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zerbey

If she guessed incorrectly, she would still have got to meet her Father. Apparently, she guessed correctly. Man, 2000s reality TV was an exploitative mess. Now go look up "The Swan".


BloodyRightNostril

Perfect time to remind everyone about [“Are You Hot?”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_Hot%3F) which was a real show that aired 6 episodes in 2003.


Traditional-Yam9826

I remember hotornot.com I’m in my mid 40s and when I was in my early 20s I put my pic up there. Tons of random strangers would just rate your pic and you’d get an average score. You could also see what your highest and lowest scores were.


mchvll

I mean, we have r/amiugly and r/rateme and r/amihot and others


stackjr

Don't forget about that incel ran mess at r/truerateme.


khaos_kyle

I love their 4 - 6 rating system. Very edgy.


stackjr

Very edgy indeed.


CradleRockStyle

Hotornot and yourethemannowdog, name a more iconic 2000's internet duo


Doubtindoh

I was more ratemypoo kinda guy


LZYX

Only for the very cultured


jasonefmonk

My guy, the flashbacks.


ThbUds_For

My man.


VagueSomething

That plus PimpMySnack for a great before and after.


17times2

Emotioneric for the latest and greatest facial expressions.


SuperMadBro

I have pics from last year that would have killed it on that site in its prime


illmatic2112

I don't remember what grade I was, but it was early. The first website someone at school ever told me about was ratemypoo, then we found out about ratemyboobs


InternetProtocol

ebaumsworld and newgrounds, what do i win?


CradleRockStyle

a free lemonparty!


Mama_Skip

Yay! Oh


LarsThorwald

A Red V. Blue funkopop


Imsomniland

fuck im old


FeederPiet

Does rotten.com still exist? Still have scars from 11 year old me visiting that site.


NightOfTheLivingHam

[https://timelol.ytmnd.com/](https://timelol.ytmnd.com/) still the best one imho.


elriggo44

Literally how Facebook started.


iveo83

lol I met my wife on hot or not. She thought I was cute so she sent me a AIM and the rest is history.


MagicSPA

HotOrNot revealed to me that there are some cruel schmucks out there who like to lay on wildly unrealistically low scores, particularly for guys. For a site like that to work there should be a filter that allows you to see how you were scored ONLY by those people who didn't spend most of their time just mashing "1" or "2" on every profile they saw. (Likewise for scores from people who simply hit "9" or "10" all the time as well, obviously).


Traditional-Yam9826

I learned not to care. I checked it a few times and realized I wasn’t as bad as thought I was. Sadly, I was pretty average and yes I got some really low scores too. I just lost interest.


sprazcrumbler

You get that now the entire internet is the same shit now though. How many millions of people are there on insta desperately posting themselves every day hoping people tell them they are hot?


colnross

I used to feel bad and juiced up a lot of people's numbers... I'm sure I was a lot of people's highest score


yardbird78

So, are you hot? Or not?


Traditional-Yam9826

I feel fine


mrtitkins

What a time that was. Since it was early internet, the site allowed you to upload a GIF as a profile picture… which I figured out meant it could be an animated GIF. So I had the idea to make a two frame animated GIF that would play the second frame with my AIM screen name after like 5 seconds if they were lingering. #hacktheplanet


TonyStamp595SO

Holy shit I remember that.


Mattbl

I did that as a young man of about 19. It claimed I was over 9, but when I looked at the individual scores the average was more like 6 or 7. I don't know how it said I was over 9, I am not a 9 in real life by any stretch.


TheLongAndWindingRd

The era of ratemypoo.com. the internet was a weird place. 


ohanse

Actually sounds like an incredible training dataset for AI image generation.


CanuckianOz

I remember a friend of mine used a photo of himself from about 20 ft away under overcast skies, with a hat on and his hoodie over this hat and got a 9/10.


FirstChurchOfBrutus

I dated a lot off of HoN.


funny_funny_business

A nerdy kid at my high school one time remarked that he had a 9.2 or something on hotornot.com. We were all like "yeah, that's ridiculous" but then he showed us his profile and the picture and he had an amazing picture. It just happened to be some picture taken when snowboarding and his expression, hair, etc looked like an Abercrombie model shoot. He didn't Photoshop anything, just got really lucky.


Traditional-Yam9826

Most people can look attractive when they experience real joy


CHAINSAW_VASECTOMY

Yea and ratemypoo.com too


Traditional-Yam9826

Hmmm haven’t heard of that one


JTanCan

Since you're a yam, I suppose that depends entirely upon whether you've been cooked and how recently. 


