This was inspired by the "worst talk shows" thread in the 90's section, and I just figured that since reality TV is to this decade what talk shows were to the 90's, that I'd ask a very similar question.

In my opinion, none of them are any good, but the worst of all of them I'd say would be Flavor of Love, I Love New York, Rock of Love (all the sheeshty VH1 has-been reality shows), Big Brother, and American Idol.

I think to say that no reality show is good is a bit judgmental.

There are entertaining reality shows out there.

Amazing Race
Top Chef
Design Star
Oprah's Big Give
Hell's Kitchen

And what about service shows like
Extreme Home Makeover
Kitchen Nightmares
Deserving Designs

I agree though I hate the dating shows! I can't stand watching people degrade themselves for a chance to be on TV....let's face it no one who goes on these shows is looking for love. 

However, I watch a lot of reality.

This season's Survivor (Fans vs Favorites) was one of the best installments of the show's run.
I watch American Idol but was happier with it in the beginning
There's a show on the N (no not Queen Bees  ;D ) its called Student Body and its helping teens with weight loss...it has been inspiring.
I Absolutely LOVE  Flipping Out with Jeff Lewis
I love The Academy a show about cadets in the police academy
I love Celebrity Fit Club
I enjoyed I Know my Kid is a Star but i realize I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons
Watching Supernanny makes me glad I decided not to have kids
and Wife Swap when it first started was an interesting experiment but now its just about getting viewers so they've gotten a bit overboard.

and the show that started my love of reality was a little gem I stumbled upon accidentally.  It was called Starting Over and was a show about women who moved into a house to learn skills (self help life skills) to Start their lives over. They had different issues, weight, new jobs, financial freedom, relationship issues...but it wasn't like the prime time reality shows it was truly about getting healthy- emotionally healthy- and I feel in love with the show and the people on it.  Most of them are my myspace friends now.

I think to say that no reality show is good is a bit judgmental.




I'm not necessarily being judgmental, I just dislike reality TV, that's all  :)

I'm not necessarily being judgmental, I just dislike reality TV, that's all  :)


Yeah and I watch them a little too much...but I do draw the line at the trashy LOVE ones like A Shot At, Flava of, Rock of or I luv NY and the Bachelor... I really hate those shows. 

I don't watch the Kardashians, Girls Next Door, The Hills, The Women of the OC, Big Brother or those other shows... Hey I do have my standards  ;D

I think to say that no reality show is good is a bit judgmental.
There are a few good ones, like some of which you listed. Ones that aren't shallow, or boring or just about a bunch of idiots eager to win their 15 minutes of fame.  ::) I rarely watch TV anymore, so I don't bother even with the good reality shows.

"Queen Bees on the N" sounds pretty rotten. ::) But snoz's write-ups in the other thread are hilarious. ;D

In my opinion, none of them are any good, but the worst of all of them I'd say would be Flavor of Love, I Love New York, Rock of Love (all the sheeshty VH1 has-been reality shows), Big Brother, and American Idol.


I agree with you on the VH-1 reality shows.  Those are just so trashy.  But I have to admit I have tuned in from time to time when there is nothing else to watch.  A Shot of Love I don't even want my kid to watch.

I have watched Big Brother and still enjoy American Idol.

America's Got Talent I watch from time to time also.

Design Star and The Next Food Network Star is entertaining.

I don't like any of them myself.

VegettoVag90,

I'd say the worst reality show would be that "Celebrity Singing" show they had about 2 years ago.  They had people like Lea Thompson and others get on and sing.  What a suck fest, sounded like a room full of cats being shaved by a snow plow.  :o

One of my favorite reality shows (yeah it is a guilty pleasure) is the current "I Love Money" on VH1.

the worst? probably The Bachelor, or Big Brother.

I'm not really a fan of the genre myself, but if I had to pick the worst I would probably go with "Joe Millionaire" from several years back. The whole premise of that show was just so stupid to me.

I would say 98% of them suck but the worst is "Wife Swap".

i actually like "scare tactics" but it should probably be illegal. if it's real it amounts to psychological torture.

What a suck fest, sounded like a room full of cats being shaved by a snow plow.  :o


Karma for the laugh!

Ant

how about I'm a celeberty get me out of here as the worst realty show ever of this decade

"Queen Bees on the N" sounds pretty rotten. ::) But snoz's write-ups in the other thread are hilarious. ;D

Thanks... I watch (and write) so you don't have to.  ;D

karma

Thanks... I watch (and write) so you don't have to.  ;D

karma


I'm enjoying the write ups too.  ;D  I wonder if it will get bought by one of our stations in the U.K............

VegettoVag90,

I'd say the worst reality show would be that "Celebrity Singing" show they had about 2 years ago.  They had people like Lea Thompson and others get on and sing.  What a suck fest, sounded like a room full of cats being shaved by a snow plow.  :o

One of my favorite reality shows (yeah it is a guilty pleasure) is the current "I Love Money" on VH1.
which one sounded the most like a room full of cats being shaved by a snow plow??I do think Cheech Marin really enjoyed being on it though.

