Reality Shows- do you love them or loathe them?

Loathe them. Wouldn't even attempt to watch "The Voice". Anything with so called celebrities, or members of the public on get short shrift in our house. I love a good murder mystery though.

|I agree twinnytwin which is why I just about given up watching TV - I watch the news and that's about it. Does anyone actually believe these programmes are "reality"?

I quite like some of them.
I love gogglebox.

I actually do like them!! Sad I know! I don't like ALL of them, but I do like gogglebox!!

My daughter and mum used to love them, too.

I love gogglebox and since lockdown last March I seem to have watched more trivial/reality shows than in the last 20+ years!!! The Voice, Masked Singer, Strictly and Dancing on Ice seem to have become embedded in my viewing as the GC watch them and they are a source of lots of Family WhatsApp messages whilst they are on.

I do not watch any soaps, the new dramas have been on the poor side, Finding Alice and The Drowning were both in my opinion dire.

We have watched Downton Abbey, Heartbeat, Poirot, Frost, Morse and every flipping Agatha Christie over the last year..................

I am not sure what you mean by reality shows. If you mean programmes like The Great Pottery Throwdown and The Great British Sewing Bee, then I love them. If you mean programmes like The Only Way is Essex or I'm a Celebrity then I don't bother watching them.

I think it's quite nice to be able to share views on these types of programmes with family and friends.

I like gogglebox and the voice too. I am bit obsessed with four in a bed too. Why do they all fall into the same trap week after week? My husband said you may as well not bother watching the episodes and just watch the concluding one at the end of the week I can't believe they go on there as a free advert for their business and some of them end up behaving in the most appalling manner! You just wouldn't want to go and stay in their B&B/hotel would you?

I like the chateau programs too

I loved the first ever Big Brother. It was very gentle and sweet. None of the would be celebs and fame hunters. There was a lovely guy in there who spent a lot of time looking after the chickens. No silly games.

After that they got really stupid and fake so I didn't watch anymore.

We used to like 'The Family'.
They just filmed the comings and goings of a family over the course of a few weeks.

MissAdventure I can remember The Family wasn’t it made my Esther Rantzen’s husband?

You could be right grannygravy.
It's really interesting to see others' lives play out.

Ilovecheese

I am not sure what you mean by reality shows. If you mean programmes like The Great Pottery Throwdown and The Great British Sewing Bee, then I love them. If you mean programmes like The Only Way is Essex or I'm a Celebrity then I don't bother watching them.

Ilovecheese. These are exactly my comfort zone watching too. I do enjoy general public, competition type shows involving a skill like the two you mention.

Portrait Artist of the Year was brilliant. Junior Bake Off this year was excellent. I always get hooked on the Masterchef programmes. RuPaul is another favourite. Going to watch Interior Design Masters.

Don't like any of the real people in their own surroundings type programmes like TOWIE, Made in Chelsea etc.

DH and I always watched ‘I’m a Celebrity’ together it made him laugh so much now since he’s been gone I found it comforting to watch it on my own. The only other one I watch is Gogglebox it’s very funny sometimes.

I watch them to remind me of my girl, too.

youtu.be/RxPZh4AnWyk

I never watch these - they're full of nobodies who want to be somebody. I watched 'I'm a Celebrity' a few years back but got bored with it. There's a certain amount of exploitative and manipulative behaviour which is uncomfortable to watch. The TV companies edit things for the sake of entertainment to show people in a bad light which can cause embarrassment.
I know of someone whose MIL was on Come Dine with Me and the editing exaggerated her personality to make her seem monstrous and caused her much unhappiness.

More fool her for going on then.

I like to see celebrities on reality shows, seeing them without a script shows another side of them. I used to particularly like celebrity big brother.

I love people watching whether on reality tv or sitting in a park, cafe or train station.

GagaJo

I loved the first ever Big Brother. It was very gentle and sweet. None of the would be celebs and fame hunters. There was a lovely guy in there who spent a lot of time looking after the chickens. No silly games.

After that they got really stupid and fake so I didn't watch anymore.

Marjorie bit worried that I can remember the chicken's name

I'm a people watcher, too.
People absolutely fascinate me.

I love the ones I watch - IACGMOOH, Strictly, Dancing on Ice, Masked Singer, Bake Off

I loathe the ones I don't watch, which are usually the scripted ones, such as any of the "The Only Way Is" ones, Love Island, "Housewives of" etc

Can't tar them all with the same reality brush.

I also was obsessed with the first three series of Big Brother, often sitting up until 4am. It was doing that, and then watching the highlights show the following evening that really made me realise that "it's all in the edit", when anyone can be portrayed very well or very badly, depending on how well the producers like the contestant. It became clear that the winner had been chosen by the producers before they'd even gone i to the house, and that a lot weren't members of the public at all, but had agents representing them.

You are right about the manipulation lovebeigecardigans1955 I knew a girl who went on "Blind Date" many years ago. They made her look like a nasty person, which she wasn't.