14 Forgotten 2000s Reality Shows That Show Just How Bizarre the Boom Years Got

The reality TV rush of the 2000s produced far more than the genre's biggest long-running hits. It also unleashed a parade of dating stunts, makeover disasters, celebrity experiments and competition formats that now feel almost impossible to believe were once regular network ideas.

Making the Band

Plenty of 2000s series promised a path into pop stardom, but MTV's Making the Band developed one of the most controversial reputations of the lot. Along with accusations of sexism, the show became known for challenges that seemed disconnected from the music business itself. Its most remembered stunt involved Sean "Diddy" Combs sending members of a prospective group on a five-mile late-night trip to get him a slice of cheesecake from the nearest store.

Flavor of Love

Among dating shows of the era, this one remains one of the strangest. Across three seasons from 2006 to 2008, Public Enemy's Flavor Flav essentially took on a Bachelor-style role, with hopeful contestants competing to become his new girlfriend. It was a celebrity romance setup pushed to an especially odd extreme.

Joe Millionaire

Fox built an entire show around a lie. In Joe Millionaire, a group of single women competed for an "average Joe" they were led to believe was wealthy. That manipulation made the series controversial, but the premise clearly stuck in the culture. The format was revived in 2022.

I Wanna Marry "Harry"

This 2014 Fox series leaned into deception even more openly. Twelve women were steered into thinking they were vying to date Prince Harry, turning the fantasy of royal romance into the basis of the entire format. Even the punctuation in the title signaled the trick at the center of it.

Parental Control

MTV's Parental Control ran from 2006 to 2010 and took dating interference straight into the family. Parents who disapproved of their son or daughter's love life got to select two possible new partners instead. The built-in complication was that the son or daughter was already in a relationship, which gave the whole setup its edge.

The Biggest Loser

At its height, NBC's The Biggest Loser was a major ratings success, running from 2004 to 2016. But the show also drew repeated questions about its methods. Among the most serious controversies was an accusation involving illicit weight-loss drugs, a claim significant enough to lead to an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Are You Hot?

ABC's 2003 series Are You Hot? The Search for America's Hottest People was exactly as blunt as its title made it sound. Over six episodes, contestants were judged strictly on physical attractiveness by a panel that included Rachel Hunter and Lorenzo Lamas. Personality and talent were not part of the equation, and the series ended after that lone season.

Beauty and the Geek

Ashton Kutcher's Beauty and the Geek paired female "beauties" with male "geeks" and put them through a series of challenges. The show ran on The WB from 2005 to 2008. Its American run came to an end, but the concept proved exportable enough to launch versions around the world.

Home on Their Own

This British series handed redecorating power to the least predictable people in the house. Across two seasons from 2002 to 2003, children were given full control over changes to their parents' home while the adults were moved out and the work proceeded without supervision. The results reportedly included indoor slides, Narnia-themed bedrooms and even a voice-controlled robotic toilet.

Changing Rooms

American viewers who remember Trading Spaces were watching a local version of an earlier British favorite. Changing Rooms aired from 1996 to 2004 and used the same basic formula: two sets of neighbors, a small budget and 48 hours to redo rooms in each other's homes. One notorious 2000 episode ended with a contestant's treasured £6,000 teapot collection smashed when suspended shelving collapsed.

Big!

Discovery's 2004 show Big! built its gimmick around supersizing ordinary objects. Teams of experts created giant but fully working versions of familiar items, including treadmills, vacuum cleaners, cuckoo clocks and electric guitars. It was a short-lived concept, but an unmistakably 2000s kind of television oddity.

Fat Families

Sky's Fat Families, which began in 2010, took a household-based approach to weight-loss TV. Steve Miller spent 24 hours with an overweight family before laying out advice and a routine designed to help them get in shape. His direct style, described as no-nonsense and fat-shaming, brought controversy, and the show lasted only two series.

Armed & Famous

Reality television has often loved watching celebrities learn new jobs. CBS took that formula somewhere much more extreme with Armed & Famous in 2007. Five celebrities, including La Toya Jackson and Jack Osbourne, trained as reserve police officers in Indiana, then went on patrol and officially graduated as gun-carrying officers. The series was removed from the schedule after only a handful of episodes.