It’s easy to see why Drag Race made the top 100: it brought drag to the masses and was a significant milestone for LGBTQ+ representation on TV. But why didn’t more reality TV make the cut? Big Brother, one of the biggest reality shows ever, didn’t qualify because its original Dutch version premiered in 1999. Some hugely popular shows that did meet the criteria were noticeably absent, though. The Great British Bake Off, for example, which has been a hit on the BBC and then Channel 4 in the UK, as well as Netflix in the US. Netflix’s revival of Queer Eye – a more caring type of makeover show that attempted to deconstruct modern masculinity – was also excluded. These snubs suggest that, nine years on from the Baftas introducing an awards category for Best “Reality and Constructed Factual show” – of which Made in Chelsea was the second ever winner – reality TV is still perceived by many as a low-quality art form.
While reality TV may not be held in much critical esteem, its growth over the last two decades has been extraordinary. A 2017 study found that a fifth of all…
