A Documentary that follows a group of people in a certain profession around, through their professional and sometimes personal lives. It is a form of Reality Show that shows real people, unscripted, doing day-to-day things.
In the past, the docudrama was either social commentary or a sociological experiment; the Michael Apted Up film documentaries or PBS's An American Family, which concentrated on the life of the Loud family. In 1992, MTV debuted The Real World, originally intended as a sociological experiment of sorts — place disparate individuals in a single residence, and film them. Gradually MTV began contriving scenarios and The Real World became less documentary and more Reality Show.
Docu Soaps come in all flavors. Some focus on the typical day-to-day business dealings of the subjects; others are more about the interpersonal relationships and the potential for drama among the members of the ensemble.
Notable British examples:
- Airline (1998) — Easyjet workers
- Airport — workers at London Heathrow
- Vet School and Vets In Practice
North America:
- Ace of Cakes
- Airline — American spin-off of the above British show; focused on Southwest Airlines workers
- American Chopper
- American Guns
- American Hot Rod
- American Loggers
- Ax Men
- Bering Sea Gold
- Big Rich Texas
- Dallas Divas & Daughters
- Deadliest Catch
- Gold Rush
- Ice Road Truckers All about truckers on Canada's northern ice roads. Later seasons moved to Alaska.
- I'm From Rolling Stone was an MTV series about the day to day lives of music journalist interns. At the end of the series, the best intern was given a permanent position at Rolling Stone magazine.
- Kindergarten
- Miami Ink
- Sons of Guns
- Storm Chasers
- Swamp Loggers
- Sword
- Truth, Duty, Valour (Canadian Forces recruits)
- The Bravo network seems to have made something of a cottage industry of these shows: Work Out, Shear Genius, Million Dollar Listing, Millionaire Matchmaker, NYC Prep, The Real Housewives of Orange County (and its spinoffs in Atlanta, New York City, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, and other cities), Welcome To The Parker...