The promise of money and the joy at someone winning a lot of money, or more commonly spectacularly losing money, is what draws millions of viewers.
The second reason reality television has become popular today is that of instant fame. Reality television takes ordinary people, sets them up in extraordinary situations on a world stage with other similar individuals, and makes them the focus of a nation's attention. Even if it is for only an hour a week, it is still enough time to make semi-celebrities out of the contestants on the show. A show like the "Real World" proves this point, since there are no money related rewards in this particular television show. Also, the contestants hope that from the minor celebrity status that they will get a chance to make a career in television, whether it is hosting a show or maybe even acting. Surprisingly, some of the cast members do go on to make a successful career due to the shows success. .
These two reasons why reality television has become so popular also lead to the problems with it as well. From the money related aspects it reflects society; Americans have become even more infatuated with the concept of personal wealth and personal property. America has become a money-loving society, a society that has taken greed to the extreme. Society cares about what we can buy, what we can buy it with, and how fast we can get it. This is a dangerous cultural mindset for a society supposedly founded on the idea of simplicity. While it may retain us the most powerful country, in the long run it ensures greed and corruption will sabotage our economy. .
A lot of the reality shows also portray us as a society to be very superficial and shallow. Though, this is a recent trend. For example, when MTV's "The Real World" was first aired the cast really was full of regular people with problems and had real depth to them. Now, it seems that the only way one could get on the show is if they have posed for a fashion magazine; everyone is stunningly gorgeous.