# Reality shows that have become unwatchable. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571 "2014-04-07T17:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/41 "2014-04-10T01:59:21Z")
Leaper - Yes. And not just the occasional freak landing or ill-conceived stunt, they’re getting hurt a _lot_ now. Go check out the old threads and you’ll find more than a few. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/42 "2015-04-28T19:12:18Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > The food show I really have come to loathe is Man Vs. Food. That fat bastard goes all over the country and attempts these ridiculous eating challenges. I can’t stand watching him shovel food into his bloated face each episode. The first few seasons, he seemed to always wear a Member’s Only jacket with the sleeves pushed up over top of a too-tight t-shirt. He always looks like a slob. And he IS a slob. There is nothing redeeming about him at all, and every time I see him I want to throw a brick at his head. > > I don’t understand why people find watching some fat fuck eat 6 lbs of pancakes in 90 minutes is good TV. The only thing that would be worth watching is watching him choke on one of his disgusting challenges, and see him expire in a pile of salt and lard. I realize I’m zombifying this thread, but I wanted to point out that Adam Richman quit doing those eating challenges in 2012 and has since lost over 60 pounds. [Before](http://www.foodrepublic.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/large/singlepage/Adam%20Richman's%20Best%20Sandwich%20in%20America-Chapel%20Hill-Host%20Adam%20Richman%20pointing%20to%20Time%20Out's%20chicken%20cheddar%20biscuit_0.jpg) and [After](http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130923/adam-richman-768.jpg). Even so, I always enjoyed _Man v. Food_. Adam always displayed a great self-deprecating sense of humor that actually made watching him stuff his face kinda fun. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/43 "2015-04-28T19:37:09Z")
I haven’t bothered with any of them since the first couple seasons of Biggest Loser and The Apprentice, which palled very quickly. They seem either voyeuristic or too laden with fake drama for my liking. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/44 "2015-04-28T20:18:22Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > If I saw a show on the guide with that title, I would set up my DVR for it, and would be very, very, very disappointed. Guy Hairdo’s Moobs are pretty close to being triple Ds! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/45 "2015-04-28T20:31:50Z")
How can you even pull off an _Undercover Boss_ shooting any more? If some new employee was introduced to your workplace followed by a camera crew, no matter _what_ story they gave what would be the first thing you would be thinking? “I’m going to go online at lunchtime to see if the new guy/gal looks like any of the execs and, if so, I’m going to tell a sob story that’ll make me _thousands!_”. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/46 "2015-04-28T20:33:13Z")
Never really got into any, for a reality show it did appear so artificial, directed and staged. Well There was ‘The Colony’ which I did tune into, even with the above. AFAIK they just left it as a cliffhanger as the characters were traveling by airboat and ended as the reach their destination to find that the baddies were already there. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/47 "2015-04-28T20:43:12Z")
I like _So You Think You can Dance_ because I actually like the dancing, but I confess I PVR it and zip through commercials and boring back story. I used to love _The Biggest Loser_ and found it somewhat inspiring, then it just got inane and stupid with incredibly obese guests doing far more than they should be doing, water-loading and other unhealthy habits to win. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/48 "2015-04-29T02:02:40Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I find all of them unwatchable now. I can’t think of one reality show I still watch. Let’s see; I watch **Tiny House Nation** mainly because I think most of the small houses look cool. I also keep watching **19 Kids & Counting**. :o And no, I can’t really explain why, other than a vague desire to be up to speed when one of the Duggar kids rebels, comes out, otherwise does something forbidden. Especially if’s it’s an otherwise normal thing like going to college, or moving out without getting married. They can’t all turn into perfect little Christian Soldiers, and one of the older boys has been pinging my gaydar lately whenever he’s on camera. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/49 "2015-04-30T08:02:55Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Cool! I’ll have to hunt down some of the non-US episodes. I became a fan of Kitchen Nightmares from the UK version, since the entire thing was about restaurants that were failing, why they were failing, and what needed to be done to stop them failing. It could almost be called educational. I wouldn’t say that the US version is dumbed down, but the entire focus has shifted from showing the manager how to manage and the cook how to cook, to getting families to work out their emotional issues and have someone collapse into tears or fly into a screaming rage every few minutes. The UK version also never had the “surprise makeovers” that the US version does every episode. The UK crew would arrange for large groups to make reservations in order to test the kitchen, but beyond that they got nothing from Ramsey but advice, a menu, and a swift kick in the pants (sometimes metaphorical, sometimes not). Handing a restaurant with fundamental management problems $50K+ in free remodeling almost seems like they’re rewarding bad behavior and are just throwing money at the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/50 "2015-04-30T11:31:18Z")
