Kind of the flip side of this thread currently going on in CS:
I divide my reality show likes into two categories - those shows that are genuinely compelling and, dare I say, even a little smart, and those that are simply train wreck style guilty pleasures.
Anyway in the former category I like the PBS “Colonial House” “1900 House” “Frontier House” type of shows where they take a family and basically make them live like in the olden days. Pretty interesting if you’re a history buff, and they offer some good insight into what daily life was like in the Victorian era, Colonial America, etc.
I also like “Holmes on Homes.” Yeah, he does appear to be hamming it up for the cameras sometimes, but this is one of the few shows on HGTV that reveals the dark side of the American dream, what can happen if you fail to do your due diligence when buying a house. It’s also the only show on there that I found useful when I myself was looking for a home.
I also like “Downsized” on WE. My wife and I found it while flipping through the channels one Saturday night and just got hooked. Yeah on one level it’s a little hard to feel sorry for a family living in a big house that failed to save for a rainy day. But it does offer a good look at just how hard it is to find a job right now, and again, it’s another program that shows the dark side of the American dream and what can happen when you don’t rein in your spending.
As for the train wreck type shows, my favorite would have to be Bret Michaels’ “Rock of Love” on VH1. Yes, it’s trashy to the extreme, but it’s just so much fun. And what can I say, I’m a fan of '80s hair metal (even had a chance to talk with Bret Michaels once).
I also like “Big Brother” on CBS, a show that’s far more compelling than it has any right to be. Sure, the drama is played up and don’t think for a second that the producers aren’t trying to pull the strings. But each season they always manage to develop a few characters that we end up rooting for or against.
The Amazing Race - Despite a (very) few allegations of production-cheating to ensure compelling finishes, this is probably the gold standard for me for regular network reality. No manufactured drama, no tasteless sexuality, and usually only a once-per-season disgusting food challenge.
Middle-brow:
Survivor - Although it’s been sinking into the “guilty occasionally-pleasure” category the last few seasons. I don’t know if I can watch another season with Russell…
Guilty pleasure:
Big Brother - God…they consistently pick the most tasteless, nasty, potty-mouthed, gutter-minded, horrible people to cast. The production manipulation isn’t even that big a secret anymore (especially if you follow the live feeds (or read live feed updates)). The whole thing is about two inches above the level of “show us your tits for bonus food”, and that’s mostly because the FCC would be on them (it should be noted that my middle-brow pick above reached that point a good 10 seasons ago, though not with explicit on-screen visibility). But I end up watching it every year (and we’re talking 3 GODDAM NIGHTS A WEEK!) plus surf for live feed updates. BB, I wish I knew how to quit you!
I love Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters. They try to be a bit more uplifting and enlightening than the usual reality show fare. Not that I don’t like the train wrecks. American Choppers: Senior vs. Junior has also grabbed my attention. I’m rooting for PJD to become a successful business. They grabbed a client away from OCC, for which Paul Teutel has sued Paulie. It’s sad that their family is so split up now, but they agreed to let cameras into their lives.
Hoarders and Intervention have also become two of my favorite reality shows.
I don’t like trainwreck reality shows. My wife can watch trash tv like no other but I can’t stand it at all. I’ll usually go in the other room and read.
I love So You Think You Can Dance. Once we get over the initial auditions there are very few trainwrecks. You can see how close the contestants get to each other, there aren’t nearly as many diva moments like you get on American Idol. The people who make it to the top whatever have insane amounts of talent.
I wouldn’t even count Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters in the same category as “reality shows,” though maybe the former would qualify. You do have average people portrayed, but the host comes in and helplessly screws up at doing their jobs.
My most favorite and best of the bunch I watch is Top Chef. No one is on the show because something is deeply wrong with them (though they may in fact have issues unrelated to the purpose if the show); it’s professional chefs/cooks at various levels of achievement competing with each other for money and prizes. No BS “head chef” position at someone else’s restaurant (I’m looking at you, Ramsay - I’d kill for a year’s worth of training under your and your real head chefs’ tutelage in your established restaurants, instead), pretty much no one who seems to be on there solely for the drama, etc.
