1. Stanley Milgram, Allen Funt, and Me
Postwar Social Sciences and the “First Wave”
of Reality TV
• Who is Milgram, Funt & Siepmann?
• “First Wave” of reality TV
• Links to the Social Sciences
Chrissy Keeley
Genna Preston
Antonio Ferrera

2. Important People
Charles Siepmann: important TV and radio critic in
Postwar time, advocate of public service
broadcasting
Allen Funt: Created some of the first “candid
shows” including Candid Camera, Children of the
UN, and What do you Say to a Naked Lady
Stanley Milgram: Social Scientist from Yale who
used Funt’s work “as a template for their
experimental situations (Milgrams experiment).

3. First Wave Reality TV
• Emerged in the 1950’s
• Different from the normal propaganda films, industrial
films to human interest stories
• Advocated for social change by examining cultural values
and social issues. For example a hidden camera film on
the judiciary system: Jury Duty which showed all the
ways people tried to get out of jury duty.
• Candid Camera was a very funny reality TV show…
• Omnibus: show that “was designed to appeal to minority
taste group.” Viewers were looking to better themselves
in cultural understanding, education, and responsible
citizenship

5. Links to the Social Sciences
• Ford Foundation: funded cultural programs and studies
• “Culture from the perspective of the Ford Foundation,
was all about producing an American populace capable
of stepping up to the challenge of citizenship in an
internationalist United States.”
• In 1955 they paid Funt for his Omnibus films
• Also in 1955 they gave money to Milgram to finance his
research in behavioral sciences

6. Links to the Social Sciences
• Reality TV shows like Candid Camera used deception and
manipulation.
• Stanley Milgram who conducted experiments about
obedience may have modeled his famously unethical
shock experiment after Candid Camera
• While there is no direct evidence that linked Milgram’s
work to Funt’s Candid Camera there is plenty of evidence
that suggests that Milgram modeled his experiment on the
reality TV series
• “Both created situations in which unwitting individuals are
observed responding to, and performing within, unusual
or extreme social situations– and even their dependence
on ordinary people.”

7. Links to the Social Sciences
• Many social scientists became interested in Candid
Camera because the predictability of human
behavior was heavily funded mainly because of the
Cold War
• Candid Camera also showed the conformity to
obedience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=GlIyD15KS6s

8. Candid Situations
What if a dying relative asked
for assistance in Euthanasia?
What if you found a wallet on the
floor with $300 and ID?
What if you a someone beating
their child in public?

9. Conclusion
1914-1999