ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the emergence of reality television (TV). It presents an approach useful for critically examining reality TV and how it can provoke feelings. This methodology is based on the collections of methods called Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis and van Leeuwen's theorising on discourse as recontextualized social practice. The choices made in the recontextualization process can be described as the 'doing of discourses'. These discourses constitute a form of knowledge or 'script' about what goes on in the social practice being represented and involve ideas about how to value and understand these activities. The chapter shows how music is added and edited to interact with the participants' talk so as to create laughable situations. In this particular scene Morgan and Ola-Conny visit Venice Beach in Los Angeles and decide to buy ice-cream. The music fades when Morgan and Ola-Conny step inside the little shop, suggesting that this is the event the music has signalled will occur.
