Top 10 Exact Moments That Changed Reality TV Forever

American competition reality shows, particularly cooking shows, can be intense. When “Bake Off” finally arrived stateside, albeit under the alternative title “The Great British Baking Show,” it was a massive breath of fresh air. Here was a show about competitive amateur bakers who were just as sweet as the confections they made. Not only that, but instead of milking them for trauma, the judges and hosts were good-humored and actually wanted them to succeed. Of course, the show also introduced us to the horrors of a soggy bottom. Most importantly, gentle and hilarious tone produced likable winners, cheeky banter, and incredible, sometimes gravity-defying feats of culinary magic. It proved you didn’t need to exploit contestants to get the best out of them.

If there’s one thing a Real Housewife will do in a restaurant, it’s make a scene. Just ask “RHONY”’s Aviva Drescher. But it was arguably this explosive moment from early in the New Jersey-set series that announced the franchise’s chokehold on the genre. Teresa Giudice, a name now synonymous with the program, shocked everyone when she unloaded on the season’s villain, Danielle Staub. Giudice put a period on her profanity-laden tirade by shoving a restaurant table at her co-star. It was the moment Teresa became the show’s star, and the moment the “Real Housewives” became the blueprint for modern reality TV drama.

Reality TV was never the same once Tiffany “New York” Pollard came onto the scene. During her time in the spotlight, she has introduced entire monologues into the public lexicon (xref). But no moment demonstrated her spontaneity and pure star quality like the “David’s dead” fiasco on series 17 of “Celebrity Big Brother.” When Angie Bowie got word that her ex-husband David Bowie had died, she probably didn’t think she needed to specify which David she was referring to. Pollard, however, immediately assumed she was saying their other co-star, David Gest, had died. Unfortunately, Gest actually did pass away months later, and Pollard stated during an episode of “Watch What Happens Live!” that he’s haunting her kitchen.

Speculation that the drama on this MTV juggernaut was not as authentic as it purported to be was faced head-on in its mind-blowing finale. “The Hills,” and its original series, “Laguna Beach,” featured real life people caught up in almost conveniently tidy story and character arcs. In the former’s 2010 series finale, audiences watched as Kristin Cavallari and Brody Jenner said goodbye before she left for Europe. But it’s all just smoke and mirrors. A backdrop is then wheeled away to reveal a studio backlot, showing it was all staged. For a show that had high viewership despite allegations of scripting, it felt like a stunning tribute to how even manufactured drama can still feel real.

Technically, this miniseries was a documentary split into twelve parts. However, given how novel it was in 1973, and how similar it feels to modern-day reality TV, many consider it one of the first reality shows. When it premiered on January 11, 1973, the middle class Loud family of Santa Barbara became overnight stars. The eldest Loud child, Lance, was an early example of real-life gay representation on American television. Viewers turned into voyeurs, enraptured as tensions rose and parents Bill and Pat Loud’s marriage dissolved on camera. With “An American Family,” ordinary people’s seemingly ordinary circumstances took on a greater cultural meaning, paving the way for the genre.

Tyra Banks didn’t just teach us how to smize. She also taught us that being a model was about more than just being pretty – there’s also things like dodging big swinging objects and wearing dangerously high heels. We’re joking, we know there’s more than that. But one “America's Next Top Model” moment lives in infamy. Eliminated cycle 4 contestant Tiffany Richardson wasn’t devastated enough for Banks’ taste. So, she offered Tiffany some unhinged criticism. When it comes to cultural relevance, few reality show clips have had this long a shelf-life. Anytime a beloved celebrity says something weird, someone inevitably busts out a GIF of this moment. The tirade set a new standard for reality TV freakouts.

When an American take on a British show purporting to launch the next superstar landed stateside, many were probably skeptical, to say the least. How could a TV contest find a superstar? “American Idol” hedged its bets by also giving us lingering, cruel glimpses at people who thought they were superstars but couldn’t exactly sing. But when the voting public picked its winner at the end of the first season, the show actually made good on its premise. Kelly Clarkson was (and still is) a supernova of talent. Over two decades after winning a singing competition show, she remains a mainstay of the industry. Several copycat shows have since followed, but few have had the impact of “Idol”’s early days.

In the ‘90s, reality TV was often relegated to cable channels like MTV. Once the networks started airing competition shows more regularly in the later part of the decade into the early 2000s, MTV had to reinvent the wheel again. This time, instead of making every day people the star, they doubled back and made a spectacle out of celebrities’ real lives. In 2002, the antics of eccentric rock star Ozzy Osbourne and his family became the perfect opening act for this new era. Soon, it seemed like every celebrity wanted to cash in on the reality train. This genre would arguably reach its peak with “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, but that premiered five years after “The Osbournes” broke the mold.

Viewers and critics wrote off MTV’s juggernaut series as a show about a bunch of vapid, party-obsessed young people living in a house together. But “The Real World: San Francisco” forced everyone to rethink their biases, and not just about reality TV. Openly gay AIDS activist Pedro Zamora applied to be on the show because its makers were looking to cast the first HIV-positive roommate. Seeing the potential for the platform, he applied and was cast in the 1994 season. His story moved his fellow co-stars and millions across the country. Zamora sadly died later that year. But his experience humanized what was still a remote social issue to many, showing the unique good reality TV could do.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Changing His Mind, “The Bachelor” (2002-)
The Fairytale Illusion Ended When Jason Mesnick Decided to Be with His Runner-up Instead

Snooki Is Attacked, “Jersey Shore” (2009-12)
The Pop Culture Phenomenon Aired Its Most Controversial Episode Early in Its Run

Representation Wins, “Queer Eye” (2003-07)
The Original Fab Five Paved the Way for LGBTQIA+ Programming That Had Mass Appeal

Creating Copycats, “Jackass” (2000-01)
The MTV Show Prompted Fans to Recreate Dangerous Stunts

In the year 2000, “Survivor” became one of the first successful reality shows produced by a “Big Three” network. When CBS aired its first season finale in 2000, it was watched by millions of people. What initially seemed like part-social experiment, part-extreme camping trip turned into a game of intense strategy. Richard Hatch would ultimately emerge victorious, while Kelly Wiglesworth, who helped popularize the reality TV cliché about not being here to make friends, finished as runner-up. But it was arguably Sue Hawk’s now-iconic snakes and rats speech that stole the show. It was harsh, grandiose, and borderline nonsensical. The moment came to define the genre’s ethos, essentially launching American network TV’s first successful reality show into the stratosphere.

Which of these historical reality TV moments did you see live? Let us know in the comments.