is all the crying on reality television fake?

It depends on which reality TV show.

The winner of American Idol is legitimately crying tears of joy when he/she wins. A Masterchef Australia contestant who's been 86'd is really crying (after investing so much time and energy to the show and truly trying to prevail).

But many other types of reality shows are scripted. Producers and show creators 'cast' just as they would for a non-reality show (sit-com, daytime drama, primetime drama, etc.)

At one point so-called reality shows were forced to define themselves properly-- as "structured reality", also known as "scripted reality" vs. reality-reality (brought-on by industry unions) so performers and various production personnel would be paid according to what they were doing. Reality shows used to fall into the category of 'game show' and most are not even close.

Structured reality is a type of TV show which takes supposedly 'real people', not professional actors, and tapes them placed in particular 'structured' scenarios which are likely to invoke certain reactions and paths of conversation. However, with almost no exceptions, even so-called 'real' people are actors who have been auditioning for other mainstream productions and are working in the industry.

The expression scripted reality is an alternative way of describing the same concept, a term which may or may not seem contradictory depending on your point of view: On one hand the idea is precisely that the dialogue is not scripted and appears 'natural', but on the other, the engineered, highly managed situations in which the people are placed mean that their conversation is anything but 'natural' and often modified for dramatic effect.

The post-show editing process can turn anything/everything into high-drama-- depending on what is omitted and what out-of-context scene is included. A shot of someone rolling their eyes can be edited-in, appearing that they are rolling their eyes at a specific person (when in reality they weren't even in the same room with that person).

Every scene is broken down on a story board and the basic outline is rehearsed by the cast. Producers will create drama, stress and strife intentionally to create unrest and emotional reactions. Some reality shows are notorious for having free-flowing alcohol for cast members (which creates even more drama).

'Who wants to marry my daddy'-type shows have a b*tchy one, a nice one, a nervous one, a sweet one that's being harassed by the mean-one, etc. That's not by chance. That means those individual were cast to play those roles. They know what's expected and most is scripted.

In spite of what a reality show appears to be, if the camera was turned around and the viewers could see the 30+ people (camera operators, hair/make-up wardrobe and stylists, script supervisor, lighting techs, several production assistants, associate producers, director, caterers, etc.).. it would change the way reality TV was perceived.

Reality shows shoot many more hours of footage than what can be shown in a 30- or 60-minute program, leaving editors to splice together selected footage in order to tell a certain story. The editors have grown to become the new storytellers, altering sequences and the course of events and contextual elements to weave together a story that’s radically different from what went down. And as more than one person has pointed out, is it possible for people on ‘Survivor’ to starve to death when there’s a junk-food-laden craft services table just outside of camera range?

How real are reality TV shows:

http://www.today.com/id/30092600/ns/today-today_en...

Writers Guild of America-West-How do reality shows work:

http://www.wga.org/organizesub.aspx?id=1091

Structured Reality TV:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/buzzword/ent...

Some of the tears are real, but there is a lot of editing done as well. If a contestant is crying on camera, it could be about a completely different topic than the current theme. Also, I won't name show names, but there have been some lawsuits against certain production companies for fabricating drama and even "planting" direct words and phrases for the contestants to say.

If someone is casting when they win American Idol or lose Cupcake wars, I think those are pretty real, but I'd believe that's more the exception than the rule. Many of the shows even look for people who express emotions when casting.

As the veteran watcher of tons of reality shows, I personally feel that they cast emotionally unstable people so that they will cry and carry on like 8 year olds.

I think they really cried.

Since reality television is not really scripted.

Yes i also think like this....this is all scripted...