# What do you think is the 'most real' reality show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913 "2014-02-09T20:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/41 "2014-02-11T15:29:10Z")
My money is on WWE. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/42 "2014-02-11T15:54:41Z")
What, no love for American Restorations? I recall Rick’s first appearance on an episode of Pawn Stars as one of the peripheral expert characters – he was just as hoky-enthusiastic then as he is on his own show. The crew byplay is predictably clumsy, but the end products he turns out are amazing. And the reveals are just plain fun. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/43 "2014-02-11T16:35:12Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > It’s not staged, so there’s that going for it, but I doubt IRL cops waste that much time lecturing drunks and druggies and wife-beaters. At least I hope they don’t. You would be surprised. I would say that Cops is probably the most real. I know a couple of people who have been on it. They film hundreds of hours in order to get the bits that would be interesting to watch. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Yeah, kinda related, I’d say _48 Hours_ is the least sensationalistic “Murder Porn” show. I haven’t seen any actor re-creations. Hate to burst your bubble but there are some recreations. Just not with actors. My department had a minor role in helping with a big city murder they were doing an episode on. They came and filmed us taking phone calls from the other department and pretending to do some of the research. This was long after it happened. Nothing was shown that didn’t happen but it was a recreation. They never used the footage on the show but if they did that with us I’m sure its done on every episode. > [@fifty-six](#): > > I have seen behind the scenes filming in person of this show in Homer and Dutch Harbor and have spent time on the Time Bandit on The Pribilof Islands with the film crews and after hours when they went to sleep. (Fun stories after the camera men go to sleep.) Although the flavor and spirit is somewhat captured clever editing creates scenes that are far far from reality. When I went to Alaska we went on the fishing tour with Derrick Ray. He did not go into details but he told everyone to understand that the show is entertainment and not actual reality. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/44 "2014-02-11T16:40:55Z")
How about the “most real” reality channel? My old apartment had a CCTV installed to watch the apartment playground and all TVs plugged into the building’s cable would have the channel with that feed. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/45 "2014-02-11T16:49:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How about _60 Minutes_? I used to watch _60 Minutes_. Once, they did a segment on a subject about which I am considerably more informed than the average viewer. I daresay there is only slightly less creative editing occurring on _60 Minutes_ than there is on the\* Real Housewives\* shows. That’s a bit hyperbolic, I realize. But don’t ever forget that, just because they call it NEWS, don’t think they’re not editing to attract more viewers. It’s just a different set of viewers than those watching _Honey Boo Boo_. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/46 "2014-02-11T16:51:47Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > I used to watch _60 Minutes_. Once, they did a segment on a subject about which I am considerably more informed than the average viewer. I daresay there is only slightly less creative editing occurring on _60 Minutes_ than there is on the\* Real Housewives\* shows. > > That’s a bit hyperbolic, I realize. But don’t ever forget that, just because they call it NEWS, don’t think they’re not editing to attract more viewers. It’s just a different set of viewers than those watching _Honey Boo Boo_. Just curious: What was the subject? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/47 "2014-02-11T19:41:38Z")
> [@Grey\_area](#): > > How about the “most real” reality channel? > > My old apartment had a CCTV installed to watch the apartment playground and all TVs plugged into the building’s cable would have the channel with that feed. > > Huh? Was this intentional? I can think of 3 reasons for this, none of them good: 1. Paranoiacs thinking that pedophiles are lurking to abuse the children. 2. Pedophiles who don’t have to do all the legwork or risk when watching children. 3. Bad parents who send their kids to the park and switch to the CCTV when their “stories” are in commercial. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/48 "2014-02-11T19:54:08Z")
[Hotel Impossible](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_impossible) - Anthony gets a bit dramatic in front of the cameras but there’s no way the shittiness at the hotels he fixes can be staged. For contrast, the first three episodes of [Airplane Repo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane_Repo)seemed absolutely realistic, and the following ones as phony as you could imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/49 "2014-02-11T20:04:26Z")
Re: The ID channel “Murder Porn” shows. I think “Joe Kenda: Homicide Hunter” finds the right balance. It doesn’t seem lurid to me, and I get the impression Kenda really cares. But, damn…there sure are a lot of murders in Colorado Springs. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/50 "2014-02-11T20:06:36Z")
