I’m kind of fascinated by the psychology of people who are on these shows, though I couldn’t bear to be around them in real life.
I watch 90-Day Fiance, Survivor, Big Brother, Flipping Out, Southern Charm, Vanderpump Rules, and Shahs of Sunset.
The Great British Baking Show, but ISTM to be more a game show than reality TV. I don’t doubt that the camera work is faked by showing the competitors doing things after “five minutes left, bakers!” that they actually did earlier. But we still never miss it. It’s not mean-spirited, and the competitors seem genuinely to be supportive of each other.
My wife likes Chopped, but it is a little too weird for me. They seem to always come up with some bizarre ingredient that no one has ever heard of, or that no one in his right mind would eat, and then expect them to make an entrée out of marshmallow tootsies and iguana jowls. With one of the judges saying confidently “Iguana jowls are tricky - you can’t over cook them or they get tough”.
If true crime shows count, there are several. We like Justice Served - Dangerous Affairs where spouses kill each other. My wife gets one point if there is life insurance involved, I get one point if the killing spouse is involved with two or more other people, and double if any of them are lesbians. (So far, she is ahead). Also See No Evil, about crimes caught on video cameras. Main lesson of this show - stay the fuck away from Wal-Mart. Anyone exiting Wally World after midnight is dead meat.
Regards,
Shodan
I know it’s all “reality” because it’s (supposedly) not scripted but I can’t put competition shows in the same category as something like the Kardashian’s. I’m talking about ones where the personalities don’t really matter like the cooking competitions and Forged in Fire. I’ll never watch a minute of the other kind of reality tv which seems to mostly be women yelling at each other.
I’ll look at any food show, the Great British Baking show, once in a great while. I used to like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters, if those are considered ‘reality shows’. Mostly, I watch the local news for the weather report. That’s it.
I’ve been watching a lot of reruns of the 5 seasons of Top Shot lately.
My GOAT is American Idol. I love it.
I will watch anything on HGTV.
I like true crime shows like Forensic Files. Years ago there was a great one called City Comfidential, wish it was still around.
When I get to see my sisters (not often enough) we like to watch the baking shows.
Queer Eye (on Netflix) is fun to watch.
I don’t watch much reality TV. The only shows I think I’ve watched is 1900 House, and ** Victorian Slum House**, and only a few episodes each
On the game show style, my wife and I have had a great deal of guilty pleasure wathching “Nailed it!”. If you only watch one episode of this show watch the Donald Trump cake one. I was laughing so hard at the end I could hardly breathe.
I haven’t seen this, but recently the Discovery Channel started a show called Master of Arms that sounds similar. I find it tolerable watching, but they show very little of the actual work being done, which is frustrating. Are you able to compare the two shows?
The Great British Baking Show is inexplicably compelling to me. I love it even though I’m a mediocre baker myself.
Lately I’ve been watching Expedition Unknown on Discovery. It’s somewhat iffy science & history-wise, but much more watchable than all the Ancient Aliens/America Unearthed crap that’s been on cable in recent years.
And of course, Survivor. 37 seasons and I’ve enjoyed every episode. John Mace, you’re absolutely right: this week’s episode was a doozy! I’m a big fan of Davey and Nick, at least for now.
Great British Bake Off (or whatever the name is). Yes the timelines are obviously edited but the integrity of the stories doesn’t seem to be violated.
This Old House
**Widerness Vet **
Chopped and the ilk.
Animal Cops to get my sweetness and a TON of rage and hate.
And honestly, I am so addicted to Parking Wars. It’s awful, but I can watch for hours.
If Chasing Classic Cars and Ice Road Truckers count I’d throw those in to the hat. I really enjoyed the first few seasons of Ice Road Truckers, it tailed off for me a few years back now though. Can’t believe it’s still running.
If competition shows count: America’s Got Talent
If they don’t: Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives
Another one…
Impractical Jokers
If that’s considered a reality show.
That’s the one show that my husband and I will both LOAO while watching.
Ditto, plus its spin-offs.
If you have Netflix, check out “Outback Truckers”. I’ve yet to notice any manufactured drama.
I used to watch Deadliest Catch, but that is some old bullshit, right there. I think the closest I come now is Maine Cabin Masters. The people are likable, respectful to one another and do some pretty amazing work. Fun to have on in the background when surfing the web. I just wish I could hire people with anything close to that work ethic in my neck of the planet. :rolleyes:
Always and forever Survivor.
Also waiting for The Amazing Race to return. Should be an interesting season.
After ten seasons and a multitude of spinoffs, the nicest thing I can say about this show is that while it is choked to the gills with the usual reality TV garbage (airing events out of sequence, super-glurgy profiles, announcers who make John Madden sound like a MENSA candidate, way too many crowd shots, way too much freaking screaming freaking directly freaking into the freaking freaking freaking camera, obviously premeditated “spontaneous” outbursts, etc.), the competition itself has remained untainted. I’ve never read about even a single allegation of match fixing, favoritism, gamesmanship, or course rigging. Anyone can defy the odds and succeed, anyone can suffer a horrific tumble, and you never know when it’ll happen. And because there almost never is a champion, that takes away all the championship drama and makes the game the thing.
Beats Dancing With The Stars any day! 
Hands down for me…American Pickers.
Several posters have mentioned that they like The Great British Bake Off because it’s not mean-spirited and the competitors like and support each other. That’s one of the reasons my wife and I watch Face Off, a competition show about movie makeup artists. They all live together in a house, but the audience almost never sees it - the drama comes not from interpersonal conflict, but from the artistic and technical challenges of the makeups. Are those wings going to look real? Can she get that mold cleaned out in time? Can he hide that tear in the prosthetic with a great paint job?
The judges offer useful and professional critiques, and are never cruel, and the artists help each other when one gets in a pickle. And they have a tradition at the end of each show - the eliminated artist gets a group hug from everyone else.
Aside from all this, it’s fascinating to watch both their artistic and technical creativity.