Big Brother's racism, plus six competitions that are actually worth watching, and Top Chef news
Dear newsletter friends,
I’m a vegetarian—well, the kind that eats mostly sugar, not vegetables—and yet I spent the weekend watching American Barbecue Showdown. 🥩🔥
Despite the animal carcasses, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing, right down to the final two, who were my favorite two contestants, though they were all fun to watch, even in their lower moments.
The show is nothing new or surprising, but it’s well-done (PUN ALERT), and so I’m not surprised it’s been trending on Netflix all week.
It’s also one of a handful of shows landing right now that are just thoroughly enjoyable competitions, like my new favorite show.
And today, The Great British Baking Show hits Netflix for American viewers. 🎉🍰
So, between American Barbecue Showdown, The Great Pottery Throw Down, and The Great British Baking Show, there really is a lot of great, joyful reality TV right now.
As a bonus, in the past 10 days, two singing shows premiered that offer some pretty fun moments, although they’re also bloated with unnecessary stuff.
This week I reviewed:
American Barbecue Showdown on Netflix
I Can See Your Voice on Fox
Sing On! on Netflix
Masked Singer on Fox
As I reported last month, The Masked Singer faked its studio audience, so I expected that, but what we saw was much weirder—and a dangerous, unnecessary lie, I think.
And speaking of dangerous…
Big Brother, Drag Race, and other news
Big news from CBS: Big Brother now bans racial slurs. It’s about time; it’s also season 22.
But what about BB22’s implicit racism? The mocking of someone’s autism?
What about the fact that an all-white alliance has systematically targeted people of color this entire season? The first month was all white men as HOH, targeting only women and people of color.
And now, for the past four weeks, the nominations have always been people of color—except last week, when two separate twists saved the initial nominees (David and Kevin), the HOH was forced to nominate two white men for the first time all season.
In an all-star season, players and characters we like will get voted off. But there’s been an undeniable, grotesque pattern to the nominations, and I wrote about all that here.
In happier news, RuPaul’s Drag Race dominated at the Emmys.
So did a comedy inspired by reality TV. Despite some bits that went on far too long, I thought the remotely filmed Emmys were much better than in-person Emmys.
The Emmys gave us a brief glimpse of Top Chef, so I did some digging and here’s what I found out about next season, and a spin-off.
I also answered a viewer’s question about Drew Drechsel’s team on American Ninja Warrior, and what happened with the Power Tower in episode one.
And for Primetimer, I looked at how game shows are filling in for scripted shows this fall—but most of them weren’t filmed recently. Instead, shows like Match Game are on the schedule now because of creative scheduling.
Is it just me, or does time feel like it’s been accelerating lately? I don’t quite know how it’s Friday yet again. And I also feel like, another week?! I’ve done nothing! But I guess I watched—and wrote about—a lot.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your reality TV, and hope this provides some useful information and reality TV recommendations. Have a great weekend, wear a mask, and I’ll see you next Friday in your inbox.
best,
Andy
🌄 This is Reality in Focus issue 213, first sent 25 September 2020, and it loves a great Beyond Burger cooked on a grill. That’s barbecue, right?
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📷 Photo of Giants Causeway in Ireland by Tyler Collins