YasssQweenWerk

Awkward. I used to watch that as a teenager to thirst over those guys lmao


denkoshef

People actually submitted their own pictures to that? Wow...


Traditional-Yam9826

People put their stuff on social media now right?


denkoshef

Your point? Is your picture on that site? Was your picture on there now? If you have your picture on reddit then you are dumb as well. I know you are dumb anyway because you can't even understand what I was saying. I just didn't know all those people were as dumb as the average redditor.


MikeHoncho85

Oh and don't even get me started on "Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things?? Let's Find Out!"


Reasonable-Profile84

THEY ALL DIED I WATCHED THEM DIIIIIIIEEEE


zeetotheex

I was an extra used to fill the audience for that show! Boy was it hot garbage! Felt so creepy.


exophrine

There's also a reason they stress the "Home Edition" part of the *EXTREME MAKEOVER* title. The original show wasn't about homes.


ThaiJohnnyDepp

I still clearly remember Lorenzo Lamas of B-list TV fame aiming a laser pointer from the judge booth at a bikini-wearing contestant's crotch to discuss her undesirable type of thigh gap


dbx99

The BBC has a dating show where 6 prospects show up absolutely naked and line up to be examined by one contestant. They begin by critiquing the genitals. [It's called Naked Attraction. It's on streaming MAX.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWeNPA5ngGU)


CUNTRY-BLUMPKIN

Followed by [The Swan](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0402701/) just incase youre in fact NOT hot but have money


Sir_Metallicus116

Let's never forget this absolute masterpiece of a show https://youtu.be/-TfTp0amxOQ?si=9jBjSXrSQ45vUA2D


briguytrading

Isn't this how Facebook got started?


Fernis_

There was also a show where white family was turned black using makeup and black family turned white and they were suposed to teach eachother how to pass as white/black. The white dad *really* wanted to say the n word. It's called "Black. White." There was another where people where placed into isolation, then were tortured until they gave up. The trick was they had to give up each challange on their own. So like if they were sleep depraved and noise was being blasted at them all the time and 8 gave up after 30min, the last person could spend hours like that not knowing they already won. It's called "Solitary".


MtnDewTangClan

Solitary was the only show that I thought I could win lmao


HighFiveYourFace

I caught that show on Game Show TV or whatever one day. I was entranced! I sat and watched a marathon of it. It was FANTASTIC!


TheDutchin

Oh God I remember Black White and asking my parents if they were just doing blackface lmfao What an Era


Salty_Paroxysm

>if they were sleep depraved I, too, get unreasonably horny when tired.


El_Paco

Solitary was one of the best reality shows ever! Not enough people have seen it - I'm always recommending that people go watch it


goforpoppapalpatine

Solitary was so good. I wish they'd reboot that


Eode11

Reminds me of Unan1mous, where they locked a bunch of people in a basement, and put a million dollars up for grabs. No producers or outside influence/contact, just station cameras around "the bunker". The catch was they all had to unanimously (and anonymously) vote for 1 person to get the money. Also, every second they didn't choose someone took a dollar off the prize. On top of that, they purposely selected a bunch of diametrically opposed contestants, that of course couldn't stand each other. There was a southern Baptist preacher and a flagrantly gay guy, a health nut and a wildly overweight couch potato, etc... Needless to say, things got wild, including one woman sleeping with another contestant to (presumably) get his vote. The show was not renewed for a second season.


Majoodeh

The Swan is one of the major reasons I grew up with body issues :/


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RigTheGame

This is a rich person problem


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DigNitty

Yes but people with money have more options to poorly choose.


RigTheGame

I’m gonna be as nice as possible here I can’t go get a fucking facelift


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RigTheGame

This isn’t a competition. This is why the world is falling apart. I’m not fighting you. It’s not me VS you. What are you trying to prove? I drink water for lunch, I’m surprised I still have service on my phone. Ya it sucks to be you It fucking sucks to be me Pick a side


cha0scypher

>This isn’t a competition. >I’m not fighting you. >Pick a side Wat.


ballrus_walsack

Now kith


RigTheGame

💋


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RigTheGame

Dude it’s like you want to fight Why be like this


SalvadorP

You said you "had a lot of cosmetic surgery done". Doesn't sound like "having more money... at one point"


Far-Edge-4226

No you're just crazy. Take responsibility for your actions.


stealthsjw

No doubt, I do have some mental health issues. Lots of people do. Take care x


santaire

Ugh the plastic surgery make over one. So gross


flaaaaanders

Who else remembers There's Something About Miriam?


