While viewers may still be reeling over Netflix’s eye-opening, new documentary about “America’s Next Top Model,” it got us thinking about more than a handful of other bingeable and sometimes cringe-worthy shows from the early-mid 2000s that could use an in-depth look too.
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Whether it’s the ever popular “Real Housewives” franchise, Gordan Ramsey’s hellish kitchen, or Flavor Flav’s quest for love—there were plenty of projects on our small screen that made us sit back, sit up, raise our eyebrows and laugh out loud at some of the incredulous stuff that went down.
So, in addition to “ANTM,” keep reading for our list of shows that need a tea-spilling, deep-dive documentary ASAP!
“American Idol”
Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell are some of the most iconic TV judges ever. We deserve for them to come back and peel back the layers on how this singing competition show really got down back then. And give us the scoop on how they kept straight faces on some of those horrible auditions.
“Real Housewives” Franchise
When we say the “Real Housewives” franchise, we really mean the Atlanta iteration. And what we really want to see is a documentary with all the OG cast and the most notable “newbies” so they can spill the tea and throw all the shade on how this show is really put together and what’s fake and what’s real.
“The Apprentice”
Before he became the President of the United States, Donald Trump made an even more notorious name for himself by firing people on his “business” show, “The Apprentice.” If former contestants aren’t too afraid of a retaliatory Truth Social post, then it would definitely be worth them coming back together to really expose how things went down there.
“Flavor of Love”
(Author’s note: I still can’t believe women were fighting and cussing and acting a fool over Flavor Flav, to this day. We need to get all of them back so we can figure out what their determining factor was for doing this show because I selfishly have sooooo many outstanding questions!)
“Hell’s Kitchen”
Gordan Ramsay was so nasty and so rude over something as simple as cooking, you already know former contestants would be chomping at the bit to let their truth out about their time on this show! Let’s just be sure to keep the knives out of sight.
“Bad Girls Club”
If you think Baddies is crazy now, then you probably weren’t here for “Bad Girls Club” back then. But according to some of the contestants, their time on the show was anything but good—which means they need to be sitting down in front of a camera and speaking their truth ASAP!
“I Love New York”
Tiffant “New York” Pollard may have gotten famous on “Flavor of Love,” but her popularity gave rise to a dating competition show of her own. And we definitely need to see the behind the scenes of how those men dealt with trying to get her love and attention.
“The Bachelorette”
Rachel Lindsay has done plenty of interviews about her time as the first Black Bachelorette, but we know there’s way more truths that can be told from her perspective that season and from some of the suitors about how things really went down on that show.
“College Hill”
It’s one thing to have an assumption of what HBCU life looks like, but it’s another thing to see it displayed in a reality show concept on national TV. But we already know things were interesting while filming so getting a followup that looks back on everything would be a sight to see.
“Basketball Wives”
While “Basketball Wives” started off as an inside look into the lives of the ladies of famous ballers, it’s drama and crazy storyline quickly took centerstage. But there are still some questions we need answered and some scenes that deserve a little extra context, so somebody needs to fetch a camera and get these women talking soon!
“Making the Band”
As open as Day26 has been recently in interviews about their experience on the Sean “Didd” Combs-helmed show, “Making the Band,” you already know a documentary would do even more to address some of the much drama that ensued. We need to see this ASAP if the guys and the other folks on the other seasons are willing to talk more!
“Baldwin Hills”
“Baldwin Hills” gave people an inside look at the what affluent Black teens were going through and if we’re honest, we need to see some sort of where are they now or series dedicated to seeing what was really going on when the cameras weren’t rolling.
“Run’s House”
The fact that we really haven’t heard that much from Rev. Run or his family since this show went off is actually crazy considering how tuned in we all were in 2009. We need an update because there’s definitely been some life developments worth talking about!
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