Hi all, and happy Friday.
I don’t know why, but something about this week has felt a little...odd to me. And I’m not the only one — it seems like nearly everyone I know is complaining about being a little off their rhythm this week. Maybe it’s that the glossy hope of the new year has worn off, or maybe it’s that in spite of 2020 ending, we’re still in the middle of compounding emergencies and constant upheavals in our government and financial systems and we’re starting to realize that we are very much Not Out of the Woods. Whatever the reason, it seems like there’s no better time than to take a deep breath and clear our heads with some good old-fashioned mindless programming.
I’m not usually one for reality TV, but I’ve watched a decent amount of it in the past year, and I’ve found some gems that I think are worth the little bit of guilt that comes with realizing you’ve just spent an hour or two hours or five hours watching someone else live their life. But here, I’ve collected a few for even the most staunchly anti-reality watcher (and I’d love to hear about your favorites too! Feel free to reply directly to this email and I may call out your faves in a future issue).
As usual, if you like what you read here (or you hate it and want others to share in your misery), pass this newsletter along!
Reality Shows for Escaping Reality
Queer Eye
Image credit: Netflix
Okay, yes, my whole last issue was about a feel-good show. But normally, I’m not a fan of the kind of fluffy, manufactured “inspirational” stories peddled by most makeover-type shows. Queer Eye is something different; though it’s still full of plenty of tears and hugs and transformative haircuts, there’s a sense of authenticity and goodness that is inescapable in nearly every episode of this series.
The basic structure is simple: a normal person, who needs help for some reason or another (whether it’s that they’re too busy for self-care or they’re not confident enough to pursue their career goals or they’re struggling to define their own identity), is visited by a group of stylish, cheery experts who will help them live their best life. Each of the so-called “Fab Five” has their own area of expertise; long-haired (and endearingly enthusiastic!) Jonathan is fittingly in charge of grooming, posh and tough-love Tan teaches how to dress sharp for any lifestyle, sweet Antoni is known almost as well for his tears of joy and many memes as he is for his knowledge of food and wine, underrated and sometimes deeply vulnerable Bobby helps design the spaces each week’s subject calls home (and it’s not always their house), and lovely, big-hearted Karamo focuses on improving the person’s sense of self-worth and connectivity through his focus on culture.
It’s a solid group, with a wide range of personalities and methods all underscored with a deep sense of commitment to whoever their subject of the week is. It’s a show about celebration, and growth, and finding love even if it’s just within yourself.
All five seasons of Queer Eye, as well as five special episodes, are streaming on Netflix.
Blown Away
Image credit: Netflix
If you’re looking for a relaxing reality watch, this might not be the show for you. But if you want to see surprisingly engrossing artistry, where craftspeople are dealing with live flames and delicate masterpieces may shatter at any moment, this is the perfect way to spend some time with your TV.
Blown Away is a competition series, where 10 glassblowers face off to win an artist residency and a cash prize. Each artist has their own unique style, and you’ll see a variety of complex techniques on display in each episode. Simple mistakes can be costly when working with such a fragile medium, and the workshop seems like a miserable place (constant hammering and yelling, plus enough furnaces that everyone is dripping in sweat by the end of the work period, don’t seem appealing to me), but that makes it all the more exciting to see an artist’s vision come to life perfectly.
One thing that really captured my attention, besides the impressive craftsmanship and the obviously amazing pun title, was the range of personalities in the show. In many competition shows, you get to see people under pressure, but it’s hard to argue that this grueling competition isn’t among the most taxing of its category, and accordingly, we as the audience get to see the best and worst of genius on display. Some competitors, while talented, are so arrogant that I found myself actively rooting against them, especially when they insulted others’ work or treated the student aides (who help in each round) with contempt. On the other hand, I found myself delighting in the kindness and humility of other competitors, and seeing that genius and goodness aren’t always at odds.
Sometimes the judges’ choices in the first season (I have not yet seen the second) are infuriating, but overall, the show is so exciting and captivating that it’s worth watching all the way through.
Both seasons of Blown Away are streaming on Netflix.
