美国国家公共电台 NPR A Kinder, Gentler Wave Of Reality TV Tries A Little Tenderness, For A Change（在线收听）

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

When you think of reality television, drama like this probably comes to mind...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I came here to be No. 1.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Coming up next, here on NBC...

KELLY: ...Screaming matches, hot tub hookups, contestants there to win, not to make friends. But recently, reality has taken a kinder, gentler turn. Take the new "Queer Eye" on Netflix, which started its fourth season with a public school teacher getting a makeover.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "QUEER EYE")

JONATHAN VAN NESS: And I really want to celebrate you. And I also want to celebrate that I'm going to be cutting your hair.

KELLY: NPR's Neda Ulaby reports on reality's new nice.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: A lot of Netflix reality shows tend to be awfully sweet.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW")

MARY BERRY: That's quite something. That is absolutely delicious.

ULABY: "The Great British Baking Show" was just one of many warm-hearted food programs on Netflix including "Sugar Rush," "Street Food" and "Nailed It," where contestants giggle over epic failures in decorating cakes. On the Netflix dating show "Dating Around," you'll see hardly any jerks. And on "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo," the Japanese organizing guru gently guides Americans into discarding stuff that doesn't spark joy.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TIDYING UP WITH MARIE KONDO")

MARIE KONDO: Does this spark joy for you?

BRANDON RIEGG: We say spark joy now for everything.

ULABY: Brandon Riegg is the Netflix vice president in charge of unscripted series. He says the streaming site has more than a hundred reality shows, including some in the works, and many of them are based on people being kind to each other.

RIEGG: In the beginning, it wasn't an intentional strategy. When we decided to get into original unscripted programming, it really was a blank slate.

ULABY: So why not, he said, try something different? Namely - being nice.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "NAILED IT")

JACQUES TORRES: You're so nice.

NICOLE BYER: Actually, both of you are so nice.

ULABY: Those are the hosts of "Nailed It." That show and "Queer Eye" were both so successful, Netflix decided to make positive reality programming central to its brand. Since Netflix does not release audience numbers, we don't exactly know what successful means. But Riegg says the trend of sweet-natured reality television has spread across the industry.

RIEGG: Everybody's noticing. Viewers are more drawn to that. There is an appetite for that.

ULABY: NBC may have helped start this trend years ago with "The Biggest Loser," along with ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which Riegg helped develop. Andy Dehnart runs the website Reality Blurred.

ANDY DEHNART: As a critic, as a fan of reality TV, I love it. It makes it a lot easier to watch, to write about and to just enjoy.

ULABY: Plus, Dehnart says, there's shows families can watch together. Of course there are still mean-spirited reality shows out there, including ones on Netflix. But generally, we may be seeking a break from people being rotten to each other, says Tara Long, who runs a number of reality shows including "Growing Up Hip Hop" and "Siesta Key."

TARA LONG: We actually have production meetings when we start and say we don't want fighting.

ULABY: A profound shift, Long says, from when reality relied on people flipping tables for drama. I asked Long if people like her who make reality television might be trying to change the cultural conversation after 20 years of toxic reality shows.

LONG: A hundred percent. I think we want to create this content and tell these stories to try to course-correct for some of the type of shows that have been done in the past.

ULABY: At a moment when the tone of public discourse feels so lowered, Long says, maybe it's time for reality television - yes, reality television - to lead a push toward civility and respect.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE NICE")

BLACK EYED PEAS: (Singing) Be nice.

ULABY: Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE NICE")

BLACK EYED PEAS: (Singing) Be nice. Be nice.