Reality television has been a cornerstone of American entertainment for the past few decades. Most millennials remember turning on MTV to watch what happened when people were chosen at random to live life isolated from their family and friends while their trials and tribulations were broadcast for the world to see. However humiliating it may be to watch, every time a new reality show crops up, the world tunes in with eyes peeled and mouth agape to see what happens. People are pushed to their limits, scramble to meet a deadline, and of course, cry, as pressure mounts--regardless of the situation. Even when it seems we’ve hit our peak with regard to what people will voluntarily experience on live TV, a new contender arises with a salacious premise and jaw-dropping reward to match.
The genre has evolved from its Real World and Road Rules roots into competition shows with a cooking, design, or documentary-style focus. Reality TV culture has transformed from a simple voyeuristic observance into choosing a favorite competitor and rooting for them or live-tweeting the experience until their success or ultimate ousting from the series, giving us an opportunity to have a hero or villain in virtually any scenario. We still hold certain competitors, like Tiffany “New York” Pollard in high regard. Though she wasn’t the winner of Flavor of Love, she still has a place in our hearts and has been memed more than any reality TV star to date.
As a country deeply addicted to not minding our own business, going through the dramatic and emotional process of watching a reality series to an often destructive completion is comforting and rewarding in an indescribable way. Reality TV shows crop up at an alarming rate, and since it can often be tough to pick where to start, here are the 15 best reality TV shows on Netflix.
Pawn Stars
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Seasons: 1
Most of us could open up a closet in our homes and find some forgotten-about sneakers and a winter coat. On Pawn Stars, people bring in household items that range from full-on suits of armor to legitimate Salvador Dali prints in hopes to exchange them for cash. That’s the better end of the spectrum though; not everything brought in is worth much at all. Each episode features a consistent stream of fascinating merchandise and a wealth of knowledge from the pawn shop owners about how pawning works. The family-run shop has its own constant bickering to add to the air of drama.
The Circle
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Seasons: 1
The internet and reality collide on The Circle, a show where 8 people live in a building and compete to be the most popular on social media. No strategy is off the table in this game, where the players have the option of being themselves or catfishing as someone completely different in order to win. The competition is made exponentially harder because of one crucial aspect; none of the players know exactly who they’re competing against. As the game progresses, less popular players are eliminated and replaced with new players, keeping everybody on their toes. Ultimately, the best personality will win $100,000--whether it’s authentic or not.
Rhythm and Flow
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Seasons: 1
Hip Hop is a genre perched at the forefront of musical innovation. Regularly, unknown rappers upload their music to Soundcloud or pitch record labels in attempts to make their music heard among the masses. On Rhythm and Flow, rap legends Chance the Rapper, Cardi B. and T.I. are joined by other big names in music to judge rap auditions from unknown names. Each burgeoning talent is put through a set of rigorous tests and performances that could catapult them ahead of the others. The contest promises $250,000 and a live performance on Spotify’s Rap Caviar stage to the winner.
Basketball or Nothing
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Seasons: 1
Hardships plague Navajo Nation, a reservation community in the Southwest United States. For many of the youth, basketball is an outlet to channel frustration as well as an opportunity for a better life. The team is headed by Coach Mendoza, who has worked alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Mendoza’s main goal is to build the team up to win a state championship through nurtured coaching, compassion and skillful leadership. The Chinle basketball team deals with insurmountable issues off the court, and use the sport as a way to focus on having a healthy sense of direction aside from the distractions of their daily lives. The heart-wrenching docu series focuses on the team’s growth through the basketball season as they train and work toward state championships and speculate what life will be like after high school graduation.
Tidying Up
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Seasons: 1
Marie Kondo revolutionized organizing with her KonMari method--a straightforward, sentimental approach to getting rid of clutter and streamlining daily life at home. This Netflix original follows Kondo as she consults a different family each episode and walks them through the KonMari method step by step, helping them free their households of items that don’t spark joy. Will this show inspire you to tackle your kitchen drawers and closet space with increased vigor? Maybe not! But it’s incredibly cathartic to watch other people do it from the comfort of your couch.
Next in Fashion
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Seasons: 1
One of Netflix’s more recent reality show offerings is Next in Fashion, a show that offers designers the chance to prove their versatility and technical skill creating runway looks. These contestants all have experience in the fashion industry, giving each episode more competitive edge than more run of the mill design competition shows. The show is hosted by the notably fashionable and incredibly charming duo Alexa Chung and Tan France, who pepper in their own style tips during episodes. The designers are paired up into teams, and aim to edge out their competition in the hopes of winning $250,000.
