We often leave it on as noise now, skip to the end of most of the competitions, and routinely ask each other “who the hell is that?” on the final show where they all come back, but my wife and I have been watching US Big Brother since something like Season 3 or 4. At this point, the formulas are clear and they mostly just re-theme the existing competitions. It does seem like they may have retired “The Racist One” as one of the casting mandates; even the MAGA-coded blonde girl who almost won this past season managed not to say anything to get herself kicked out, though this season ended before the election results made racism okay again.

For shows that I enjoy unironically but can’t in good conscience recommend to anyone, my current favorite is the US remake of Ghosts. I am like a moth to flame when it comes to stupid high-concept stuff, but I bail if I don’t like it. Despite the very sitcommy gags and plots, I find the cast charming and the out-of-time twist on the usual banter is fun. But yeah, it’s still very much a zinger-based sitcom full of stock characters in some form of historical cosplay.

Finally, I giggle like a twelve year old with a fart machine through the opening segment of “Wipeout,” where the only question is how hilariously giant foam-covered machinery will clobber people. The only competitive point is who failed the least, and the edit of the episode doesn’t even pretend to frame that in any cohesive way, likely so they can rig it. I generally watch something else once they move to the next phase. I don’t give a single shit who “wins” and the rest of it is just a traditional physical competition game show with a few pratfalls.