CT’s Top 5 Rated Reality Shows, Including Game Shows Have Very Little in Common

Reality TV, the very mention of it can cause heated debates.

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Despite it's vocal detractors, it's been an American reality since 1948 if you include "Candid Camera." If you don't include hidden camera shows or game shows, the discussion gets even murkier. Network TV faithful will say "Survivor" (2000) was first but old MTV viewers like myself, trace the roots back to the first season of "The Real World" in 1992.

Technically, there were others that pre-dated the "Real World" like "Cops" in 1989 and the limited reality series "An American Family" which aired on PBS in 1973. To me, "The Real World" was the first, the real groundbreaker because after it rose to popularity it was obvious that copies were on their way and TV would never be the same.

In 2022, "reality TV" is our reality, it dominates programming on networks like Bravo, Lifetime and A&E. Reality shows hold their own in the ratings in primetime slots that traditionally, were dominated by sitcoms and dramatic hour-long series.

My wife Erica is a reality series fan ,she watches "Married at First Sight", :Sister Wives" and every version of the "Real Housewives." Being that I had an expert in the house, I thought I'd ask, what is it about these shows. I said what attracts you to these kinds of series? She said:

"I don't know, their lives are a disaster, it's drama that is not my own. I can shut my brain off for a little while and just be." 

Erica is know for her exceedingly honest answers, it can be hurtful or blunt at times but the bright-side is, you never get B.S. I bet that is the allure for most people, they get to peak into someone's window, watch their most dramatic moments and do it, guilt free.

Examining trends, figuring out what people like, is only part of my job. The second, and most important is to find out how those trends playout locally. What do CT people talk about? What are Danbury, Brookfield and Ridgefield residents watching?

I got my reality TV answer from an unlikely source, a company called Jeff Bet. Jeff Bet paid to conduct a reality TV popularity study. They used data from Google keyword ad planner and analyzed the average search volumes for 56 popular reality TV shows from Oct 25 2021 to Oct 25 2022.

The data was then segmented by every US state. What they found was interesting, and we now know who the King of reality TV is in the Nutmeg State, "Married at First Sight" on Lifetime.

Here is the TOP 5:

1 - Married at First Sight

2 - Survivor

3 - Shark Tank

4 - 90 Day Fiancé

5 - Wheel of Fortune

I have to hand it to CT residents, they are well-rounded. I would have guessed "The Real Housewives would have taken all 5 spots.

Pastor Cal has killer advice.

P.S. Who am I kidding with "Network TV faithful?" Is that even a thing anymore?