Matt Baume looks back at Lance Loud and America’s first reality show: “TV ate my family”

Reality shows today generate tons of controversial moments, but none of them compare to the outrage generated by one of TV’s first reality shows. An American Family aired out the dirty secrets of an unassuming family — and one of the most divisive parts was the gay son Lance. So what was the controversy, and was Lance really as bad as the newspapers said? This is the story of Lance Loud, the unapologetically queer teen who became TV’s first reality star, and set the stage for decades to come.