Most reality TV doesn't really concern itself with, well, "reality." And why should it? Reality is boring. Get up, brush your teeth, and try not to be crushed by the boredom of everyday life. But sometimes producers need to throw a curveball at our favorite reality personalities to keep things interesting. Here are just a few lies that reality TV has made us swallow...
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Since 2014, Alaskan Bush People has been airing on the Discovery Channel, following the seemingly
00:05dangerous lives of the Brown family.
00:07But are those adventures real, or is Alaskan Bush People one big reality TV show lie?
00:13There are actually a few reasons why Alaskan Bush People is totally fake.
00:17Based on a true story
00:19Family patriarch Billy Brown wrote One Wave at a Time in 2007, which was the source of
00:23the inspiration for Alaskan Bush People.
00:25The Brown family supposedly ventured into the lower 48 for the sole purpose of turning
00:29his book into a movie or TV show.
00:31Capital City Weekly reports that the Browns took a production crew back to Alaska to recreate
00:36the journey described in the book.
00:38It was initially intended to be a one-season documentary in which the Browns reenacted
00:41their lives in the Alaskan bush, but the project proved so popular that it was repackaged into
00:46an ongoing series.
00:48Not so remote
00:49True isolation means there are no roads, nearby towns, or neighbors, but this wasn't the case
00:54with the Browns when they set up shop during the first season.
00:57According to research by Alaska Dispatch News, the show filmed near a resident who
01:01admitted his family wasn't too thrilled with the noise.
01:04They also claim the first season took place half a mile away from a pizza place, because
01:08nothing says wilderness quite like melted cheese and pepperoni.
01:11California dreaming
01:14Sometime between seasons four and five, the Browns found themselves in California, where
01:18Noah Brown allegedly met up with a pretty Californian brunette named Karina L. Kaufman.
01:22Later, she accepted an invitation to Browntown to reunite with him.
01:25Her date was filmed for season five, and shortly after their awkward encounter aired,
01:30internet sleuths found Kaufman's social media profiles and her IMDb page.
01:34The coincidence seems to imply that Alaskan bush people hired an actress.
01:38It wouldn't be surprising — after all, the date was mostly about Brown getting over his
01:42ex-girlfriend.
01:43He even performed a song about it for Kaufman.
01:45"...it's been a year since I saw you last, it's been a year my hometown's past."
01:56Because nothing wins a girl over on a date like a guy singing a song about his ex-girlfriend.
02:01Busted
02:02CNN reported that the Browns pled guilty to lying on their Permanent Fund dividend forms.
02:07Dividend forms are used to pretty much give out free money for anyone staying in Alaska
02:10year-round, which the Brown family didn't technically do for a couple of years.
02:15The charges came with a potential prison sentence for much of the family.
02:19"...all I know is we'll do what we've always done.
02:23We'll take what comes, we'll knock it down, and we'll stand proud."
02:26Billy Brown attempted to explain the family's legal problems to TV viewers, implying that
02:30the family is innocent because the state won't allow them to live free and wild.
02:34"...they won't let you live like we live anymore.
02:37If anything else, what you and I are going through right now and about to go to jail
02:41for proves it."
02:43Using state money to support yourself is kind of the opposite of off-the-grid independence,
02:47anyhow.
02:48Web-savvy
02:49The Alaskan Bush People creators went out of their way to claim that the Brown kids
02:52had no clue how an iPhone works, or who Kim Kardashian is.
02:56"...that's the princess of England."
02:58"...or queen."
02:59"...the queen's still alive."
03:00"...is she?"
03:01"...Jazzy.
03:02Jazzy?"
03:03"...Jazzy?"
03:04"...yeah, that's her name."
03:06But before they were known as Alaskan Bush People, the family created a website to market
03:10themselves and Billy Brown's books, which pretty much shatters the claim that the Browns
03:14have no concept of modern technology.
03:16Sure, the site could have been professionally built for the Browns because of their lack
03:19of computer savvy, but there's plenty of other evidence that further proves that the Brown
03:24family really isn't a bunch of Kimmy Schmitz.
03:26Case in point, their individual YouTube channels.
03:28Bam, Gabe, Noah, Snow, and Rain Brown were all active on YouTube at one point, and their
03:33channels featured some very non-wilderness details about their lives.
03:37Unless arcade shootouts are just some Alaskan wilderness tradition that we just don't know
03:41about yet.