Dive deep beyond the infamous makeovers, romances and eliminations that helped define an entire TV genre, to bring you stories you've never heard before from producers, contestants and crew, painting a realer version of the reality world.
E1 ∙ The Swan
The Swan is intended to be a fairy tale makeover show, but it turns into a torturous nightmare when the cast discovers they're actually competing in a plastic surgery competition.
E2 ∙ Kid Nation
When 40 of America's smartest children are picked to build their own civilization in the middle of the New Mexico desert, the situation swiftly devolves into Lord of the Flies 2.0.
E3 ∙ Joe Millionaire
It's TV's biggest ever bait and switch--20 women are deceived into believing their would-be suitor is worth millions, and made to look like gold diggers in front of 70 million viewers.
E4 ∙ The Surreal Life
Seven celebs spend ten days together in a Hollywood mansion, but what starts as a social experiment gets out of hand after producers cast personalities that explode on contact.
.E5 ∙ Hell's Kitchen
The meanest man on television runs his contestants through a verbal assault course as they vie for a dream job working under him. But is this a cooking contest, or just a game show?
E6 ∙ Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Gifting new homes to families in dire straits seems anything but dark. But viewers never get to see how the houses become money-pits, that lead to family fallout and massive debt.
E7 ∙ Survivor - Season One
It kickstarted a TV revolution, and gave rise to reality's first villain. But was the real winner of Survivor's first season Richard Hatch, or the show's creator, Mark Burnett?
E8 ∙ The Real Housewives
Over 20 years after it first aired, and with a franchise on almost every continent, how did a show about housewives create some of the most compelling and controversial TV ever?
E9 ∙ Toddlers & Tiaras
TLC's tantrum-filled pageant show was controversial from the start, but were these toddlers and their moms organically outrageous, or did producers juice things up for television?
