What reality television shows where emerging in the late 1990's?

i think there was a movie about that made.
"The Truman Show" I think  :(

^ Totally forgot about that movie till I read this post.

I guess that was slightly ahead of its time in a sense. When I went to see it in 1997, I remember being really bored and disappointed, since as a big Jim Carrey fan I was sort of expecting another Ace Ventura, Dumb & Dumber-type movie. That was the beginning, I think, of his change in direction (although as recently as 2003 he did Bruce Almighty, which is more in his old style).

However, I later thought about it and, I realized I needed to take it on its own terms - a comedy/drama about a guy who'se life has been on TV. By that logic it was an interesting idea.

ED-TV would be another one, from 1999. I liked that one as well - more of a straight comedy.

I don't think TV jumped on it until Survivor in 2000, although I guess MTV shows like Real World were sort of a precursor to it.

I also think that show "Blind Date" was one of those "reality" shows that came out (1998) before "Survivor." I don't know why "Survivor" caught on so much. That same year (1999), Big Brother came out and that was just God awful nonsense. To me, very few have been worth watching. I think they have literally ruined network TV.

The Real World and Road Rules were the big reality shows in the 90's.  I've also heard some say that America's Funniest Home Videos was sort of like an early foray into reality tv as well.

I also think that show "Blind Date" was one of those "reality" shows that came out (1998) before "Survivor." I don't know why "Survivor" caught on so much. That same year (1999), Big Brother came out and that was just God awful nonsense. To me, very few have been worth watching. I think they have literally ruined network TV.


Great points - as always. :)

I was really into Blind Date when it started (still am too) as well as the short-lived return of Love Connection in '99 with a guy named Pat Bullard replacing Chuck. That kind of reality TV is cool since it's just some 5-10 minute segments on different sets of people - it's not like it's gonna take an entire season for them to finish a date! ;D

As for Survivor, I admit I liked the first season, but that's it. I guess me being the nostalgic person I am, I got too "attached" to that cast to wanna watch the new seasons/locations, LOL. Well, that and the fact that the Reality TV craze still wasn't completely covering the scope of TV yet - that didn't happen until around 2002. It was still tolerable in the very late 90s/early 00's.

PS: I hated Big Brother from the start too!

America's Dumbest Criminals started in 1996.

It's always fun seeing dumb criminals getting caught in the act.  ;D

^ Yeah it is. ;D

On that level, I guess you could call COPS a reality show too - that started in, I think, 1989. There's a fair share of dumb criminals there too.

who wants to marry a multimillionare 1999