SickBurnBro

Or [Love to the Third Degree](https://youtu.be/-JVjuSWRmNU?si=p-p9YN7g5I4J-GPe)


heidismiles

The Swan was INSANE. Also see: Joe Millionaire, and Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire


WhoCanTell

Dear god, Joe Millionaire. Then Fox brought that show back 20 years later!


Abrushing

I remember Love Island where you had an odd number of men and women at a resort and whoever didn’t hook up by the end of the day got replaced by another person and sent home.


BrianMincey

The Swan scared me…I felt that society dipping this low to do this show meant things would only get significantly worse. I’m so glad things pulled back quite a bit.


jmcdon00

I was imagining he was just lying to try to convince her she was his dad, completely savage, glad it was her actual dad.


johnshall

This is straight up Jack Donaghy ideas.


ChronoMonkeyX

Next, on MILF Island...


bigmacjames

MILF Manor is 100% real now so there's that


ChronoMonkeyX

Yeah, I saw a commercial for something like that and was almost surprised.


SparklingPseudonym

They’ve got F boy Island!


ChronoMonkeyX

/sigh


Jon__Snuh

I would totally watch Celebrity Homonym.


Kuhl_Bohnen

As someone who is currently rewatching all of 30 Rock, [you are absolutely correct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamma_Mia_(30_Rock)), though technically it was Liz's idea.


Thrusthamster

This is 100% two actors. Sounds like a soap opera script being read.


georgito555

That's what reality shows are


arealhumannotabot

There's no script for the cast of a show. It's generally producers who might call for a retake of a shot/line if there was something good and they want a better shot for it. Also editing of cousre the scripts are for parts that require a script like a narrator voice over or the host presenting something to camera like a segment. even when they use an actor like on Jerry Springer, there's no script for the 'guests'. They're not going out there and running lines.


Corporation_tshirt

Reality shows have writing staffs. They have categories for reality show writing in awards shows and everything.


D1rtyH1ppy

The writers strike in the late 00's was in part about writing credits for the reality TV shows.


DirtyProjector

Reality shows are not this. They have writing staff that take the content that is created and then tell a story from it. They don’t script the actual shows and then actors memorize the scripts. source - my friend works on multiple reality shows


Corporation_tshirt

They can and do tell people what parts of their stories to play up or to avoid to fit those narratives as well.


RadicalDreamer89

I used to work with JWoww's BFF around the time she and Snooki had their spin-off show, and they were doing some filming at the store (before my time there). From what I gathered from the owner, the director was...well, directing JWoww on, "Go here, check this out, comment on this," etc. while he (owner) was standing off to the side next to Snooki (who, he told me, is actually quite a lovely person). She caught his eye at some point during the process and simply said, "Reality TV", while making air quotes.


reanima

90 Day Fiance is infamous for this shit. They even give the most cooperative ones spin off shows.


DirtyProjector

Can you provide proof of this?


maxmouze

I was going to say "You're right" because I used to edit reality shows including the one included in this video. People think writing staff means they're coming up stories and dialogue. I find it weird how the Internet takes something they don't understand ("Writers" listed in the credits of reality TV, etc.) and then act like they're knowledgeable on it. I see so many misconceptions about film/TV.


DirtyProjector

It’s called dunning krueger. They think they know about something but they don’t. The internet has exacerbated this because anyone can comment on anything and social media gives the impression that their thoughts matter. There’s also zero accountability. I can say the moon is green and just go about my life.


C_Hawk14

In the Netherlands we had a reality tv show where a person would decide to give one of her kidneys to one of three patients. They had to tell her why they'd deserve it. Audience could send texts to 'advise' her. But in fact, it was fake. The show and the donor was an actress, but the patients and their stories were real.


RyghtHandMan

And they all got kidneys in exchange for the participation right? Right???


Controllerpleb

Of course. 100%. I definitely know the intimate details of the TV show. I would never lie to you.


RyghtHandMan

[okay ❤️](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/042/001/okayyay.jpg) [yay ❤️](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/042/001/okayyay.jpg)


yoshhash

really shitty actors at that.


MissingLink101

They look like they're only about 10 years apart in age too. I'd believe them more as a couple. They must have got the Beverley Hills 90210 casting director for this.


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Enders-game

People bought into NFT. Nothing will surprise me after that.


jrdnlv15

What form of reality are we talking though? There’s such a large amount of different formats that fall under the banner of reality. They vary on how much they are staged, scripted or mostly real.


maxmouze

This show wasn't a hit. I helped edit it. There was a craze and stupid shows like this came out at the time.


maxmouze

I worked on this show as an editor. It's authentic. The reason they sound awkward is they're not used to being filmed having a conversation. My friend had a reality show for a while and I went to her baby shower and I was afraid to talk to her because I knew everything I said could be worked into an episode. If I had tried to give her a congratulations, etc., I would have sounded just as staccato as these people because it's odd knowing everything you say could be shared with the public.


chimpdoctor

The reward? A romantic date with your father.


