5 Shady Tactics Reality Shows Use To Trick You - The Spit Take 

HGTV: "I'm a part-time kindergarten substitute teacher, and my husband is a freelance potato farmer. We have $2.5 million to spend.

I was an audience member at an X-Factor recording a few years ago. Before the show even got started, they told us to cheer for random things. For example, early on an announcer would list all the months of the year, and audience members had to cheer as loud as possible when their birthday months were mentioned. I'm guessing that footage was later edited to make it look like we were cheering for certain contestants.

Man, i dont miss TV at all.

They fund these garbage shows but cancel Firefly. WTF mate.

This actually makes me feel a little better about some of those shows. It always bugged me when people on the house hunting shows said something like, "It's okay, but I can't live with that color on the walls, so we're not going to take it."I would often yell at the TV, "BUY A CAN OF PAINT!"So I guess people aren't really that dumb.

Undercover Boss has to be bs. Somehow nearly every employee is exceptional, loves the company, has ideas for how they can do better, probably lost their entire family in a train accident and they're having to work 4 jobs to cover medical bills for their three blind children. Oh yeah and they'll be happy to reveal all the details of their sad story by their first break.

It's funny because I learned all of these were fake when I was about 7 years old. When I had to be in the audience of a Song contest like American Idol but I never got to see anyone sing, I just got to see people do different crap and then we had to cheer or boo at specific points. What's hilarious is that one time scene in one song when they film the audience you can see my sister and I being bored out of our minds while the performance is happening.

What really bothers me in The First 48. Besides getting someone killed in Detroit by encouraging the cops to show off for the cameras, they also consistently edit interrogation videos to add in long pauses to make people sound guilty as hell. It's one thing to doctor someone's singing performance, and something altogether different to fuck with someone facing a murder charge.

"With 5 kids and 9 on the way, and a max budget of $7, let's see what we can find for them! This week on 'You Don't Deserve a Beach House'."

God damnit. I used to watch house hunters everyday. I was even taping it. I thought I was fucked up and they only one who didn't have 750k to spend on a house at 31. well can't watch the show no more but my self esteems back. it's the little things

"You're fired."-45th President of The Apprentice

Did you just call Bill Nye vaguely famous

You don't even go into probably the most insidious part of basically every reality show. The contract. First there's almost always a willful misrepresentation clause, so that when the show tweaks and edits the footage and dub overs to make you look like an borderline sociopath, you can't sue them for libel. (example: in a reality show where they were looking to cast the lead in a Broadway musical, they made it look like a contestant was bullimic. In reality, she was sick in the bathroom because of food poisoning. This was a professional actress who had trained hard to get a career on the stage. This could have damaged her career because other professional who saw that, could see here as a liability) And the control they have over your life between filming and it airiing on TV is truly terrifying. Worst case scenario. Najai Turpin was a contestant on Boxing competition "The Contender" produced and hosted by Sylvester Stallone. He was eliminated early, but their contract stated that until the show was picked up and aired, he couldn't do any boxing (cause it would spoil the shows finale). It was months before the show was picked up by a network, and by then he had committed suicide out of the combined stress of not being able to do his freaking job, and marital struggles. He's not the only one either.

Can we please talk about how Rupaul's Drag Race and Project Runway routinely use shots of contestants looking to the left or right and edit them to imply that they're reactions to other contestants talking in the workroom? Like... Subtle, but insidious. That stuff can destroy people's entire careers.

....The show is called AMISH MAFIA............. you thought it was real? lol

If you are in the US currently... "You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner... you're in one!" -Barbossa, Pirates Of The Caribbean

Isn't it ironic when Trump was shown there was spanish subtitles.

Last night, my boyfriend and I had one of those moments where we were reminded that everything in a reality show is manufactured. Skin Wars, second to last episode of the first season, Shannon (I think) is talking about her mother praying for her to win and the audio editing was so bad, it was incredibly obvious that all those words were spliced together like a Frankenstein's monster of a sentence. The inflection on the last word in the sentence made it clear that if that word were in context in the original sentence it came from, she would have said more afterwards, but the edit just cut her off right there.

Even before learning in what ways reality TV was fake, I could tell Undercover Boss had to be heavily manipulated if not plain scripted.

I don't watch reality shows.

I am so glad that he mentioned pimp my ride. I remember watching the show and thinking how ridiculous some of the modifications were. It never occurred to me that they would take stuff back or make people pay for their own car rentals. Ridiculous!

that's why i've never watched any reality show and never will

seriously, this show needs a full series. There is SO much fodder to pick apart the STUPID tactics they use... maybe we can just watch people cook food w/o the fake countdowns and shit?

Fun fact: Snookie is actually three squirrels and a walrus taped together with scotch tape. They just use trick lighting and filters to make her look like a Yeti.

In other news, water is wet.

