While these shows in the 90s were the beginning of the scripted reality TV genre, these talk shows were an interesting blend of scripted situations concocted by the producers and real world situations that were greatly exaggerated for drama purposes. People were encouraged to call in with their situations (whether they were real or not on your end was up to you) and producers would work with you to get the best angle for maximum drama.

It was. Just about twenty years early…

To be honest, it's extremely common wherever the impoverished are located in the U.S. I've witnessed so much chaos from inner-city venturing, to growing up with some households that absolutely belonged on that show.

> and thought that this was depicting typical average American life

The show was very bizarre. It invariably selected for the lunatic fringe of America. These people and their wild stories were all edge cases and definitely atypical.