The following is for discussion only. As I’ve thought this through and participated in Afd’s relateing to reality show characters, my overwhelming feeling is that the current guidelines don’t exactly apply, but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the notability of these characters. I do believe that some should be kept, but not all – the issue is, of course, which ones. This is a workshop of my own thoughts on the matter, with the hopes that others will add to and amend them. I think there are three main categories of “television people”:
- Fictional television characters – criteria for inclusion includes WP:FICTION, notability of show, importance of character to show
- Television actors: criteria for inclusion include notability of show(s) or character(s) played, body of work, 3rd party reviews
- Reality television characters – somewhere in the middle.?
Some thoughts:
- Reality television characters are usually “playing” themselves, therefore to evaluate them for their accomplishments using WP:BIO is tempting, however, many reality show characters that I would consider notable fail a strict interpretation of WP:BIO, particularly when read to exclude media coverage or accomplishments related to the show.
- Evaluating them through WP:FICTION, which discourages fork articles for characters is less tempting --However, though some activities on reality shows may certainly be staged, reality show characters are not “fictional” people.
A separate criteria for reality television shows might take into account
- The notability of the show, first and foremost, as there have been a lot of failed reality shows.
- The winner of the show (notable for having won the show and the attendant publicity for this accomplishment) is, I believe, widely agreed to be notable.
- Individuals who by themselves, or as a result of the show, have a)garnered a great deal of individual media coverage {Richard Hatch) b)gone on to other notable accomplishments (Adrienne Curry)c)were notable prior to being on the show (Surreal Life, Celebrity Fit Club)
Some more possible notability criteria for discussion
- Notability within the universe of the show: villains are often more notable than heroes and losers more memorable than winners. Some cases to consider: Santino Rice, New York (Tiffany Patterson) from Flavor of Love, Johnny Fairplay from Survivor. Generally, media coverage should support this.
- Firsts: Pedro Zamora -- HIV positive Real World housemate. He’s notable for other things as well – would he be notable for only something like this?
- Minor characters from particularly memorable shows: should the cast of the first season of Survivor or the first season of The Real World be given more leeway in notability?
- Central characters on shows: the Bachelor himself, on the Bachelor,
- Reality television show hosts – always, sometimes, never?
- Multipile reality television show appearances: Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, Jerri Manthey
Reality characters as compared to game show contestants:
Games shows, for the most part, have smaller audiences than reality shows (I know I need a cite for this.)
- Game show contestants rarely assert themselves as individuals, generally only answering a few generic questions and then being either excited or disappointed.
- Game show contestants, with rare exceptions, usually appear for only one episode.
- Game shows are generally fact or task-based, with little focus on interaction between contestants or personal elements
- Game show contestants rarely have media coverage as a result of their appearance.