Reality television offers an escape from your own everyday realities — it’s far enough away to find the episodes entertaining, and close enough to root for relatable contestants. Each reality series requires its players to develop a specific strategy that will allow them to advance in the game, often with the potential to win a large cash prize if a contestant is the last person standing. With discipline-specific knowledge developed in the classroom for each college major, I believe that there’s a reality show for everyone based on their strengths and interests.
College students deserve to take a break from their work to enjoy a reality other than their own. Therefore, I have taken some of my favorite reality television shows and assigned them to a college major I believe will truly enjoy the series based on themes, strategies, and skills presented in each.
for engineering majors: Outlast: the jungle
Stranded on an island off of Panama, 16 contestants compete for the chance to win $1 million — as long as they can remain in a team at all times, fight for equipment, and outlast the elements. Outlast: The Jungle is a show that requires its contestants to be crafty, methodical, and intentional if they want to stay in the competition. Just like these competitors, engineering majors have a strong idea of how to build effectively and calculate margins of error. For those who are intentional planners with the goal of carrying out large-scale projects, you’ll enjoy this show and wish you were competing on it.
for english majors: The Traitors
For English majors, I recommend The Traitors. This show consists of celebrity and reality television stars who are split into two groups: the Faithfuls and the Traitors. The identity of the Traitors is hidden, and the Faithfuls must work together to identify who is secretly “murdering” the Faithfuls one by one. For English majors who prefer a quiet evening at home, you’ll appreciate the quiet strategy in The Traitors as players work to deduce who is telling the truth and who is lying to everyone.
English majors will love the way language is used to communicate specific ideas that help players advance in the game and gain information from fellow competitors. As a bonus, the show is filmed on castle grounds in the Scottish Highlands, a country with a rich history of literature.
for marketing majors: Million Dollar Secret
In Million Dollar Secret, one random contestant receives a box with $1 million while all other contestants’ boxes are empty. The person holding this cash must not let anyone know that they have the money while they complete individual tasks to keep it, or compete as a group to reveal hints about the person with the money. As the box containing the money shifts around between players, each contestant must build relationships while also keeping a low profile in order to remain in the game.
Marketing majors understand the content that audiences connect with and are strategic about what information is visible and what is hidden from consumers. Million Dollar Secret is about showing some of your cards without revealing all of the information that you know. So, marketing majors, while you’re scrolling on LinkedIn looking for a summer internship, I recommend that you watch Million Dollar Secret.
for chemistry majors: love is blind
Love is Blind is a reality dating series where contestants must date each other without ever knowing what the other person looks like; the physical appearance of a couple is only revealed after they get engaged.
Chemistry majors should watch Love is Blind because the show measures compatibility between a couple to determine if their relationship will last, and has contestants “test” their relationships by living together in a neutral place before committing to each other. If you appreciate the process of testing variables, determining results, and analyzing reactions between two subjects, you’ll enjoy the process and drama on Love is Blind.
for communication majors: Dancing with the stars
Dancing with the Stars unites professional ballroom dancers with familiar faces in pop culture as they dance their way to win the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Across 10 weeks of dancing, each DWTS couple tells stories through creative routines of various ballroom and Latin dance styles.
Much like the pairings on the show, communication majors learn how to meaningfully exchange information to tell unique stories. A part of this includes creating personal connections and making people feel understood. There’s strategic messaging in dance that I believe communication majors will appreciate. Whether it be in understanding the audience or considering the most effective method of sharing information, communication majors will love the storytelling within each dance on Dancing with the Stars.
for mathematics & actuarial science majors: Big brother
Big Brother is a competition television show where contestants, who live together in surveilled housing, must compete in challenges to win immunity from elimination. The eviction and Head of Household (HoH) systems within Big Brother rely on an assessment of risk on a large scale, a task that actuarial science majors must deal with regularly within their field. From building puzzles from memory or playing strategy games, competitors must be quick with pattern recognition and understand the mechanics of all moving parts of the game.
Much like mathematics and actuarial science majors, the game of Big Brother is results-focused; strategy plays a huge role in completing necessary tasks, and I believe students of these majors will genuinely enjoy the gameplay!
for psychology majors: The mole
The Mole is sure to keep you engaged the whole time you watch since the identity of “the Mole” — a hidden player planted by production to sabotage the game of other players — is kept a secret until the final episode. Contestants compete in mental and physical challenges to win money, but every failed mission (made possible by the Mole) prevents money from being added to the overall prize pool. This show is about presenting yourself in a calculated way in order to buy the trust of other players, while also conducting mind games to keep your individual identity a secret. To really engage with the gameplay on The Mole, players must have a strong sense of what motivates people to make certain decisions, an evergreen theme within the discipline of psychology.
I hope that psychology majors will enjoy sitting back and analyzing the behavior of each player in order to identify who the real Mole is. This show might not offer you a break from your class lecture content, but it’s sure to be an entertaining addition to it!
for linguistics & language majors: The amazing race
On The Amazing Race, teams of two compete in mental and physical challenges as they race to various checkpoints (Pit Stops) across the world. If a team is the last to arrive at a Pit Stop, they are eliminated from the game or face a penalty on their way to the next Pit Stop.
Both linguistics majors and language majors will enjoy the travel aspect of this show as contestants get to experience cultures across the world. As they move between checkpoints, contestants must navigate cultural differences and language barriers that can pose challenges to their continued gameplay. If you recognize the power of language and communication across cultures, you will enjoy the journeys taken on The Amazing Race.
take a tv break!
As college students, the routine of studying and completing coursework can become overwhelming, so it’s important to take breaks. You might do this by tuning into one of these reality shows and using what you know from your major-specific courses to really engage with the strategy or overall concept of the show. Whether you’re turning on one of these reality television shows for background noise or to become invested in the constant drama, I hope you enjoy the creative themes and strategic gameplay unique to each series!