Japan is infamous for its strange reality shows, and this popular one is no exception. Sasuke is essentially Wipeout on steroids and has been on the air since 1997. Even Olympic athletes have trouble completing this intense obstacle course that includes climbing nearly vertical walls and swinging from poles, and naturally, even more than watching the contestants win, we love watching them fall on their faces.
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We’re not sure how this actually became a show, and it did turn out to be pretty bad--in the most hilarious way. As the name implies, one of the worst drivers in the Netherlands is tasked with completing an obstacle course, and during the finale, he ends up losing control of the car and crashes into the show’s host and cameramen! Again, for some reason, we relish watching people in peril.
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This Spanish gameshow consists of contestants playing their way through a massive game board and completing different challenges along the way. But these aren’t your ordinary challenges of jumping through hoops and answering questions. Instead, contestants must do things like disabling a series of live bombs and escaping if they don’t finish. One contestant did not succeed, and several of the bombs detonated on set. Luckily, he was able to get to safety, but they probably would have just let him die if he hadn’t been able to escape. We might as well be watching gladiators in the Colosseum!
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This reality competition features contestants and show hosts who compete in a variety of games and contests. Sounds pretty standard, right? Well, wait until you find out what happens to the people who lose those games and contests. The entire draw of the show is how the losers are punished, and they’ve gotten pretty creative from forcing contestants to smell a person’s butt crack to being whipped with a riding crop. We definitely agree; this is no task for kids.
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This oddly-premised show takes girls employed in the escort industry and works to turn them into “marriage material.” As part of their highly sexist agenda, the girls learn to sweep floors, clean toilets, and do other household chores for a chance to win a wedding sponsorship and $9,000. Because as we all know, the ultimate goal in life isn’t to be successful, but to be married. The winner surprisingly did have good things to say about the show, “I’ve been turned into a real woman, I’ll never get back to the old life.” I suppose I can see why people would find this show interesting (a modern-day Cinderella story), but I feel like it would be more useful if the women learned skills to help them succeed in other areas of life besides marriage.
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Most game show hosts have amazing and expensive prizes for the winners, like cars, getaways to Bora Bora, and newborn babies. Wait, what? Yes, you read that correctly; this reality show gave away babies to two unsuspecting couples for answering questions correctly about the Quran. The parents are apparently exhilarated to have these children, and having someone win a baby is definitely going to score you a lot more headlines than having someone win a puppy.
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Have you ever wanted to know how to pull off booty shorts? Or a low-cut top? If you don’t want to take the easy route and just Google it (or avoid those articles of clothing altogether), you can learn how to be physically perfect and fashionable on this show. At the beginning, a group of “ugly ducklings” are put through a series of challenges that are designed to transform them into beautiful swans. It has a similar appeal to the show What Not to Wear, but without all that useless self-esteem-boosting nonsense that Stacy and Clinton are always parading about.
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This is the one wacky show that actually has a sweet concept. Many Cambodian families were torn apart or killed during the cultural revolution of the 1970s, so many people have not seen their loved ones since. This show’s goal is to reunite them for the first time on live television with gut-wrenching, tear-jerking results. If you’re looking for a feel-good reality show instead of watching people hurt themselves, this is it.
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In the true Russian spirit of things, this show entails contestants, who have just been given a brand-new car, being chased for 35 minutes by Russian police. If they escape, they are allowed to keep the car, but if not, the police have permission to beat them. Nothing is staged, so there are plenty of fiery crashes, and unsurprisingly, very few winners. I feel bad for the poor contestants, but it would be entertaining to watch a real-life police chase instead of a scripted one!
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This is not your regular dating show, and The Bachelor is going to seem pretty boring after watching a season of this Dutch program. In this show, two heterosexual contestants are placed on an island without even so much as the clothes on their back. Yep, it’s like a spinoff of Naked and Afraid. The contestants get to know each other throughout the show and begin to gain each other’s affections (or not). Just make sure to watch in private because this one is definitely NSFW.
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