MTV is full of popular reality TV shows, including those that featured average people looking for a chance to be on camera. However, not everyone who went on these MTV shows came out looking good. One person alleged that the editors of a show they appeared on portrayed them as “a total jerk.”
MTV found success with numerous reality shows in the 2000s
Although MTV initially focused on music, in the late 1990s, it gradually shifted into a hotbed for reality TV.
The 2000s saw numerous reality shows pop up on MTV. Some chronicled the lives of groups of people, such as The Osbournes, Laguna Beach, The Hills, and Jersey Shore.
Others gave fans small glimpses into the lives and personalities of famous people. For example, Cribs and Punk’d fell into this category.
Competition shows also garnered audiences. Viewers tuned into Making the Band, America’s Best Dance Crew, and more to see competitors battle it out.
There were also shows that followed average teens and did not have a core cast. Some notable series of this sort include True Life, Made, and My Super Sweet 16.
One person alleged ‘Made’ editors made them look like ‘a total jerk’
Made was a show that aired from 2003 to 2014. It focused on self-improvement, with each episode featuring a young person who wanted to change their life by being “made” into someone different. They were paired up with an expert (or “coach”) who guided them on this journey.
Although Made had a straightforward premise, not everything the viewers saw was as it seemed in real life. According a Buzzfeed article, Made editors were not kind to at least one person who appeared on the show.
“I was on MTV’s Made,” they wrote in. “The coach and I got along well, and the producers were pissed that there was no drama, so they edited the footage I post to make it look like I was a total jerk who was lazy. They also made me sign a $3 million dollar editing confidentiality agreement. I looked like such a horrible person.”
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It should be noted that the story has never been verified by Buzzfeed.
How reality shows are edited
Reality show editing has long been a hot topic for viewers. After all, how a show is presented has an enormous impact on how viewers perceive cast members and the show as a whole.
Dana Martell, a reality TV editor who has worked on shows like The Challenge and Keeping Up With the Kardashians, once shared how editors take raw footage and turn it into digestible stories.
“For shows like The Challenge, we film every single day for three months straight,” Martell told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Dailies editors will cut a sizzle reel for each day filmed of all the juicy storylines that happened on that day.”
Afterward, these clips are sent to the story department, who try to weave together a narrative. Martell said, “They’re really good at figuring out not only the story arc in one episode, but the season’s overall story arc and making sure that stories are tracking.”
At the end of the day, producers have to make sure the final product pleases the network.
“The network is the client and you need to keep the client happy,” Martell explained. She added, “You have to troubleshoot or problem solve and figure out a way to please the customer [while] also [maintaining] your dignity and integrity to your cut.”
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