Reality television gets a bad reputation, how many times have you been ashamed to confess that you spent almost the entire weekend binge-watching your favourite “trashy show”? However, as the years 2020 and 2021 demonstrate, the format is changing.
These shows aren’t only there to make you feel good about your life decisions, but there are a few who do just that. Some of the genre’s classics, such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, are ending their run, while others, such as The Bachelor franchise, are bringing long-overdue adjustments. Legendary and The Big Day, for example, are both different and original.
A few of the best reality TV shows to watch while looking for new content or going through the entire catalogue of your latest binge-watch are mentioned here.
1. Queer Eye
The Fab 5, a group of queer and homosexuals who each have an independent focus on fashion, style, personal appearance, interior decorating, and culture, execute a makeover on an individual in this makeover series, previously titled Queer Eye for The Straight Guy (they removed the “straight guy” portion for the revival, which is all-inclusive). From 2003 to2007, the actual series premiered on Bravo for five seasons. The Netflix revival premiered in 2018. The 4th and 5th seasons of the main series can be streamed on Amazon Prime, and the revival is currently streaming on Netflix.
2. America’s next top model
The most popular and iconic reality show aired in 2003. The first six seasons (a.k.a. “cycles”) premiered on UPN, followed by the next sixteen cycles on The CW till the TV show was cancelled in October 2015. The show was brought back in 2017 with Cycle 24 and is presently streaming on VH1. Tyra Banks hosted this competition for ambitious models to fight for the title of “America’s Next Top Model” and the chance to start their career as a model. Hulu has the first twenty-two seasons accessible for streaming.
3. American Idol
Hundreds and thousands of people audition, millions around the world vote, and only one person is chosen. To date, American Idol is among the most well-known singing competition reality TV shows. The show focuses on Simon Fuller’s British show Pop Idol, in which singers compete for their big break in front of a panel of judges, however, the fate of the contestants is decided by millions of voters around the world. The judges’ banter and disputes are a major source of entertainment during the season, in turn to the nail-biting competition. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson were among the original judges, but newcomers Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, Lionel Richie, and Katy Perry have joined the panel in previous seasons. Hulu Has the show accessible for streaming.
4. Jersey Shore
There’s no scarcity of fist pumps, Ron Ron juice, and visits to the Jersey Shore’s Karma Night Club. This MTV reality show shows a group of flatmates–or self-described guidos and guidettes–as they enjoy the summer in Seaside Heights. The Jersey Shore team spends the summers having fun, fighting, and looking for new casual relationships after working lengthy shifts at the Shore Store. Some of the wackiest moments unfolded right on camera throughout six seasons, and it managed to keep audiences returning for more. Scenes such as Mike “The Situation” knocking himself out in Italy, Snooki’s intoxicated arrest, and Ronnie and Sammi Sweetheart’s tumultuous relationship are all unforgettable in the history of the show.
5. The Real Housewives
Expensive automobiles, shopping trips, luxury holidays, and a variety of cosmetic surgery The Real Housewives series offers viewers a look into the life of a wealthy housewife. Women who have everything, on the other hand, don’t quit gossiping when they’re together. Some housewives from New York, Beverly Hills, Dallas, and Atlanta are featured in the Bravo network collection. While fans get a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of the wealthy and famous, they may come to realize that perhaps the grass isn’t always greener. To be on this reality TV show ensures that any housewife’s personal life is revealed to millions around the world, for good or much worse. The show is available on Netflix. Amazon Prime and Hulu as well.
6. Top Chef
Top Chef is one of our favourite shows, but we can’t watch it without a bottomless bag/bowl/plate of food next to us. Everything else is something we adore. Padma Lakshmi, there’s drama and elegant food. What else do you ask for? Over the past 17 seasons, the competition has drawn chefs from around the country together just to participate in a series of cooking competitions in front of a panel of world-class cooks and judges. The challenges are competitive and entertaining, as well as varied and educational. Hulu has all the seasons to watch.
7. The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race has been one of the longest-running reality Television competitions in production, with over 30 seasons finished as well as an average of 10 million viewers every season. Since the award’s inception in 2003, The Amazing Race has received ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, there have only been 4 years that the award has not gone to The Amazing Race! The show follows 11 two-person teams as they compete in a race across the world. Teams should complete a series of mental and physical tasks at each location to uncover clues that will lead them to their next stop. Hulu has all seasons of the series.
8. Survivor
Will you play for a $1 million reward by trying to survive on a secluded island? Survivor, a popular Emmy-winning reality show, sends a bunch of strangers to a tropical location in the hopes of being “The Sole Survivor.” Contestants are divided into tribes in the early episodes and must find shelter and food together. You can watch all the seasons on Hulu, and Netflix does stream the first two seasons. Amazon Prime also has a few seasons streaming. Do not miss it at all!
9. Too Hot to Handle
Too Hot to Handle, a Netflix original series, has premiered, and fans have been raving about it so far. The show’s plot revolves around a group of stunning contestants who are stranded on an island. The players are free to mingle with one another, but if they get physical with one another, the prize money decreases from $100,000. The show’s producers continue to set rules to make it difficult for the contestants to keep up while avoiding any physical intimacy with the other contestants. Too Hot to Handle is in its first season, including eight episodes available only on Netflix.
10. Keeping Up with The Kardashians
Kim Kardashian refined what Paris Hilton started, and she did it under Paris’ supervision, no less. Paris’ former assistant took the “famous for being famous” trope to greater levels when she landed a reality show based on a leaked sex tape, only to turn it into a multibillion-dollar television and retail empire. We’re not here, however, to measure the Kardashians’ enormous cultural influence. We’ve come to judge their iconic show, which, after eighteen seasons, appears to surprise and entertain us with a blindingly myopic superficiality that we all can’t seem to get enough of. If you love seeing the sisters strut across Calabasas County for the sport of that, or you despise it, have something for everyone here. Netflix has currently started some seasons.
