I like How Clean Is Your House; it helps me keep my own house clean. I used to like Wife Swap, but only the UK one and only for the first couple of seasons; it was a really interesting insight into the dynamics of different families and how people resolve conflict. Then it went down the typical route of being too famous and only attracting real oddballs who hammed it up for the camera.
A similar one is The World’s Strictest Parents - again, the UK one, not the US one - where the kids all genuinely to experience a huge amount of personal growth within a couple of weeks. I wish they’d do some ‘how are they now?’ visits.
In what way is mythbusters a reality show? So You Think You Can Dance seems to be more like a talent show, really.
I don’t know what category these sort of shows, but I enjoy watching those obstacle-course programs with my 9yo daughter - we shout out at all the crashes, falls in water, and mistakes. To her, I’m sure it looks like an Extreme Bouncy Place, what with all the brightly colored plastic. To me, it’s just goofy fun that I enjoy watching with her.
Add me to the list for Mythbusters (which I don’t really consider “reality television”, unless Mr. Wizard was, too), Dirty Jobs and Pawn Stars. Live to Dance was sweet, too, but could have been more in depth and longer running so we got to know these people a little better.
** Undercover Boss** is a new “like” of mine. It’s incredibly formulaic (clueless CEO goes in cocky, gets an emotional makeover from Real Joes and throws his company’s money at the lucky few people he worked with during a week undercover), but it generally manages to make me tear up by the end. I’d like to see some more long term after shows - do the bosses stay changed? Do they make real changes in their companies that benefit more than the four employees who touched their hearts? Do they actually spend more quality time with their families that they missed so much? But for what it is, it’s pretty cool.
My favorite reality shows are The Amazing Race and American’s Next Top Model. I get much more flack for the latter than the former, but I find that I usually learn something interesting from both of them. The Amazing Race teaches me about other countries and cultures, and Top Model really delves into issues of body image, self esteem, and how to behave in the workplace. My friends wonder how a middle-aged feminist can possibly like a show about pretty young things, but I don’t see it that way at all. I see it as the one show where young women can’t really use their looks to get ahead, since they all were pre-selected for their looks, so they’ve got to rely on their other qualities instead.
Other shows I like include Project Runway, So You Think You Can Dance, Intervention and Hoarders. But my true guilty pleasure is Millionaire Matchmaker. That is a truly awful show that is just plain fun to watch, even when it’s quite clear that everything that happens has been staged for the camera.
A shoutout to my original favorite reality show, the one that made me think there might be something in them after all, Tough Enough. It was about a competition to become a professional wrestler, and like Top Model seemed to hold no interest for me, but turned out to be moving and compelling.
I’m not at all sure that they qualify as reality shows, but I love American Justice and 48 Hours. I’m intrigued with how real-life homicide detectives do their jobs. It is, of course, not at all like Monk or Sherlock Holmes. It’s more like lots and lots of hard legwork and asking a lot of skeevy people a lot of questions. Most homicides are not intricately set up and usually boil down to three or four basic motives.
I also like, in the case of American Justice, the recounting of famous trials and how the attorneys on each side set up their cases.
I don’t care for much of reality TV, but I will confess to stopping the channel selector on COPS if I happen to stumble across an ep. Other than that, the only ones I see regularly are Mythbusters and Pawn Stars. The latter is incredibly formulaic, but the whole shop crew is such a bunch of characters that I can’t help myself.
Amazing Race for all the reasons mentioned above.
Project Runway & Top Chef, both of which, on good seasons, are talented people doing creative work.
The semi-respectable ones:
Dancing with the Stars (which could go into the above category). It’s well done, family friendly entertainment with dancing. What’s not to love.
Chopped - probably because I don’t cook. But it’s like coming home to a refrigerator full of stuff and needing to make something out of it.
Guilty Pleasure:
RuPaul’s Drag Race - which starts up again soon and is awesome.
Does Anthony Bourdain’s "No Reservations" count as a reality show. If so, I have to list that among my favorites. The guy is such a bastard, but oh so beautiful.
I watch the goddamn Jersey Shore and I’m not afraid to admit it
I also like all of the Real Housewives shows (well, not OC so much). Something about rich people being horrible to each other really floats my boat.
I’m getting sort of tired of Hoarders. It’s pretty much the same thing each episode. It’s no longer shocking or weird. Just sad.
I also like** Pawn Stars, American Restoration** and Clean House. For some reason, Clean House seems more rewarding than Hoarders. I think maybe because the participants always come around.