One of my cousins was on swamp people until he ended up getting kicked off for indecent behavior. Alligator hunting has been a way of life for my people for a very long time. We know what we're doing, we know how to kill alligators as quickly and painlessly as possible. But on the show they make every kill seem like this huge struggle where you have to wrestle with the alligator. If you know what you're doing, alligator hunting is actually pretty simple. No more dangerous than hunting any other animal.

A follow up video would be great! Storage Wars, Mystery Diners, and any show involving a ghost and hunting and a house is kinda awful. The pool of material you've tapped here runs deep.

on my 600 pound life they write the the lines you hear in the voice over, also on american idol that nigel guy made all the decisions and the judges would look at him during the audition to see how they would vote. please, i need more videos on this topic. i love this.

7:00 reads: “the audience is allegedly filled with plants” thinks: the audience is filled with 🎍💐🌾🌵🌿🎋

LMAO, wait...Trump cant allow someone to be president of a multi million dollar company without experience but yet he expects to be able to be president of the united states with no experience????? talk about putting your foot in your mouth!!!

that slow clap at the end killed me. and then the Beaver market....lmfao

My favorite reality show trick is when two people are having a conversation and one person (never in the same frame) is eavesdropping around the corner.

6: They tell you that the President is a legitimate leader who doesn't play with his own diaper mess if he isn't supervised constantly.

this is why i only watch cartoons ...

i had a friend eho particpiated for the voice. she sounds like rihanna IRL and in the audition .but she sounded like drunk lady gaga when we watched her auditionf video on tv. Dafuq?

“Hoarders” is as close as I get to “reality shows” only cuz it encourages me to get off my ass and do the dishes. 😂🤪

I see "reality shows" with the picture of trump, i click

I'd love to see an Cracked style expose on Cutthroat Kitchen, cuz I love that show but I KNOW there's no what an actual cooking competition, even one as wacky as that one, is as it appears on screen.

I was expecting a comment about how recent monogamy is.

I think the thing to really remember is that everything on tv, the internet and pretty much any other media should be dealt with a healthy level of skepticism. And if someone invites you to be on a show, just say no. No good can come of it.

I remember years ago when MTV's The Real World was in its early seasons (I think was LA), I watched a couple episodes during one of their endless marathons. After watching as much as I could tolerate, I told my roommate at the time that this was the most boring, phony crap I had ever seen and no one would be interested in this. And that is why I am not a TV exec.

I was on a house hunters type show when I was about ten, my cousin was on the show and they came to my house and my siblings and I were supposed to run to the door and hug him. We had to do the shot over and over until they were happy with it. Sadly it never aired because my cousin decided he didn't want to buy any of the houses.

Do married at first sight! Do married at first sight!

CNN told me this was fake news and reality tv shows are legit.................bwahahahahahahaaaaaa!

I auditioned for Last Comic Standing. (I already knew they preselected the people who got to have the on-camera auditions, and the people in line just went to a pre-screening table for sixty seconds, but it was more about being part of an event than anything else.) Anyway, I got video of the people waiting in line, and got to see some of the hired actors playing the "bad" comedians, which was fun (but I unfortunately wasn't able to get video of that part). Anyway, my footage is on my RU-vid channel if anyone wants to check it out.

"I guess biologically some of those people are real..."

When I found out that house hunters was fake I was so pissed off. That damn show took way too many hours from my life for you to be fake. Now when I watch it I like to pretend that it’s real LOL 😂

At the end of the video the lady kissed her so called husband on the cheek. .lol..Fake

I find it especially funny when people complain "oh there are too many comic book shows being made these days", or "there are too many superhero movies coming out this year", when hours and hours of this crap is released on tv every single day and no one seems to care.

Man, I miss the old H&G when they showed crafts, decorating and cooking shows :(

Thanks for ruining House Hunters for me >:( Although now that I think about it, I did always think it was strange that couples would always agree on purchasing the same house, that part I was suspicious of but the rest of it.... really? They couldn't get genuine people looking for a house? I'm guessing the price of the houses are also made up.

"You're an ugly color" HAHA!

Do these guys just take the best performing articles and then decide which ones get made into videos? I'm pretty sure I've read a cracked article about this.

Dear, Cracked, thank You. This is sad. #1, it reveals how naive the general population is. #2 how really most of television is USELESS. And now people are so gullible when it comes to the "youtube", e-begging losers. #3 "Jim Jones" everywhere. Thank You once again. Keep up the quality exposer. Sincerely, Kathleen.

10:42 if they're LED lights they shouldn't get hot at all

PEOPLE GET PAID TO BE AN AUDIENCE????!!?!?? where do i sign up???

Knowing the thing about house hunters, isn't that kind of a slap in the face to the friends/family who's houses you used for the other choices. Like "hey, would you mind moving all your shit out so we can decide our new house is better on live television"

A friend of mine was on House Hunters. Well, her son and DIL were. But as they’d been living with my friend (after moving cross-country for a job) before buying a place, my friend wound up in it. Every single one of her lines was scripted. I saw the episode once and it was hilarious as it included phrases I’d never heard her say before.

