--- description: The 'nice' reality shows of the late 2010s have given way to a new generation of cutthroat competitions where cruelty reigns supreme. title: 'Squid Game: The Challenge' Proves Reality TV Is Mean Again image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48bd50200089ea73/698a4268d07533246de6e98a/Squid_Game_The_Challenge_n_S1_E1_00_12_53_11R.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Squid Game: The Challenge_ Proves That Nasty Reality TV Is Back With a Vengeance  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Nov 22, 2023 12:00 PM CUT  Squid Game: The Challenge Squid Game: The ChallengeNeflix  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Nov 22, 2023 12:00 PM CUT The first player viewers meet in _Squid Game: The Challenge_, a new reality competition based on the [South Korean Netflix thriller](https://time.com/6104461/jung-ho-yeon-squid-game/ "undefined") that became an international phenomenon, is a relatable everywoman named Starla. “Who’s not in debt?” she asks, by way of explaining why she’s competing for the $4.56 million prize (456 players x $10,000). “What’s that like, to be able to pay off your house? What’s that like, to be able to pay off your car?” She never finds out. Starla is eliminated in the first round of the first game. As this introduction suggests, _The Challenge_ prides itself on being merciless. Like the scripted series that inspired it—minus the violent death that awaits each of the original _Squid Game_’s eliminated contestants, obviously—the competition pits a cast of hundreds against one another in a gauntlet of playground games. That Netflix was so quick to exploit creator [Hwang Dong-hyuk](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177760/hwang-dong-hyuk/ "undefined")’s searing critique of economic inequality for what will inevitably be another hit, and so many fans signed up to play along, is the latest evidence that satire is dead. But _The Challenge_ also speaks to a larger trend toward cruelty within its genre.  From left: Jonny Fairplay, Shake Chatterjee, Johnny Bananas, Omarosa, and Tiffany “New York” Pollard in House of Villains Casey Durkin—E! Reality competitions have not, historically, been here to make friends. Many of the biggest and most tenacious early reality franchises ([_Survivor_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197745/survivor-season-1/ "undefined"), [_The Apprentice_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197770/the-apprentice/ "undefined"), [_Big Brother_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197749/big-brother/ "undefined")) rewarded bad behavior. Shows like [_The Swan_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197768/the-swan/ "undefined") and [_Joe Millionaire_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197758/joe-millionaire/ "undefined") preyed on female contestants’ self-hatred and gullibility. All that seemed to be changing, however, in the late 2010s, when a wave of kinder, gentler reality shows, from [_The Great British Bake Off_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198544/the-great-british-bake-off/ "undefined") to [_Terrace House_](https://time.com/5421311/terrace-house-review-reality-tv-romance/ "undefined") to Netflix’s rebooted [_Queer_ _Eye_](https://time.com/5311979/queer-eye-season-two/ "undefined"), subtly pushed back against the gibing of our first reality-show President. During COVID lockdown, isolated viewers relied on the same series for virtual companionship. But for the past few years—and particularly in recent months, with the debut of such cutthroat contests as E!’s _House of Villains_ and Netflix’s _Surviving Paradise_—mean reality TV has returned with a vengeance. For a genre built on narcissism in front of the camera and manipulation behind it, the heel turn was inevitable. You can’t say the contestants on _The Challenge_ didn’t know what they were getting into. Just like their _Squid Game_ counterparts, they are served meager meals, sleep in bleacher-like bunks in a massive room with prison-yard vibes, and are forced with each new twist to turn on people they’ve come to care for. More than the games themselves, which can be tedious and random, it’s these interpersonal conflicts that drive the show. In one awful scene, an arrogant alpha male bullies an anxious opponent into making a choice that earns the latter the ire of his team. Cameras linger on the unfortunate man as his body turns on him and he starts to retch. The presence of some players with real connections on the outside, including a lovable mother-son duo, heightens the drama.  A mother and her adult son, center, are among the most sympathetic players in Squid Game: The Challenge Netflix For the cast of _Surviving Paradise_, the game isn’t as transparent. Led to believe they’re in for a “summer of luxury,” they instead find themselves competing in a class-coded contest that pits “insiders” in a posh villa against “outsiders” who camp in the woods and subsist on rice and beans. Betrayed by the producers, the cast must then betray one another for a cash prize. By the third episode, the villa residents have gotten so locked into a competitive mindset, they squabble over who gets to sit at the head of their lavishly provisioned breakfast table. Ethically questionable though though may be, bait-and switch setups—pioneered by nasty dating shows like _Joe Millionaire_ (which Fox revived in 2022), [_Boy Meets Boy_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197764/boy-meets-boy/ "undefined"), and [_I Wanna Marry "Harry"_](https://time.com/104696/review-i-wanna-marry-harry/ "undefined")—have become increasingly common, especially on Netflix. [_Snowflake Mountain_](https://time.com/6188548/snowflake-mountain-netflix-review/ "undefined") pulled off a similar sleight of hand, promising young adults deemed “snowflakes” luxury and delivering, instead, a grueling course in wilderness survival. [_Too Hot to Handle_](https://time.com/5820865/too-hot-to-handle-netflix-review/ "undefined") recruits participants for a regular dating show, then surprises them with a high-stakes game of chastity.  