When CBS’s “Survivor” burst on to TV screens on May 31, 2000, few could have predicted that it would launch an entirely new genre of television that, more than 20 years later, still dominates networks and streaming services. While there were certainly TV competitions before the 2000s (such as, say, “Star Search”), what came after “Survivor” was a different animal altogether, taking average people and launching them into stardom as an ever-increasing number of shows followed their quests for money, love, fame, and sometimes, all of the above. Now the Great Pop Culture Debate podcast wants to determine the Best Reality TV Competition of all time!
Join host Eric Rezsnyak and panelists Curtis Creekmore, Joelle Boedecker, and Michael Schwarz as they eliminate the weakest links and crown a winner amongst the Top 16 reality-television competition series in TV history.
The Round 2 match-ups are:
“Survivor” (1) vs. “The Bachelor” (4)
“The Voice” (3) vs. “So You Think You Can Dance” (2)
“The Amazing Race” (1) vs. “Master Chef” (4)
“America’s Next Top Model” (3) vs. “Great British Baking Show” (2)
“American Idol” (1) vs. “Iron Chef” (4)
“Top Chef” (3) vs. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (2)
“The Mole” (1) vs. “The Masked Singer” (5)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” (3) vs. “Project Runway” (2)
Want to play along at home?
Download the listener bracket here and see if your picks match up with ours! Want to find out how we went from the Top 32 down to the Sweet 16? Listen to Round 1 by becoming a Patreon supporter of the podcast, which includes access that EXCLUSIVE content.
Looking for more reality TV content?
Check out these other episodes from Great Pop Culture Debate:
Best “America’s Next Top Model” Photo Shoot
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Snatch Game Performance
Best “Great British Bake-Off” Bake
And if you want to further reality TV content, check out Karissa Kloss’s Top 10 “Survivor” Torch Snuffers list!
Have a say in future episodes!
Finally, if you want to have a say in what episodes we tackle next, vote in our Topic Polls! And we would love to have you pick your faves in the polls currently open for your votes!
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panel: Curtis Creekmore, Joelle Boedecker, Michael Schwarz
Producer: Curtis Creekmore
Editor: Jeffery Perry