There is no reality TV in my house other than Survivor.
I like some ‘jobs’ ones in small doses like NY Ink and… drawing a blank, but I don’t follow any closely. The tattoo ones just have too much drama for my tastes. Dirty Jobs is okay, but not especially compelling.
I love the history ones. Especially the British ones where a family tries to live in another time. Plus, antiques roadshow. Related are the ‘scientific’ house shows like Discovery’s ‘Colony’ where they put a group of people in the situation of being survivors of a global plague. Loved the MacGyver aspects of it.
Reno shows are good, but I’ve kind of got overload - Mike Holmes, This Old House, Kitchen confidential, Flip This House, Brian Baumler’s shows, etc, etc. It’s just too much.
Finally, I love TAR because it rewards merit rather than ‘games playing’ like survivor. I’d love a version of Survivor where the people who are best at making fires, creating excellent shelter and getting food move on rather than those who are best at backstabbing.
A clarification - under ‘History’, do you mean documentaries? I’m totally unfamiliar with ‘Regency House’, and PBS covers an awful lot…
I’ll admit I watch a lot of reality TV. I don’t quite get the hate for it. Yeah it’s non-scripted but producer-influenced, and heavily edited. So what?
It always seems like people get mad at others for watching reality shows like Real Housewives because people think we think the characters are to be emulated or we think it’s real life. Turns out that’s not how I view it at all. I tune in for the trainwrecks. I’d rather watch that show than a scripted show like Two and a Half Men. That’s just how I am.
Out of all the types listed I didn’t choose “paranormal”, dating, jobs or the non-job competitions and hidden camera.
I watch: Jersey Shore, all of the Real Housewives, Pawn Stars, American Restoration, The Apprentice, Supernanny, Wife Swap and will watch pretty much anything on HGTV. I used to watch The Osbornes, I’m a Celebrity… and The Real World. I’ve been watching a lot of Kitchen Nightmares and the other day I caught a marathon of some show staring a woman named Tamara.
I prefer the competition shows because the contest gives it a base reality - some people win and some people lose. And for that reason, I want competitions where there are objective standards for winning and not just judging by celebrities or viewers.
I guess Full Metal Jousting qualifies as “sports competition”, eh? I don’t know where Worst Cooks in America fits, “self improvement” maybe.
One thing I like about the structure of Top Shot is that it’s not just a popularity contest; even if you’re sent to elimination every week, if you make your shots, you will win.
Yup, that sounds right.
Oh, what about the “saving your business” ones? Besides Kitchen Nightmares/Restaurant Impossible, I started watching Restaurant Stakeout (your restaurant is failing? Let’s put in security cameras and watch your staff fuck it all up) and Tabatha Takes Over (ditto for salons).
Does Mythbusters count as reality TV. I’ve never really thought of it a reality show. They’re not competing for anything. They’re not documenting the cast’s personal lives. They’re not generating any fake drama, other than that inherent to the experiment they’re doing (like will this car really take off like a rocket). It’s basically a science show with a lot of explosions.
A couple of years ago there were several “live like it’s year whatever” shows on PBS – Regency House, another set in Edwardian times, and a third, I think, on the frontier.
I actually forgot about Antiques Roadshow and the like, but I guess here is as good a place as any to put those.
Not all nonfiction TV is “reality” TV. I think Mythbusters, specifically, is an example of a nonfiction show that isn’t reality TV.
I really should have gotten some help on the list of categories before posting the poll – damn my impetuousness. Should we tweak the list and repost the poll, or is that overkill?
I like Survivor and The Amazing Race and you can mark me down as another who really misses The Mole.
These! I guess those go in ‘Other’, but I think they deserve their own category!
Also, I really enjoyed Holmes on Homes for a long time. Then it started getting a little silly and contrived.
or Jeopardy!?
Remember when MTV was all about music and didn’t sell out to become reality TV?
Forgot about Full Metal Jousting. I’ve caught a couple of episodes and I liked it.
I have enjoyed Auction Hunters, and for some strange reason, Bar Rescue.
I guess both of those would be under the Job category.
I checked all the competition categories except job competition, but I like Chopped, Iron Chef, etc., so maybe I should have ticked that off too. I consider them variations in game shows. Jeopardy! is my favorite show of all time. I watch a fair bit of sports too. I like competitions of all sorts.
OOOoooh, that sounds fascinating!
My first thought was “I hate all reality TV!” Then your list reminded me of stuff on PBS & the decorating/food shows. Not the competitions–but real people doing realish things. Yes, I know the House Hunters have already picked their house; but a few of them aren’t clueless fools & House Hunters International lets me snoop overseas.
A category you missed: Makeovers! Best represented by What Not To Wear with Trinny & Susannah, shown here on BBCamerica. (The US version is OK.)
I do avoid most Reality TV. Please, let somebody write a script & hire some real actors! Since the guys on (BBCamerica’s)* Top Gear* have been doing their show for years, I’ll consider them pros.
In 2011, it was more Shakespearean Tragedy.
I voted ‘Other’, largely because I don’t know if other people would class the shows I’m thinking of as ‘Reality TV’ as opposed to ‘Documentary’. Let me give you some examples…
Michael Palin - Around the World in 80 Days, Pacific Rim, Pole to Pole… Were these Travel-based reality shows or documentaries? In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed them.
Terry Jones - The Crusades, Medieval Lives
Tony Robinson - Time Team… Were these History-based reality shows? (I also voted ‘History’, based entirely on the large number of PBS shows I’ve enjoyed.)
Yehudi Menuhin - The Music of Man
Carl Sagan - Cosmos
James Burke - Connections
Anything by National Geographic
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
A&E - Biography
Again, are these reality shows? I’d call them documentaries… Also, I know I’m showing my age with these, but I’d love for someone to bring them back! There was also that great series about the moon landing in the late sixties, I’d love to see that again! 
So, I may have just skewed your numbers for no reason…
I voted for “Kids” because I have seen every single episode of Toddlers & Tiaras, but to say I enjoy it is not strictly accurate. I cringe all the way through, but I watch to allay my fear that I am the worst mother in the world. It turns out that I am not. Not by a long shot. I do worry for the little girls and the occasional little boy subjected to pageant life.
I liked the first few seasons of Deadliest Catch, but drifted away from it. I watch all the iterations of Top Chef, though each of the last three seasons I’ve been kind of lukewarm to it and declared I wouldn’t miss if it didn’t come back. If Chopped counts I’d put that on my list.
My preference is for shows like Chopped or Pawn Stars where there isn’t a story arc I need to keep up with.