Usually a variant on the TomatoInTheMirror, where it turns out that the lead character is in fact the main character on a RealityTV show. Exactly how much of his life is controlled varies: in some cases, every little detail of his life is controlled by the network, while others basically let the main character do whatever he wants, so long as they catch it on camera. It can be a twist ending, or it can be established right at the start of the show.

A fairly potent form of ParanoiaFuel.

Now, toss your hair back a little so your face can catch the light - perfect! Great shot! *ahem* ''As you were...''
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!!Examples
* ''TheTrumanShow'' was the TropeNamer, and one of the few to fully consider the massive levels of subterfuge needed to make this work.
* ''Year of the Sex Olympics'': After "The Sex Olympics" get disappointing ratings, a family is taken to a remote Scottish island and then murdered in "The Live Life Show!".
* ''TheSimpsons'': Homer's murder trial in "The Frying Game" turns out to be an elaborate reality TV hoax, which is only revealed when the switch is pulled on the electric chair.
** ''{{The Simpsons Hit and Run}}'' reveals that [[spoiler:the entire '''planet Earth''' is one of these, set up by Kang and Kodos.]]
** One of the comics paid a more direct tribute to ''The Truman Show'' when a pair of executives realize that Homer Simpson's everyday behavior is comedy gold. It unravels when he learns the truth, only to begin self-consciously playing along and acting silly, which he is much worse at.
* The ''SouthPark'' episode "Canceled" reveals that [[spoiler:[[ItsBeenDone the entire planet Earth is one of these, set up by aliens.]]]]
*[=~Philip K. Dick~=]'s novels have often used the idea of a person's belief that they are the centre of everything, at least to themselves. One, however, has the protagonist the centre of possibly the prototype Truman Show plot. He's not on TV, but living in an ordinary town, (a few years later than he believes) where he does a newspaper contest every day called 'where will the little green man be next?' He is actually predicting where the missiles fired from a breakaway Luna republic will impact on Earth; also, he designed the factory that makes the missiles, but has had a psychotic break through guilt, that providentially gave him limited precognition. It's normal for PKD.
* In ''{{Nebulous}}'', it turns out that the characters have spent the past six years trapped in a time loop, which is actually the weekend omnibus of an alien reality TV series.
* The 1985-1989 version of ''TheTwilightZone''. Its third-season episode "[[http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone-1985/special-service/episode/34418/recap.html Special Service]]" used this trope.
* One of the episodes of the ''Amazing Stories'' anthology show played this for a black comedy, where a woman had her life filmed and manipulated and shown in secret theaters she never sees, she finds this out when people start to recognize her and treat her as a celebrity.
* Sort of the premise of ''StrangerThanFiction'', although it was a book, not a film or show.
* This was also the premise of an ''actual'' RealityShow known as ''TheJoeSchmoShow''.
* The anime ''[[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4808 Eternal Family]]''. The plot synopsis at that link sums it up pretty well.
* "Megazone 23" has this as its main plot, albeit more in common with ''TheMatrix''
* The ending of ''TheBigO''. [[GainaxEnding Maybe. Possibly. Arguably.]]
* ''{{Bolt}}'' has this premise at the beginning, then proceeds to explore the ramifications of the titular character escaping from the facade (without even knowing it!)
* [[strike:RealLife.]]
** [[strike:I've said too much... they're coming for me...]]
*** Nothing to see here, folks. It was just a weather balloon. Move along.
**** The boy wasn't even there; he was hiding in a box in the attic!
**** There's actually a real life phenomenon known as "Truman Show Syndrome" in which people think they're being watched as part of a TV show...
**** No there isn't, the network just wants us to think were insane because ratings are dropping! HELP!
* ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' had the Ultimen, a team of genetically-engineered heroes created by Mawell Lord and given fake pasts via actors and memory implants.
* While they're not exactly on a reality TV show (though they do get tricked into one about 1/3 of the way into the game), the protagonists of ''{{Wild ARMs 5}}'' are being watched on Duo's magical camera(s?), so everyone across Filgaia is witnessing their exploits for most of the game and NPC dialogue is undoubtedly affected by this.
* ''EDTV'': Ed agrees to let a camera crew follow him around because he needs the money. Close enough to ''The Truman Show'' to be DuelingMovies.
* {{Manhunt}}'s hero is forced to kill a lot of people by a "Director" of snuff films.
* The {{Even Stevens}} Movie features the titular family on a tropical vacation gone wrong, unaware that it's all staged for a reality TV show.
* [[http://gomanga.com/manga/aoi.php Aoi House]] turns out to be one of these.
* An episode of [[FairlyOddParents The Fairly OddParents]] has Timmy finding out that his life is secretly being broadcast to Fairy World.
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