The reboot of Queer Eye was a revelation, the best new reality series of the year. The reboot of Trading Spaces was surprisingly lifeless.
reality TV show reviews
All reality show reviews on reality blurred by TV critic Andy Dehnart, who has watched and loved reality TV shows since The Real World: Los Angeles. Learn more about Andy and about reality blurred.
The sad decline of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant rescue shows
Tonight, Ramsay is back with 24 Hours To Hell and Back, a new Fox series that is simply his old Fox series, Kitchen Nightmares with an even dumber conceit. How different is it from Ramsay’s original UK series Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares?
The Mister Rogers doc, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, strips away the myth and reveals the man
The new documentary about Fred Rogers, star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, is in theatres today. It’s extraordinary. See it.
Review: The Fourth Estate has access to The New York Times, but less insight
The look inside The New York Times is often compelling reality television. But there’s also something missing.
American Idol isn’t perfect. But it more than justified its return.
A review of ABC’s American Idol, which continually revealed itself to be more than I expected—and became worth watching again.
Review: Netflix’s Evil Genius, an intriguing but unsatisfying true crime series
A review of Netflix’s new documentary reality series about the mysterious case of a pizza delivery man who robbed a bank and then was killed by a collar bomb.
The Great Interior Design Challenge is the splendid makeover that the interior design competition needed
My new reality TV competition obsession from the UK has amateur designers redecorating rooms in buildings already blanketed with history.
Review: Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, on which everything old and tired is back again
In an attempt to get big ratings, MTV has reunited most of the cast of Jersey Shore, who get drunk and party. Okay.
Review: In Nailed It, a celebration of trying and failing, America has its signature baking competition
Nicole Byer hosts Netflix’s wonderful baking competition, which dispenses with the usual reality TV chicanery and phony, hyperbolic stakes, and just has fun.
Marcia Clark Investigates The First 48 finds nothing new, at least in Casey Anthony’s case
The new A&E reality series should be called Marcia Clark Recaps A Famous Case. A review of its premiere.
One Strange Rock is a wonderfully rich, weird look at our planet
A review of—and behind-the-scenes details about—National Geographic Channel’s trippy new Darren Aronofsky-produced, Will Smith-hosted series.
American Idol’s premiere is familiar and icky, but new judges offer hope
ABC’s American Idol has a strong, protective, and playful judging panel, but has not lost its mean streak.
Citizen Rose is a vital portrait of Rose McGowan and her work
A review of E!’s Citizen Rose, a two-hour documentary about Rose McGowan’s activism, art, and pain.
Tabatha Coffey’s return on Relative Success with Tabatha is relatively successful
A review of Relative Success with Tabatha, Tabatha Coffey’s new Bravo show on which she helps struggling businesses, but it isn’t quite like her previous series—starting with the fact that she hugs someone.
Review: Undercover High, where adults go back to high school
Undercover High, which sends adults into high schools to find out what’s going on, has all the right pieces: an important social issue, public education, that needs more public discussion and attention, and a prime-time series is a great place to start; a polished production, with efficient storytelling and smooth editing; and charismatic young stars, both the 20-somethings who are pretending to be high school students and some of the actual high school students themselves.