TV Tuesdays: Reality Yay?

[yourlibrarian]

I realized that in last Saturday's post I failed to mention I was watching Dancing With the Stars. For some reason, I often forget to include it in shows I watch even though I've been doing so since it began.

As we haven't done one in a while, a poll!

Poll #30074 Unscripted Shows

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21

View Respondents

Do you ever watch unscripted shows?

View Answers

Yes
16 (76.2%)

No
5 (23.8%)

If yes, you

View Answers

have been doing so a long time
6 (37.5%)

watch every so often
5 (31.2%)

started watching more recently
1 (6.2%)

really only follow one or two shows
4 (25.0%)

What sorts of unscripted shows do you watch?

View Answers

Game shows
9 (52.9%)

Talk shows
3 (17.6%)

Competition shows
11 (64.7%)

Shows about families
0 (0.0%)

Shows about workplaces
0 (0.0%)

Shows about dating/romance
3 (17.6%)

Shows about friends
0 (0.0%)

Something else I'll mention in comments
6 (35.3%)

Unscripted shows are

View Answers

my favorite kind
1 (5.0%)

shows I like as much as scripted shows
2 (10.0%)

something I'll watch but not among my favorites
3 (15.0%)

shows I watch in particular circumstances
10 (50.0%)

shows I deliberately avoid
3 (15.0%)

shows I wish there were fewer of
1 (5.0%)

Comments

[mcbangle]

I selected "something else I'll mention in comments". I tend to put on House Hunters, home renovation shows, and cooking shows when I just want to zone out in front of the TV, but they didn't seem to fit in any of the available categories.

[yourlibrarian]

Ah yes, home and cooking shows are pretty typical but not necessarily competition related.

[meridian_rose]

I never thought of game shows or talk shows as 'unscripted'. I'll watch quiz shows and sometimes things like "Hotel Inspector" or "Come Dine With Me" but never "reality" shows like "Jersey Shore" or anything featuring a Kardashian which I think of as being the typical shows that are unscripted.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, I think what actually falls into the camp can vary and even stuff people do think of can be hard to classify!

[jo]

I have been a long-time fan of certain British panel shows, but I'm not sure how to classify those -- they're not really game shows, not competition shows (I mean, they do keep 100% meaningless, sometimes totally made-up "scores") -- things like Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie to You, Mock the Week, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, etc. I watch them because they're funny as f**k and make me laugh a lot.

I used to be a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance, but haven't watched in years. I do watch Great British Bake Off, and the Canadian version, as well as UK Landscape / Portrait Artist of the Year. I like competition shows that require some actual talent, I guess. And I watched season 3 of the UK's Race Across the World earlier this year, which I loved. And I am totally addicted to The Traitors, at least the UK and AUS versions. Haven't started watching the Canadian version yet -- waiting for more episodes to be available.

I also have what I call my "guilty pleasure" show -- The Curse of Oak Island. Again, don't know how you'd classify that one. Wikipedia says it's a "reality TV series that chronicles an eclectic team of treasure hunters and their search for legendary treasure on Oak Island, off the shore of Nova Scotia." Season 11 starts in November and I cannot wait!

[yourlibrarian]

Good question -- I guess it's a workplace kind of show? But it reminded me about all the nonscripted "supernatural" sort of shows, ghost hunters and that sort of thing. I'm not sure what category that would go in either.

[scintilla10]

Ooh, I just discovered The Traitors! It's very addictive! So far, I've watched the US version and the first season of AUS.

[jo]

The US one is the only one I haven't watched and don't plan on watching. I was put off of it when, for the first series, I learned half of the contestants were "stars" from other reality shows, rather than all just normal, unfamous people like the UK version. And the 2nd series of the US version has ditched ordinary normals completely and the entire cast will be reality-show "celebrities". The 2nd season of the AUS one had a few contestants who were sort of famous (in Australia at least -- I'd never heard of them), as did the NZ version. The Canadian one as well has cast a few people who were on other shows like Big Brother and Amazing Race, but most of the contestants are just regular people. I hope the UK one sticks with just regular, non-celeb types.

[feurioo]

The first unscripted shows I watched were talk shows as a kid. Then, dating shows on MTV (Room Raiders, Date My Mom, Next). Later on, watching different types of these shows became a group event with family and different sets of friends. (This is how I ended up watching a German cooking competition and a trashy German dating show for over a decade.)

More recently, I watched several seasons of The Circle with friends. The Circle (UK) was the best of the bunch, and I'm still upset over its cancellation. I also wish Netflix would finally renew the French and Brazilian versions instead of pumping out more mediocre US content.

Love Taskmaster . Finished The Devil's Plan a couple of days ago. Currently watching Glow Up S4. I wish there were more watchable cooking/baking shows available. GBBO seems wonderful but Amazon offers only seasons 3 to 6 -- and that for 25€-37€ per season.

[yourlibrarian]

There is such a wide variety of shows on offer, for sure. I was curious about how long people had been watching them particularly because there were articles about how many people developed new favorites during the pandemic. I know I had never watched Great British Baking Show until then.

[starfleetbrat]

I mostly watch competition shows. Things like Nailed It (US), The Great Pottery Throwdown (british), The Block (australian), Next in Fashion (US), Glow Up (british), etc. And I might watch some others that take my fancy like Antiques Roadshow, Queer Eye, Kitchen Nightmares etc. I never watch dating/romance shows or shows about families and tend to avoid them like the plague.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, the only ones I've tended to watch myself are competition shows like GBB and Project Runway.

