Former ATWT's favorite Kelley Menighan Hensley (Emily Stewart) stars in a new, off-the-wall Showtime series that satirizes reality television. According to producer Adam Rifkin, his fictional show probably contains more truths than an actual reality show.
"It's insane," Soaps in Depth Hensley says of her new reality series that isn't a reality series at all. Entitled Reality Show, the series centers around the comeback of a writer/director/producer who dreams up the idea to put the reality back in reality TV by installing hidden cameras in the home of an unsuspecting family.
Hensley plays the woman of the house, Katherine Warwick, whose family's life proves too boring for the producer. To spice things up, he injects the unsuspecting household with some manufactured drama, and the family disintegrates in a sick, twisted way.
Hensley felt drawn to the show because, to her, it's everything that daytime isn't. The crew shoots the scenes using cameras that they've strategically placed around the set to give a hidden camera feel to the scenes. Additionally, makeup and wardrobe is much less of a production from Hensley's soap-studded past. In fact, the producer requested that Hensley wear a brown, mousy wig and "Mom Jeans," which Hensley found to be a refreshing change from her old daytime wardrobe.
Reality Show premiered on Showtime on November 1, and it contains eight on-demand episodes.
Hensley joined the cast of ATWT as Emily Stewart in 1992, and maintained the role until the show went off the air in 2010. She also appeared on the daytime drama Santa Barbara.