I'm enjoying the write ups too.  ;D  I wonder if it will get bought by one of our stations in the U.K............


dare I ask? do they have teens that shallow in the UK?  The only that would make the show more hilarious is watching girls whine with proper, polished British accents...that would just seem ludicrously funny to me.


I don't know if you can access it in the UK but if you want to laugh they have full episodes at the-n.com I'll be doing this weeks commentary tomorrow so I'll just post a link there. 

All of them.

I kind of like Wife Swap - cool idea.

The problem with reality TV is it's not experimental anymore, it's become a contrived, banal soap-opera without any interesting characters playing the roles. For example, Big Brother initially was 'stick a load of people in a house for so long under constant surveilance and see what happens'. Now it's become a freak show where the producers are constantly stirring the pot in order to produce ratings to the point where it isn't even resembling reality anymore, it's exploitation.

What the producer's don't seem to realise is these people need personalities, brains and some kind of soul to make this kind of thing remotely interesting.

There is nothing new about X Factor/Pop Idol/American Idol/Britain's Got Talent as Opportunity Knocks and New Faces were doing this years ago (in New Faces, the theatre audience voted up until the final and then the public voted). The only differing factor is the public get to vote every step of the way and there are some histrionics thrown in to give it a cynical soap-opera feel ("here is Terry, he says that winning this will change his life and help pay towards a liver transplant for his sick girlfriend") .

I kind of like Wife Swap - cool idea.

The problem with reality TV is it's not experimental anymore, it's become a contrived, banal soap-opera without any interesting characters playing the roles.




The second line is exactly why I don't like Wife Swap anymore (I never liked Trading Spouses which aired on FOX).

I remember when Wife Swap first aired it was truly experimental- a walk in my shoes kind of show.  They took people led different lives and let them see how the other half lives. 

I remember one of the first episodes to air featured an urban, well off family. Mom- who I think was unemployed- had several nannys a day nanny, a night nanny a weekend nanny....all to raise her one son.  She needed the nannies because she spent her days shopping and working out and didn't have time to be a mom.  Dad worked 15 hours a day and never saw his kid either.

These parents only realized what they were missing after they saw themselves through the eyes of the swapped mom.  That was real.


now its just about getting people who are different who seem think only their way is right. No one ever seems to realize that both sides are extreme and maybe they should search for middle ground. No now the show is like Trading Spouses.


The one Wife Swap that really ticked me off. 

Black Mom, White Mom.  White mom is upper middle. Black Mom lower middle.

White mom freaks when she goes to the black family because she didn't know any black folks and was scared.  (okay she was kind of funny in all her ignorance)

What pissed me off was the White Dad. As soon as she got there he had her doing chores.  Week one is about living in the shoes of the person who's house you moved into... the problem I had was that it was clear from White mom's introduction tape that she didn't spend a whole lot of time cleaning up but as soon as the black mom got there dad turned her into a maid.  >:(

The second line is exactly why I don't like Wife Swap anymore (I never liked Trading Spouses which aired on FOX).

I remember when Wife Swap first aired it was truly experimental- a walk in my shoes kind of show.  They took people led different lives and let them see how the other half lives. 

Yes, Wife Swap seemed like a programme that taught people about looking at life through another person's perspective.

I remember one of the first episodes to air featured an urban, well off family. Mom- who I think was unemployed- had several nannys a day nanny, a night nanny a weekend nanny....all to raise her one son.  She needed the nannies because she spent her days shopping and working out and didn't have time to be a mom.  Dad worked 15 hours a day and never saw his kid either.

These parents only realized what they were missing after they saw themselves through the eyes of the swapped mom.  That was real.

That's right. The whole thing seemed more . . . 'organic'? Is that the word? Lol.

now its just about getting people who are different who seem think only their way is right. No one ever seems to realize that both sides are extreme and maybe they should search for middle ground. No now the show is like Trading Spouses.

I just recently saw one American episode where an urban couple (the woman was dominant) had to swap with a travelling rodeo couple (the man was dominant) but it got too out of hand. The travelling rodeo man was breaking all the rules in the second week of his swap, even running away from the woman's home - it was a right mess.

The one Wife Swap that really ticked me off. 

Black Mom, White Mom.  White mom is upper middle. Black Mom lower middle.

White mom freaks when she goes to the black family because she didn't know any black folks and was scared.  (okay she was kind of funny in all her ignorance)

What pissed me off was the White Dad. As soon as she got there he had her doing chores.  Week one is about living in the shoes of the person who's house you moved into... the problem I had was that it was clear from White mom's introduction tape that she didn't spend a whole lot of time cleaning up but as soon as the black mom got there dad turned her into a maid.  >:(

I hadn't seen that one and was probably made as an intention to stir a hornet's nest. It doesn't take much for the topic of race to get out of control.

Meet the Press with Tim Russert
Bill O'Reilly
Hannity & Colmes.
Hannity
Rush Limbaugh...

Oh wait, you're talking about reality shows!

