Reality Competition Shows

It's pretty remarkable that you say this, because I almost mentioned this exact show in my earlier post. I had to step away and didn't really have time, and it kind of undercut what I was saying about skill (just because it's more subjective, I suppose, than my other examples), so I just decided not to, but yes, absolutely. That's literally the only other show that came to mind. My wife and I actually rewatched it a few years ago, too, and it holds up pretty well.

Dang, I almost forgot: Taskmaster! It's more just technically reality TV, and not entirely in the spirit of the question, but it's one of my all-time favorite shows. It became one of my all-time favorite shows shockingly fast, too, and hasn't really slowed down in quality at all over a dozen seasons in.

For those who don't know, it's just British comedians doing random tasks and being assigned points...and that's it. It's tremendous. Clever, inventive, ironic, and incredibly funny.

Re: reboot of Face/Off. I heard a rumor, but don't see anything confirmed. If I missed something or if anyone knows more, please tell.

Taskmaster is THE show I go to when I'm feeling down. Season 13 is like a hug, a cup of tea, and your best funny friend all rolled into one. The "Shoe Who?" task alone has gotten me through some rough days. "NO WAY!". I agree with you that I don't really think of it as "reality TV".

(And if you're a fan of the show, you might enjoy some of the online "No More Jockeys" game played by Horne, Tim Key, and Mark Watson).

I don't know if you've seen or heard of the UK show Ghosts, but pretty much EVERYONE in that show has been on Taskmaster.

That's so cool BECAUSE sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who ever saw this show - like I'm suffering some TV Mandela effect.

I feel like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone... and then suddenly... someone else remembers what I remember.

But seriously, I'm also glad to know I'm not the only one who found it engrossing & entertaining.

Is that the UK version or is there a US one? There should be a new one starting in the new year.


The last ever episode of Ghosts is on at Christmas this year. The US version is good too, IMO, because the thing with Ghosts is that every country can use it's own history to weave into stories, so it's not just copy/paste. So the US version has some similar characters to the UK version, but also so stand alone ones.

I wouldn't say Taskmaster fits the criteria, but I wouldn't die on that hill either. It's wonderful though and there's a New Years Special on NYD (I think) then I'd expect a new series in 4-8 weeks? Maybe a little longer. I thought the last series was great but even poor TM is entertaining.

I like all the UK versions of MasterChef (regular, celebrity, professional) and the Great British Bake Off (and Creme De La Creme the professional version of Bake Off) and Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker (which is just the same format with carpentry) I even quite enjoyed A Cut Above, which was a Canadian chainsaw carving competition.

I also love Three In A Bed and Four In A Bed (for once there's no euphremism or innuendo that that's actually what they're called) which is a B&B competition but,. unlike the others I've mentioned, they can be a bit aggro (or, at least, one of them will be) and the first eight to ten years of Come Dine With Me was really good too.

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Will definitely check this out, thanks.

Yeah, we gave it a try but kinda bounced off it after the first few episodes, for whatever reason. I find myself pretty particular about scripted comedies, though (I find myself appreciating their humor more than laughing at it, very often) so maybe that's why. Might give it another go at some point.

Yeah, I made a point to reply because I'm having trouble remembering running into anyone else, offline or on, who saw it, or even heard of it.

I love a good or trashy reality show.

Bridezilla, I wanna be a soap star, TLC's undressed, Jerry Springer's baggage, Fiance from hell, The sex Factor, etc.

The Japanese reality game shows are the absolute best & bizarre.

But of the good ones,
I love Survivor, of which I have my favourite seasons.
The Amazing Race
The old Crystal Maze
& recently The Traitors for which I am still keen to run a mafia game here.

UK version. Back when I had access to HBO Max, it was one of my favorite things on there.

My only nitpick was how every season they'd trot out nude models and then make a big deal of (inevitably) one of the shy women being uncomfortable with looking at naked strangers.

I am literally only one episode into the show. But I had to laugh that first episode because in the first 5 minutes I spotted 4 or 5 actors I knew from Taskmaster.

Ooh, keeping these in mind!

I don't remember the exact details, but the Work of Art show was airing on a streaming service I didn't have (Apple + or something?) and no one I knew had the service either. I remember reading a really intriguing review of it, but it was never somewhere I could watch it.

Yeah, I guess we watched it as a VOD back when we had cable or something. When we rewatched it, I just had to buy each episode on Google Play. I actually surprised my wife with it, because it'd been years since we'd seen it or even talked about it, so I figured it would be a fun little surprise. Think I did it for Christmas or something? Anyway, it's a good, interesting show with some genuinely interesting work on it. And some really awful work, which is also interesting.

Re: survival skills. I'd actually be pretty interested in a show that tried to quantify people's ability to build shelters or scrounge for food.

There was a show a tiny bit like this called Mantracker where people would get a head start on a professional tracker and he'd have a couple of days to try to find them in the wilderness before they reached some end point. I liked that show. It was never great, but it was pretty good.

It's also kinda funny how serious the tracker is, though I suspect it's a little bit of an act:

Yoda, I think I understand better now. Your primary criteria, to the extent that you have one, is that the show be centered around learning, or demonstrating, a discrete skill, as its own end, rather than one that is being contrived for the purposes of succeeding in the show. By a positive framing, you are mainly interested in any ribbing being good natured and not mean-spirited, in such a way that any manipulation or scheming does not detract from the learning or demonstration of the skill, and that the skill remains the central focus and the primary reason for someone winning or losing.

I'd say that's right, yeah, well put.

I'm sure we can find things I like that are at tension with this idea, regardless.

Where was I? Oh yeah, everybody watch Lego Masters Australia.

You might like a UK tv show called Hunted. I don't watch it so I don't know much much like the one you mentioned it is or which parts of that you liked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunted_(2015_TV_series)

Series 2 starts on Jan 3rd Have you seen the Oz version? Recommended if not.

Yep. Seen the British, Aussie & American versions.

Did you like the US version? I had real trouble with it. The blending of 'celeb' and non celeb (and the celebs being former reality TV winners) really threw it off for me and I'm not much of a fan of Alan Cumming either.

Yeah, US was my least favourite, though I was happy for who won the show, because I have cheered for that person in other show.