House Hunters makes sense though because buying a house takes longer than then 3 days and it would cost too much money to film in houses still on the market with people who may end up getting rejected by the bank. That's why all HGTV shows require you to be in escrow first. The friend thing is ludicrous. House Hunter International is cool even if it's fake decision because learning about the housing market in Lisbon or whatever is still real.

What about Amazing Race? It was a show that fought w Survivor for ratings. Did it also have the shady tactics? Just curious

"The Quest" was really the best reality show EVER! ^_^ (Yes, I despise reality TV, but that show was really fun!)

This is one of the reasons why I haven’t watched TV in more than 5 years

10:07 How would Jack know the performance of a 15-year-old vulva? Do you have something to confess, Jack?

Nice touch with The Apprentice footage having Spanish subtitles

Notification Skwad

This is beyond true, I was on a reality show and it was legit the most disappointing experience smh

Amish mafia LOL

Almost 20 years later and I *STILL* feel guilty for having watched Pimp My Ride.

Why tf does cracked post shit at 3:30am??

You all do realize our president is a reality TV star, right...

*But how do know that Idol girl wasnt lying to save face* ? 🤔

I can't handle the irony of that Apprentice clip having Spanish subtitles.

Who would agree to move all of their shit out of their house just so their friend can shit all over it on TV? For $500???

Moral of the story: if you sign up to participate in "reality" TV, YOU ARE PLAYING A CHARACTER ON A TV SHOW. Just because there may be real world implications, it doesn't change the fact that you there to provide content for entertainment, regardless of how they wish to present you.

This was one of the best episodes ever.

The made up “drama” and “fights” of “Real World,” “Love and Hip Hop,” and all those other shows. Because nobody wants to watch ten people act normal for an entire season, so they NEED the well-acted-out “fights and drama” in order to draw in the views and get people talking and watching the show. Personally, I don’t watch any of that anymore because I know it’s all acting.

Anyone watch that show UnReal? Offers a ("fictional") version of what he's talking about. Fantastic show.

I pretty much stopped watching TV a long time ago at the introduction of "Reality TV" and subsequent saturation of PrimeTime. Pretty much everything covered here is exactly the examples I try to explain to people when I get up and leave because I won't watch any "Reality TV".

As long as I don't find Terrace House in this list, I'm ok with it. The ONLY damn premise is that they have no scripts. XD

Professional Wrestling is more real than Reality TV

That explains why I always get pissed off at House Hunters for choosing the worst house! That actually makes it better. Now I can treat it deductively, and try to guess which one is theirs already, based on their 'personality'.

On one episode of Kitchen Nightmares, they went to a restaurant called Finn McCool's, owned by a retired cop whose son auditioned for Hell's Kitchen and, while they liked him, they didn't think he was the right fit for HK, so they had him on KN. There's one scene where one of the line chefs drops a piece of chicken on the floor and then plops it back into the deep fryer. That guy was not an employee of the restaurant, but put there by the production company, because Finn McCool's turned out to be an already fairly competently run restaurant.

for me to care, i would need to see the show first. since i haven`t watched TV over 15 yrs now. that is unlikely. Cable TV is dead!.

I know a singer who made it to top 50 in American Idol, she was seen on camera for 0.5 seconds the whole season. She also had to sign a contract saying she wouldn't work for or sign any other contracts for two years if she made it to television. It's all a scam.

"The X gesture, which, looks like they're saluting the emperor in some sci-fi dystopia". Does the X gesture to myself and laughs, with the video paused, then looks around to make sure no one was here. ... I need friends...

When my friends were on Bar Rescue, all they got out of it was a box of spherical ice that cost $8 apiece, and a few beer dispensing machines that were illegal to use in that county. In exchange for that, they had to completely lie and make themselves seem worse than they were. It's absolutely completely and totally fake.

I think reality shows were invented to avoid paying writers. Notice that during the writer's strike, they kept on cranking them out.

I'm on a cracked binge. WHO'S WITH ME!!

UHHHHHHHHHH . . . .You mean to say Trump lied on "The Apprentice"? So sad!

Damn it, the Beaver reference is going to have me laughing at random intervals during the day.

We recently had an American idol audition come by Oklahoma and after hearing from a few friends that tried out I learned that they’re looking more for sad stories and talent. Not just talent

Reality tv is such trash that it’s downright depressing to watch.

I'm kinda sad I'm not dumb enough to enjoy these shows.

Reality shows. **shudder** That is all. Move on.

Cracked I love you, and my profile pic is of my dog too.

the last time I actually watch tv was 5 years ago, I regret not stopping earlier

As a "professional" musician I was hired by X Factor Israel along with others to "play-sync" our performance in front of a live audience while a playback was in the background. Man that was digrading

Cash interesting strength mission Mrs aspect actor

“...An audience members this excited about anything?” Yup

"5 Shady Tactics Cracked Uses to Mislead You" wouldn't be a stretch either, if you care to make something meta down the line.