1980s Reality TV Shows
The 40 most popular 1980s reality TV shows on Flickfolio, ranked by popularity. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.

Jeopardy!
1984
country: United States
America's favorite quiz show where contestants are presented with general knowledge clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.

Wetten, dass..?
1981
country: Germany
A long-running German-language entertainment television show based on the format of the British show You Bet! and the American show Wanna Bet?.

Cops
1989
country: United States
Follow real-life law enforcement officers from various regions and departments of the United States armed with nothing but with cameras to capture their actions, performing their daily duty to serve and protect the public.

Family Fortunes
1980
country: United Kingdom
Two families go head to head as they try to name the post popular answer to survey-based questions posed to 100 people for a chance to win a jackpot prize.

America's Funniest Home Videos
1989
country: United States
America's Funniest Home Videos is the longest-running primetime entertainment show in ABC history. Each week AFV shines the spotlight on hilarious videos. Fans tune in to witness failures and fiascos and to submit their own mishaps for their chance at stardom.

Wheel of Fortune
1983
country: United States
This game show sees contestants solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a giant carnival wheel.

Un giorno in pretura
1988
country: Italy
No overview available

CCTV Spring Festival Gala: Crosstalk and Sketch
1983
country: China
No overview available

Questions pour un champion
1988
country: France
Samuel Etienne hosts this emblematic game, which sees four candidates compete each evening around questions of general culture.

The News Puppets
1988
country: France
A parody of a newscast, the show is a caricature of the political world, the media, personalities or more generally of French society and the current world.

The Woodwright's Shop
1981
country: United States
The Woodwright's Shop is a traditional woodworking show hosted by Roy Underhill on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. It is one of the longest running "how to" shows on PBS. Since its debut in 1979, the show has aired over 400 episodes. The first two seasons were broadcast only on public TV in North Carolina; the season numbering was restarted when the show went national in 1981. It is still filmed at the UNC-TV studios in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Bullseye
1981
country: United Kingdom
Bullseye was a popular British television programme. It was first made for the ITV network by ATV in 1981, then by Central from 1982 until 1995, and was hosted by Jim Bowen.

American Gladiators
1988
country: United States
American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own gladiators, in contests of strength and agility. The concept was created by Dan Carr and John C. Ferraro, who held the original competition at Erie Tech High School in Erie, Pennsylvania. They sold the show to The Samuel Goldwyn Company where the concept was enhanced and became American Gladiators. An effort in 2004 to launch a live American Gladiators show on the Las Vegas Strip became mired in a securities fraud prosecution. However, the television series was restarted in 2008. Episodes from the original series were played on ESPN Classic from 2007 to 2009. Several episodes are available for download on Apple's iTunes Service.

Antikrundan
1989
country: Sweden
Antikrundan is the Swedish version of the original BBC format Antiques Roadshow. The show visits different locations in Sweden and lets people bring their antiques to be valued by experts. It remains popular and often has more than 2 million viewers. The 19th season was shown in 2009. Most of the experts have been with the programme since the start. Jesper Aspegren was the original host. He left in 1999 and was succeeded by Anne Lundberg. Antikrundan started out as a coproduction between SVT Malmö and the BBC where the Antiques Roadshow would visit Scandinavia for two programmes. Antikrundan premiered in August 1989 on TV2 and has since been shown on SVT every year. Antiques Roadshow is shown on BBC Lifestyle and TV8 in Sweden.

Bebê a Bordo
1988
country: Brazil
In an action-packed plot set in São Paulo, Ana gives birth to a child in Tonico's car, but abandons the baby to escape the police after becoming involved in a robbery.

La Chance aux chansons
1984
country: France
No overview available

Verstehen Sie Spaß?
1980
country: Germany
No overview available

Body Language
1984
country: United States
Body Language is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson Productions. The show aired on CBS from June 4, 1984 until January 3, 1986, and was hosted by Tom Kennedy. Johnny Olson announced until his death in October 1985; Gene Wood and Bob Hilton shared the announcing duties afterward, and had substituted on occasion before that. The show pitted two teams against each other, each consisting of a contestant and a celebrity guest. The gameplay centered around the party game charades, in the same vein as the earlier Goodson program Showoffs, but contestants also had to solve word puzzles to win money, making Body Language a cross between Showoffs and Password Plus.

Surprise, Surprise
1984
country: United Kingdom
Surprise, Surprise is a British television programme originally hosted by Cilla Black and produced by London Weekend Television for ITV. It ran for 14 series from 6 May 1984 to 5 September 1997, after which four annual specials were produced between 1998 to 2001. In 2012, the show returned after a 11-year hiatus. The revived version is produced by ITV Studios and presented by Holly Willoughby. The show is currently in its second series.
Musikantenstadl
Musikantenstadl
1981
country: Austria
Musikantenstadl is a live television entertainment program broadcast in the German language throughout Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It features Austrian, Swiss, and German popular folk music, international pop and folk music as well as interviews and comedy. As a production of Eurovision, is co-produced by the Österreichischer Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk and Schweizer Fernsehen. Aside from the live television broadcasts it also tours in Austria and Germany as live concerts. It is currently hosted by Andy Borg and its location of broadcast varies between towns in different regions in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The show could be compared to being a much larger German version of the UK 1970's entertainment show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club. However Musikantenstadl consists of a large ski lodge Set construction and not a Social Club.
Das Verkehrsgericht
Das Verkehrsgericht
1983
country: Germany
No overview available

Chi l'ha visto?
1989
country: Italy
No overview available

CMG Spring Festival Gala
1983
country: China
The CMG Spring Festival Gala (formerly known as the CCTV New Year's Gala; commonly abbreviated in Chinese as Chunwan or 春晚) is a Chinese New Year special gala produced by China Media Group (CMG). The Gala is a live variety show featuring music, dance, and comedy performances alongside official messaging, held annually on Chinese New Year's Eve since it was first aired in February 1983. It was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most watched national network TV broadcast in 2012 and is widely recognized as the world's most watched television program.

