The Emmy B-Team: Reality Shows

I'm back with another year of the Emmy B-Team. The idea of the B-Team is simple. I look and the Emmy submission ballot and make the strongest list of actors/shows/episodes that were not nominated for the Emmy Award. Then, I compare the nominees with the B-Team and decide which I think is stronger. This started as a way to determine if the Emmy voters were as bad at making their picks as everyone thinks. Quickly, I realized that the Emmy picks are pretty strong when compared with the available replacements. The idea now is more about highlighting the "snubs" that are worth mentioning.

I'm not a fan of Reality TV. Some of it is just plain bad. Even the good stuff doesn't interest me much. I never dig all that deep into why. The best I can figure is that I like writing over editing more. Or maybe I prefer fake characters being played honestly over real people with varying levels of honesty. Regardless, I'll admit that my B-Teams are mostly a collection of guesses, second-hand chatter, and how much I like the titles. This is a situation where I would love to hear a dissenting opinion so I can get a little clarity.

(Final Note: I'm sure that I'll mention this more than a few times, but this is based on who is submitted and where. For example, Hugh Dancy did not submit for Hannibal, only submitting his name for The Path, so I cannot include him in the B-Team for Hannibal, even if I want to. Similarly, even though it aired episodes in the eligibility period, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was not submitted and won't be considered. Finally, there's the Rob Lowe Rule. Rob Lowe always submits for the lead role. Even when he was on Parks & Rec. he submitted as a lead, so that's the only thing I could consider him as.)

Previously:
The Scruff

* Indicates a show that I haven't watched this season.
# Indicates a show I've seen before, not this season.

Structured Reality Program

Nominees:
*Antiques Roadshow
*Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
Lip Sync Battle
#Mythbusters
*Shark Tank
*Undercover Boss

B-Team
*The Briefcase
*Property Brothers
*Ghost Hunters
*Little Big Shots Starring Steve Harvey
#Monday Night Raw
*Who Do You Think You Are?

The reality series categories are pretty stable. That normally means that the best shows have been repeatedly nominated (See: Variety Series, 2003ish-2015) or the voters have gotten too lazy to look elsewhere (See: Reality Competition). I'm not sure, but when I look at the B-Team (I included Raw simply because I think it's funny and fitting that it's categorized here), there's nothing that's exciting enough to displace stalwarts like Shark Tank, Mythbusters, and Antiques Roadshow. Seriously, there's an episode of Frasier about Antiques Roadshow. How long has that show been on?
Winner: Nominees. If I could locate even a single member of the B-Team worth fighting for, that would likely be enough to tip the scale.

Unstructured Reality Program

Nominees:
*Born This Way
*Deadliest Catch
*Gaycation with Ellen Page
*Intervention
#Project Greenlight
*United Shades of America

B-Team
*Alaska: The Last Frontier
*Catfish: The TV Show
*Naked and Afraid XL
*Mike Rowe: Somebody's Gotta Do It
*Million Dollar Listing New York
*Wahlburgers

A lot of shakeup in the Unstructured Reality field after a couple of quiet years. As far as I can tell, it's mostly for the best. Project Greenlight is always an interesting watch. United Shades is a good use of W. Kamau Bell. Born This Way, I assume is inspirational. Intervention and Deadliest Catch are stalwarts. On the B-Team, there's a bunch of former nominees that probably fell out for a reason. Catfish is a one trick pony, but it's a good trick. I'm a big fan of Mike Rowe, even if I never remember to watch his show(s).
Winner: Nominees. Gaycation with Ellen Page. I like everything about that. Even the preposition.

Reality Competition

Nominees:
*The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
*Dancing with the Stars
*Project Runway
*Top Chef
*The Voice

B-Team
#American Idol
#RuPaul's Drag Race
*Hollywood Game Night
*Penn & Teller: Fool Us
*Dating Naked: Playing for Keeps
Team Ninja Warrior

A lot of stalwarts in the category too. This is a category that tends to age well. Shows spend a while figuring out the format before they really start working, so the shows' ages shouldn't factor that much for all of them. American Ninja Warrior is the only show I watch, thanks to its summer time slot and, I guess, good timing. The B-Team is propped up by the annually overlooked Drag Race. I like Penn & Teller, so I'd like to back Fool Us. I had a hard time filling the B-Team though, and it's hard to argue with the likes of Top Chef, The Voice, and The Amazing Race, even with uneven seasons.
Winner: Nominees. The B-Team is too top-heavy.

Reality Host

Nominees:
#Ryan Seacrest (American Idol)
*Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars)
*Jane Lynch (Hollywood Game Night)
*Steve Harvey (Little Big Shots)
*Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn (Project Runway)
#Rupaul Charles (RuPaul's Drag Race)

B-Team
*Erin Andrews (Dancing with the Stars)
*W. Kamau Bell (United Shades of America)
*Jeff Probst (Survivor)
*Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance)
#Jamie Hyneman & Adam Savage (Mythbusters)
*Padma Lakshmi & Tom Colicchio (Top Chef)

Every year I complain about RuPaul getting snubbed. Not this year. He's a Nominee. Even if it came at the expense of Cat Deeley, that's enough to keep the Nominees ahead.
Winner: Nominees. After complaining this long about RuPaul's snub, I'd feel hypocritical to change my mind now.

That makes the Nominees 4-0 today. The greater lesson though is that I'm not an authority on this topic at all. If I wasn't so neurotic and/or narcissistic, I'd skip this day altogether. Again, I'll extend out a plea for anyone with an actual opinion to let me know how I'm wrong or who I forgot.