In The Amazing Race is it so obvious that if a team finishes last in a given leg, and if that team also has curvy cleavage, then it’s highly likely Phil will say, You are still racing because this is a non-elimination leg!.. ? I call it the Cleavage Rule. The missus and I still watch The Amazing Race. But Survivor - unwatchable, we dropped that years ago. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/51 "2015-04-30T11:48:53Z")
The closest I ever came to watching reality TV was some of the HGTV porn. I loved House Hunters till I found out they already had homes under contract before they even started filming, so the “drama” of which to pick was all bogus. Plus I got sick and tired of “natural light” and “man cave” and “closet big enough for all of my SHOES!!!” ugh I liked the remodeling shows where you actually saw the work they did - I learned lots of tips from them. Unfortunately, it seems you now see the “before” followed by demolition interspersed with exaggerated drama before the final reveal. I don’t even turn on HGTV any longer. And it used to be my go-to station. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/52 "2015-04-30T13:51:40Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > My favorite episode was that screwy pirate bar, which was just weird. They changed back to playing Pirates a week after the show left. And the other weird one was “Swanky Bubbles”, one of the strangest names for a bar I’ve ever heard. Hubby and I went to that pirate bar once with friends, I think it was a year or two before they did the show. Our friends insisted that it was a fun and amazing experience. I was underwhelmed to say the least. The “grog” was undrinkable, the food slightly less than mediocre. I liked how they were all dressed up and acted to try to make an immersive experience, but it fell down when they almost forcibly pulled us all out the back door before our food arrived to watch some street entertainers juggle flaming swords and such in the back parking lot. It didn’t take long to realize the goal of that was to lighten our wallets more than to genuinely entertain us. After that, while we were trying to eat, several chorus girls in full regalia lined up between the wall and our tables (and if you’ve seen the show you know how small that space was) to do a few dance numbers. It might have been a good business idea but it was horribly executed. And then seeing the show now I know why. The owner not only has no business sense but also no clue. About anything. My opinion of some reality shows: There was a short-lived competition style show (ala Top Chef or Design Star) called Work of Art that I really enjoyed. It was interesting to see the artists working and I was fascinated by the ones who just could not pull anything together until the very last minute and then blew everybody away with the result. That’s probably why they say that you have to suffer for your talent: if it needs high pressure to reach fruition that’s a recipe for misery and health problems. Just recently I discovered Hotel Impossible on Netflix and enjoyed that very much. The consultant who turned the hotels around was IMO a fair, practical and very business-savvy guy. He would be a hard-ass when needed, but he also jumped to get the workers the things they needed to do their jobs when the owners were clueless. It was formulaic but not cliche. The only downside to the show was that in the second season the producers seemed to be choosing worse and worse dives for Anthony to try to turn around and that started to seem cliche and stupid. I wanted to see a mix of dives and formerly-fantastic-now-on-hard-times hotels. Most of the ones I don’t like the premise of I just don’t watch (Biggest Loser, etc). I did start to watch Undercover Boss because the premise sounded good but it quickly became apparent that it was all about letting the CEO grandstand and show the world what a great, forgiving, generous guy he was. Peee-uke! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/53 "2015-04-30T15:02:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How can you even pull off an _Undercover Boss_ shooting any more? If some new employee was introduced to your workplace followed by a camera crew, no matter _what_ story they gave what would be the first thing you would be thinking? “I’m going to go online at lunchtime to see if the new guy/gal looks like any of the execs and, if so, I’m going to tell a sob story that’ll make me _thousands!_”. Was it on _Entourage_ where an actor is overheard on the phone to his parents, “They got me a gig on some reality show! It’s called _Intervention_!” I’d think the same thing would be true these days; do people really think they’re just in some random documentary about addiction, without figuring out what’s coming? I’ve seen some episodes where the addict greets Jeff and indicates that he knows who he is, but of course by then the intervention is under way. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/54 "2015-04-30T15:07:48Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I started watching those hoarder shows (I’m not going to look up their precise names) because of genuine interest in the underlying disorder that causes a person to become a hoarder. My mom was and my brother is borderline. > > I couldn’t continue watching them because I now actively dislike them. Hoarding is a sad, frustrating mental illness. Rather than gain an insight into how to help folks like this, I found it obvious that it’s almost impossible to help them and it became too depressing to watch. Disgusting, too. I have always been baffled why anyone who wasn’t dealing with a hoarder personally would even be interested in these shows. It was pretty stunning to me just how similar the hoarders are though, even the one I knew. The complete delusion and refusal to face reality is amazing to see when you see it time and time and time. ---
**Author:** ![Abracadebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Abracadebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abracadebra)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/55 "2015-04-30T15:16:28Z")
Mr. Abs and I love Survivor. We only watch Bar Rescue to see if Jon Tapper gets so worked up that he has a stroke or brain aneurysm while dealing with the idiot bar owners. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/56 "2015-04-30T15:30:04Z")
