by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: December 01, 2009

We love to sit in our rooms at the end of a hard day and view the world of life, love, science and adventure. We love to go where we could never go and to see what we truly do not want to ever see in person. From the train wrecks that people make of their lives to the soaring and lofty goals of learning more about tornadoes, we love reality television as the new world order of educational and informational programming.

The simplest fact about the best reality television shows is that they simply grab our minds and hearts and never let go. But this simple fact becomes as complex as the infinite variety of viewer's hearts and minds. There is a massive volume of reality programming available today, in some cases, we do not even realize that we are watching reality television.

Documentaries and regular shows that are broadcast on Public Broadcasting and the specialty networks are actually reality shows that educate, inform, demonstrate, and show us parts of the world and of human existence that we would never be able to experience in person. As such, these are the highest in the quality of production values, editing, narrating, and presentation of information.

"Follow along" reality television allows us to join cops, tornado chasers, ghost chasers, survivalists, and fishermen as they do their jobs. There is no scripting or interference by the filming crew, making these the highest in the quality and honesty of reality. "Tornado Chasers", Les Stroud's survival series, and "Deadliest Catch" are the three best shows in this reality genre.

Competition shows are among the lowest in quality of reality because of the contrived, and often silly tests that the cooks, designers, and others are put through. The best of the cooking competitions allow the chefs to demonstrate their skills, creativity and training while working in the artificial construct of competition. Food Network's "Food Challenge", "Hell's Kitchen", and "Iron Chef" stay the most true to the actual performance and skills demonstration issues that cooks go through in practicing their craft. The final two or three shows of "Project Runway", where the designers are free of the silly challenges come closest to showcasing their work. "So You Think You Can Dance" has revived interest in all forms of dance with quality choreography and merciless judging. "American Idol" is popular, but loses major points by limiting the singing options for the contestants or forcing them to sing in genres that they should not have

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