BB: During our *research,* we discovered that one of the first televised reality shows was An American Family, a 1973 PBS series that doesn’t sound all that different from The Kardashians or The Real Housewives. The show followed the Louds, a well-off California family with a big house, a swimming pool, and plenty of aspirational energy. Who knows what the producers originally intended, but it sounds like the show ended up focusing more on the family’s struggles, like the parents’ troubled marriage, than on picture-perfect moments. It was wildly popular and stumbled onto the formula for the kind of television we are still obsessed with today. Instead of hidden-camera gags and mild embarrassment, it turns out we’d rather watch someone’s entire life slowly unravel on screen.
SWK: It's true, we've always wanted to form parasocial relationships with the wealthy and ogle how they live, especially when they're falling apart. If we aren't trying to peer into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, a la The Kardashians and An American Family, we are excited by the first televised gladiator games aka Survivor, the landmark competition show that set the bar for all future versions of "everyday people" in the jungle trying to outlast one another.
BB: Yeah, all the popular reality TV shows seem to tap into something primal—survival of the fittest, love, friendship, social expulsion, and, of course, food. There’s also this recurring theme of people trying to present a certain image of themselves, only for something much more human to be revealed. Marital issues and money troubles are practically a staple of reality TV at this point. Especially in these aspirational wealth shows, where people go into debt trying to maintain the luxurious lifestyles they flaunt on camera. And some even end up in jail for it.
Speaking of firsts, I guess the first reality TV star to land in prison was Survivor’s Richard Hatch, who went down for tax evasion after claiming he didn’t realize he had to pay taxes on his winnings. Sure, Richard!
SWK: Yep, despite or maybe because of his tax evasion, he came back for House of Villains season 1, but didn't have as much staying power on that show. Survivor as one of the first major competition shows to succeed made sense; we could watch other people subsist in a jungle and attempt complex mind tricks by tiki torches from the comfort of our couches. Instead of aspirational viewing, we're watching half-naked normies in the least aspirational setting tear each other down until the bitter, too sandy end. It created a genre that will survive, pun intended, likely until we can no longer watch TV.
SWK: There's also a theme of staged arrests on reality TV shows purely for the views, from the fake arrest of Bling Ring member Alexis Haines on Pretty Wild to the questionable arrests of too many of the real housewives. That said, there are so many housewives who have legit gone to prison, often for Richard Hatch style tax evasion. The first one that burned my memory is Teresa Giudice, who hosted the most epic you're going to prison party for her husband on reality TV, and then didn't celebrate much when she also ended up in jail.
BB: Jen Shah’s (from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City) arrest for a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme was pretty wild too. We don't see her get arrested on screen, but it almost happens when a bunch of federal officers swarm the other cast members outside their Sprinter van. Lisa Barlow calls her lawyers immediately, all six of them.
SWK: Oh if the walls in that sprinter van could talk! Another most memorable first has to be the first psychic on The Real Housewives franchise, the one and only Allison DuBois, who is certainly the first psychic I've ever seen to sport an e cigarette, at a sit down dinner hosted by Camille Grammar no less! There have been so many psychics on the housewives franchise since then, probably because reading people's not so ideal futures makes for great "truth telling" on TV.
BB: Yes, psychic’s are now a tried and true trope of these shows, it always unearths some drama. I mean, Allison DuBois was right about Kyle Richards and Mauricio…
SWK: Let's not forget the Long Island Medium, Therese Caputo, who "lives in the real world, but spends most of her time in the spirit world." She may not have been the first medium on TV but she is certainly one of the most memorable, with 14 seasons of "talking" to the dead.
SWK: The first memes from reality TV feel like a time capsule of the evolution of the genre. They were generated from screen grabs of Teen Mom, Trading Spouses, and Jon & Kate Plus 8 with snappy one liners or general vibezzz text. And of course there's the early America's Next Top Model "we were rooting for you" meme, which has withstood the test of time. So many of these memes have staying power, re-emerging later so far out of context, appealing to people who may have never seen the original show, but relate to the vibe.
BB: The first reality TV meme I remember encountering was Tiffany Pollard’s “New York on a Bed” moment. Her unbothered, but really so bothered, energy (sunglasses on, ignoring the other contestants) became instant meme gold. The blanket on the bed always killed me. Like, she’s sitting there with her boots on, ready to go, but she is not getting those sheets dirty.
SWK: Maybe one of the most important reality TV moments is the first time someone throws a drink in someone else's face, crossing the threshold of "keeping calm and carrying on" into full physical rage territory. Marking the first moment where someone could totally lose their shit on TV, like that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but with a gin martini instead of an animal bone.