Any reality show is going to have an element of “unreal” to it because there’s an audience wanting to be entertained. That said, my picks for the most “real” are Deadliest Catch, Alaska The Last Frontier, and Yukon Men. The last two, in particular, depict a way of life that is so very different from the way most of us live. Survivorman is in a class by itself, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/51 "2014-02-11T20:44:00Z")
Survivorman was definitely my first thought. Top notch show IMO. He isn’t a stuntman like Bear Grylls. Les Stroud did an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit recently: [Reddit - Dive into anything](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1aj9xu/) ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/52 "2014-02-11T22:12:43Z")
Netflix informs me that Mythbusters is classed as a reality show, so I’d say probably that. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/53 "2014-02-12T00:41:28Z")
Saw _Extreme Cheapskates_ today for the first time. Asian lady, food from dumpsters, didn’t use toilet paper, washed her clothes in the shower, unhooked the gas range in her apartment to avoid paying the $17 monthly minimum. The only part that felt staged was when a friend and his girlfriend came over. Nobody asked what I wanted to know: How much money do you make and what are you doing with the money you’re saving. She seemed intelligent and had a job. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/54 "2015-01-05T01:16:52Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > Survivorman is in a class by itself, for obvious reasons. > [@](#): > > Survivorman was definitely my first thought. Top notch show IMO. Sirliarman is the same any other “reality” show, he does have survival skills, but he has better editing skills. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/55 "2015-01-05T04:56:18Z")
Going back to the OT, is “Parking Wars” the one about the meter cops and the impound lot in Philly? That always struck me as pretty realistic. Or as realistic any thing can be when you’ve got a crew going along and recording it. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/56 "2015-01-05T05:14:08Z")
Most real has gotta be Top Shot followed very closely by Survivorman. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/57 "2015-01-05T07:07:26Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > [Survivorman](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770659/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) is about as real as you can get. It’s just him in the wilderness with some cameras recording how he copes with different survival scenarios. He doesn’t have secret stashes of food or gear. He’ll use whatever he started out with and forage for the rest. > > He does have a radio he can use to call his crew for help, but I don’t think that’s ever happened. I think he aid there has been some episodes where what he thought was a secluded area and other people have showed up or he was spotted by would be rescuers who really thought he was in danger and he had to tell them he was ok and its was part of a show. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/58 "2015-01-05T12:50:17Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Going back to the OT, is “Parking Wars” the one about the meter cops and the impound lot in Philly? That always struck me as pretty realistic. Or as realistic any thing can be when you’ve got a crew going along and recording it. My husband will turn this on if it happens to be on when he’s surfing. Honest-to-goodness, I don’t get it. I would have paid good money to be in the pitch meeting for this show. Following meter cops with a camera? Really?? I don’t get it, but then I don’t get “reality TV” anyway. Besides being fakey, it’s so voyeuristic. I’ve seen enough on promos or clicking thru the channels to know I can’t watch this stuff. I’m not entertained by people embarrassing or humiliating themselves. But I guess I’m in a minority, at least among TV viewers. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/59 "2015-01-05T12:57:43Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > My husband will turn this on if it happens to be on when he’s surfing. Honest-to-goodness, I don’t get it. I would have paid good money to be in the pitch meeting for this show. Following meter cops with a camera? Really?? > > I don’t get it, but then I don’t get “reality TV” anyway. Besides being fakey, it’s so voyeuristic. I’ve seen enough on promos or clicking thru the channels to know I can’t watch this stuff. I’m not entertained by people embarrassing or humiliating themselves. But I guess I’m in a minority, at least among TV viewers. This one was kinda interesting to me since I work in downtown Detroit, and smoke, so I would see them running around, following with their cameras, and had no idea what it was for at first. Never saw anything interesting happen though,so I guess I missed my chance to be in the background on TV 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913/60 "2015-01-05T13:53:26Z")
Naked and Afraid seems relatively genuine. The first two seasons of Total Divas on TLC (about female wrestlers) wasn’t totally off-the-charts. There was a good amount of scripting yeah, but overall it was more genuine then how it is now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-real-reality-show/680913.md?page=4)