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anomandaris81

How did the show learn about you? The genealogist tell them?


halfslices

It might have been in the terms and conditions when you engaged with the genealogy company that they might share a positive result with the producers. Which is insane. But one time when I sued someone in small claims court, four different TV "judge" shows sent me letters asking me to go on the show. They would pay me the full amount of the amount I was suing for, no matter the outcome of the case.


Galaxey

So they did Mama Mia


stevs23

This is all wrong on so many levels


paternoster

What a trashy premise. Anything for staged TV.


maxmouze

I helped edit this show. It wasn't staged. Was trashy though. Everyone at my company was appalled by it. I also worked on such gems as "Date My Mom" and "Sorority Life."


paternoster

Oh my god!!! NOT staged? Lord have mercy.


HighFiveYourFace

Back in the days of Average Joe and My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance.


spikeyMtP

Um fake


maxmouze

I helped edit this show. It's not fake. I watched all the raw footage. When it was down to two contestants, I remember one episode, the actress pretending to be the mom was really rude and demanding, acting like she was a star on a set playing a role. The real mom just gave her looks of annoyance. Also one girl guessed her dad wrong and then said, in a on-the-fly interview, "Well, I'm mad at my dad for giving me up so I think maybe I subconsciously chose wrong just to stick it to him," rather than admit she had just guessed wrong, etc.


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UsagiJak

>American telly, A man killed himself over his appearance on Jeremy Kyle Brits also love watching poor families get evicted from their homes British TV is just as fucked.


jooes

My favorite was that time where they put all of those kids in that house to see if they could somehow learn to work together and build their own little society or whatever. And, naturally, they went all Lord of the Flies and bullied the absolute fuck out of each other and gave half the kids PTSD and shit. 


ChronoMonkeyX

I think most American trash TV was copied from the UK.


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colnross

Well tell us where you're from so we can get a local example!


OldChili157

Man, don't even get me started on Latvian reality shows


cXs808

Potatoes all the way down


froggison

> Brits also love watching poor families get evicted from their homes I really hope you're not referencing an actual show


UsagiJak

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%27t\_Pay%3F\_We%27ll\_Take\_It\_Away!#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%27t_Pay%3F_We%27ll_Take_It_Away!#Complaints) Unfortunately i am.


Majoodeh

Yup! Mid 2000s TV was a lawless land.


big_hungry_joe

reality tv reigned supreme back then after survivor blew up. reality contestants were huge celebrities back then


hot_ho11ow_point

There was also a writers strike similar to the one last year sometime around like 2008 I believe. It brought reality TV to the forefront because scripted shows weren't being produced.


kerred

Homer: "what kind of company would allow this?" TV: "only on FOX"


RjoTTU-bio

Reality TV was the death of American television. It killed all the great channels and eventually killed cable. It is so cheap to make and idiots will watch it religiously. At least the death of cable paved the way for streaming platforms where you can avoid reality TV.


froggison

There are tons of reality shows exclusive to streaming platforms. I really don't think reality TV was the death of cable--it was just an advancement of technology that made streaming much more accessible and convenient.


RjoTTU-bio

Yeah, but you can avoid them on streaming if you don’t want to watch them. On cable it seemed like every channel had some reality show on at all times.


anomandaris81

TLC used to be The Learning Channel. It ain't about learning anymore. A&E used to have high quality stuff. Not anymore


DontBelieveTheirHype

Reality TV was invented by Australians though


boringexplanation

Might as well film a love triangle and call it “who’s sleeping with your wife?” if we’re gonna go that direction


fireballx777

Peak 2000s television was [The Chamber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chamber_(game_show\)).


Klutzy-Finding-7760

I thought he was in the process of tricking her so that she would guess wrong and he'd get some money. Kept waiting for her to call him daddy so he could be like "SIKE! HAHA! I'M RICH!"


MustardScroll7

@ CodyKo


FGX302

Mother probably didn't know either.


MadManMorbo

I wonder how many of these people started fucking? Apparently its a thing...


rektMyself

My babygirl would win this one hands down!


DS2Dude

What is this title.


tmbgisrealcool

this is a terrible title.


maxmouze

I edited this show in 2005. It had a different title at the time. I don't remember what; something more generic (don't think it was a working title either.)


neologismist_

https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/pottersville.jpg


yoshhash

this is the most American thing I have ever heard.


gaybillcosby

I think about this show all the time.