:D

I just recently saw one American episode where an urban couple (the woman was dominant) had to swap with a travelling rodeo couple (the man was dominant) but it got too out of hand. The travelling rodeo man was breaking all the rules in the second week of his swap, even running away from the woman's home - it was a right mess.



I think I did see that one. Did the husband (with the dominant wife) pick out her clothes for her in the morning and she was a DJ or something?  If this is the episode I'm thinking of  tell me... did walk away from the ep thinking the husband was a homosexual or was that just me?  :-\\

I think I did see that one. Did the husband (with the dominant wife) pick out her clothes for her in the morning and she was a DJ or something?  If this is the episode I'm thinking of  tell me... did walk away from the ep thinking the husband was a homosexual or was that just me?  :-\\


I don't think so. The dominant wife lived in suburbia with a husband that did all the housework because he felt insecure about not being able to do his best with his family . . . or something like that.

I don't think so. The dominant wife lived in suburbia with a husband that did all the housework because he felt insecure about not being able to do his best with his family . . . or something like that.


I don't know I have pretty good gaydar...if we're talking about the same episode I felt like either the couple faked the marriage to get on TV...too bad will and grace isn't still on that'd be a great storyline.... or the guy is in serious denial.

Meet the Press with Tim Russert
Bill O'Reilly
Hannity & Colmes.
Hannity
Rush Limbaugh...

Oh wait, you're talking about reality shows!

:D


meet the press is good but still tim russert is still missed

Does the Home & Garden channel count?

I didn't like 'Survivor' or 'Shipwrecked.' They're boring to watch.

Have any of you seen "Gone Country" on the County Music Television station? They take b-list actors and singers and try to revamp them into country crooners. The first season had Bobby Brown and Carnie Wilson (that I remember) It was excruciating. (Especially when Bobby got drunk and wet the bed...)
But I'm gonna watch Season Two when it premieres because somehow they roped Jermaine Jackson into it. I kinda figured Latoya would do that--she has a country album I heard--but Jermaine should be a hoot.

Plus anyone named Jackson drags me in on the hopes of a possible Michael Jackson appearance.  ;D LOL. Y'know, as a supporting brother to Jermaine, not as an actual vocalist. It makes my hair hurt to think of Michael singing country. I can't see it happening. :o :o LOL.

Survivor.

It was a great concept, but the show had nothing to do with survival.  It was all a hyped-up soap opera/popularity contest.

It would have been a good show if they at least made them all work together.  Small populations cannot afford homicide.
::)

I only liked two Amish in the City was good, and The Surrealistic life (just the first couple of seasons). I thought Tammy Faye Baker and Ron Jermey becoming friends was so funny.
The rest all suck, I also can't stand American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.
The Worse would have to be The Flava of Love  Who cares?  Like the Brett Michaels one. Guess they really can't make it in music so they do these shows 8-P

all of them.  Reality television is trash
Survivor.

It was a great concept, but the show had nothing to do with survival.  It was all a hyped-up soap opera/popularity contest.

It would have been a good show if they at least made them all work together.  Small populations cannot afford homicide.
::)


If they made a "real" survivor, I'd watch that.  By real, I'm talking no camera crew or host on the island.  Just hidden cameras placed in various locations, and the only thing on the island are the contestants

all of them.  Reality television is trash
If they made a "real" survivor, I'd watch that.  By real, I'm talking no camera crew or host on the island.  Just hidden cameras placed in various locations, and the only thing on the island are the contestants


Hey Jason did you ever see the film Series 7 starring that chick from the well in Silence of the Lambs? It is shot like a reality TV show and the premise is last person alive is the winner that week only to have to do it all over again next week. They actually force the contestants to kill or be killed (complete with fake commercials)  ;D



as for Survivor and Simple life I always wanted to see more real world reality in these shows.

Survivor. Drop the privileged yahoos in the middle of hood... Survive this sucka!  ;D


For simple life: I would have enjoyed it if they forced the girls to live in a small apt. and work a menial job and try to survive - keep the electricity and phone on.  Eat Top Ramen cause it's all they can afford. etc... that would have been something,

Hey Jason did you ever see the film Series 7 starring that chick from the well in Silence of the Lambs? It is shot like a reality TV show and the premise is last person alive is the winner that week only to have to do it all over again next week. They actually force the contestants to kill or be killed (complete with fake commercials)  ;D



as for Survivor and Simple life I always wanted to see more real world reality in these shows.

Survivor. Drop the privileged yahoos in the middle of hood... Survive this sucka!  ;D
I said the same thing :)


For simple life: I would have enjoyed it if they forced the girls to live in a small apt. and work a menial job and try to survive - keep the electricity and phone on.  Eat Top Ramen cause it's all they can afford. etc... that would have been something,

That show was so annoying  with those two twits, they should have done it like 30 days did actually living on minimum wage..Oh sorry thats what you said!! I think South Park did an episode where Paris Hiltons Dog keeps committing suicide, and she adopts Butters. If I remember correctly. It was a hoot 
Senior moment strikes again ;D