I watched Storage Wars until I learned that the producers seeded some items in the units. Also, there was one asshole who would outbid people just to be a jerk and cause he could. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/57 "2015-07-03T04:04:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, or… > > Food Network Guy: “So, what’s your story?” > > Contestant: “Well, my parents are Indian immigrants who came to America and then struggled so they could send me to culinary school. I went to Cordon Bleu in France, then went to work in Paris under Joel Robuchon. After working there for 7 years, I took a year’s sabbatical and traveled through France, learning everything I could about French regional cuisine. Then I came to America where I went to work for Hubert Keller as head chef of his restaurant in San Francisco. People think French cuisine is frightening, but really it’s easy, and I hope I can show the audience that they don’t have to be scared of French food…sort of French for the regular American.” > > Food Network Guy: “So, your parents are Indian? Ok, have you considered focusing on curries?” Update: Watching the latest FNS\* it was very clear they have no clue how to cater to millenials. One contestant had the bit of “hashtag” and Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschman and the hosts have no clue wtf that has to do with cooking. Giada even says hashtag has no taste. Thing is, I teach high schoolers and my son is in high school so if a food host adds peppers to a marinara sauce and says “hashtag spicy Italian” they get it or saying “hashtag asia-southwest mashup” is speaking to them. Some days every day is a hashtag this and hashtag that. The guy speaks to a younger crown _and no one one the show gets it_. OK so the guy is an arrogant prick and proud of it and the judges hate him and have really disrespected him unlike the other contestants. He is in the bottom three and the judges start to eliminate another contestant. Hashtag Prick smiles because he didn’t get eliminated and a host changes her vote so he is kicked off because the didn’t like him smiling for surviving another week. In a nutshell, FNS is showing everything wrong with the channel and why it had become irrelevant. \*Which launched the career of Guy Fieri FWIW ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/58 "2015-07-03T08:20:08Z")
[quote=“Saint\_Cad, post:57, topic:685571”] Update: Watching the latest FNS\* it was very clear they have no clue how to cater to millenials. One contestant had the bit of “hashtag” and Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschman and the hosts have no clue wtf that has to do with cooking. Giada even says hashtag has no taste. Thing is, I teach high schoolers and my son is in high school so if a food host adds peppers to a marinara sauce and says “hashtag spicy Italian” they get it or saying “hashtag asia-southwest mashup” is speaking to them. Some days every day is a hashtag this and hashtag that. The guy speaks to a younger crown _and no one one the show gets it_.[.QUOTE] Millenials aren’t FN’s target audience; ergo, why would they cater to them? Giada’s right, though: A hashtag in and of itself hasn’t any taste. The dish itself has to have SOME kind of taste before you go around hashtagging the hell out of it. > [@](#): > > OK so the guy is an arrogant prick and proud of it and the judges hate him and have really disrespected him unlike the other contestants. He is in the bottom three and the judges start to eliminate another contestant. Hashtag Prick smiles because he didn’t get eliminated and a host changes her vote so he is kicked off because the didn’t like him smiling for surviving another week. I stopped watching FNS this season because of that arrogant prick. He only was there for the draaaahma. There’s one every season. I don’t give a flying fuck if he was the only millenial contestant. He was rude AND disrespectful AND knew it. > [@](#): > > In a nutshell, FNS is showing everything wrong with the channel and why it had become irrelevant. There are a lot of things wrong with FN (there’s a whole thread over at Chowhound about it if you’re so inclined, btw). Catering to millenials seems to be very low priority on the “what’s wrong” scale. As I said above, they aren’t FN’s target audience. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/59 "2015-07-03T21:56:29Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Hashtag Prick smiles because he didn’t get eliminated and a host changes her vote so he is kicked off because the didn’t like him smiling for surviving another week. Correction: Hashtag Prick smirks at the contestant who is about to be told she’s going home and looks back at the judges like, “I knew there was no way you would send awesome, hip, #me home.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571/60 "2015-07-03T22:09:37Z")
Just like one of the first posts, I watched Bar Rescue pretty much for the first season. It flew apart for me for a couple of reasons: the owner who was pretty much a sexist (I know, they all are), but this guy was older, and seemed like an immigrant (not that that has to do with anything other than separating him from the pack). He was violent (I know), but by the end of day 5, he was Tapper’s best friend. No one goes through a change of heart that quickly. The other was one filmed in my neck of the woods. I read later how bad the new stuff Tapper put in was, ie, cheap flooring that they pasted over the old, wallpaper that came down in a matter of weeks, etc. But it stands to reason: how can you do a really good job of remodeling an entire bar in only a couple of days? Plus, with all the mold, moldy grease, roaches and rats all over the place, where the hell are the local health boards? Don’t they ever inspect these places? Why do these places need Tapper to come in and clean them up? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-shows-that-have-become-unwatchable/685571.md?page=4)