Top 10 Best and Worst Reality TV Shows

2 years ago

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The flurry of posts by my female colleagues on movies and TV shows has gone Right. Over. My. Head.

I have never heard of this Julie-whatever movie they are debating. What's the big whoop? And although I've seen a couple episodes of "Mad Men," I think the show is boring and unwatchable.

I'm way out of my league trying to debate these TV shows that -- let's be frank -- don't have a chance in heck of being on the cover of Us Weekly. So really, why watch?

Go ahead and call me superficial, low-brow, cheesy, trashy, shallow and unsophisticated; I accept all those descriptions.

So I'm changing the topic to something I am quite the expert on and in which I can join a debate (though I have a feeling no one is going to respond to this post) -- reality TV.

I love reality TV: the drama, the, um, reality. The outside chance that I could see one of the people in real life (Andy Baldwin of "The Bachelor" lives in D.C., though I haven't had a sighting yet).

Below is my list of the Top 10 Best Reality TV Shows. And by best, I mean most entertaining and most likely to be useful for chats at cocktail parties or girls' nights.

Following that is my list of the Top 10 Worst Reality Shows. And by worst, I mean most boring and, most annoyingly, occupying valuable covers on Us Weekly.

Top 10 Best Reality TV Shows:

1. "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," "Real Housewives of New York City" and "Real Housewives of Atlanta" (not "Orange County")

2. "The Bachelor " and "The Bachelorette"

3. "The Millionaire Matchmaker"

4. "Project Runway"

5. "Dancing with the Stars" (Go Tom DeLay for the win! )

6. "American Idol"

7. "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood"

8. "Denise Richards: It's Complicated"

9. "Bridezillas"

10. "Celebrity Apprentice" (not as good as "Apprentice," but worthy of TiVo)

Top 10 Worst Reality TV Shows

1. "Jon & Kate Plus 8" (new name: "Jon Hates Kate and Vice Versa")

2. "The Real World "(taping in D.C. now, but jumped the shark 17 years ago)

3. "Survivor" (jumped the shark 10 years ago)

4. "Big Brother" (jumped the shark after first season)

5. "I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here" (though TiVo cringe-worthy when horrible Speidi were on)

6. "The Hills" (plus all the spinoffs, except the original "Laguna Beach")

7. "The Biggest Loser," "More to Love" and "Celebrity Fit Club" (all shows about obesity)

8. "Deal or No Deal"

9. "Top Chef" and "Iron Chef " (actually, all reality cooking shows - no wonder we have so many shows at No. 7)

10. "Little People, Big World" (all midget-centric shows)

Follow Emily's reality show updates on Twitter.

Filed Under: Media, Woman Up

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odessanicolefohn

Emily Miller, what is your definition of "jumping the shark"? I've watched every season of Big Brother and I don't remember when they "jumped the shark".

"Jumping the shark" is an idiom used to denote the point in a television program's history where the plot spins off into absurd storylines or unlikely characterizations. These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose audience had begun to decline. Simply put, the show had hit its peak.

That said, how did Big Brother "jump the shark"?

I also agree that many of the shows on the "worst" list are actually some of the good ones. I love Top Chef and Big Brother. I believe "Deal or No Deal" would actually be classified as a game show, not a reality show.

January 06 2011 at 3:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

rsunny123

I do agree with some of the worst ones, but you seriously have some of the best reality shows on the worst list and they bring in very high rating for their network and in general. For instance, Top Chef. Also, Jon and Kate was one of the most discuss shows on tv. Everyone was talking about them including magazines and entertainment tv, like The View. If you want to base it on most entertaining and chat worthy then you left out Jersey Shore for the best. Your 7, 8, and 9 on best list is not entertaining and is not something you can chat at a cocktail party because NO ONE WATCHES THOSE SHOWS, unless you like chatting to yourself.

January 06 2011 at 1:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

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