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Valley residents are enjoying a made-for-TV moment.

Based on the recent casts of countless reality shows, it seems we are the ones made for TV.

The Valley has become reality TV's central casting. Agents for more than eight shows have visited town already this summer. And this week, one of the biggest is here, with American Idol producers hosting auditions Friday at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

In the past five years, dozens of casting agents have held searches in clubs, casinos, malls and restaurants. They've called in to radio stations and visited TV stations to find the perfect mix of characters.

They love the Valley because it has a diverse population and is close to Hollywood, where (they say) all the attractive people have already been cast.

And they come to Scottsdale and the surrounding environs because there are plenty of tanned, toned people to choose from in a region developing a reputation for having lots of plastic surgeons and women who love them.

But beyond that, the Valley has long been a destination for people seeking opportunity and adventure. From miners and ranchers to recent transplants drawn by affordable housing, the state attracts outgoing people willing to take risks. And those are exactly the type of people reality-TV casting agents are looking for.

In those first, heady days of reality TV, when it was still novel to watch nurses and truck drivers cavort in hot tubs and fight malarial mosquitoes, Valley residents got excited every time a neighbor appeared on TV. The Johnjay and Rich show on 104.7, known as KISS-FM, even made reality castoffs frequent guests on their show.

But no longer.

"At some point, we had to pull back," said Johnjay Van Es, who has been asked to promote castings in Arizona for at least 15 to 20 shows and who has been offered spots on two shows himself.

"There was Paradise Hotel, Hell's Kitchen, Deal or No Deal," he said. "We had to say no. At some point, there's just too many people who've been on reality TV."

Consider one recent week. A casting agent used the Johnjay and Rich show to look for a millionaire young woman with an indulgent dad. Agents from The Cougar trolled Valley nightclubs, visiting again to cast the TV Land show. The Social, a new VH1 reality show, filmed a swimwear fashion show at Canal in Scottsdale.

And so, sometimes it seems the Valley is saturated with reality has-beens. Your bartender used to be a cutie on The Real World: Paris. You had to find a new hairstylist because yours became a motivational speaker after winning The Biggest Loser: 5. Your stripper outed herself as a lesbian named "Glitter" on A Shot at Love 2 With Tila Tequila.

But to casting agents, Arizonans still feel fresh.

Elvia Van Es Oliva, head of production and development for Alison Grodner Productions and Johnjay's sister, says Californians can get cast just standing on a street corner, and they know it.

"In LA, it's all about who you are, and 'What's your next gig.' And we want people who are a little more naive, a little more innocent toward the cameras," said Van Es Oliva, who grew up in the Valley. "You're looking for people who are real and raw and say what's on their minds, and we can find that out there."

The Valley is a casting safety net for Robin Kass, president of LA-based Kassting Inc., a top casting agency for reality shows. She routinely comes here to round out searches.

"In Los Angeles, it's so oversaturated with reality shows that everyone who's decent looking, they've already been on a show or been approached for a show," she said. "Phoenix is good for us because we can get there quickly, the people aren't as jaded when it comes to reality TV, and it's a city of really good-looking people."

She said here, she can always find "chatty," fit people. And unlike other casting hotspots such as Miami and New York, the pretty people here are not all models and actresses. That makes for good TV. Casting agents also love Arizona because the state has all types: city slickers from Scottsdale and small-town folks from Higley.

They talk about how the Valley is home to millionaire cowboys, Arizona State University sorority sisters, first-generation Mexican-Americans, suburban dads, spring-training baseball groupies and countless other faces representative of the American experience.

After turning heads on The Apprentice: Season 6 last year, Phoenix's Jenn Hoffman still gets e-mails from casting agents asking her to recommend Valley friends for shows. And every day, she gets MySpace messages and e-mails from area hopefuls looking for connections and advice on how to get on shows.

"There's always someone from Arizona representing on a show right now," she said during a phone interview, having just left a California Survivor casting where she was supporting a Valley friend. "We're like the hottest place to cast right now because, in Scottsdale, everyone wants to be seen and has a high opinion of themselves. People seem to come out here because they want to make themselves known, and there's no shame in doing that."