ABSTRACT
I conjecture that in contrast to the original Western reality show, the Russian version has gone beyond entertaining spectators or portraying some kind of real life of ordinary people in unusual circumstances. The intention of the broadcasters (producers as well) was to present to the audience a certain lifestyle model to achieve success (in the ‘real’ game and in perspective in real life). In this chapter, TV is treated as a medium that produces images of reality, representations of society as well as of the ‘others’ and transmits social norms and values ( Bell 1998 ; Comstock 1975 ). As a technology and a medium, TV defi nes modes of thinking and feeling and proposes ways of communicating on different levels. It is necessary to take into consideration that modern Russian TV is the most infl uential form of mass media to promote guidelines for future social and cultural transformations in post-Soviet society. Thus, Russian entertainment TV develops according to the requirements of a modern consumer society and chooses and creates living, moral and other standards for the TV consumer audience.
