Remember how wild and unhinged reality shows were back in the early 2000s? While some shows played it safe and kept things nice and clean, there were others that pushed their subjects (or contestants) to the breaking point in the name of good TV and high ratings. After watching Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model and its deconstruction of the popular competition series, I started to think about some shows that could also get that treatment, for better or worse.
That being said, I’ve come up with a list of early 2000s reality shows that I think need the docuseries treatment so that we can see just how crazy things got behind the scenes and further explore our insatiable appetite for drama around the turn of the century. Here are some of the reality or competition series I think would be the most interesting.
The Surreal Life
Though The Surreal Life, and several other unforgettable reality TV shows have been covered on the Dark Side of Reality TV series Vice put out a couple of years ago, this behemoth of a show can’t possibly be fit into a single episode. A staple on The WB (and later VH1) from 2003 to 2006, before being brought back for two more seasons in the 2020s, this reality show was like The Real World but with celebrities of varying levels of fame, as opposed to random strangers. Anyone who watched this show back in the day, no doubt, has memories of it burned into their psyche at this point, and I would love to see these explored.
Though it would be hard watch considering multiple housemates have passed over the years (Verne Troyer’s 2018 death and Chyna’s shocking 2016 passing quickly come to mind), it would also be interesting to see what the producers and celebrities who appeared on the show have to say about its impact on celebrity obsession and how much times have changed. Also, it would have to talk about Flavor of Love and how the Flavor Flav dating show kicked off a new era for VH1 in the 2000s.
Making The Band
There have been multiple documentaries and docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs in recent years, with some even touching on his early 2000s reality series, Making the Band. However, a full-fledged docuseries about the long-running show about the formation of groups like O-Town, Da Band, and Day26 would be something to behold. I mean, before Combs entered the picture with the show’s second season, you had the late Lou Pearlman, the music manager and convicted con artist who assembled Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, which would lead to some wild stories.
It would be interesting to explore the impact of Making the Band, its place in pop culture throughout the 2000s, and where the artists have gone in the years since first making a big splash in the recording industry. Undoubtedly, there would be some tough subject matter chronicled here, but it would be fascinating to watch.
The Swan
A reality competition series inspired by the classic story “The Ugly Duckling,” The Swan took things to the extreme when it debuted on Fox back in April 2004. The body transformations on America’s Next Top Model were insane back in the day, but they pale in comparison to this over-the-top and borderline unethical series about people becoming “beautiful” or whatever the judges and voters thought was beautiful at the time.
Though the series was brought back for a celebrity special back in 2013, this one has largely been left to be forgotten and is considered one of the worst and most egregious reality shows of the early 2000s. It would be intriguing, though a bit unsettling, to go back and see what the show’s creators and producers originally had in mind and if they had any idea there would be so much blowback in the years that followed. This would undoubtedly be one of the hardest-to-watch docuseries of this variety.
Joe Millionaire
There have been countless dating shows over the years (with more coming out all the time), but few have had a premise as bonkers as Joe Millionaire. For those who don’t remember, this reality series debuted back in 2003 and followed a group of women competing to win over who they thought was an extremely wealthy bachelor, only to discover that he was just a regular dude in the finale. If the shocker didn’t scare them away, they got to split the $1 million prize.
The series, which ran for two seasons back in the day, came back in 2022 with a new take on the premise, which ended up being a lot of fun in the end. Though that later version might not lead to the best docuseries, the original run seems like it’s tailor-made for the format. The radical twist, the way it played on people’s perception of wealth, and the general vibes just seem perfect.
The Girls Next Door
VH1 had its share of crazy reality shows back in the day, but so did E!, whose output included The Girls Next Door. This long-running series followed the various girlfriends of the late Hugh Hefner as they lived, partied, and tried to get through their day-to-day at the famed Playboy Mansion. A lot has changed in the world, and our perception of Hefner and his iconic mansion, in the years that have followed the show’s run in the mid-to-late 2000s, which would make for an interesting exploration 20 years after the fact.
Like others on this list, a docuseries would have to be handled delicately, considering the subject matter and everything else involved with it. That said, I still think this would be a captivating, albeit sometimes distressing, deep dive into the sensibilities of the time.
All of these reality shows would make for great docuseries in a variety of ways, both good and not-so-good. That said, I think each would need to be handled with a delicate hand, especially when covering some difficult subject matter.
