Main content

Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV Episodes

  1.

    10. A Format In Crisis & The Future of Reality TV: Love Island, Part 2

    How one of TV’s most popular shows became mired in tragedy and controversy.

  2. 9. The Influencer Sausage Factory: Love Island, Part 1

    How Love Island became a finishing school for influencers and a commercial juggernaut.

  3. 8. Lifestyles of The Mega-Rich: The Real Housewives & Selling Sunset

    Property porn, toxic wealth, and why audiences want schadenfreude.

  4. 7. The British Docusoap: The Only Way Is Essex & Made In Chelsea

    How these BAFTA-winning reality shows became national treasures.

  5. 6. Climbing The Ladder: Keeping Up With The Kardashians

    America’s First Family and how they created an entirely new category of uber-celebrity.

  6. 5. The Birth of Scripted Reality: Laguna Beach & The Hills

    The shows that birthed reality’s first wave of lifestyle influencers.

  7. 4. The Makeover Era: The Swan and What Not To Wear

    How the rise of cosmetic surgery collided with reality TV.

  8. 3. The Wild West Years: There’s Something About Miriam and Who’s Your Daddy

    How the explosion of reality TV in the early 2000s caused ethics to fly out the window.

  9. 2. The Talent Show Boom: Pop Idol and The X Factor

    How three men called Simon are responsible for the gold rush of talent shows.

  10. 1. The Social Experiment: Big Brother Is Watching You

    How Britain’s first β€˜official’ reality show became a global phenomenon.

  11. Offstage: Inside The X Factor - Episode 1

    Fame, fortune and fallout: Chi Chi Izundu looks back at one of Britain's biggest TV shows.

  12. Introducing Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV

    The dumbest genre in entertainment, or the one that tells us the most about ourselves?