The outsiders, left, and insiders, right, of Surviving Paradise Netflix But perhaps the most obvious indication that reality competitions are back to their old, nasty ways is the premiere, this fall, of _House of Villains_. As in the above shows, the game is less about athleticism or talent than it is about the soft skills of social engineering: intimidation, duplicity, forging alliances that must eventually be severed. In this case, however, the players are established reality stars with villainous reputations, like notorious [_Survivor_ liar Jonny Fairplay](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/survivor-icon-jonny-fairplay-has-no-regrets-about-his-grandma-lie "undefined")—who was [kicked off](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2005/09/kill-reality-finale%5Fepisode/ "undefined") another tongue-in-cheek E! show, _Kill Reality_, way back in 2005 for defecating in a cast mate's bed—and mononymous _Apprentice_ alum [Omarosa](https://time.com/5139787/omarosa-white-house-celebrity-big-brother/ "undefined"), who [briefly followed Mr. Trump](https://time.com/5064054/omarosa-not-fired-white-house-resigned-protest/ "undefined") to the White House. The fireworks burn as bright as you might expect. "Mind games are essential to establishing your dominance," Omarosa explains. She's proven right when the least conniving cast member, an allegedly reformed Jax Taylor, of [_Vanderpump Rules_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198524/vanderpump-rules/ "undefined"), is the first to be eliminated. If you’re going to watch people debase themselves for cash, they might as well be the best scrappers in the business.  From left: Dawn Burrell, Byron Gomez, winner Gabe Erales, and Shota Nakajima in Top Chef Season 18 David Moir—Bravo It’s all enough to make you wonder whether “nice reality TV” could possibly have been as nice as it seemed. In fact, there have been many indications over the past few years that it was not. A [collegial post-pandemic season of _Top Chef_](https://time.com/6077660/top-chef-portland-finale/ "undefined") celebrated the resilience of the restaurant industry but crowned a winner who, after filming, was fired from a job amid allegations of sexual misconduct. In 2020, a former cast member of _Terrace House_, a Japanese docusoap that American critics (myself included) praised as _The Real World_ for people with manners, [died by suicide](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/arts/television/terrace-house-suicide.html "undefined") after being viciously cyberbullied by viewers. Even [_Bake Off_ got repeatedly dinged](https://time.com/6232819/great-british-bake-off-season-13-backlash/ "undefined") for cultural insensitivity and is now apparently scrambling to redeem itself with a season of conspicuously safe challenges. This is the thing about reality TV: whether it takes the form of a dating-show fairy tale or an “unscripted” soap, a lovefest that makes you want to be friends with every cast member or a ruthless battle royale, each series is the result of endless massaging by producers. They manipulate casts, and selectively edit footage, in order to manipulate viewers. The carefully framed heroes are rarely as valiant as they’re made to look; the bad guys might not deserve their villain edits. This post-Trump, post-COVID correction simply reunites a deceptive format with similarly cynical content. It may not say anything good about audiences who enjoy seeing strangers screw each other over—and, in turn, get screwed over by the string-pullers behind the camera. But it’s not, on balance, any more or less authentic than a brief moment of manufactured kindness. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6336243/isquid-game-house-of-villains-mean-reality-tv/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6336243/isquid-game-house-of-villains-mean-reality-tv/"},"headline":"Squid Game: The Challenge Proves That Nasty Reality TV Is Back With a Vengeance","datePublished":"2023-11-22T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:52:51.551Z","description":"The \"nice\" reality shows of the late 2010s have given way to a new generation of cutthroat competitions where cruelty reigns supreme.","url":"https://time.com/6336243/isquid-game-house-of-villains-mean-reality-tv/","keywords":["Television","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48bd50200089ea73/698a4268d07533246de6e98a/Squid_Game_The_Challenge_n_S1_E1_00_12_53_11R.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48bd50200089ea73/698a4268d07533246de6e98a/Squid_Game_The_Challenge_n_S1_E1_00_12_53_11R.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Squid_Game__The_Challenge_n_S1_E1_00_12_53_11R","caption":"Squid Game: The Challenge. 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