Docudrama Genre Blend – Reality TV Style
Paranormal State is a docudrama reality television series for A&E; about a student-led college club, the Pennsylvania State University Paranormal Research Society. The show depicts the students’ investigations of paranormal activity and supernatural phenomena. The show is produced by Four Seasons Productions International and Go Go Luckey Productions (which produced MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County, and A&E’s now-cancelled Rollergirls). Gary Auerbach and Julie Auerbach (who head Go Go Luckey Productions) and Betsy Schechter (Four Seasons) are the executive producers. The show was tentatively titled “Out There,” “Dead Time” and “Paranormal U” before being called “Paranormal State”. Every episode of the show is outlined by the production team first, co-executive producer Tina Gazzerro has stated, to ensure that a producible episode will result. “We try to identify where we get our discovery moments, our ‘Ah-ha!’ moments.”
Rescue 911 was an informational reality-based television series, hosted by William Shatner. Originally intended to be only a set of three TV specials, Rescue 911 was picked up by CBS for the 1989 Fall season after two specials aired on April 18, 1989 and May 9, 1989. Rescue 911 began airing as a regular series on September 5, 1989 and ran for 7 seasons, with the last new episode airing on August 27, 1996. The last episode to air on CBS (a repeat) aired on September 3, 1996. Throughout its duration, most episodes aired on Tuesday, though occasionally, the show aired on other days of the week, either as an additional episode shown during that week or a temporary rearrangement to make room for another program. Though never intended as a teaching tool, various viewers used the knowledge they obtained watching Rescue 911.
