Core Response #5 by Celeste Oon

In considering aspects of melodrama, I found Tara McPherson’s discussion of liveness in 24 striking. I have incredibly vague memories of watching 24 as a child, but while reading the chapter, a vision of the ever-present clock in the series leapt out at me. McPherson says that 24, by utilizing various features such as split-screen and recurring displays of time, “claim[s]… enhanced and mobile liveness for itself” (179). This made me reflect on the concept of temporality and liveness across TV genres and especially within reality TV, which we covered recently.

For 24, its “real-time conceit of the series serves to heighten its tight linearity… reinstalling a strict temporal progress” (179). The prominent use of time, clocks, and countdowns in reality TV serves a very similar function. There is a sense of passing time, of not enough time, that drives the intensity of many competition shows. Even outside of direct “competition,” many reality shows that revolve around renovations and makeovers must operate under strict time constraints. The looming presence of the ticking clock serves as a reminder of not only a person’s labor (measured temporally), but of the inevitability and finality of some outcome. Though the process of labor itself is dramatized, it is the outcome—whether good or bad—brought on by the “end” of time that ultimately is most meaningful. Though I cannot quite articulate any conclusive thoughts on this topic, I do find it provoking.

Of course, one could say that reality TV holds a different relationship to liveness than fictional, scripted TV such as 24. This is true to an extent—in a show like 24, temporality is completely constructed and then mapped onto our perception of “real time.” Perhaps reality TV does the opposite, filming in “real time” but shattering its linearity through cuts, replays, and other post-production methods. But in many ways, a sense of temporality must be constructed in reality just as in fiction. We are all aware of the… fabrication… of the “real” in reality TV, and that goes unspoken nowadays. In one of my posts from several weeks ago, I discussed my reaction hearing about Henry Jenkins’ experience at a Masterchef taping. I once again call on his discussion of time, where he mentioned how the filming was not particularly exciting as many contestants finished with ample time left on the countdown. This will undoubtedly not be the case in the final aired episode—I can already imagine the dramatic music and angry red numbers overhead, sweat beading on contestants’ brows as they nearly fail to plate their dishes on time. Time, as real as it may be at the moment of filming, must be imagined and reconstructed for the audience at every instance, regardless of the supposed genre of the show.

On a personal note, temporality and liveness is something that I continue to grapple with as I consider what to make of TV-adjacent mediums such as livestreaming. I wonder, can time be constructed in similar ways in a broadcast that is legitimately live and real-time? Though I do not have the answers right now, livestreaming certainly has its own set of temporal phenomena and its own constructions (which I may be exploring in my final paper!).