Vaguely therapeutic: Hoarders. My house is a lot less cluttered these days, and having previously lived in a two-flat house that we shared with a hoarder upstairs (with stuff spilling over into common areas), it’s a good look into the mentality behind the problem.
Wait, one great reality-type show is Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word. He isn’t in raging jerk mode, teaches you at least one good recipe an episode, has some competition in a restaurant, lessons about where various foods come from, etc. Love it.
And I forgot my guilty pleasures:
Hell’s Kitchen: Until I snap and sit out a few shows because I can’t take these jerks any longer, then back for the last few episodes to catch the ending.
The Next Food Network Star: Can they find anyone with staying power? Tune in next season to find out! (Man, I hope Aarti sticks around.)
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares: The BBC America version is better than the FOX version, but now BBC America has been rebroadcasting the FOX episodes. :smack:
I watch two of the Real Housewives shows – Atlanta and Beverly Hills. But the only reason I watch is because of the blogging – the snark at TWOP and at the entertainment websites. If there wasn’t a place to talk about these women and their shenanigans (Camille Grammer is unbelievable!), I wouldn’t bother. I don’t socialize much IRL, and I guess these shows satisfy whatever it is that makes gossiping so much fun.
Ooh…I forgot about Tabatha! I don’t watch it regularly, but my partner does, and I like to listen from in front of the computer. The woman scares me…but she scares the salon owners and workers a lot more! Some of those salons you have to wonder how they were even still open…there is a LOT of unprofessional behavior going on.
The two types of Reality Shows are documentaries and game shows.
I never watch the game shows (Survivor, Amazing Race, American Idol, So You Think You can Dance, The Batchelor, Project Runway, etc.).
As for the documentaries, there are a few I will watch, usually with people doing their jobs: Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers (though they have game show aspects, that’s completely unimportant), and Pawn Stars. I like people doing interesting things and have a strong aversion of narcissism.
Deadliest Catch. Dirty Jobs. Those I consider relatively (RELATIVELY) educational.
I watch Hoarders because my students will ask me about it, and because it makes me clean my house. I am aware of the vaguely “freak show” aspect to it. I also watch Clean House because it makes me clean and get organized, and is less focused on really really mentally ill people.
My guilty pleasure will not be named, because it is SO TERRIBLE that I am ashamed of my complete addiction to it, and no one on this board has EVER mentioned that they watch it. I don’t want to be the person that gets pointed and laughed at.
Yeah, the ones who are consistently rude to their clients or leave out food. There was even one receptionist who kept hanging up on clients and on Tabatha when she first called. They really need Tabatha to tell them to stop doing this stuff?!
Big Brother could be so cool is the producers just played it straight. Stop casting for drama, stop playing up the drama, and like you said “stop pulling the strings”.
It would be way more interesting if they found people for this show via something like a lottery instead of finding the most attractive loud mouthed kids they can find. Put a dozen or so complete random strangers together and see what happens naturally throughout the game. Real personalities would emerge. It would be part game show part social experiment.
Clean House, though I don’t know how much I like it now that Niecy Nash is gone…
Used to watch Flip That House with that arrogant asshole in San Antonio… Rondo Montolongro or something. That was always entertaining, watching him take some piece of shit house, slap some paint and cheap carpet in there, and sell it for twice what he bought it for.
I really like Worst Cooks in America, although I end up screaming at the television because I’m so disgusted with how stupid the people on the show are.
If I happen to sit down and one of the food challenge shows is on the Food Network (Cupcake Wars, etc.) I’ll usually sit and watch until the end.
I still mourn the loss of Junkyard Wars/Scrapyard Wars. And Full Metal Challenge.
Arguably they were more game shows than reality shows, but if you ignore the almost certain off-camera tinkering that was required to get things working, you could pretty much see things happen in real time. And damn, they got some crazy stuff to work in not much time.
I guess Mythbusters is the current closest thing. Deadliest Catch was good for a few seasons, but how many times can you watch them haul pots in crappy weather?
The X vs Wild shows are occasionally decent, but usually contain at least one instance of the guy doing something that would get the normal person killed (e.g. shinnying across a ravine on a one inch branch or rappelling down an icy waterfall on parachute cord rather than walking around like a sane person.)
