Although the true beginnings of reality television stretch all the way back to the days of the original Candid Camera and Chuck Barris’ empire of game shows like The Dating Game and the Gong Show, reality TV as we know it today really all got started with a show called Survivor.
2000
Survivor – Love it or hate, you’ve got to give Jeff Probst and his crew props for continuing to produce what’s considered by many to be the hardest game-show to win in the history of TV game-shows. At its worst, the lush tropical environments make for great escapist entertainment. At its best, it functions as an immersive, entertaining social experiment that changes every season. The Amazing Race tends to get more praise, but has nowhere near the same depth or level of competition as the granddaddy of modern reality TV.
Big Brother – Fulfilling people’s voyeuristic desires on a global scale, Big Brother just stuck a bunch of people in a big house along with a butt-load of hidden camera and let them argue and try to get it on with each other before getting voted out. Basically a trashier, easier, less fun version of Survivor.
2001
Temptation Island – Fox execs saw the potential for ratings in taking the tropical feel of Survivor and mixing in a bunch of weepy-relationship-drama with Temptation Island, a show designed to make already-shaky couples cheat on each other. You almost felt bad for a few of them too…until you remembered that they had signed on for a show with the title “Temptation Island”.
Fear Factor - This is the show that made it ok for us to watch people do disgusting things for money; a true trailblazer of the “it’s funny because it’s not me” contingent of reality programming. Contestants were forced to conquer their fears in three physically demanding challenges that encompassed anything from walking across hot coals to eating moose schlong without vomiting. Good TV.
2002
American Idol – I’m not sure anyone knew that this glorified karaoke contest would become the ratings juggernaut that it did. But people proved – as they always do – that they’re helplessly drawn to the idea of watching the “little-guy” become a world-famous superstar overnight, making Idol the TV equivalent of the American Dream incarnate. It also further proves that everyone really does think they have a great singing voice.
2003
The Simple Life – 2003 was a year that gave us shows in which nobody won anything and people who weren’t really famous still figured out a way to get followed around by cameras. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie led the charge as wealthy socialites who we pointed and laughed at as they tried to milk cows.
The Surreal Life – 2003 was also the year that gave B to F-list celebrities an arena other than porn to make a little more money and get a little more exposure to supplement their royalty checks. Again, no competition involved – just a bunch of has-been bickering in a house as the rest of the world pointed and laughed, this time while feeling strangely embarrassed for them as well.
2004
Hell’s Kitchen – Beating the odds and turning out to be a surprisingly fun show, HK taught everyone that it’s entertaining to watch other people get verbally abused. If you think for a second this show would have done half as well without the fork-tongued Gordon Ramsey spewing bleep-worthy venom at a bunch of nervous wannabe chefs, you’re kidding yourself.
Wife Swap – Wife Swap was one of the first shows to jump into average people’s homes and try to make their problems entertaining. Switching Moms from household to household was weird and awkward, and sometimes – like when a little boy from Alabama watched his new hippy-vegan mom absorbing the sun’s rays for nutrients on their front lawn, said in a southern accent, “My new Mom eats the sun… it’s weird.” – was also pretty hilarious too.
2005
Tommy Lee Goes To College – 2005 was a slow year for Reality TV.
2006
America’s Got Talent – Sure, by this point we knew America could sing, but what about all the ventriloquists and pogo-stick masters out there who needed a soapbox too? America’s got talent gave them a place to embarrass themselves and occasionally impress us on national TV. The British version of the show also acted as the springboard that launch Susan Boyle to previously unforeseen levels of instant fame, proving that while America’s got talent, Britain’s apparently got more.
2007
Kid Nation – If after seven years of aggressive reality programming you needed proof that they were just plain beginning to run out of ideas, look no further than Kid Nation. A Lord Of The Flies-esque show that had a bunch of 8-15 year-olds trying to form their own society in a fake town in New Mexico with minimal adult interaction. While the show promised it would be an experiment in socialization, the underlying truth was that the kids would inevitably start to cry and producers hoped that would somehow be seen as “gripping”.
2008
Keeping Up With Kardashians – Here’s a show that finally dispensed with trying to make ex-celebrities into reality stars, and just helped make reality stars their own class of celebrity. Albeit with shorter shelf-lives. Otherwise put – Let’s-Follow-Around-A-Bunch-Of-Rich-People-While-They-Act-Rich-Programming. People even started crossing over into different reality shows with The Hills, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and the short-lived Princes Of Malibu all sharing (air-quotes) talent (air-quotes).
2009
OK! Ten years in, and where do we find ourselves? A few of the mainstays are still around and still going strong. American Idol’s got Ellen now, and Survivor just wrapped its 19th and possibly most entertaining season to date. But what new shows have come about, you ask? What conceptual gems did 2009 have to offer?
Tool Academy – Yes, Tool Academy. It’s not even a handyman competition. That would at least have been something. Instead we’re treated to a show where a bunch unsuspecting bad boys (or tools) are signed up by their girlfriends to go to a relationship boot camp. If a guy gets eliminated, his girl has the chance to dump him. Ugh.
Jersey Shore – Pretty much a Tool Academy in itself, Jersey Shore is made up of a bunch of depressingly stereotypical twenty-somethings who get drunk in a house in Jersey and talk about their abs. A girl gets sucker-punched in the face by a guy while arguing over shots. Riveting orange people doing riveting orange things. Can’t wait to see where we’re at in 2020…