From ‘American Family’ to ‘The Apprentice’: A history of reality TV

It’s 1956, the Golden Age of television, with feel-good shows like “I Love Lucy,” “December Bride,” “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “To Tell the Truth.” And then a Debby Downer came along — a tearjerker of a mid-afternoon program that featured depressed, destitute female contestants vying for financial and emotional help. Host Jack Bailey, a...