Top 10 Reality Shows We'd Like To Get Back

Some reality shows are past their prime (how many Bands does Diddy need to make?). Some, like the derailed On the Lot, should have been pulled before their season even finished. But others were gone before their time. So here's our list of 10 reality shows we wish would come back.

1. The Joe Schmo Show (2003-2004). This spoof of reality shows lasted only two seasons on Spike TV, but it was the funniest comedy on TV. Period. The cast was composed of actors, except for one unsuspecting Schmo who thinks he's in a real reality show. With over-the-top endurance competitions like "Hands on a high-priced hooker," it's hard to imagine that the Joes at the center of it all wouldn't figure out they were being punk'd. Thankfully for us, they never caught on.

2. Starting Over (2003-2006). The syndicated daytime drama featured women sharing a house and undergoing life changes with the help of coaches Iyanla Vanzant and Rhonda Britten. The daily series got little notice when it debuted, but within no time it became as addictive as a soap opera and twice as melodramatic. It also left millions of viewers hanging when Bunim/Murray Productions unexpectedly cancelled it.

3. The Osbournes (2002-2005). Pots, pans, devil heads. The family just signed for a variety show on Fox, but we'd rather see the return of their reality sitcom, which inspired more than a dozen imitators, each more contrived than the last. (Does Gene Simmons ever have an unscripted moment?) None of those copycats has the charm and originality of the rocker clan. We love them ... and they're all mad.

4. TransGeneration (2005). The series followed four college transgender students, including one who had sexual reassignment surgery to become a woman. The show dealt with the expected family and social pressures, but it also showed us hidden parts of the process, including one financially strapped student forced to buy hormones off the black market.

5. I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here! (2003). The American version of this British show (Survivor meets The Surreal Life) was unjustly panned during its single season. There's nothing like mud, leeches and farting around a campfire to reveal the private personalities behind the public image. And who knew Stuttering John was such a mensch?

6. Project Greenlight (2001-2005). Ben Affleck and Matt Damon conceived the HBO series, which chronicled the making of a film, to help offset the costs of that movie. But the show was vastly more entertaining that the duds it produced. (The second season's film, The Battle of Shaker Heights, starred an unknown Shia LaBeouf.) The series has since been exported to Australia, so we can hope the reruns find a second home in the U.S.

7. Black. White.(2005). A white family and a black family wear makeup and change races to experience how the other half lives. The show, produced by Ice Cube and documentary veteran R.J. Cutler, suffered from a weak cast -- viewers were especially put off by the theatrical white family. But the conflict between the two families provided moments of insight into the country's racial divide.

8. Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage (2001). This guilty pleasure was a precursor to Paradise Hotel, except on a cruise ship. The show introduced us to Toni Ferrari, the bug-eyed drama queen who went on to stir things up in Paradise. The now-tired format -- hot young singles compete for prizes and vote each other off the ship -- would need an overhaul, but it would still be a more entertaining Love Boat than the fictional one.

9. WWF Tough Enough (2000-2002). Who would have thought that a competition series on pro wrestlers could be so engaging? Not only did we learn that these thick-necked men (and women) are softies deep down, but we found out that they're the sports equivalent of Ginger Rogers: they have to do all the work of pro athletes -- and act, too.

10. Nimrod Nation (2007). Technically, this was an eight-part documentary rather than a reality show, a distinction that's still blurry. I almost skipped it when I learned it was about a high school basketball team in Watersmeet, Mich. But like the 2006 PBS documentary Country Boys, it painted a touching if sometimes grim portrait of life in small town.

Shirleen Holt is a freelance writer and former newspaper editor living outside of Portland, Ore.

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