Real to reel: The 20 best reality shows of all time

On March 11, 1989, the still-young Fox network aired the first episode of what would become a national sensation. "COPS" followed real law enforcement officers during their patrols and sting operations. While not the first reality show, the success of "COPS" signaled a deluge of reality programs that still rule the airways to this day. In celebration of "COPS" 30 years on television, we share our list of the 20 best reality shows of all time.

Looking for inspiration? Well look no further than the long-running NBC reality show "The Biggest Loser." Contestants of various sizes and shapes are aided by gung-ho trainers as their lives are refocused to a slimmer and healthier version of themselves. Viewers share in on the agonies and ecstasies of average people as they fight tooth and nail to transform into far healthier versions of themselves. 

Viewers got more than their fill of this competition reality show featuring aspiring fashion designers focusing on a different theme each season, whether it's making clothing out of edible food items or from plants and flowers. Along for the ride was supermodel Heidi Klum and taskmaster/design instructor Tim Gunn, who cut his own swath as an icon whose primary edict was "make it work." With a revolving panel of judges, like Michael Kors and other fashion luminaries, "Project Runway" was and continues to be (with an entirely new cast) an eye-opening experience for anyone even a little bit in love with fashion.

Based on co-host/creator Nev Schulman's original 2010 film, "Catfish: The TV Show" takes a deep dive into the often-deceptive world of online dating, as individuals embrace the horror of learning that the person they fell in love with online, sharing intimate personal details of their lives, aren't exactly the people who they thought they were. While the results are often heartbreaking, there are few reality TV shows that are as popcorn-ready.

Most of reality TV, by design, is meant to expose some of the sadder aspects of humanity for fun and entertainment, but if we're being honest, A&E's "Hoarders" is not for the faint of heart, making it one of the more watchable reality shows on air during its eight-season run. Taking a headlong dive into the depths of people suffering from compulsive hoarding disorder, the show features homes literally packed to the gills with old newspapers, moldy food, weird niche items, and even animals, often found dead and buried underneath some of the previously mentioned items.

The House that Kardashian Built remains a reality juggernaut as viewers submit themselves to the gaze of the most iconic "famous for being famous" family in human history. Centered around human cottage industry Kim Kardashian and her clan, including sisters Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, Kylie and uber-mom Kris, the show also includes the antics of human stink bomb (Lord) Scott Disick and the transitional saga of Caitlyn Jenner, creating a carnival of the compelling and absurd that exists to this day as a ratings bonanza.

Debuting on fledgling (and now defunct) network UPN in 2003, "America's Next Top Model" is the brainchild of actress/model Tyra Banks, who wanted to create a competition that featured aspiring models looking to ascend to supermodel status. While the show never truly created the titular model, the journey and the drama made it a major fixture in pop culture that survives to this day despite a few network jumps. 

Don't let the name Bear Grylls fool you: The man is a reality action hero not above drinking his own urine and sleeping inside a camel carcass to show off his survival skills. For six seasons, Grylls thrust himself into a variety of extreme situations in even more extreme elements, from arid deserts to frozen tundras, to give audiences a false sense of security that they themselves could survive in similar conditions as long as they followed his example. While we know that would never be the case, "Man vs. Wild" was a blast to watch and even gave birth to a number of similar survival shows, even though they never came close to topping the original.

Since its 2002 debut on Fox, "American Idol" has been the premier music reality show, featuring waves of unknown talent who compete for a chance for a record deal and a potential life of fame and fortune — provided they survived routine scoldings from judge Simon Cowell. Boasting names like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood, "American Idol" may not have always had every winner find industry success, but even in its lower moments, such as tone-deaf, but good-hearted singer William Hung, who earned an ironic 15 minutes of fame after his unfortunate rendition of "She Bangs" made him into an instant internet punchline, the show never ceased to be entertaining. 

Transplanted from the U.K. to American shores, expert chef and insult maestro Gordon Ramsay takes two teams of chefs from all walks of life under his profanity-laden wing and pits them against one another in this cooking competition show, where the winners get to be an executive chef at one of Ramsay's restaurants and the losers get nothing but an earful of Ramsay's signature abuse. Bearing a great resemblance to an actual pressure cooker, "Hell's Kitchen" is in its 15th season of production, showing that viewers show up for high drama and undercooked Beef Wellington seasoned liberally with Ramsay's one-of-a-kind charm.

Discovery Channel's glimpse into the lives of deep sea fisherman has never failed to astound and entertain with a show that turned manual labor into appointment television. Most moments of "Catch" give audiences a thrilling look at just why that plate of Alaskan King Crab costs so much as generational fisherman risk life and limb through rough seas to bring in their latest haul of crustacean gold. Buttressed with narration from Mike Rowe, the show rarely fails to entertain, as it informs viewers about what is a tough job that only some are built to do to any level of success.

Bravo built a cottage industry in reality TV, starting with the wildly popular "Queer Eye (for the Straight Guy)". Featuring hosts Ted Allen, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley, Kyan Douglas and Jai Rodriguez, "Queer Eye" focused on "making over" titular straight guys who are in desperate need of an overhaul. Recently fans of the original show rejoiced when it  was reignited on Netflix after an 11-year hiatus, returning a show that wasn't only entertaining but also helped bring LGBTQ personalities more mainstream success.

One of the more wholesome and family-friendly entries on our list, CBS' "Amazing Race" is a globetrotting competition where two-person teams face off against each other in a mad dash around the globe for an ultimate prize. The show not only aims to entertain but also educates, as the teams show up in different continents, facing different cultures in a way that brings audiences beyond the fourth wall, giving the show not only an immediacy and a strong sense of presence. Much of "The Amazing Race" feels like a travelogue at high speed.

