On one end you have Deadliest catch. On the other you have the bizarro lives of the Osbourns or the Wives of Whatever. There was a thoroughly bizarro one about Gary Busey several years ago.

The ones I enjoy have a game element in them. Strategy and tactics. I do enjoy Survivor. I liked "The Mole" a lot (though I have an issue with the design of the show - I would have changed it). The first Celebrity Mole show (combining two reality sub-genres) let you watch Corbin Bernsen melt down into a paranoid puddle while Kathy Griffin cracked wise. That was a pretty funny show - I'd watch it in rerun if it was available.