WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:05.370 Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, 00:00:05.969 --> 00:00:19.329 number 39. You're listening to English as a Second 00:00:19.329 --> 00:00:25.629 Language Podcast, number 39. I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillan, 00:00:25.870 --> 00:00:29.570 coming to you today from Los Angeles, California. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:34.820 and the Center for Educational Development. Visit 00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:45.700 our website at www .eslpod .com for more information 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:51.659 about this podcast. Today's topic is reality 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:56.859 TV. I'm going to talk about a new type of television 00:00:56.859 --> 00:01:01.939 popular in the US and pretty much all over the 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:13.659 world. Let's get started. It's hard to watch 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:21.000 TV these days without seeing reality shows. Some 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:26.900 nights it's hard to find a scripted drama to 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:34.359 watch. There are so many different kinds of reality 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:42.120 shows too. The most popular one in the US has 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:49.480 been the American Idol show. This is a singing 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:55.799 competition where amateurs try to impress the 00:01:55.799 --> 00:02:03.519 judges and the audience calls in to vote off 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:10.879 a contestant each week. The last person left 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:18.840 standing gets a recording contract. I think many 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:24.199 countries now have a reality show like this. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:31.080 This show starts its fourth season this year 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:38.699 and I think it'll be more popular than ever. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:45.419 Another popular reality show is Big Brother. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:52.180 In this show a group of people live together 00:02:52.180 --> 00:03:00.139 in the same house for about 15 weeks. They're 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:05.699 not allowed to leave and they can't have visitors. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:13.500 The people chosen to live in the house are usually 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:20.419 very different. Thus this way, there is sure 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:28.659 to be a lot of conflict. Some people form alliances 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:37.060 and other people try to go it alone. The contestants 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:44.400 compete in games and each week the other contestants 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:51.500 vote off one person from the show. Why would 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:58.280 anyone want to be on Big Brother? The answer 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:07.560 is easy. Money. The last person remaining gets 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:15.240 a huge prize. In the US show, a half a million 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:22.790 dollars. Even I'd live in a house full of strangers 00:04:22.790 --> 00:04:36.889 for that kind of cash. Today's topic is a very 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:41.750 popular type of entertainment in the United States 00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:50.470 called reality television or reality TV and reality 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:56.259 means that the people in the shows are not professional 00:04:56.259 --> 00:05:02.899 actors. They may be competing or playing for 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:10.100 a prize, but usually only one person gets paid, 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:16.220 the one who wins the show or the contest in the 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:22.850 show. So these reality shows are really games 00:05:22.850 --> 00:05:30.050 that supposedly normal people participate in 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:34.889 But I'm not sure how normal most of the people 00:05:34.889 --> 00:05:41.550 in the reality shows that I've seen are There 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:46.269 when we talk about television reality shows is 00:05:46.269 --> 00:05:50.810 of course just one type of show there are also 00:05:50.810 --> 00:05:57.610 dramas and I I use the term scripted dramas the 00:05:57.610 --> 00:06:02.490 script is you probably know the text the words 00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:08.810 for something a scripted drama is a drama where 00:06:08.810 --> 00:06:13.720 there is a script and professional actors Act 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:20.240 out that script Reality shows are the opposite 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:24.920 where you have? Amateurs that is to say someone 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:29.399 who is not a professional actor or anyone who's 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:34.100 not a professional at anything you can be an 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:40.360 amateur Skater you can be an amateur football 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:43.899 player means you're not a professional You're 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:49.720 not being paid for it In the reality shows you 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:55.319 have amateurs Trying to impress the judges to 00:06:55.319 --> 00:07:01.240 impress someone means that you Make them think 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:08.509 that you are very good at something the US the 00:07:08.509 --> 00:07:12.329 show that's most popular is called American Idol 00:07:12.329 --> 00:07:17.829 and this is a singing contest a singing show 00:07:17.829 --> 00:07:23.110 where the audience the people watching at home 00:07:23.110 --> 00:07:28.629 can call on their telephone and vote for the 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:33.389 person they like best that they want to win and 00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:39.810 each week one person gets voted off. To be voted 00:07:39.810 --> 00:07:46.149 off is a fairly new expression that is related 00:07:46.149 --> 00:07:50.410 to reality shows. When you say someone was voted 00:07:50.410 --> 00:07:54.670 off the show that means that people called in 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:59.430 and voted on their telephone and they chose who 00:07:59.430 --> 00:08:03.529 the winner was going to be and in this case the 00:08:03.529 --> 00:08:08.920 loser. The people who are part of a game like 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:12.800 this, a competition, are called contestants. 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:19.759 A contestant is someone who is part of the reality 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:24.860 show or any sort of game that you see on television. