Ask the family: Favorite reality shows?

One of my guilty pleasures is "reality" television.  This is especially true of the branch of reality TV called the "game opera," actually a perjorative term coined by Steve Beverly for the kind of show that features competition, elimination, and prizes for the winner.  I watch some 30 hours a week, more than any other genre of TV, and I also have become a correspondent for the506, a forum that began with discussions of sports media but which has branched out.  (Unfortunately, this forum can't be assessed by the public, but I'm providing the link for reference.)  My personal favorites are The Amazing Race, Survivor, and most recently The Voice.  However, I have also started watching non-competitive reality shows, like 19 Kids and Counting and Cake Boss.

In my first post, since deleted, and in my 2011 book My Ideal World, I reimagined American Idol with Buddy Wayne Barefoot and some other talented singers.  I thought a show with a stale and predictable format needed a swift kick in the pants.  In the end, "Bluegrass" Brittany Spears won, but B.W. got the girl through a marriage proposal.

So if I could ask my characters for their favorite shows, in fact the ones they would love to be on the most, what would they select?  Again, I go from oldest to youngest:

• Popeye: Dancing with the Stars.  There's something always charming about celebrities learning

  

  Derek Hough, DWTS

  
  

  elegant routines.
• Annie: I didn't even watch them when I had TV, so I wouldn't watch them now.
• Brenda: I would love to go on MasterChef and show off my skills.  I also love Top Chef.
• Jennifer: I'm not supposed to watch Hell's Kitchen, but I can't resist watching one heck of a ride each week.  Gordon Ramsay is crude and tough, but he also owns restaurants around the world, so what he's doing obviously works.
• Bobby Ray: The Amazing Race and Survivor.  I find it odd that I look like a past contestant on Survivor (Travis Sampson).
• Ralph: I haven't watched a show, but would love to be on Top Shot because I'm the best hunter in the house.
• Buddy Wayne: Unfortunately, it doesn't exist.  I would like to see a show like American Idol, but with a two-challenge-per-week format like Survivor or Top Chef.  So of the shows that exist, I'll have to go with The Voice and The Amazing Race.
• Harvey: As a former high-school wrestler, I would to be on The Ultimate Fighter.  It's a mixed martial arts show, so I would be challenged with a lot of different skills.
• Brandy: Can't decide between The Amazing Race and So You Think You Can Dance.
• Reba Pearl: Send me to America's Got Talent, as I want to show off my hambone!
• Bunky: I love to go on The Amazing Race with my sister!
• Belinda: Sorry, I would rather watch PBS.
• Bryson: I love American Idol!  My favorite artists are Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips.