No love for The Amazing Race? A million dollars for the win and a chance to see places that you never would have seen before all over the world?
I’ll take it!
And I love the mention of Solitary. I thought I was the only one who watched this show! It’s fabulous and now over again for another season…so bummed.
I think Beauty and the Geek is up there, at least some of the earlier seasons. I’ve seen some very shy guys become a lot more comfortable in their own skin.
I’d agree with this. Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and Carrie Underwood alone clinch it for AI. Chris Daughtry, Fantasia, and Davids Cook and Archuletta are all doing well, too.
In regard to Top Chef, season 1 winner Harold has a great restaurant (Perilla) in the West Village. Pretty much every contestant on that show already has some sort of career that I imagine must get a boost because of the show (Brian Malarky was featured on a recent episode of Real Housewives of Orange Country, for instance).
Likewise, Project Runway contestants have said that they’ve benefited tremendously from the publicity of the show.
On the flipside you have something like America’s Next Top Model, which isn’t particularly beneficial to anybody except the winner (and even they tend to fade into obscurity pretty quickly). Only Adrian Curry and Yoanna have really gotten big careers out of the show.
Yeah, and all that after making yourself look like a desperate, slutty idiot on national TV. Sign me up!
I was thinking this, too. It’s the only reality show I’ve seen that I’d consider participating in.
I know that the one family featured that was from New Jersey ran into some problems. They lived in Irvington. When the house was renovated the town reassessed the property at $1mil and wanted them to pay property taxes on that. The State had to make a law inorder for the woman to keep her home.
I am currently at the mercy of AFN for my TV watching. It means I get to see shows wouldn’t normally see. Recently they had an episode where they made a big out of the fact that they took up a collection and paid off the mortgage. It seemed like it was an unusual event, not something they do every week.
As is Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.
What Not To Wear. It’s a lot ‘smaller’ show–one participant per episode, not a group and spread out over months. But the contributers get new clothes, usually a boost in self-esteem, more flattering hair and makeup, and the majority of the them say that it had a very positive impact on their lives, both in appearance and internally.