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'90s and early 2000s reality tv shows

259 replies

ExCarer · 07/04/2023 19:29

Does anyone else remember when reality tv shows were becoming popular? Things like Driving School. Remember Maureen? And Life of Grime with Mr Trebus? He had such a sad story.

There was one about the residents of a particular street but I can't remember what it was called now.

Can anyone remember any others?

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Enfys1982 · 07/04/2023 22:33

I loved Holiday Reps and remember Eve the rep marrying the Spanish waiter well. There was a woman on Lakesiders who attempted to do Jane McDonald and launch a singing career and released an album but she sounded like a strangled cat.

Singapore4 · 07/04/2023 22:36

JustCheck · 07/04/2023 19:42

Shipwrecked was brilliant!!!!

Defo was!

IWasFunBeforeMum · 07/04/2023 22:40

Phos · 07/04/2023 20:49

Loved Airport and Airline so much.

Others that spring to mind - Playing It Straight, was on channel 4 early noughties, there was a woman and about a dozen blokes on a ranch in Mexico, it was a bit like the Bachelorette except some of the blokes were gay and if she picked one of those they took all the money. Also there was Holiday Showdown where two different families went on holiday with each other and inevitably hated the other family and wherever it was they went.

The winner of playing it straight won (because he convinced the girl he was straight) and he felt so bad he gave her half his winnings! She's now a presenter Ellie someone..

Interested in this thread?

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TV
IWasFunBeforeMum · 07/04/2023 22:41

Cudz · 07/04/2023 21:18

@IWasFunBeforeMum The Villa was amazing. I've often tried finding old episodes online but can't. I would love to re-watch the whole series.
I was also obsessed with Ibiza Uncovered.
Such nostalgia reading this thread!

It was like a very tame love island I imagine if we watched it now!

LubaLuca · 07/04/2023 22:45

'Shopping City' with Lowri Turner presenting, just a show about the Trafford Centre and the people who worked there (and sometimes coach drivers killing time 😀). It must have been incredibly boring, yet I watched every episode I think.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 07/04/2023 22:47

This might be my favourite ever MN thread. I think I have watched all the shows mentioned here. I still love reality TV but really look back fondly on the days where it wasn’t a route to being an influencer.

A few years back I found all Faking It on All4 or whatever it’s called and watched them all back - I felt really emotional at some of them. The guy who was a punk that became a classical orchestra conductor in particular springs to mind.

This is much more recent so not really in the spirit of the thread but did anyone like Glow Up - the search for a top makeup artist? The first series of that was so great.

Enfys1982 · 07/04/2023 22:49

Some of the early Strictly pros appeared on the ballroom dancing episode of Faking It. Before Strictly was even thought of!

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 07/04/2023 22:52

Survivor. A pretty woman won series 1 and the press destroyed her, called her Charlotte the Harlot because she mildly flirted with someone on the show.

Holiday Showdown - I absolutely LOVED this show!

Early Big Brothet. Season 1 was incredible. The Nasty Nick confrontation was TV gold and although it’s no where near as melodramatic and scandalous as the (probably made up) controversies on today’s TV shows it was incredibly shocking at the time, we had never seen anything like it.

hellypad · 07/04/2023 22:52

Does anyone remember the one where a rich person helped out a poor family, it was lovely. I remember one family put 2 sisters all the way through private school in the end. It was on Channel 4, there were a couple of series's I think.

Also loved Pineapple that was hilarious.

PuppyMonkey · 07/04/2023 22:52

The original Cruising series where they “discovered” Jane McDonald was one of the very early ones from what I recall.

Castaway was the one that really sticks in my mind. Literally filmed during the year they were on the island and we only got to see a couple of updates every couple of months that year.

Great concept, but then that same summer, Big Brother started and the 24 hour a day filming and daily update format took over. Nasty Nick and all that - it made the Castaway occasional shows look really out of touch.

Parroteets · 07/04/2023 22:59

I loved The Hills and Laguna Beach.

Parroteets · 07/04/2023 23:00

Oh and My super sweet 16. It was awful in so many ways but I still watched it

tothesea · 07/04/2023 23:05

The bit I remember about Tourist Trap was when they burnt each countries flag and left it for them to find. The Americans went apeshit!

I loved the early reality tv shows and watched them all. Then it was like a switch went off and I couldn’t deal with the cringe anymore.

TulipTuesday · 07/04/2023 23:05

When I was pg with DS1 in 2001, DH and I were obsessed with Survivor and BB2. In fact I held off going in to hospital when I was in labour because the BB final was on 😆

I also remember a programme that I don’t think was Wife Swap but was very similar. It was on in the mornings.

tothesea · 07/04/2023 23:07

There was a show that was a bit like Castaway but it was as more like a forest camp with house on stilts. Anyone remember this?

burnoutbabe · 07/04/2023 23:12

Tribollite · 07/04/2023 19:44

I just watched MTV's Real World, there is a couple of seasons on Netflix. The season in around 2000 seems so old-fashioned, even though in my head 2000 was yesterday (as I'm 53).

I love that show! And now added it to my Netlix -I think new seasons are on paramount pkus. And I did watch one via Facebook watch a few years ago.

dropthevipers · 07/04/2023 23:13

one for the teenagers here. Mid seventies show called "the big time" presented by Ester Rantzen in which various amateurs were pitched into top flight pro scenarios. One of the few instances were you can see someones career train wreck before your eyes-viz, Fanny Craddock and the "Gwen Troake incident". car crash TV at its finest.

Iudncuewbccgrcb · 07/04/2023 23:14

Supernanny
Ground Force
Early Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares

making the band or something?

goodkidsmaadhouse · 07/04/2023 23:15

@PrancerandDancer Are you thinking of Bug Juice? I LOVED that show. Begged and begged my Dad to send me to summer camp in the US.

GullibleIdiot13574 · 07/04/2023 23:15

Early Undercover Boss when CEO of company would spend time doing the basic jobs.

bangedupthebackofhyggetygge · 07/04/2023 23:16

The school one was called That’ll Teach Em, I think; was good tv at the time. Used to love BB, Holiday Showdown, Wife Swap.

Remember my mum watching Castaway.

Also a programme once where they chucked a load of kids into a house for a weekend or so and left them to it… was called girls/boys house or something and all got a bit Lord of the Flies.

Other programme I remember my mum watching was Hospital, that was on BBC early in the mornings, late 90s, and featured celebs such as Matthew Kelly wandering round (I think) Guys and St Thomas interviewing patients.

Also Brat Camp - teens sent to boot camp in Utah - I loved watching that although question how ethical that really was!

bangedupthebackofhyggetygge · 07/04/2023 23:17

House of Tiny Tearaways used to be good too. On BBC3 I think.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 07/04/2023 23:21

CapitanSandy · 07/04/2023 22:04

Used to love early 00s reality tv still like it now. My favourites were beauty school where they followed a group of girls training to be beauty therapists. Slimming club and mums on strike.

Mums on Strike is all available on YouTube Grin

burnoutbabe · 07/04/2023 23:22

Parroteets · 07/04/2023 22:59

I loved The Hills and Laguna Beach.

I watched the new hills recently -them ten years on. Was good. And vacuous!

Some ones I loved -all the top models. Things like making the band or "work with diddy" or " intern at cosmo" or "job at dvb fashion house".

Shakeitbaby · 07/04/2023 23:22

Does anyone remember Booze Britain? They went to a different town and the cameras followed a group of young people on yheir night out. I loved that.

Redcoats was fab! The one about the torquay Hotel with the crazy manager too.
I also loved the show where the computer "Pod" did a make under and fave everyone a brown bob and nude lip. 😂