Lockup: Documentary or Reality Series?

Since the debut of Cops in 1989, American TV audiences have been fascinated by the practice of law enforcement and the real-life exploits of the nation’s criminals. MSNBC’s Lockup is one of a handful of documentary-style television series that takes the leap to try to pick up where the cops leave off. Lockup’s main motive is to chronicle the lives of the prisoners after they have been caught, convicted, and entered into the U.S. prison system as well as give the audience a behind the scenes view of the work done by the correction officers on a daily basis.

The original series began airing in 2005 and already has a handful of spinoffs including: Lockup: Raw, Lockup: World Tour, Lockup: Extended Stay, Lockup: Special Investigation, and Life After Lockup. While five spinoffs may seem a bit much for some of you viewers, Lockup wants you to remember the inmates they interview. I’ll still never forget watching an episode that focused on one particular inmate by the name of Joseph Garner who had a story that would make him unforgettable by million of Americans. Long story short, Joseph believed that his father was preventing the second coming of Christ. Joseph Garner murdered his father on Christmas Eve and took a bite out of his father’s brain and is being held on murder charges and cannibalism during the process. It is these stories that Lockup thrives on and they do so because they want to make sure they are etched into your mind so you will come back to watch more. While Lockup does have to considered that viewers may be turned off by such a story, they also know through their years of filming that people who have been sent to prison almost all develop an ability to seem reasonable and harmless. They have rational explanations why they are there and why it will never happen again. While "Lockup" doesn't frame itself as a psychological study, the pathology of the inmates often becomes the most interesting reason to stay tuned. (Hinekley, 2009)

While the audience enjoys watching these prisoners behind bars and learning about their extreme and sometimes disturbing events and actions, some people are having a hard time saying this show can be named a “documentary” and not a “reality series”.

Andy Warhol once said everyone would one day have 15 minutes of fame, what he meant by that is up for interpretation, but he was probably not picturing pampered and vacuous housewives or Honey Boo-Boo and her proudly inbred clan who made a conscious decision to display their shortcomings to the public. There is another, more ugly class of reality “stars,” however, and although some of them are surely happy for the attention, it would be hard, if not impossible, to describe any of them as making an entirely free choice. (Frazier, 2013)

It may be hard to view Lockup as a reality show and not a documentary but when you think about what a reality show is it may be difficult to differentiate between the two. MSNBC’s channel president, Phil Griffin, denies the fact of the show being a reality series and states, “Lockup is not a MSNBC’s Jersey shore”. Like the MTV reality series Jersey Shore, the news channel’s incarceration series features plenty of bleeps and blurry hand gestures, but MSNBC insists that it fits being under a documentary series, not a reality series. (Curry, 2011)

The many spinoffs that can connect one individual through the many stages throughout their incarceration should be the first clue to viewers that this is a documentary and not a reality series, even though it may appear to be that way in some aspects. Reality series, while having many seasons, rarely document what happens throughout the individual’s life to the extent that Lockup does. For all you out there that are fuming thinking that prisoners do not have a choice if they appear on TV or not, I have a bit of information for you, for a prisoner to obtain their 15 minutes of fame they must sign a waiver to do so and they do not have to appear on camera.

Whether you believe Lockup is a reality series or a documentary, one thing is certain, Lockup is informative, witty, and allows millions of viewers to climb over that barbwire fence and breakthrough those cemented prison walls to see what actually goes on behind those closed doors. After all, even if you do not want to hear a prisoner’s story, you can a least take a few minutes to see where you tax money goes, right?

Curry, Jack. "MSNBC’s ‘Lockup’: Documentary or Reality TV?" Washington Post. 08 July

2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Frazier, Mansfield. "The Saddest Reality Stars of All: Prisoners." The Daily Beast.

Newsweek/Daily Beast, 19 May 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Hinekley, David. "MSNBC's 'Lockup' Exposes Stirring Life behind Bars." NY Daily News. 20

Nov. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Jackson, Angie. "MSNBC Lockup Episodes Featuring Kent County Jail to Debut This

Weekend." The Grand Rapids Press. Mlive News, 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.