Reality tv (well depending on the type of reality tv) can be heavily scripted. Or if not scripted heavily manipulated.
Wiillie from Duck Dynasty said in an interview that the producers come up with ideas for situations for the family to get into and then they just go and do their thing. Producers and editors change the order of when things happen, edit interviews to show people in a certain light and "cast" shows based on what they want.
Big Brother actually Photoshopped a contestant out a scene this season. It was a scene from their after hours broadcast that many people saw, but the show aired the footage AFTER the contestant was eliminated so they just digitally removed her.
I just read an article about Resataurant Stakeout and a place that was on because the owners was friends with someone on the production staff. His business was never in trouble and the "theft" incident shown had been scripted and the show went back "Six weeks later" but it was really 2 days later.
I do have a point and that's this - that within the "reality show" umbrella there are shows that closer to being scripted programming than "real life". There's also a huge range of shows that, even if they are "reality" could fall under different genres but get put together because of the reality format.
So why can't animated shows, which are also diverse, be put together because they share the format of animation.