# Reality Television and SAG

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-television-and-sag/159238>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 5, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-television-and-sag/159238 "2003-03-05T14:18:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-television-and-sag/159238/1 "2003-03-05T14:18:14Z")

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Do the participants in reality television shows (Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, etc.) qualify for membership in the Screen Actor’s Guild?

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**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-television-and-sag/159238/2 "2003-03-05T15:33:53Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Starbury \*  
> \*\*Do the participants in reality television shows (Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, etc.) qualify for membership in the Screen Actor’s Guild? \*\*

_Phew_ I’m just glad to know this topic was about Reality Shows and not SAGging breasts.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-television-and-sag/159238/3 "2003-03-05T15:56:45Z")

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According to the SAG:

> [@](#):
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> A. Principal Performer Employment:  
> Performers may join SAG upon proof of employment or prospective employment within two weeks or less by a SAG signatory company. Employment must be in a principal or speaking role in a SAG film, videotape, television program or commercial

There is a similar requirement for bit players.

So if the reality show’s producers are an SAG signatory, the people in it are eligible. However, I don’t believe reality show producers are required to be a signatory.

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**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-television-and-sag/159238/4 "2003-03-06T14:40:02Z")

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Thanks for the info, **RealityChuck**. I didn’t know about SAG signatories, so that helped me find some better information. Still, the best I could come up with was an article from 2001 stating that at that time Survivor wasn’t a SAG signatory (though Who Wants to Be a Millionaire now is). The same article said that Survivor has a staff that includes script writers, and argued that it should become a signatory.

Do you have any idea if there’s a list somewhere of shows that are a part of SAG? I checked their official site, but it looked like you had to be a card-carrying SAG member to get to the good stuff on the site.