Leslie Jones is great as a fan hosting her favorite game show, Supermarket Sweep, but it’s not hitting the nostalgia button in quite the same way as other ABC game shows.
reality TV show reviews
All reality show and documentary TV reviews on reality blurred by TV critic Andy Dehnart. (Learn more about Andy.)
Deaf U review: Netflix’s Gallaudet U. reality show is immediately, instantly charming
Netflix’s new reality show Deaf U follows students at Gallaudet University is immediately and instantly charming.
Emergency Call: ABC’s awkward attempt at spotlighting 911 operators
Luke Wilson acts as hard as he can while hosting ABC’s Emergency Call from what appears to be an escape room. The show also uses actors to portray people calling 911, and misses an opportunity to really focus on dispatchers.
Weakest Link is definitely the weakest network game show, despite Jane Lynch’s hosting
Jane Lynch is the host of a reboot of the 2001 game show where contestants vote each other off between each round.
The Vow and Love Fraud: real-time, real-life horror
Both HBO’s The Vow and Showtime’s Love Fraud take us along in real time, and we meet people who talk about how they were defrauded and/or dehumanized—by NXIVM and Richard Scott Smith, respectively.
American Barbecue Showdown: a great cast fires up Netflix’s new BBQ competition
Netflix’s new barbecue cooking competition The American Barbecue Showdown covers well-worn territory, but it does so well—especially with its terrific cast, including judge Melissa Cookston.
Great Pottery Throw Down is a perfect show of creativity and craft
All three seasons of The Great Pottery Throw Down are now on HBO Max, and it’s just as charming and wonderful—and perhaps even better than—The Great British Baking Show.
Dancing with the Stars lied: nothing changed except its host, a judge, and a fake audience
ABC promised that Dancing with the Stars 29 would get a “creative refresh” and “fresh take.” But it’s the same show as it always has been—just now with Tyra Banks and terrible fake audience noises.
Get Organized with The Home Edit: an Instagram photo turned into a Netflix reality show
Netflix’s Get Organized with The Home Edit is the spiritual opposite of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, which was all about paring things down. The Home Edit is about buying more, and then arranging it to look Instagram perfect.
16 and Recovering: a powerful look at addiction that’s MTV’s best reality show in years
MTV’s 16 and Recovering, which follows students, faculty, and staff at Northshore Recovery High School in Mass., is exceptional reality television.
Dodgeball Thunderdome will pummel you with its awfulness
Discovery Channel’s Dodgeball Thunderdome was filmed this summer, putting people’s lives at risk to produce one of the worst reality competitions I’ve ever seen.
Eco-Challenge is back, and it’s outstanding, uplifting, and electrifying reality TV
World’s Toughes Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji is an excellent reality series, frequently uplifting and thrilling, despite the unnecessary addition of host Bear Grylls.
Tough As Nails’ rare reality TV format has produced a fascinating outcome
CBS has renewed Phil Keoghan’s Tough As Nails for season two, which will film this fall. After its first two episodes, it kept improving, and its cast has consistently surprised me. Plus: great challenges!
RHONY became a drunken mess this season, and it’s just not fun
RHONY used to be light and fun. But then Bethenny left, and so did everyone who knew how to tell a coherent story other than drunken fighting. Also: Who is Elyse and why is she everywhere?
Killer Camp is dumb fun, but with a few near-fatal flaws
A review of The CW’s Killer Camp, a playfully stupid show that left me with several questions, such as how the eliminated contestant is chosen to be murdered. I have answers.