The genre known as "reality television" follows the daily, "real" experiences of average people in more or less contrived settings ranging from the mundane (summer camp) to the adventurous (life on a desert island). What holds most of these diverse subjects together is the voyeuristic impulse that leads viewers to seek access to the lives of "real people" in "real situations", without necessarily having it filtered through the medium of a critic or an expert.

But is it really reality? The show "Survivor," for instance, took place on a South Sea island near Borneo, but it wasn't about the island at all. It's about the experience of living - and backstabbing - and eating rats - in front of a camera crew and in pursuit of one million dollars. As CBS producer Marc Burnett put it, "It's not true, pure reality. On the other hand, it's not scripted drama. It's somewhere in between: dramality."

Fox's "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" followed nurse Darva Conger rapidly through her selection, engagement, marriage, reconsideration and separation. Fox discovered belatedly that her new groom had a restraining order against him by his ex-girlfriend, who claimed that he had threatened her.

Adults and children alike watch "Bug Juice" on the Disney Channel to participate in the experience of 27 adolescents at summer camp. Fox's "Cops" accompanies real policemen as they answer 911 calls. "Firefighters" brings the viewer into burning buildings, showing us the world from a fireman's eye.

Real life television is cheaper than fiction to produce, but the final product is difficult to predict. Producers admit that the situations may not always be "real," but they claim that the people are. In the highly successful "Survivor" the viewer follows one woman's struggle with bulimia, and another's with alcoholism. As strangers are picked out and put in confined areas, and then struggle to survive the expulsions by other group members, viewers watch individuals suffer embarrassment and humiliation. And without FCC regulations, the Internet has unlimited possibilities for "reality television": once its images are improved, many are wondering whether there will be any way of controlling what sort of "reality" or psychological torment we are to be exposed to on this medium.

On One Hand...

Reality television offers a medium that is educational and entertaining. Its fast pace appeals to modern audiences, while the experiences that are filmed on reality television offer access to jobs and lives that only a few had once. It places a focus of attention on real people instead of on star personalities. It encourages young children to aspire to real jobs and real lives, without identifying with network creations. Viewers participate more completely in the medium of television: not only are they viewers; they are interpreters as well. On the other hand, "reality television" can offer a vibrant and educational medium for children, who are permitted to learn as they were meant to: by observing real life.

On the Other Hand...

Reality television encourages viewers to believe that they participate in someone's life by watching it undetected. Without serious controls, the unrestricted "reality" of the Internet can be used to portray violence. It is only a matter of time before someone comes up with the idea of committing a murder or an assault on camera. Reality television can also violate the rights of those who are being watched without their consent. The subjects on "Cops" may not even be guilty of any crime, but as they are being handcuffed that seems to be the idea. This form of entertainment, which in certain forms results in embarrassment and pain, should be restricted.

• By fall, the unusual success of "Survivor" is expected to breed a number of clones, including "The Bus," which examines ordinary people on a bus tour, and "The Mole," in which an actor plays havoc with other contestants in a series of scenic challenges like bungee jumps.

• In the network reality show "Big Brother," 10 strangers spend 100 days confined to a house, cut off completely from the outside world and recorded nonstop by cameras and microphones. Though the houseguests are forbidden to watch TV, they will be on it constantly. One by one, the house members will be voted out by the contestants and the audience. The last person standing gets a cash prize.

• In BBC show "The 1900 House," a family is put in a house without running water or electricity. By the third day, the mother was sitting in the backyard weeping and saying she couldn't go on. She goes to the store to buy shampoo, and the producers confront her with it on television. One child goes into a closet (designed for private confessions) and tells the camera how disappointed she is in her parents.

• The woman who married a total stranger on national television in "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire" said she had done it on a lark and made a big mistake. "I don't think I was thinking clearly," she said, "I committed an error in judgment."

• Last year, the producers of "The Jenny Jones Show" were sued for $25 million in the killing of a gay guest who admitted a crush on another man. The lawsuit is now being appealed.

Inside TV; U.S. News & World Report; Baltimore Sun; New York Times