[adafrog]

Those are great shows. (although I've not seen The Block). I agree about the dating/romance shows.
Have you seen Antiques Road*trip*? It has its own channel on Pluto. Very fun competition show with fun antiques experts, antique cars, and the occasional history lesson.

[senmut]

Back in the day, I loved game shows.

I also enjoyed an occasional Sally Jesse Raphael or Donahue.

And there is the original Whose Line Is It Anyway. Improv was fun.

[yourlibrarian]

I'd forgotten all about that until you mentioned it! Yes, I watched Whose Line for several years, early in its run I think.

[svgurl]

I like some reality shows, mostly the competition kind. I get second hand embarrassment easily so I can't watch certain types of dramatic ones, despite enjoying hearing about the drama on say, The Bachelor. There are shows I watch sporadically, like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy (and Who Wants to be a Millionare as a kid) and then there others that I will watch when I am bored, like there were a few weeks there when I was watching a bunch of "Say Yes to the Dress" and then dropped it. Same with Property Brothers. Sometimes, I liked watching The Great Christmas Light Fight - just all around light hearted shows.

The ones I keep up with most are The Voice and The Great British Bake Off.

[yourlibrarian]

I suspect I have tried out more shows than I remember. For example, I remember watching the cooking counterpart of Bake Off on Netflix a few years ago, which they did with families. There were things I liked about it but the format and people changed between S1 and S2 and I don't think I watched the whole thing.

[svgurl]

Oh yeah, same. Until someone mentions it, I will have totally forgotten about it. There are just so many baking/cooking shows out there! I used to watch Sugar Rush too, where the competitors were in pairs.

[yourlibrarian]

Oh I think I saw that too? It was for professional bakers who worked in pairs. I think I saw part of a season but it didn't really grab me.

[impala_chick]

I was the same way about Say Yes to the Dress! I think I ran out of free episodes to watch.

[svgurl]

Aww, that's too bad! There were just consistent marathons on a certain channel during that time so it was easy to keep watching. It's definitely very addictive!

[scintilla10]

Like some commentators above, cooking/baking shows (especially Great British Bake Off and Great Canadian Bake Off) and home renovation shows are some of the most common reality TV shows for me.

While I don't watch very many game shows, I love Only Connect. And a range of other British panel shows.

I used to watch more competition shows, such as early seasons of So You Think You Can Dance or Project Runway, though I mostly don't watch those anymore. Occasionally, I'll pick a new one up - I recently watched the US version of The Traitor, which was a lot of fun.

[yourlibrarian]

I had never watched food shows until the pandemic, but GBBS had such an easy feel to it, and some of the things made were so amazing. I saw that there's a U.S. version now but I haven't watched it yet.

[lycomingst]

I watch some cop shows on the ID network and The First 48 on A&E.

[yourlibrarian]

I swear there is always a new channel out there I haven't heard of! That's one thing that changed a lot in the years before we switched to streaming -- so many networks, and not always carried by our local cable outlet.

[lycomingst]

Something for every taste.

[adafrog]

I have been watching mostly 'unscripted' shows lately because there is minimal drama. Life contains way too much drama, and I don't want any in my entertainment.

[yourlibrarian]

I think the comfort viewing aspects of many of them have made them more widely watched in the last few years.

[adafrog]

Makes sense. And dramas keep getting more and more complicated and dramatic. Even procedurals end up that way.

[impala_chick]

Now I'm wondering if Ghost Files would count: part of it is scripted but Ryan and Shane go on their investigations on location, which are unscripted.

I used to watch more game shows when I actually had cable growing up, like Price is Right. Now I just tune in to HGTV-type things when I want something low-stress/easy/I don't have to pay attention too closely. I did watch a lot of Cutthroat Kitchen during COVID. I also really liked the Big Flower Fight but I think it only had one season.

[yourlibrarian]

Yeah, for myself I think of it in a broadly "fiction" and "non-fiction" sort of way, although the way that many shows are edited and deliberately set up doesn't make it all that non-fictional 😉

You reminded me that I did watch some flower arrangement competition a few years ago. I liked seeing the results but the overall show bored me and I never got past 1 season.

[svgurl]

I've never heard of the Big Flower Fight but I looked it up and it sounds like fun! That is a shame it didn't get a second season though - it seems unique.

[impala_chick]

I loved it! Almost everyone was nice to each other and they made some incredible and creative things. I wish it had continued.

[kalloway]

The 'rents seem to always have storage unit/hoarder/antique shows on when I visit and I'll watch a bit of those.

I liked the Queer Eye reboot on Netflix.

[yourlibrarian]

I saw a few episodes of it but I had watched several seasons of the original show. Enough, at least, to wonder why Carson's dress sense was advice anyone would follow!

[kalloway]

I was never in a living situation to be able to watch more than maybe an episode or two of the original.

[tellshannon815]

Not really a fan of reality TV, although I know one of the contestants in this season of Great British Bake Off, so I have been watching some bits of that this time around.

[yourlibrarian]

Ooh! I don't have Netflix right now but will be interested to hear how they do.

[dhampyresa]

I basically watch Eurovisoon and maybe a Fort Boyard episode every year.

[yourlibrarian]

I am almost surprised no one's mentioned Eurovision until now -- although perhaps there's a dividing line between "event" and "series".

[dhampyresa]

Mentally I sort Eurovision in "televised sports" tbh