There is a wide variety of different types of reality television shows out there. There are dating shows, makeover shows, home remodeling shows, ones that follow the lives of celebrities and more. But one thing that every popular reality TV show has in common is that they all began as just an idea.
Sister Wives is about a polygamist family from Utah, including patriarch Kody Brown, his four wives and their 17 children. Kody’s wives are Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn; Kody’s courtship of and marriage to Robyn were chronicled in the first season. The show follows the wives, children and Kody in their day-to-day lives, chronicling the difficulties of living together as a plural family; the intermittent jealousy, the compromises and conflicts, and the complex interpersonal relationships. Three of the four wives were raised in polygamist family, but Janelle was not—however, her mother entered into a polygamist marriage with Kody’s father before Janelle married Kody. Kody is father to 14 of the 17 children; Robyn had been previously married, and brought into the new marriage 3 children from her previous relationship. The Brown family has been the subject of criticism as well as litigation; the day after the premiere of the show, police in the family’s hometown of Lehi, Utah began investigating Kody Brown and his wives for possible charges of bigamy. In spite of the fact that Kody is only married to his first wife legally, the bigamy laws in Utah identify bigamy through cohabitation, not only through legal contract. The charges against the Browns were eventually dropped, however due to the publicity that the family received on the television show, Meri lost her job in the mental health industry and Kody has stated that his advertising sales suffered somewhat.
It was created by Timothy Gibbons and Christopher Poole in coordination with Bill Hayes, the president of Figure 8 Films. Bill Hayes is a graduate of Duke University and has served as a lecturer at Duke as well as acting as an adjunct professor at the University Of North Carolina School Of Journalism. In addition to Sister Wives, Hayes has acted as the Executive Producer for over 500 programs, including 19 Kids and Counting and Jon & Kate Plus 8. He has worked as a producer/director for over 25 years. Figure 8 Films is based out of North Carolina, and has been in business since approximately 2006, producing educational and informational television programming.
In autumn 2009, Timothy Gibbons and Christopher Poole approached Bill Hayes with the concept of a reality series about the Brown family. Camera crews shot footage of the family in mid-2010 to be used as a first season, ending with the marriage of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan. The crews continued to film afterward, to ensure material if the series was picked up for a second season. The show was introduced at the Television Critics Association summer media tour, and the first episode, an hour long, aired on September 26, 2010. At the time, polygamy and plural marriage were hot topics in popular culture, with the series Big Love on the air for several years, and more scripted shows like it running. The show has run for 4 seasons, with no indication from the broadcast company TLC of any intention of canceling.
If you have a reality show idea of your own, New Show Studios can help you take action and pursue it. The company has a unique method of creating show concept packages that give network and movie studio executives a professional quality view of your idea. They can take your reality show idea, develop and package it into a demonstration video and send it off to producers and executives in the entertainment industry.
Anyone can make a reality TV show concept presentation package with New Show Studios. You do not need special credentials, background or a college degree to pursue an idea. As long as you have a clear idea of what your basic idea is and you are able to verbalize this, New Show Studios is happy to help.
Remember that even with the best presentation materials new entertainment development is high risk and there is very little likelihood that your idea will be successfully licensed or result in profit to you.
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