7 Entertaining TLC Shows to Satisfy Your Reality TV Cravings
Only dedicated fans of reality TV will know just how many hidden gems are on TLC.
Since its creation, the network has evolved to focus primarily on reality shows capturing the unique lives of individuals, families, or lifestyles that most people could never even imagine existed. From the world of children’s beauty pageants to families with absurd amounts of children, you never know what you’re going to find.
The best part? You can watch any TLC show on tlc.com for free after signing in with your TV provider and Hulu carries most of their shows as well, whether or not they’re still on the air.
Now sit back, buckle up, and enjoy the rollercoaster ride that is TLC, from Toddlers & Tiaras to Counting On.
Toddlers & Tiaras
Perhaps one of the most well-known shows on the network, Toddlers & Tiaras explores the hidden industry of child beauty pageantry. Each episode follows three contestants and their families as they prepare for the weekend’s competition, and the show truly reveals the extremes many parents will go to to ensure their child takes the biggest crown. You’ll see three-year-olds getting spray tans, eyebrow waxes, and professional hair and makeup done for their two minutes of fame on stage. Also, some of these kids have attitudes like no other.
90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days
This branch of the 90 Day Fiancé franchise is by far the most unbelievable. Everybody knows that long-distance dating is hard, but most people have never traveled across the world to meet their partner (with whom they’ve been talking virtually for months) for the first time. Things are bound to get crazy when Americans experience the culture shock of their lives in countries as far as Ukraine or Nigeria. Some Americans make plans to visit their partner without ever even speaking over video chat. This show gives viewers the chance to watch the rocky interactions that couples have when meeting for the first time, and trust us— there’s always drama.
sMothered
It’s not uncommon for people to love their moms, but the stars of this show take it to a whole new level. These mothers are a bit too involved in their daughters’ lives, insisting they live together even when their child is almost thirty, getting lip injections together, and, perhaps most shocking, taking baths together. Often, these mothers expect to be invited on dates with their daughters’ boyfriends or on vacations they shouldn’t be invited to by any means. These mother-daughter duos take the cake when it comes to close relationships.
Counting On
Even those who didn’t religiously watch 19 Kids and Counting know of the Duggar family. They are an Arkansas faithfully Christian family consisting of 19 children. It was popular about 10 years ago, but now, all of the older kids are grown up with families of their own, adding on to the number of relatives that parents Michelle and Jim Bob have to keep track of. Counting On shows fans of the Duggar family what life is like now that grandchildren, nieces, and nephews are in the mix, and just when we thought life couldn’t get more chaotic, this show proves us wrong.
Long Island Medium
Theresa Caputo simply embodies the idea of a Long Island mother: makeup to the max, voluminous hair, and a super thick accent. But she’s not like most moms: she can talk to dead people. Each episode includes footage of her “reading” strangers, or trying to see if she can get in touch with a loved one who has passed. These readings can happen through appointments anyone can schedule with her in hopes of speaking to someone in their own lives, or, most of the time, she will ask to read people she encounters in public if she senses the energy that would allow her to do so. Of course, there are countless skeptics on the show and fans that find it hard to believe, but for those that do, Caputo will blow your mind.
Untold Stories of the E.R.
Medical show lovers, buckle your seatbelts: this one will take you for a ride. You’ll hear some of the most mysterious and strange medical cases that doctors have come across in their careers. It’s been widely controversial whether the stories shared are true or not due to the extremely unrealistic reenactments, but, either way, it’s exciting to watch the show and pretend like they are.
Dr. Pimple Popper
Dermatologist Sandra Lee became popular through her YouTube and other social media accounts on which she shared videos of herself fixing some of the most shocking skin problems most people have ever seen. From large pimples to colossal cysts, what’s shown on-screen is jaw-dropping. Now, before you go and start binge watching, this show is absolutely not for everyone. It can be extremely disturbing and unsettling to some. However, if intense and graphic medical procedures are your cup of tea, you’ll be hooked instantly.
From TV Guide Magazine
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