Do you get into reality TV?

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I haven't heard of anybody on the spectrum who gets into those shows. Maybe, I don't talk to enough or to the right people. Or maybe, it is more popular with younger or older people than me.

I do know coworkers and members who are neurotypical who follow religiously. I should define reality to mean talent competitions (American Idol, Dancing with the Stars), social behavior (survivor, big brother, dating a whatever), game shows, and whatever else is out there. People seem to get personally involved and choose favorites and empathetically feel for their favorites. I don't get that feeling I don't believe, and will say that person performs the best and should win. I also think the rise of reality TV has limited the quality of regular TV shows being produced. I feel some resentment towards the popularity of reality TV.

Do you think aspies are less likely to enjoy these shows because they don't share the experience with the contestants? Something else like inferior quality? Or am I completely wrong about how people on the spectrum feel about these shows?

No.

I watched Top Chef and Project Runway for some time, but that's about it.

I think it's fun to learn about the creative processes of others, and these two tended to go pretty indepth.

Most shows of the reality sort I find pretty repulsive. The ones that deal with day to day life are particularly baffling.

I dislike them quite a bit, admitidly at first there was some novelty to Big Brother, but I quickly got annoyed with them.

I just really get annoyed over the whole attention seeking side to it, I have certain dislike for when they have a narrator with that awefully arrogant american additude (I have no idea why Americans like the ones who are really arrogant).

Its hit and miss for me. If you can count Iron Chef, Mythbusters, and Dirty jobs as reality, I love those 3 shows.

As for what most people consider reality TV, I hate it with an absolute fiery passion, although I LOVE The Mole/Celebrity Mole. Too bad I always pin down the mole in the first episode.

I like Mythbusters as well, but I've always thought it was closer to documentary.

Reality TV is s**t, especially the so-called "talent shows". I wish the troves of idiots would stop watching it so they'd put something good on telly.

Yeah I couldnt care less for it. You should have made a poll

I watch (not religiously) the one's about hoarding and substance abuse intervention because they have relevance to my own experience. I generally dislike some of the others because they encourage the worst in human behavior. One UK one I'm cynical about is Ladettes to Ladies. These young women are all alcoholics and they put them into situations with alcohol and then act shocked at the result.

I'm an aspie in the UK and I love some reality TV and hate others.

Likes:

Big Brother (sadly finished now):

OK, did not produce talent, but did provide entertainment and showed that the world (well the UK anyway) isn't just full of bores... I can see why some people hated it, but I personally found it to be interesting and funny.

The X Factor:

Obviously has some awful acts in the early stages (auditions, even boot camp...), however, this show still has some amazing talent coming out of it. The current season is about to produce Matt Cardle, Cher Lloyd, Rebecca Ferguson and One Direction. All of these are amazing talents and will certainly make it in the UK music market and possibly even the world market.

Stars to come out of the show in the past include Leona Lewis, G4, Shayne Ward, JLS, Alexandra Burke, Olly Murs, Joe McElderry and more...

Dislikes:

I'm a Celebrity...: Really can't stand it, most of the people who enter it arn't even proper celebs!

Britain's Got Talent: Would probably love this show if P***s M****n wasn't a judge. I actually hate him and can't watch anything that contains him!

Well, I don't know if this answers the OP or not, I hope it helps anyway

I don't watch any of that, although I will watch a bit if I'm flipping channels and see somebody actually doing something, like dancing. Mostly they're talking about it. There's a show that looks like Super Mario with real people - I kind of like that. But I don't know when these shows are on so I would see them only if I'm flipping channels. I'm addicted to Law & Order (all of them) and House. They moved the time-slot for House and I can't find it again.

Kitchen Nightmares, if that can be counted. I love following up with seeing the restaurants online. Some have really surprised me with their longevity, others have sadly closed.

I only watch X factor and Britain got talent through not keenly. Most of the reality programmes I am not interested in watching. I am baffled how big brother was popular. All it was just a bunch of people hanging around and chatting. Boring. I reckoned that tv programmes have greatly improved over the last 10 years, its just that reality tv is promoted more. Also some tv programmes are more suited to watch on DVD instead.

It would have been better if I made it into a poll since people who are into to them might be scared away from answering after seeing what people think. Since people I know seem to get into them, I almost feel obligated to watch some of them ( Idol and Dancing seem to be the most talked about ones around here lately) so I can get along and connect with them better. But, I just can't get sucked into them like they do. As I said, I don't think I empathize with the contestants like they do. I wonder if that is a major part of the appeal of these shows? I don't think it is the quality of the performances which are often subpar.

Reality is always a big draw. I remember watching OJ's white van drive endlessly down the highway - that's all it was, I've seen car commercials do the same - but it was real so it was very exciting.

The one reality show that I will follow loyally is America's Got Talent. I love seeing different kinds of novelty acts and wondering how far into the competition they'll make it. Some of the acts make me laugh and some amaze me. Plus the judges aren't as mean as judges on other shows tend to be. This season was a particularly great one, and my favorite act, Prince Poppycock, made it further than any of my other favorite acts from previous seasons (the finals).

The only thing that I hate about America's Got Talent is that usually the only people who tend to win or get to the finals are regular singers who couldn't get into American Idol because they play an instrument or aren't in the required age range. So far the only non-singer to win was a ventriloquist.

I know that Prince Poppycock was a singer, but he wasn't a regular pop singer. He was an opera singer and a showman and every performance he did was a blast to watch. Every week he did something new and exciting. That's why I'm still sad that he lost to (surprise surprise) a regular pop singer.