This thesis identifies prototypical features in reality television subgenres that lead to particular ethical problems. Through the ethical analysis of cases studies from three subgenres of reality television, I also demonstrate the relative value of various normative ethical frameworks in analysing ethical problems in reality programming. I also argue that popular, non-academic criticisms of reality television act as implicit ethical judgements that align with formal criticisms from normative ethics.My first chapter addresses the ethical problems of informed consent, agency and representation in Extreme Guide to Parenting (Bravo 2014) and Toddlers & Tiaras (TLC 2008–13), two docu-soap programs that feature children. I find that a Kantian deontological perspective largely disapproves of children’s involvement in reality television, and these objections are echoed by similar arguments from documentary ethics. A perspective from the utilitarian arguments of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, conversely, may in some cases approve or disapprove of children’s participation in docu-soaps, depending on whether the production of these programs is seen to generally contribute to wider happiness. A utilitarian evaluation of the ethical goods and harms of docu-soaps production and reception has parallels with debates in documentary ethics over the function of documentary as a general public good.In my second chapter, I reformulate popular journalistic criticisms of makeover programs Snog Marry Avoid? (BBC Three 2008–13) and The Biggest Loser Australia (Network Ten 2006–) along explicitly ethical lines via Kantian deontology and Julia Driver’s hybrid of virtue and consequentialist ethics. I draw on theoretical perspectives regarding self-transformation and therapy culture in order to evaluate the moral and practical status of makeover programs’ humiliation of subjects and their stated therapeutic projects. I argue that the individual subjects of these programs are deployed to reinforce dominant discourses regarding class, gender, national identity and neoliberal self-governance in the United Kingdom and Australia.My third chapter studies three reflexive parodies of reality television, UnREAL (Lifetime 2015–), Sex House (Onion Digital Studios 2012), and Nathan for You (Comedy Central 2013–), to consider how and why these programs comment on perceived ethical problems in reality television and the format’s status in wider culture. I refer to theories of parody, satire, and mockumentary programming, and argue that my case studies use shocking depictions of reality television production in order to encourage audience scrutiny of their referent reality programs. Similarly to mockumentary programs, these case studies challenge reality programming’s ability to present factuality, and emphasise differences of power between reality producer, subject, and audience to critique the form.In this thesis, I argue that particular ethical issues in reality television reflect ideas and strategies embedded in reality television programming at a subgeneric level. I demonstrate the validity of Kantian deontology, utilitarian consequentialism and a hybrid consequentialist-virtue ethics framework as a means of identifying and assessing the validity of various ethical criticisms of reality television. These ethical criticisms, I argue, also circulate in popular culture, albeit at an implicit level. This study demonstrates the connection between the ethical study of reality television and the cultural and historical influences that characterise contemporary reality television.