Mindless Reality Shows for When You Need to Zone the Eff Out
Sometimes we get to a point of stress that we absolutely need to distract ourselves in mindless reality television. We rounded up our favorite reality television shows for when we need to zone the eff out for a few hours. A note on the reason we chose these shows: none of these shows are about romantic relationships or personal home renovations/home buying, as sometimes we don’t want to think about romantic relationships or our home woes. Also, we did a gut check on these shows and none of them should make you cry (sorry, Queer Eye, we love you, but you bring us to our knees). Have you seen any of these shows?
Lego Masters: Hosted by Will Arnett, Lego Masters is a fun, fast-paced reality competition show that’ll both make you laugh and sit in awe at the Lego creations. The show has overall positive vibes and team energy that will make you smile - and side note: Lego building is a great form of meditation! Seasons: 2, episodes: 21; you can find it on: Hulu or Fox
Ben + Jerry’s Clash of the Cones: I started watching this on Discovery+ during the height of my back-to-school anxiety and binge-watched the whole season in a weekend. Hosted by Molly Yeh, the premise of the show is that ice cream specialists and chefs compete to create new flavors for Ben + Jerry’s. The show, much like Ben + Jerry’s, is weirdly calming and meditative, with a lot of ice cream info and a skoosh of business tactics thrown in. Seasons: 1, episodes: 4; you can find it on: Discovery+ or Food Network
A Very Brady Renovation: We grew up watching The Brady Bunch on Nick at ‘Nite so when we stumbled across A Very Brady Renovation, the entire family watched together and texted non-stop about the silliness. A Very Brady Renovation follows the six original Brady kids as they renovate and restore the original Brady house back what it originally looked like on television! The nostalgia is comforting and it’s fun to see all the siblings relate to each other - and who doesn’t love a good vintage house restoration with television history woven in? Grab your crocheted blanket and cuddle up to watch this story about a lovely lady and a man named Mike. Seasons: 1, episodes: 7 (there are a few specials too); you can find it on: HGTV, Hulu, Sling
Making It: First of all, if you need to smile, a craft competition hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman is the way to go. Making It may be a competition show, but it’s a competition chock full of friendly encouragement and love. Plus, fun craft projects! If you have a weekend where you need to totally zone out, we highly recommend cuddling up in bed and turning on Making It. Seasons: 3, episodes: 22; you can find it on NBC and Hulu
Chef Out of Water: Hosted by the adorable Alexis deBoschnek, Chef Out of Water is a Tasty produced out-of-the-box cooking show where Chef Alexis has to cook full three course meals with non-cooking items, like irons, power tools, and an easy-bake-oven. Her positive and encouraging attitude is contagious, and it’s super fun to see how she thinks creatively to create these meals. Seasons: 2, episodes: 12; you can find it on: Hulu
Tasty’s Making It Big: Hosted by Tasty producer, Alvin Zhou, Making It Big is an incredibly fun cooking show in which he literally supersizes some of our favorite foods - so they can be eaten and enjoyed! The episodes are silly and fun, yet include details about his cooking strategy and process. Plus, the episodes are on the shorter side, so if you’re attention span is in flux, it’s an easy show to drive through. Seasons: 2, episodes: 15; you can find it on: Hulu