Survivor has been named the greatest reality TV show for this generation. It’s a high honor for the show, especially when considering it is up against other shows like The Real World, Top Chef, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race.
Ranking in the top slot indicates not only how much of a cultural impact that the show has had, but also how high its popularity continues to be, even after 42 seasons of the show airing on CBS.
There is also great news on the horizon, with a Survivor 43 TV promo released for the new season of the reality television show. Those episodes will air in Fall 2022, with CBS keeping the show on Wednesday nights.
But back to the new rankings that came out this week. It was TVLine that put together a list of the best 30 reality television shows from the last 30 years. The site also had a few honorable mentions to bump that list past 30.
The greatest reality TV shows of the past 30 years
Survivor placed No. 1 on the list, followed by The Real World, RuPaul’s Drag Race, American Idol, and Top Chef rounding out the top five.
As for the rest of the top 10 shows, they are The Amazing Race at six, The Great British Backing Show at seven, Shark Tank at eight, So You Think You Can Dance at nine, and The Hills at 10.
Big Brother ranks No. 13 on this list, and The Challenge comes in at No. 16.
“Congratulations to @survivorcbs for being named the #1 Greatest Reality Show of the Past 30 Years! And shout out to @AmazingRaceCBS @CBSBigBrother @TheChallenge and @undercover_cbs for making into the Top 30,” reads a tweet sent out by CBS after the list was released.
New seasons of Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race
In addition to Survivor 43 arriving this fall, there are also new seasons of Big Brother and The Amazing Race coming up at CBS.
Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves just revealed that the Big Brother 24 start date is July 6, which will kick off a new summer season of the reality competition show. A new group of houseguests will be competing for a $750,000 prize.
It was also announced that a new season of The Amazing Race just began filming. A new cast is competing in the race around the world for a $1 million prize, and episodes of that show will air after Survivor 43 on Wednesday nights this fall.
For fans of the CBS reality shows, past seasons can be streamed using Paramount+. It’s a great way to look back on some of the best seasons of Survivor, Big Brother, and/or The Amazing Race that have aired over the years.
Survivor 43 airs on CBS during Fall 2022.