I know what you're thinking. "Oh no, not another reality show about two people who have a famous dad and somehow finagled their way into getting cameras to follow them around." Not only do I know that's going to be the thought viewers are going to think when they watch Barely Famous , but Sara and Erin Foster also know that thought is running through your mind. And truth be told, they think it's pretty weird, too. That's why they're not taking it seriously. At all. And while Sara and Erin Foster admit that Barely Famous isn't making fun of reality television, it's obvious that there are some similarities between their show and other reality shows.
The show is a mockumentary-style reality show that combines reality TV with comedy sketches. The stars, Erin and Sara Foster, are real life sisters playing sisters who are trying to navigate through the depths of Hollywood. In real life, the Foster sisters are David Foster's daughters (the step-daughters of Yolanda Foster, of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills). The show doesn't ring true to any specific reality show, instead it takes pieces from a few different shows and combines them into a pretty hilarious (and eye-opening) look into societies obsession with reality TV and pop-culture. I know... deep.
So what shows are you going to recognize in Barely Famous? Here are a few shows that might stand out as "influencers" of the Foster sisters' show.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians
In a way, Sara and Erin Foster are technically related to the Jenner side of the Kardashians, but I tried to follow the marriage trail and got a headache (something like their dad's ex-wife is an ex-wife of Bruce Jenner's). But following in their somehow-family's footsteps, Barely Famous is similar to KUWTK in the sense that you don't know why the people on the show are on a show. Now, the Kardashian/Jenner family is like TV's first family, but at the beginning, why did they have their own show? Just, why?
You'll also see similar set-ups of trying to reach fame on Barely Famous, because there's no way the Kardashians haven't called paparazzi on themselves earlier in the days of their TV legacy.
Real Housewives
It's no secret that the Real Housewives care about status ("To a certain group of people, status is everything," Alex McCord said on Season 1 of RHONY). On Barely Famous, the sisters fight with having status in a town obsessed with it, Los Angeles, and also maintaining a semi-normalcy (seen in Episode 1 when Erin goes on a date with a "normal guy" who works at Apple).
Candidly Nicole
The set-up of Barely Famous is most similar to Candidly Nicole, as it feels very scripted and set-up (because it is supposed to) but could be still considered "reality TV." The sketches that were featured in Candidly Nicole are also present in Barely Famous, as hysterical dramatizations of real life. It doesn't hurt that Nicole Richie (along with other famous faces) make appearances throughout the season.
Images: MTV; Giphy (3)