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.819 For example, if it's a quiz game where you have 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:35.529 one person asking trivia questions, questions 00:08:35.529 --> 00:08:38.889 about history, and if you get the answer right 00:08:38.889 --> 00:08:43.830 you get money or some prize. Someone on that 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:48.789 sort of show is also a contestant. I said that 00:08:48.789 --> 00:08:53.210 the last person left standing gets a recording 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:58.070 contract on the show American Idol. The last 00:08:58.070 --> 00:09:02.230 person left standing means the one who survives. 00:09:02.669 --> 00:09:06.750 the one who makes it to the end, who wins in 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:11.750 this case. A recording contract is a contract 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:18.129 with a big record company to put out a CD or 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:24.590 a record album. I use the expression the fourth 00:09:24.590 --> 00:09:28.809 season this year. When we talk about television 00:09:28.809 --> 00:09:34.399 shows, And we're talking about ones that go on 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.980 for years and years, because American television 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:45.360 shows go on for five years, 10 years. Some of 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.419 the more popular shows go on for maybe 15 years. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.620 Each year is called a season. Season, of course, 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:00.470 we have four seasons in the climate. or in terms 00:10:00.470 --> 00:10:05.409 of weather, fall, winter, spring, and summer. 00:10:06.129 --> 00:10:08.950 But season, when we talk about a television show, 00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:15.110 means the year. In the U .S., the television 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:21.309 season begins in September and ends sometime 00:10:21.309 --> 00:10:26.940 the following summer. Another reality show I 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:30.879 mentioned is called Big Brother and Big Brother 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:35.059 is a show where people get together who don't 00:10:35.059 --> 00:10:39.440 know each other and live in the same house where 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.600 they can't leave the house for usually a couple 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.960 of months. This is a very popular show in many 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:54.789 countries now. The term Big Brother comes originally 00:10:54.789 --> 00:11:00.429 from a novel by a British writer George Orwell 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:05.990 and the name of his novel in English is 1984 00:11:05.990 --> 00:11:12.110 and it's a novel about a science fiction type 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:17.549 of novel about the future and in the future in 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:22.360 the novel There is the government is always watching 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:27.720 you with cameras and other Ways of keeping track 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:31.600 of you or following you so when someone says 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:36.519 in English I'm afraid of big brother they mean 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:40.740 they are afraid of government being too powerful 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:47.460 and Watching people without their permission 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:53.919 or following them following what they do without 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:58.019 their knowing about it so that expression big 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:03.480 brother applies to the television show because 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:07.279 there are cameras in the entire house of the 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:11.720 big brother show a couple of more expressions 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:17.710 I used one was that There is sure to be a lot 00:12:17.710 --> 00:12:21.870 of conflict in the house in the big brother house 00:12:21.870 --> 00:12:26.870 There is sure to be Means that they will definitely 00:12:26.870 --> 00:12:32.529 be there is sure to be problems When I go to 00:12:32.529 --> 00:12:36.649 school tomorrow means I am expecting problems 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:41.049 Conflict of course means when there is disagreement 00:12:41.049 --> 00:12:47.080 when two people have a fight or a argument, they 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:51.299 yell at each other or they disagree about something, 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:55.779 we say that this is a conflict. Conflict is also 00:12:55.779 --> 00:13:02.500 used for wars between two countries. We talk 00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:07.340 about a conflict in a certain country. It usually 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:12.899 means that there is a war going on. In a conflict 00:13:12.899 --> 00:13:18.840 or in a war, you often have alliances. An alliance 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:24.200 is where you find other people or other countries 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:31.340 to be your partner and to help you in your whatever 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:35.460 it is, your conflict. The opposite of having 00:13:35.460 --> 00:13:40.980 an alliance is to go it alone. To go it alone, 00:13:41.289 --> 00:13:46.350 as you probably can guess means not to have any 00:13:46.350 --> 00:13:52.529 partners to do everything by yourself I said 00:13:52.529 --> 00:13:56.690 that in the United States version of Big Brother 00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:02.429 the prize at the end is a half a million dollars 00:14:02.429 --> 00:14:09.070 and I commented that even I would live in a house 00:14:09.070 --> 00:14:15.389 full of strangers for that kind of cash That 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:19.750 is an expression for that kind of money or for 00:14:19.750 --> 00:14:27.070 that kind of cash I would do anything or for 00:14:27.070 --> 00:14:30.990 example you can say someone goes to an expensive 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:34.789 restaurant and They don't get very much food 00:14:34.789 --> 00:14:40.549 You might complain for that much money They should 00:14:40.549 --> 00:14:44.210 give you more food, meaning it's a lot of money. 00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:50.570 That's going to do it for today's ESL podcast. 00:14:51.070 --> 00:14:55.129 As usual, we ask that you email us and tell us 00:14:55.129 --> 00:14:58.230 who you are and where you're listening from. 00:14:58.769 --> 00:15:10.679 Our address is eslpod at eslpod .com. From Los 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:13.919 Angeles, California, I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillen. 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:23.779 We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast. ESL Podcast 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:26.580 is produced by the Center for Educational Development 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:30.259 in Los Angeles, California. This podcast is copyright 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:31.659 2005.