Reality TV is dismissed as guilty pleasure, low brow... even trash. But whether you want to admit it or not, you probably have heard of Snooki, Lisa Vanderpump or Kim Kardashian. Over the past 30 years, reality TV has become a place to see the social and political moment play out in real time -- from racial tensions on The Real World New York to gender dynamics on The Bachelor. On this season, join host Mariah Smith as she dissects the history of the genre one show at a time, revealing how it's shaped our culture and how our culture shaped it.
Spectacle: An Unscripted History of Reality TV Trailer
An American Family
Manufacturing The Real World
How Survivor revealed America’s tribalism
The Bachelor/Bachelorette, our problematic fave
Behind the gates with the ‘Real’ housewives
Keeping up with the Kardashian empire
Queer Eye, a master class in male vulnerability
90 Day Fiance, the delusion of love
The subversive sweetness of the Great British Baking Show
The Circle & the future of reality TV