Ultimate Beastmaster
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Seasons: 3
This Netflix original show is executive produced by Sylvester Stallone and features strong people running through extremely difficult obstacle courses in the hopes of being crowned “Beastmaster.” The feats of strength are frankly, horrifying and the show essentially works like a live-action video game, where the athletes need to focus on earning points to accelerate to the next round. The thrill of sitting on the couch and watching athletes contort their muscular bodies to jump, climb, and run in situations most of us couldn’t even attempt without embarrassment is 100 times better than working out.
Interior Design Masters
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Seasons: 1
Interior design reality shows are sometimes the most inspiring shows yet. On Interior Design Masters, we watch as competitors transform rooms to suit specific tastes and needs, which makes us think that we, too, have taste and needs that can be filled by rearranging our own furniture and making a room “like new” again. The 10 competitors are each vying to win a career-changing contract to design one of London’s top historic hotels, and their challenges sprawl across eight episodes, ranging from designing singular hotel rooms to entire beach homes.
Skin Wars
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Seasons: 3
There’s a certain horny energy to this show: artists gather to compete by painting on models’ skin. It’s a must-watch for the competitors alone. Each person is like a caricature of themselves, and the interpersonal drama is worth tuning in for. There’s a delicate art to skin painting, and various levels of expertise to the craft. The show is hosted by RuPaul and Rebecca Romijn, who dish out a series of timed challenges for the competitors to showcase their skill and creative ingenuity. The show uncovers an art form most of us have never even thought about, and once you’re done watching this installment of the show, spinoff series Skin Wars: Fresh Paint is next up.
The Final Table
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Seasons: 1
This is another competitive cooking reality show where the chefs have “put everything on the line” and “failure isn’t an option” and panic a little under pressure: all the perfect ingredients for an entertaining cooking show. Here, we start with 24 chefs (12 teams of two) from the best restaurants in the world, and watch as they complete a series of challenges that include cooking food from countries they’re unfamiliar with. The judging panel for each challenge is a revolving door of guests, featuring celebrities and world renowned chefs from each country who come in and taste their native foods.
The Great British Baking Show
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Seasons: 7
Great British Baking Show tests the mettle of amateur bakers to see if they can exceed the requirements of each baking challenge and keep the judges (British food elites Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood) interested in their potential. Each episode features a Signature Challenge, a Technical Challenge, and a Showstopper Challenge, which is enough to put each baker through the ringer and bring several of them to tears as they crouch down in front of their ovens. The winning prize for the emotional turmoil experienced? A bouquet of flowers and a cake stand.
Terrace House
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Seasons: 5
This Japanese reality show first aired in 2012 and has been steadily getting better ever since. The interpersonal relationships are sometimes difficult to parse until the confessional one-on-one moments, but the drama is reminiscent of early Real World episodes, with (much) less violence. The hit show has several iterations, airing from different locations, but the premise is the same. This binge-worthy show is earnest and relatively wholesome--great TV to live vicariously through.
Cheer
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Seasons: 1
Typical pop culture references to cheerleading include Bring It On and a laundry list of dumb cheerleader tropes, but Cheer looks at how cheerleading has changed the lives of members on a Corsicana, Texas team. The emotional series shows young people working as a team built on trust, relying on each other to push themselves toward one common goal--winning competitions. The team is assembled of a seemingly hodgepodge group of kids, but the deeper scope of the personal lives of the team members, and the fanatical nature of competitive cheerleading as a whole. The entire series is an adrenaline rush from start to finish, curating a heightened respect for the sport and an affinity for people looking for an escape from stressful daily life.
Tiny House Nation
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Seasons: 2
Everyone has different reasons for moving, but on Tiny House Nation, everyone’s goal is clear--starting the next chapter of their lives in a tiny home. The smaller-scale homes aren’t exactly trailer homes, but instead incorporate aspects of traditional-sized houses into a less expansive living space. The builders get to work on accommodating each family’s needs in a manner reminiscent of Pimp My Ride, adding smart home features that will ease the transition into an aesthetically pleasing, albeit smaller, living space. Each episode gives some insight into the clients’ reasoning behind choosing a tiny home, lending a heartwarming personal touch to the show.
Love Is Blind
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Seasons: 1
One of the sickest parts of reality TV is that it fuels our unmitigated desire to mind other people’s business. Reality dating shows are the cream of the crop in this genre, and Love Is Blind catapults us deep into the lives of strangers right from the start. The show serves as a live-action social experiment, where groups of men and women looking for love are unable to see their potential suitors. The mix of speed dating and blind dating is a fast-track to a marriage proposal, which is when the competitors will finally see their significant other for the first time. It sounds insane because it is, and this addictive, frenzied show is enough to satisfy all of our nosy curiosities.
