Top 10 Reality TV Shows
A look at the best unscripted programs on televisionSurvivorThe game show took The Real World's voyeurism, added a $1 million prize,divided contestants into tribes and coined the phrase "voted off the island".American IdolSimon Cowell's sing-off showed that reality could be a real celebrity maker,creating platinum sellers and an Oscar winner and launching hits on iTunes.The BachelorIt revived and supersized the dating show, paving the way for Flavor Flav,Tila Tequila and their love- (or fame-) starved suitors.NewlywedsJessica Simpson wedded Nick Lachey and found herself challenged by the zoological classification of canned tuna. The show proved that reality TV was safe for celebs.
Project RunwayHeidi Klum and Tim Gunn classed up the joint with a show that professionalized reality TV and won the respect of fashion-industry pros.Real Housewives of Orange CountyAlso known as The Hills for Your Mom, Real Housewives of Orange County,like MTV's serial, gave us the upscale reality soap, detailing its subjects' lives, loves and discretionary purchases.Jon & Kate Plus EightIt started as an innocent show about two people parading their kids on TV for money and fame. But it blew up into a tabloid megabreakup saga.Jersey ShoreWith its fake tans and Flintstones pecs, this hormone-heavy story washed upon the beach to show that reality wasn't getting shy or going away.The OsbournesThe show offered a rare glimpse at the domestic life of one of the world's most undomesticated stars: Ozzy Osbourne.There were nearly as many bleeps as actual words in the episodes as Ozzy, his wife Sharon, son Jack and daughter Kelly,allowed cameras inside their home. The series had no boundaries showing explosive fights, Sharon's battle with cancer and Ozzy's near-death ATV accident in raw detail.The HillsMTV's The Hills, a spinoff of the original, Laguna Beach, blurred the lines between reality and scripted television by setting the stage for dramatic encounters and heated conversations between their cast of characters. It also launched the careers of author and fashion designer, Lauren Conrad and recording artist and plastic surgery addict, Heidi Montag.
