AppleTV+’s The Morning Show has dominated the streamer with its behind-the-scenes look at making television, but it was far from the first series to do so. Before it leaves Netflix, fans should catch the gripping and salacious look at reality TV. Premiering in 2014, the Lifetime Network series UnReal showed the terrible cost it takes to make reality television. Starring Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer, the show follows a burnt-out field producer, Rachel, who returns to the Bachelor-inspired reality show Everlasting after a hiatus.
Rachel had a nervous breakdown because of her moral conflict with the way reality television is run and the soul-crushing decisions she has to make in order to make good TV. Still grappling with her conscience as she manipulates and lies to contestants to mold them into characters on Everlasting, Rachel continues to make questionable decisions on and off camera. The first season was a benchmark for talent in the industry, tapping Freddie Stroma before he found his calling as Vigilante on Peacemaker. His character, Adam, is the first season’s bachelor and becomes part of a strange love triangle between Rachel and her ex. With whip-smart writing and mature themes, this series flew under the radar for too long.
‘UnReal’ Was Inspired By How Real Reality Shows Function
UnReal’s hardcore view of women was borne from the minds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer executive producer Marti Noxon and a former Bachelor producer herself, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro. These two were a perfect storm of telling a feminist story in a world that objectified women. After her time on the show, Shapiro wrote the short film that UnReal was based on. The internal conflict between Rachel’s skills at work and being a feminist was something that Shapiro had also dealt with. She told Cosmopolitan in an interview from 2015 that it was one of the hardest parts of the job.
“It was destroying other women,” Shapiro told the outlet. “It was almost like a cartoon, how black-and-white and diametrically opposed the show was to who I was. It was like a Faustian tale.” Ultimately, the producer understood what she was doing was wrong and wove it into a cutthroat series that took place in the industry. She has maintained that it is the only aspect of her career that made it into the show.
Even former colleagues contacted her to tell her they enjoyed seeing their jobs depicted onscreen. UnReal’s best contribution to television, however, is its depiction of women. In a world where Craig Mazin is afraid to portray Ellie Williams with any negative traits in The Last of Us, UnReal showed female characters who may be called unlikable. In reality, they are expertly crafted characters that have many sides to them. Fans can watch these complicated women do what they do best before UnReal leaves Netflix on August 19.
