In 2024 we’re saying goodbye to the lies of scripted television, the fancy little make-believes of sitcoms and dramas and cartoons, and we’re saying hello to more reality TV. Now these are real stories, real people, who are sometimes put on an island to be really horny together, or perhaps have to train a bunch of working dogs. You just never know. Maybe it’s about how cool twins are.
There’s something for everyone in the expansive world of Australian reality TV, and here’s what we’re most excited for.
Gladiators
In my opinion, Gladiators was the best Australian show of the nineties – the beefiest men and women of Australia coming together to hit people with giant cotton buds and throw each other into foam pits. Their commitment to unitards was an entire generation of Australian’s sexual awakenings.
Well, it’s back, and it’s as camp as ever. The 2024 reboot basically repeats the glory of the originals – some ‘regular’ people (the swollest normies in the country) show up to foam battle the house Gladiators in a series of admittedly very athletic and entertaining trials. It’s the actual threat of danger that gives it some spice – the first episode of the reboot has aired, and one of the big names Gladiators immediately injured themselves and had to go home.
But the reason this show is so iconic is how incredibly funny it is, how swollen with muscles and rage these people are, and how much everyone treats it seriously. Perfect television.
Gladiators premiered on 15 January on 10 and 10 Play.
Muster Dogs – Season 2
The first season of Muster Dogs was a runaway (pun intended) hit. If watching a group of puppies growing up as working dogs wasn’t immediately the best thing you’ve ever heard, there’s also a very reality TV challenge: they must become trained muster dogs in only 12 months. The challenge that these Aussie graziers have to undertake is exciting and interesting to watch, and is a fascinating introduction to working dogs for inner city types like myself.
The new season repeats the same hit formula, but with one adorable difference: Australian Border Collie puppies instead of Kelpies.
Muster Dogs – Season 2 premiered on ABC on 14 January.
Alone Australia – Season 2
The first season of Alone Australia, which is part of a global franchise, was the most successful series the SBS has ever commissioned. More than a million viewers tuned in to each episode.
The show is a fascinating study of human behaviour. While the survival tasks are interesting, and the need to snack on eels to live is pretty compelling viewing, the show is special because of its depiction of loneliness and being alone.
The second season of Alone Australia is heading to New Zealand to pit ten contestants up against wild deer and snowy, mountainous terrain.
Alone Australia – Season 2 is coming to SBS in late 2024.
Australia’s Most Identical
Sometimes reality TV is all about a big weird idea, and then deciding to go with it – such as Australia’s Most Identical. In this wild adventure, a hundred sets of twins will undergo a series of tests and challenges in a bid to find out which two are the ‘most’ identical. I didn’t even know that was a thing that people cared about!
Personally I think we should be testing whether or not any of them can speak to each other using only their minds, but this should be good too.
Australia’s Most Identical is coming to Nine in 2024.
Made In Bondi
These kinds of hyper-local shows, such as Made in Chelsea, which this is a spinoff from, are a successful formula for a reason. There’s something fascinating about being exposed to a very specific demographic of people and watching their weird lives. Made In Bondi will do a similar thing, focusing on the ‘lives and loves of Sydney’s young, social elite’, which just sounds horrible! I can’t wait.
Made in Bondi is coming to Channel 7 in 2024.
FBOY Island – Season 2
Reality dating shows are in an interesting era, with the shiny romance of franchises like The Bachelor apparently dulling for audiences after decades on air. Instead of genuine weirdos looking for love, it’s influencers going on Married at First Sight and the like, looking for fame and fortune and Instagram growth.
So Fboy Island is a welcome shift, as instead of trying to pretend the people on their island are all starry eyed romantics, it turns it into a game. Can the women detect which of these men are here for love, and which ones are here to sell protein powder? It’s genuinely fun television, and the show knows how to laugh at itself, and at the titular Fboys. Season 2 should be fun.
Fboy Island – Season 2 will stream on Binge in 2024.
