{"id":3889,"date":"2025-04-15T19:18:04","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T19:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/welcome-to-the-golden-age-of-international-reality-tv\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T19:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T19:18:11","slug":"welcome-to-the-golden-age-of-international-reality-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/welcome-to-the-golden-age-of-international-reality-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Golden Age of International Reality TV"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Clockwise from top left: Love Is Blind<\/em> Japan, Singles Inferno<\/em> and Love Is Blind<\/em> Sweden. Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the past few years, scripted television shows have been stuck in a rut, with critics declaring \u201cThe Golden Age of TV\u201d all but dead. <\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span>The Economist<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0and even the <\/span>creator of <\/span>The Sopranos<\/span><\/i><\/a> have come out maligning the influx of \u201cmid\u201d TV. They credit the rise of streaming services, the treatment of art as IP, the new threat of AI, and the prevalence of reboots with killing the much-hyped era. There\u2019s just too much content now, and not enough of it is good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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But while scripted television may not be at its prime anymore, <\/span>reality<\/span><\/i> television is, and international reality TV, in particular, is having a moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the 2020 Golden Globes, director Bong Joon Ho accepted the Best Foreign Language Film award for <\/span>Parasite<\/span><\/i>, which also won Best Picture at The Oscars that year. In his <\/span>acceptance speech<\/span><\/a>, he famously said, \u201cOnce you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2025, the <\/span>jury\u2019s still out<\/span><\/a> on whether Americans have taken the Korean filmmaker\u2019s advice to heart when it comes to movies. However, U.S. audiences <\/span>do<\/span><\/i> seem willing to overlook that one-inch barrier when it comes to \u201ctrashy\u201d television \u2014 if Netflix\u2019s endless international <\/span>Love Is Blind<\/span><\/i> spinoffs and Stateside viewers\u2019 increasing appetite for Korean reality TV are any indication. To many, reality television is a waste of time, but to others, it\u2019s an anthropological window into our society. International reality TV can introduce watchers to different worldviews and cultures, which we desperately need right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, find five international reality shows to get you started, some with subtitles and others not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n