Reality TV isn't reality.

If there's anything to be learned from the endless parade of VH1 shows that "expose" this still-in-vogue television medium, it's that most of what's shown is either staged for the camera or the result of post-production editing.

The misadventures of the roommates on "The Real World" don't actually unfold in the order they appear on the show.

Studio art sophomore Marissa Lankes learned the reality of reality firsthand. Lankes was chosen by producers to be the subject of an episode of MTV's "Made," which will premiere at 10 p.m. tonight.

For those who have never seen the show, "Made" takes high school or college students with particular goals (learning to wakeboard, weight loss, winning a school competition, figuring out what to do after graduating) and pairs them with "Made" coaches who help them achieve their goals. The program tracks their progress throughout a period of weeks, through breakthroughs and breakdowns.

Sometimes that goal is reached, sometimes it isn't.

Lankes approached her audition for the show with an air of uncertainty.

"I had no idea what I was going to say. I thought I should say that I wanted to be made into a boxer," she said. "Because I thought that would be really great."

However, Lankes was auditioning for a "Spring Break" edition of "Made," and her goal needed to be realized in time for the MTV's yearly weeklong festival of seaside debauchery.

Realizing she attended the audition with many of her male friends, she arrived at an alternative goal.

"I just said that I was 'one of the guys,' and I wanted to be made more feminine, more girly, because my sister's wedding was coming up, and I was her maid of honor," she said.

Another student was chosen for the "Spring Break" edition, but Lankes was chosen for a separate episode, with her sister's wedding as the climax.

The MTV camera followed Lankes for six weeks.

"It was like having a little brother tagging along," she said.

During those six weeks, she developed a very close relationship with the small production crew that came from New York to East Lansing to make the show.

But in spite of this closeness, Lankes had to remind the crew of her priorities.

"I had to make them understand that I actually had a life here; I had other stuff to do," she said. "They would actually ask me to skip class on certain days, and I was like, 'Uh-uh.'"

Though she can't divulge any details about the show, Lankes did say that what was caught by the camera wasn't always genuine.

"The parts that I know that were on the show are often fake or staged," she said. "Which is fine — it's give and take for what I actually wanted to do and what makes good television."

According to Lankes, most of the blame for this lies with the network.

MTV representatives did not respond to The State News' phone calls.

At one point, network representatives instructed their freelance crew to coax some tears out of Lankes.

"They actually said, to the cameraman, 'OK, you're doing good. Now all you have to do is make this girl cry,'" she said.

Lankes said the things she'll remember most about the show happened when the camera wasn't rolling.

"The part that was enjoyable, and the good part that I took away from it and everything that I learned, none of that was recorded on the show," she said.

And what was actually on tape?

"It makes me a little nervous because I'm not sure how I'm going to be portrayed, but I don't really mind," she said. "As long as it's funny, and as long as I was able to give them a good show, that's pretty good for me because I don't want to be the girl with the boring show."