BB: After more *research* it appears the first wine toss in reality TV history happened on The Real Housewives of Orange County, courtesy of Tamra Judge.This makes sense considering how unhinged Tamra is.
The sequence of events are as follows: Jeana Keough approaches Tamra to confront her about speaking to the press about her ex-husband. Jeana gives Tamra a cease and desist letter, and threatens to push her in the pool (in an alternate reality, this could have been the inaugural pool toss rather than a wine toss). Then Tamra throws the wine at Jeana. The argument causes a chain reaction, with other guests also throwing drinks, which has been referred to as a "beverage-throwing symphony”. You can’t walk back from a wine toss, and the ladies of The Real Housewives franchise have been keeping the tradition alive ever since.
SWK: From wine throwing to prison, it makes sense a lot of the memes were also mug shots aka our greatest source of public humiliation, overlaid with text reminding us that this person's 15 minutes of fame is up, or at least until they get themselves back on TV!
BB: Reality TV is full of firsts and “first worsts” but there are good firsts too. Like women launching first businesses after a reality TV stint or people finding first love on Love is Blind. Even so, nothing says “reality TV” quite like watching someone slip on the metaphorical banana peel over and over again, just like Candid Camera promised decades ago.
Our personal first 5:
1. First Housewives series that made us say, "this is for me":
SWK: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, my first committed dive into the Housewives franchise and the one many true fans told me to watch first. The first season will go down in the crystal covered, pink floral decorated housewives hall of fame as one of the most deranged seasons, from Lisa Vanderpump's garden mansion to Kylie and Kim's bizarre relationship to the tragic drama of Taylor Armstrong's marriage, culminating in the most bonkers reunion episode in the franchise (imo). Oh and so many memes of woman yelling at cat.
BB: The New York franchise was the first one that won me over. Where else do you get cast trips like “Scary Island” or Ramona Singer’s “Turtle Time” or Dorinda Medley’s Bluestone Manor meltdowns. The NYC franchise seemed like a bit of a departure from the Orange County or Beverly Hills series, most of the women were already divorced or widowed, very few of them were actually housewives. They had careers and backstories, and were friends long before the show materialized. I can’t actually believe we have a record of these women stomping around NYC in the mid 2000s and all the chaos that ensued.
2. First WTF moment we remember on reality TV:
SWK: When Tyra Banks chopped off the hair of aspiring models on America's Next Top Model as part of the makeover challenge. As a young girl/woman who valued my hair over my own family, I could not believe some lady could show up and do whatever she wanted as part of "the process." It felt both deeply wrong and very appropriate given the set up of ANTM. All I can say is, Tyra could neva with my hair!
BB: Probably the first season of Survivor. I remember watching it on TV in junior high and thinking, wait… this is legal? And honestly, I’m still asking that question today with every new reality TV series that drops.
3. First reality TV obsession/crush:
SWK: Siss J aka Ms. J. Alexander on ANTM was that girl for me. He walked the walk, wore creations he designed himself, and served great face on camera, including a bug eyed WTF stare that said everything. A self-made star and one of the first queer queens I saw on my TV. Wish he could show me how to walk that walk.
BB: The first reality TV show I remember truly obsessing over was Big Brother. I couldn’t wait for the next episode to air—it always delivered on interpersonal drama, and there were always plenty of contestants to crush on.
4. First reality TV binge:
SWK: We couldn't binge as teens because television didn't work like that back then, so I'm going to choose a more recent one. 2021. Height of the pandemic lockdown. Vanderpump Rules seasons 1-12. If you know, you know.
BB: In 2018 when Sasha Velour’s season of Drag Race was added to Netflix I was immediately hooked, binging the season straight from my laptop in bed like it was my job. I went down the rabbit hole after that, watching everything Drag Race I could find. Now there are so many seasons and spin offs I can barely keep up. There’s probably one airing right now.
5. First time we felt reality TV was both trash and medicine:
SWK: My experience watching Bridalplasty, a 2010 show so deranged they only gave it one season, made me realize I could get fascinated-horrified feels from watching, like eating a poisonous snack that's also delish. In this case, it was a show about women competing for different plastic surgeries so they can look perfect on their wedding days. A messed up multi-layered dip of a show. Yum, yum.
BB: I’m still not sure I can fully commit to the idea of reality TV being medicine, except for the way that valium is medicine, but my experience of watching The Circle during the pandemic was exactly what the doctor ordered.
