Reality TV has become an inescapable fact of life. And I confess, I enjoy some trash TV as much as the next girl. But sometimes even the strongest of us needs a break from bachelors, bachelorettes, and any of the crazy Real Housewives. And when that time comes, may I suggest checking out one of these, their less-trashy cousins–in current programming or on Netflix–that make their bread and butter on the (truthful) notion that a spoonful of sugar really does make the medicine go down.
5. The Biggest Loser
Hideously overt product placement aside, somehow, watching all the drama, stress, struggle and eliminations doesn’t feel quite so indulgent when you realize that the people on the show are learning how to improve their lives and take better care of themselves. And motivating viewers as well. See also, The Supernanny.
4. Dirty Jobs
Somehow, host Mike Rowe finds a way to make even the absolute dullest-sounding show topics (read: technical and stereotypically masculine) interesting. He is really Personality Plus, and it makes all the difference in the world. The next thing you know, I know things about cleaning oil tanks. But the episodes when he goes to farms (oh the dairy farm!!) will always be my favorites. For other less-boring-than-they-s0und shows, see also Deadliest Catch & my husband’s new favorite, Whale Wars.
3. Intervention
You’d think getting a window into people grappling with their addictions at their worst would be completely gratuitous shrink porn (did I mention I have a psych degree?), but then they get them to go to rehab and sometimes it even works. And then, voila, you realize that your viewership made that possible. And perhaps you might be getting educated on addiction problems. Not so bad.
2. “Time Travel” Historical Reality Shows
Every couple of years a BBC or PBS type throws together a handful of people on a mission to ‘travel time’ by making them live entirely as though they were from a previous historical period. They always think it is going to be so much fun, and then the men always love it because they get to be “men” and the women always hate it because all their freedoms are stripped away and they are bunched up in corsets. And it turns out that you start to get a real feel for what it was like to live in a particular historical period. Who knew? The running favorites so far are Colonial House and 1940s House. Good LORD did England have it bad during WWII!
1. 30 Days
After Super Size Me, everyone knows Morgan Spurlock is compelling. But still, boy does he translate to TV. People spending a month immersed in a lifestyle that usually directly opposes how they live, what they believe or both. He is even ballsy enough to take it on himself. Sometimes it changes people, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s always interesting.
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