles on this phenomenon which has shaken the small screen.
- TMC is broadcasting a documentary that looks back on cult moments in the history of reality TV.
- Its director, Simone Mortimer, explains why certain sequences remain in our memory while everything else has been forgotten.
The swimming pool scene between Loana and Machin-Edouard, Nabilla’s “No mais hello”, Kamel who doesn’t know what thyme is (“time?”)… That’s about all you get. you remember when you are asked to recount cult moments from reality TV.
The documentary 20 years of reality TV
broadcast in two parts on TMC fortunately returns to other significant episodes. “The idea was to retrace the evolution of reality TV through the nostalgia we feel for certain programs,” says its director, Simone Mortimer. We use strong sequences like Proust’s madeleines which allow us to decipher the phenomenon. “
Cult but rare sequences
If, spontaneously, and perhaps also out of snobbery, viewers of 2021 say they do not remember great moments from reality TV, Simone Mortimer’s documentary indeed acts as a revealer of buried memories.
“The first few years, these shows were still hallucinating audiences, explains the one who has been editor and producer of many reality TV programs for 20 years. Everyone has seen these footage. In 2001, the Loft was a real social phenomenon, we talked about it in the news, schoolyards, among colleagues, at family meals… ”In a world without social networks or continuous news channels (but with The zapping, then official provider of cult television sequences), the images of a triumphant Loana going up the Champs-Elysées or of the couple in crisis Diana and Brandon marked the memories.
Strong concepts
Why, then, do you have to rack your brains to remember what was going on in The celebrity farm, Popstars or First company ? “With hindsight, we realize the tremendous evolution of these programs,” says Simone Mortimer. Past the astonishment of Loft 1, we had to adapt. The surprise effect did not last long and the channels very quickly had to invent new, more rhythmic concepts. We had to create situations to provoke reactions. Hence the mechanics and concepts that subsequently appeared. We could no longer be satisfied with filming people baking toast. After a few years, for example, Secret Story has completely relaunched the genre by creating new issues. “
The concepts, sometimes brilliant as for My amazing fiancé, would they have triumphed at the expense of cult sequences? “The second-generation reality shows were better,” says Simone Mortimer. Benjamin Castaldi introduced humor and the second degree in his animation. With The celebrity farm, we also started to have a more humorous treatment, concepts with characters and funny situations. “No nostalgia therefore with the director:” What struck me, it is to note to which point it did not pass much in Loft Story. We were really fascinated by not much… ”
A bland soap opera
Still, no one has ever dethroned Loana in popularity. With the exception of Nabilla, the reality TV stars of the 2010s left a much less mark on the general public, who have a hard time citing the names of candidates or memorable moments. However, these episodes are now widely broadcast on social networks. But “reality TV is back in practice,” says Simone Mortimer. One thing that hasn’t changed is the cast. The criteria are always the same: extroverted personalities. We are looking for personalities. But today it’s less free style that with Loft Story. It is no longer 24 hours a day. Everything is set up today, checked. “
Finally, the target of reality shows has changed. There are programs that have evolved – like Koh Lanta which has become an adventure game – and pure reality TV which has migrated to channels with lower audiences. “On TNT, the audiences are not the same, and it is no longer the same audience. Today’s reality TV is broadcast in access, at a schedule that is not for parents. Between two seasons of the shows, the adventures of the candidates continue on social networks. And unlike the first generations of Loft, we follow them from year to year, it has become a soap opera. We get attached to their adventures. »But a soap opera is not necessarily striking …