What should I watch if I miss old reality TV?

If you miss old reality TV, look for two kinds of shows: modern series that capture that messy, high-drama energy, and the actual classics.

Great newer shows with old-school reality energy

• House of Villains — a campy chaos fest built around reality-TV veterans and big personalities.
• The Traitors — still current, but it has that paranoid, cutthroat competition vibe old-school reality fans often love.
• The Valley — if you want interpersonal mess, oversharing, and very little polish, this scratches that itch.

Classics to revisit

Try looking for:

• Flavor of Love / I Love New York
• The Simple Life
• The Real World
• Laguna Beach
• Jersey Shore
• The Hills
• The Challenge
• Survivor and Big Brother

Where to check first

Streaming rights change a lot, but these are good places to start:

• Paramount+ for CBS/MTV-era reality like Survivor, Big Brother, The Challenge, and often other nostalgia picks
• Peacock for Bravo/E! reality and other throwback titles
• Pluto TV for free nostalgia channels and reality marathons, which can sometimes include classic MTV-style programming