Survivor
Image credit: CBS
Look, I’ve loved Survivor since I was a little kid, and I’ve never stopped. Even though I’m not anywhere close to caught up (there are 40 seasons!!!), I still consider myself a big fan of this long-running competition series, which has been on TV most of my life and which, I assume, will be on TV forever. My sister, a Jeff Probst superfan who probably has, in fact, watched all 40 seasons to this point, will probably continue picking apart strategies and ranking winners for equally as long, and I can hardly blame her. This show really is one of the few that deserves to run for *checks notes* nearly 600 episodes.
It’s funny to go back and re-watch the early seasons (and I would recommend it, if you haven’t seen them for a while) and see how far the show has come. In first few seasons, host Jeff Probst was an awkward onscreen personality, the competitive events were either way too complicated or way too simple, and you could win simply by being nice (looking at you, Ethan). Now, everyone who’s on the show is familiar with all the strategies others have used, and you have to be a full-package player to make it to the Final Tribal Council. The latest seasons have increasingly convoluted rules and themes to try to mix things up, but no matter what curveballs they throw, the heart of the show remains: a bunch of people try to survive harsh conditions in usually beautiful locations and show off their strength, smarts, skills, and strategies to win one of the toughest competitions on TV.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few of my favorite seasons:
Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites (Season 16)
Survivor: Cagayan — Brains vs. Brawns vs. Beauty (Season 28)
Survivor: China (Season 15)
Survivor: Cook Islands (Season 13)
Survivor: Panama — Exile Island (Season 12)
Various seasons of Survivor are available on different streaming services, including Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and CBS All Access.
Glow Up
Image credit: BBC / Netflix
Even if you don’t love makeup as much as I do (hint: it’s a lot), this makeup artist competition show is an awesome demonstration of the skill and creativity that go into creating the perfect makeup look. Here, it’s not all about the perfect winged liner or vibrant red lip (though sometimes it is); each week’s challenges push makeup as a medium to its limits.
A group of makeup artists compete to be “Britain’s Next Make-Up Star,” and in each episode, brilliant artistry shines through to transform faces into colorful, beautiful canvases. Of course, not every look is a stunner, and sometimes I found myself scratching my head at the weird, wild, and sometimes boring looks competitors put together. But as with any competition show, each season I found my favorites and rooted for them to do something incredible, and more often than not, they did.
Sure, in the weeks after watching this show, I found myself dipping into more vibrant and metallic eyeshadow palettes than my normal aesthetic asks for. But really, it’s not often that a reality show can inspire my own sense of creativity, and I loved that.
Both seasons of Glow Up are streaming on Netflix.
Selling Sunset
Image credit: Netflix
I’ll admit, this show is everything most people think of when they hear the phrase “reality show.” It’s got loads of drama, and full-glam women wearing six-inch heels where there’s no reason to be wearing them (construction sites among them!!!), and plenty of ridiculous low-stakes backstabbing. There’s no “but” here, no unexpected sense of heart or subtle sense of morality. This is high-gloss, low-substance TV at its finest, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
Selling Sunset is about a group of glamorous real estate agents working to sell fabulous properties in Los Angeles. Each of the show’s agents is model-level gorgeous, with their own personal baggage (and even more personal grudges) adding plenty of opportunities for shifting loyalties, broken promises, and petty arguments to find their way into the workplace they all share.
Though some would say no-nonsense Christine is the show’s villain, most of the characters have their own moments of villainy, and though I have my own personal favorites, I don’t want to dig into too much detail here because I think part of the fun is watching the agents’ various personality traits — good and otherwise — come out.
There are few better distractions from life home, eating Frosted Flakes on my couch alone in a free branded sweatshirt I got from my own workplace, than watching a group of impossibly wealthy people live a life I’ll never live and fight about things I’d never fight over in a city I have no desire to move to. Truly, reality TV at its finest.
All three seasons of Selling Sunset are streaming on Netflix.
Bonus Features
A lot of former Harry Potter fans are not pleased to hear that there may be a new series in development for HBO Max. While fans would once have been thrilled to spend more time in the Wizarding World, author J.K. Rowling has lost support in recent years, as she’s revealed transphobic opinions and doubled down on controversial comments.
Bridgerton is apparently Netflix’s biggest series ever — but that claim has reopened conversations about how Netflix determines and shares its viewership numbers.
That’s all for this week! As always, feel free to reply to this email with any and all TV-related thoughts you have, and until next week, thanks for tuning in!