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Top Ten Best Reality TV Shows Of 2005


Reality TV Magazine has selected their Top Ten Reality TV Shows of 2005.  The list includes a mix of returning reality TV franchises and brand new reality TV shows. 

Top Ten Reality TV Shows of 2005

1. American Idol 4
2. Dancing With The Stars
3. Big Brother 6
4. Amazing Race 7
5. Kill Reality
6. Breaking Bonaduce
7. The Apprentice 4
8. Rock Star: INXS
9. The Contender
10. Hell’s Kitchen

Topping the list is none other than American Idol 4.  Fox executives initially tried to lower ratings expectations for the fourth season, but it turns out that they shouldn’t have worried.  American Idol 4 was packed with more talent than ever before and became a water cooler topic of conversation for the first half of 2005. 

Second on our list is the Summer hit Dancing With The Stars.  While the jury is still out on whether this show will be just a one hit wonder or will go on to become a reality TV franchise, the showdown between John O’ Hurley and Kelly Monaco proved to be one of the most interesting reality TV contests of the year. 

Third on our list is another Summer favorite.  The war between the Sovereign Six and The Friendship made Big Brother 6 the most vicious but yet entertaining edition of Big Brother ever. 

For the Amazing Race, it was the best of times and the worst of times.  While the Amazing Race 8 Family Edition might have been a letdown to many fans, The Amazing Race 7 succeeded in adding a whole new dimension to the game.  Whether you loved them or hated them, Rob & Amber certainly made things interesting.  Amazing Race 7 earned the number four spot, while Amazing Race 8 belongs on another list.

Numbers five and six on our list might be labeled as guilty pleasures by some.  Kill Reality brought back some of our favorite reality TV stars and put them in a Project Greenlight meets Real World type of show that proved to be shocking and hilarious.  Along the same lines, Breaking Bonaduce was another surprise hit that was hard to turn away from.  Who knew watching a former child actor self-destruct could be so entertaining?

Numbers seven and eight both started off slow but finished with a bang.  We thought that Donald Trump was going to offer up another boring and predictable season of The Apprentice until he started his mass firings.  Then to cap it all off, Randal pulled one of the biggest shockers ever on the finale by nixing Trump’s double-hiring plan.  Likewise, Rock Star INXS was a snooze fest for the first couple of weeks, but then the likes of J.D. Fortune, Marty Casey, MiG Ayesa, and Jordis Unga got the show rocking.  By the finale, we were crossing our fingers and hoping that another version of the show would be back next Summer.

Numbers nine and ten are two more new shows.  Despite the fact that it struggled in the ratings, The Contender was a well-made reality TV show.  We’re glad to see that it finally found a new home on ESPN.  Hell’s Kitchen was also a surprisingly well-made new show.  Chef Gordon Ramsay proved to be the Simon Cowell of the kitchen and put more drama into a cooking competition than we ever thought possible.

Probably the most notable absence from our Top Ten list is Survivor.  This isn’t to say that we didn’t enjoy both 2005 editions of what is still one of the highest rated reality shows on television, but there were just too many franchises offering up their best seasons ever and new shows that deserved recognition that Survivor got pushed farther and farther down the list.  Survivor Palau and Survivor Guatemala would have probably landed in the eleventh and twelfth spots if we had made the list longer.  The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Project Runway, Beauty and the Geek, and America’s Next Top Model were also shows that we felt should have been included if the list had been a little longer.

Do you agree or disagree with our Top Ten list?  What other shows would you have added to the list?  What shows do you think don’t belong on the list?

-EW.com