BB: During our *research,* we discovered that one of the first televised reality shows was An American Family, a 1973 PBS series that doesn’t sound all that different from The Kardashians or The Real Housewives. The show followed the Louds, a well-off California family with a big house, a swimming pool, and plenty of aspirational energy. Who knows what the producers originally intended, but it sounds like the show ended up focusing more on the family’s struggles, like the parents’ troubled marriage, than on picture-perfect moments. It was wildly popular and stumbled onto the formula for the kind of television we are still obsessed with today. Instead of hidden-camera gags and mild embarrassment, it turns out we’d rather watch someone’s entire life slowly unravel on screen.
SWK: It's true, we've always wanted to form parasocial relationships with the wealthy and ogle how they live, especially when they're falling apart. If we aren't trying to peer into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, a la The Kardashians and An American Family, we are excited by the first televised gladiator games aka Survivor, the landmark competition show that set the bar for all future versions of "everyday people" in the jungle trying to outlast one another.
BB: Yeah, all the popular reality TV shows seem to tap into something primal—survival of the fittest, love, friendship, social expulsion, and, of course, food. There’s also this recurring theme of people trying to present a certain image of themselves, only for something much more human to be revealed. Marital issues and money troubles are practically a staple of reality TV at this point. Especially in these aspirational wealth shows, where people go into debt trying to maintain the luxurious lifestyles they flaunt on camera. And some even end up in jail for it.
Speaking of firsts, I guess the first reality TV star to land in prison was Survivor’s Richard Hatch, who went down for tax evasion after claiming he didn’t realize he had to pay taxes on his winnings. Sure, Richard!
SWK: Yep, despite or maybe because of his tax evasion, he came back for House of Villains season 1, but didn't have as much staying power on that show. Survivor as one of the first major competition shows to succeed made sense; we could watch other people subsist in a jungle and attempt complex mind tricks by tiki torches from the comfort of our couches. Instead of aspirational viewing, we're watching half-naked normies in the least aspirational setting tear each other down until the bitter, too sandy end. It created a genre that will survive, pun intended, likely until we can no longer watch TV.
SWK: There's also a theme of staged arrests on reality TV shows purely for the views, from the fake arrest of Bling Ring member Alexis Haines on Pretty Wild to the questionable arrests of too many of the real housewives. That said, there are so many housewives who have legit gone to prison, often for Richard Hatch style tax evasion. The first one that burned my memory is Teresa Giudice, who hosted the most epic you're going to prison party for her husband on reality TV, and then didn't celebrate much when she also ended up in jail.
BB: Jen Shah’s (from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City) arrest for a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme was pretty wild too. We don't see her get arrested on screen, but it almost happens when a bunch of federal officers swarm the other cast members outside their Sprinter van. Lisa Barlow calls her lawyers immediately, all six of them.
SWK: Oh if the walls in that sprinter van could talk! Another most memorable first has to be the first psychic on The Real Housewives franchise, the one and only Allison DuBois, who is certainly the first psychic I've ever seen to sport an e cigarette, at a sit down dinner hosted by Camille Grammar no less! There have been so many psychics on the housewives franchise since then, probably because reading people's not so ideal futures makes for great "truth telling" on TV.
BB: Yes, psychic’s are now a tried and true trope of these shows, it always unearths some drama. I mean, Allison DuBois was right about Kyle Richards and Mauricio…
SWK: Let's not forget the Long Island Medium, Therese Caputo, who "lives in the real world, but spends most of her time in the spirit world." She may not have been the first medium on TV but she is certainly one of the most memorable, with 14 seasons of "talking" to the dead.
SWK: The first memes from reality TV feel like a time capsule of the evolution of the genre. They were generated from screen grabs of Teen Mom, Trading Spouses, and Jon & Kate Plus 8 with snappy one liners or general vibezzz text. And of course there's the early America's Next Top Model "we were rooting for you" meme, which has withstood the test of time. So many of these memes have staying power, re-emerging later so far out of context, appealing to people who may have never seen the original show, but relate to the vibe.
BB: The first reality TV meme I remember encountering was Tiffany Pollard’s “New York on a Bed” moment. Her unbothered, but really so bothered, energy (sunglasses on, ignoring the other contestants) became instant meme gold. The blanket on the bed always killed me. Like, she’s sitting there with her boots on, ready to go, but she is not getting those sheets dirty.
SWK: Maybe one of the most important reality TV moments is the first time someone throws a drink in someone else's face, crossing the threshold of "keeping calm and carrying on" into full physical rage territory. Marking the first moment where someone could totally lose their shit on TV, like that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but with a gin martini instead of an animal bone.
BB: After more *research* it appears the first wine toss in reality TV history happened on The Real Housewives of Orange County, courtesy of Tamra Judge.This makes sense considering how unhinged Tamra is.
The sequence of events are as follows: Jeana Keough approaches Tamra to confront her about speaking to the press about her ex-husband. Jeana gives Tamra a cease and desist letter, and threatens to push her in the pool (in an alternate reality, this could have been the inaugural pool toss rather than a wine toss). Then Tamra throws the wine at Jeana. The argument causes a chain reaction, with other guests also throwing drinks, which has been referred to as a "beverage-throwing symphony”. You can’t walk back from a wine toss, and the ladies of The Real Housewives franchise have been keeping the tradition alive ever since.
SWK: From wine throwing to prison, it makes sense a lot of the memes were also mug shots aka our greatest source of public humiliation, overlaid with text reminding us that this person's 15 minutes of fame is up, or at least until they get themselves back on TV!
BB: Reality TV is full of firsts and “first worsts” but there are good firsts too. Like women launching first businesses after a reality TV stint or people finding first love on Love is Blind. Even so, nothing says “reality TV” quite like watching someone slip on the metaphorical banana peel over and over again, just like Candid Camera promised decades ago.
Our personal first 5:
1. First Housewives series that made us say, "this is for me":
SWK: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, my first committed dive into the Housewives franchise and the one many true fans told me to watch first. The first season will go down in the crystal covered, pink floral decorated housewives hall of fame as one of the most deranged seasons, from Lisa Vanderpump's garden mansion to Kylie and Kim's bizarre relationship to the tragic drama of Taylor Armstrong's marriage, culminating in the most bonkers reunion episode in the franchise (imo). Oh and so many memes of woman yelling at cat.
BB: The New York franchise was the first one that won me over. Where else do you get cast trips like “Scary Island” or Ramona Singer’s “Turtle Time” or Dorinda Medley’s Bluestone Manor meltdowns. The NYC franchise seemed like a bit of a departure from the Orange County or Beverly Hills series, most of the women were already divorced or widowed, very few of them were actually housewives. They had careers and backstories, and were friends long before the show materialized. I can’t actually believe we have a record of these women stomping around NYC in the mid 2000s and all the chaos that ensued.
2. First WTF moment we remember on reality TV:
SWK: When Tyra Banks chopped off the hair of aspiring models on America's Next Top Model as part of the makeover challenge. As a young girl/woman who valued my hair over my own family, I could not believe some lady could show up and do whatever she wanted as part of "the process." It felt both deeply wrong and very appropriate given the set up of ANTM. All I can say is, Tyra could neva with my hair!
BB: Probably the first season of Survivor. I remember watching it on TV in junior high and thinking, wait… this is legal? And honestly, I’m still asking that question today with every new reality TV series that drops.
3. First reality TV obsession/crush:
SWK: Siss J aka Ms. J. Alexander on ANTM was that girl for me. He walked the walk, wore creations he designed himself, and served great face on camera, including a bug eyed WTF stare that said everything. A self-made star and one of the first queer queens I saw on my TV. Wish he could show me how to walk that walk.
BB: The first reality TV show I remember truly obsessing over was Big Brother. I couldn’t wait for the next episode to air—it always delivered on interpersonal drama, and there were always plenty of contestants to crush on.
4. First reality TV binge:
SWK: We couldn't binge as teens because television didn't work like that back then, so I'm going to choose a more recent one. 2021. Height of the pandemic lockdown. Vanderpump Rules seasons 1-12. If you know, you know.
BB: In 2018 when Sasha Velour’s season of Drag Race was added to Netflix I was immediately hooked, binging the season straight from my laptop in bed like it was my job. I went down the rabbit hole after that, watching everything Drag Race I could find. Now there are so many seasons and spin offs I can barely keep up. There’s probably one airing right now.
5. First time we felt reality TV was both trash and medicine:
SWK: My experience watching Bridalplasty, a 2010 show so deranged they only gave it one season, made me realize I could get fascinated-horrified feels from watching, like eating a poisonous snack that's also delish. In this case, it was a show about women competing for different plastic surgeries so they can look perfect on their wedding days. A messed up multi-layered dip of a show. Yum, yum.
BB: I’m still not sure I can fully commit to the idea of reality TV being medicine, except for the way that valium is medicine, but my experience of watching The Circle during the pandemic was exactly what the doctor ordered.