Zomergasten
1988
country: Netherlands
This VPRO's ‘summer classic’ is based on an equally simple and refreshing idea that originated in 1988: When during the summer most of the channels are showing reruns, ask interesting people people to curate their ‘favorite television evening’ and let them clarify the fragments in a long-form interview/conversation. The programme was first aired in 1988. Each episode takes up an entire Sunday evening, lasting typically three hours. It consists of an in-depth studio interview with a notable Dutch, Belgian or other Dutch-speaking foreigner, interspersed with cinema or television footage selected by the guest, which is subsequently discussed. Guests include writers, scientists, television personalities, politicians or business people.
Hometime
Hometime
1986
country: Unknown
Hometime is a PBS home improvement television show produced by Hometime Video Publishing, Chaska, Minnesota, in association with WHYY-TV Philadelphia/Wilmington, Delaware, and broadcast on public television and in syndication. It first aired in 1986. In the 1990s, Hometime aired on TLC. Hometime demonstrates both do-it-yourself- and contractor-performed projects, ranging from simple weekend projects to complete homes. Hometime episodes have covered many aspects of home construction and maintenance.

Miss Teen USA
1983
country: United States
A beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19.

Miss France
1986
country: France
No overview available

Billboard Music Awards
1989
country: United States
The Billboard Music Awards are honors given out annually by Billboard, a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually since 1990, with the exception of the years 2007 through 2010. The event was formerly staged in December but since returning in 2011, it has been held in May.

Catchphrase
1986
country: United Kingdom
Catchphrase is a British game show based on the short-lived U.S. game show of the same name. It originally aired on ITV in the United Kingdom between 12 January 1986 and 19 December 2002. It was presented by Northern Irish comedian Roy Walker from 1986–1999; followed by Nick Weir from 2000–2002, and Mark Curry in 2002. In the original series, two contestants, one male and one female would have to identify the familiar phrase represented by a piece of animation accompanied by background music. The show's mascot, a golden robot called "Mr. Chips", appears in many of the animations. In the revived version of the show, the same format remains, but there are three contestants. In August 2012, it was announced that Stephen Mulhern would host a revived version of the show beginning on 7 April 2013. On 21 August 2013, it was confirmed that Catchphrase has been re-commissioned for a second series, following the success of the first.

KBS Drama Awards
1987
country: South Korea
The KBS Drama Awards is an awards ceremony presented by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) for outstanding achievements in Korean dramas aired on its network. It is held annually on 31 December. The highest honor of the ceremony is the "Grand Prize", awarded to the best actor or actress of the year.

Rosa Baiana
1981
country: Brazil
No overview available

The Guldbagge Awards
1981
country: Sweden
The Guldbagge Awards is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbaggen. The awards, first presented in 1964 at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, are overseen by the Swedish Film Institute. It is described as the Swedish equivalent of the Academy Awards. The awards ceremony was first televised in 1981.

Entertainment Weekly
1984
country: South Korea
This program -- one of our viewers’ favorites -- brings you the weekly wrap-up of news in the world of entertainment. This year, Entertainment Weekly celebrates its 20th anniversary. Since Park Tae-ho, the program’s executive producer, and Lee So-ra, a famous Korean model, became the emcees of Entertainment Weekly, its rating soared by 7 percent, recording an all-time high in the program’s history. The program’s credibility has enhanced when KBS reporters and producers took charge of its planning firsthand.

You Bet!
1988
country: United Kingdom
You Bet! is a British game show based around the format of the German show Wetten, dass..? developed by Frank Elstner. You Bet! ran on ITV, mostly on Saturday nights but sometimes on Fridays, between 20 February 1988 and 12 April 1997, initially hosted by Bruce Forsyth from 1988 to 1990, then by Matthew Kelly from 1991 to 1995 and finally by Darren Day from 1996 to 1997. It was replaced the following year by Don't Try This At Home!, which emulated the challenges of You Bet!, but were considerably more risky and dangerous.
Wedden, dat..?
Wedden, dat..?
1986
country: Netherlands
No overview available

Xou da Xuxa
1986
country: Brazil
Airing weekday mornings, the show featured segments of games (mainly competitions and musical numbers) interspersed with cartoons. Despite the consistently negative reactions from intellectuals and specialized critics, Xou da Xuxa quickly became the most successful children's program in the history of Brazilian television, transforming its presenter into a phenomenon from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.

Takeshi's Castle
1986
country: Japan
Takeshi's Castle is a Japanese game show that aired between 1986 and 1990, on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It features the Japanese comedian Takeshi Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) as a count who owns a castle and sets up difficult challenges for players (or a volunteer army) to get to him.

Geld oder Liebe
1989
country: Germany
No overview available

The New Yankee Workshop
1989
country: United States
The New Yankee Workshop is a woodworking program produced by WGBH Boston, which aired on PBS. Created in 1989 by Russell Morash, the program is hosted by Norm Abram, a regular fixture on Morash's This Old House. The series aired for 21 seasons before broadcasting its final episode on June 27, 2009.

Maçã do Amor
1983
country: Brazil
No overview available