Reality shows: Boon or Bane

Reality shows on television are the most happening things these days. Open your TV and you are sure to find at least one reality show if not many in every channel. I cannot exactly pinpoint the first reality show that happened in India or the west but my earliest memories of a show on TV which wasn’t made according to a fixed written script (although reality shows are scripted to an extent) are the famous Amitabh Bacchan hosted quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati, the dance show Boogie Woogie and the music talent hunt Saregamapa which I watched as a kid. But then, how exactly do you define these? Do we call them reality shows or are they mere competitions?