Debuting in 1998, MTV's "True Life" was a fascinating anthology of mini-documentaries covering a variety of topics. Each episode focused on the lives of young adults dealing with a variety of circumstances to varying degrees of success or failure. Many of the episodes dealt with heartwarming tales of personal struggles, while others focused on far more bizarre subjects, such as people who couldn't control their pets or were addicted to tanning booths. Regardless of the topic, "True Life" made for endlessly compelling reality TV.

The first-ever (and likely still the realest) reality show aired over the course of a dozen weeks on PBS. "An American Family" featured the Loud family, consisting of Bill, Pat and their five children. Groundbreaking television for its day, "Family" is notable for featuring the first continuing character, Lance Loud, who was also openly gay. The subject matter, for its time, was far more than audiences expected, covering topics such as sexuality and, later, even divorce. The result was an iconic slice of television that would pave the way for a future genre.

Premiering on the Discovery Channel in 2003, "American Chopper" chronicled the life and times of upstate New York-based Orange County Choppers, run by the ever-fighting Teutel father-and-son team of Paul and Paul Jr. The show was an instant success with viewers, as the OCC team would be tasked every episode with the creation of a custom motorcycle, expertly crafting each bike with years of precision, detail and absolute animosity. The show famously ended in 2007, as father and son had a falling out that would separate them for nearly 10 years until they mended fences enough to hop back on the chopper in 2018.

An international favorite, "Big Brother" made its American debut in 2000 but initially did not find instant success. After a Season 2 revamp to more closely match fellow CBS reality show "Survivor," "Big Brother" would go on to become a household name. Complete strangers are thrown together to compete in various challenges against fellow housemates, toward an ultimate goal of $500,000. In addition to the competition, viewers are treated to the ticking time bomb of drama that naturally comes when strangers are forced to live in close quarters under constant surveillance, which is never not fun.

ABC's foray into the realty TVscape has also been one of the more successful. The flagship dating show, where 20 women throw themselves at a visually perfect bachelor in hopes of using their time together in the spotlight to fall in love, despite not really knowing one another, and prove that love (and a national audience) can conquer all. The success of "The Bachelor" spun off into the equally successful "The Bachelorette," which features the woman who finishes in second place getting her own shot at 20 men, creating a Moebius strip of love that only reality TV can successfully offer up.

Spun off from MTV's cult fave "16 and Pregnant," "Teen Mom" kept up the successful formula of gawking at the lives of the less-fortunate, selfish or otherwise dimwitted teenage mothers who, save for a focus on a young couple dealing with the choice to put their child up for adoption, were beset with the travails of young motherhood while also making infinitely fascinating television. The success of the flagship show would blossom out further into "Teen Mom 2" and "Teen Mom 3," and incidentally, original cast member Farrah Abraham's foray into adult films.

Chances are if you walked into a strange house and you hear, "why don't you take a seat," you're going to have a really awkward encounter that will likely end horribly. Dateline reporter Chris Hansen became an instant cult figure for his work, which featured pedophiles and statutory rapists caught on camera after being lured by undercover authorities and promptly arrested. While the show's end came shrouded in controversy over a botched sting, the show still stands as an important piece of reality TV history.

To be honest, we're selecting "The Real Housewives" as a franchise, because great trash should be glorified, regardless of zip code, and the Bravo reality series is chock full of it. Whether it's the flagship "Orange County" or the painfully trashy (and now-defunct) "Miami," each showcased city is chock-full of rich middle-aged women who live for drama with a capital D. Despite the franchise's shallow nature, there is something extremely compelling about these collections of never-bored housewives who are apt to show their tender sides all while bearing their claws at the drop of a hat. From the shifting allegiances to the bitter backstabbing, there is something for everyone with this enduring franchise.

From the first bellowing of “SHAROOOOOOOOOOON!” from aging rockstar and doddering dad Ozzy Osbourne, "The Osbournes" sparked to life as an influential and entertaining program following the eclectic and often eccentric lives of the Osbourne family of Ozzy, his wife Sharon and children Jack and Kelly. Viewers resonated well with them, as they saw the Osbournes less as reality stars and more as surrogate family; a precursor to the similar reality shows, including, you guessed it, the Kardashians.

From the opening beats of the timeless theme by Inner Circle asking bad boys (and presumably the audience) what they're gonna do, "COPS" reached into homes across America and grabbed audiences' attention like a traffic-stop choke hold. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, "COPS" is not only one of the longest-running shows on television, but it's also an insanely watchable train wreck. Week in and out, viewers are treated to desperate living at its finest from the perspective of police officers in a number of cities doing their everyday patrols and encountering a variety of situations, generally ending in arrest. 

One of the more iconic and memorable catchphrases in TV history, “the tribe has spoken," as iterated by longtime host Jeff Probst, lies at the heart of "Survivor," an often-imitated, but never replacable adventure-competition reality program airing on CBS since 2000. During it's uber-successful 19-year run, contestants have faced the elements and each other in challenges designed to best them both mentally and physically in hopes of claiming a $1 million prize. Set against a variety of remote, tropical locations, "Survivor" continues to live on as one of the best reality television shows ever produced.

When "The Real World" originally premiered on MTV in 1992, viewers got an uncompromising look at what happens when young people from different walks of life are brought together for an experience that will change all of them forever. During its 32-season-and-counting run, the show features some landmark moments in television history, introducing us to people like Pedro Zamora, a young man living with AIDS, giving audiences a window into living with a disease that at the time was a death sentence. In the years since Zamora, the show is more about drunken, lusty exploits, but regardless, at its best it stands as some of the most compelling television around.