Fifty years have passed since PBS warned Americans in an advertisement that a new, 12-episode unscripted show would shock them: “There has never been anything on television—or anywhere else—to prepare you.”
Best of reality blurred
The very best of reality blurred’s reality TV coverage, including reporting, reviews, and essays published since the year 2000.
As The Mole is revived by Netflix, I went back to its beginning, interviewing people who produced ABC’s seasons of The Mole. Here are their stories about everything from how the mole was chosen to the crew’s mutiny to Anderson Cooper’s audition.
The Real World premiered on MTV 30 years ago: Thursday, May 21, 1992, at 10 p.m. ET. I looked back to see what TV critics and journalists—and other reality TV stars?!—said about it at the time. The results were very surprising.
As the year winds down, I took a stroll through the archives, and picked out 21 stories that stood out to me from 2021, from Survivor and Big Brother to Top Chef and The Real World Homecoming.
Reality Blurred TV critic Andy Dehnart’s picks for the best reality shows and documentary series that aired in 2021, including both new and returning series.
In this Amazing Race season 1 oral history, people involved with the first season—producers, cast, and crew—reveal the behind-the-scenes story of how a race around the world and TV show came together.
Over its 33 years, Discovery Channel’s Shark Week has had some highs and lows, celebrating and educating us about sharks, but also presenting fiction as fact, lying to scientists and misrepresenting what they say, and making sharks seem scarier than they are. Here’s a look at Shark Week’s history, and why it’s so disappointing.