--- description: Find out why Selling Sunset has one of the most influential reality TV seasons of all time. title: Selling Sunset: The 50 Most Influential Reality TV Seasons image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8726feaf679f6655/698a341786f68e832e6f175b/selling-sunset-reality-tv-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 04, 2022 # Selling Sunset Season 3 (2020) by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Season 2 of 'Selling Sunset' Season 2 of 'Selling Sunset'Courtesy of Netflix It wasn’t the first reality series to mix high-end real estate with high-stakes interpersonal drama—Bravo’s _Million Dollar Listing_ franchise, for one, debuted in 2006—but the influence of [_Selling Sunset_ ](https://time.com/6123115/selling-sunset-real-estate-explained/ "undefined")transcends its subgenre. Netflix’s first original docusoap, it chronicles the telegenic lives of agents at the Hollywood-based Oppenheim Group, with actual soap star Chrishell Stause playing Cinderella to [Christine Quinn’s pot-stirring, fashion-victim](https://time.com/6123242/selling-sunset-review-netflix/ "undefined") villain. The modern fairy tale reached its emotional apex in season 3, as cameras followed Chrishell while her marriage to _This Is Us_ star Justin Hartley dissolved, apparently overnight. With an openness that verged on exhibitionism, she wallowed and sought comfort in family, as Christine and her allies kept talking smack. Since then, the cast has become a tabloid staple. Viewers now tune in for behind-the-headlines insight into the O-Group’s romances and feuds. Last year saw the premiere of spin-off Selling Tampa, another a new one, _Selling the O.C._, is due out Aug. 24, and just about every streamer has its own dupe, from Amazon’s _Luxe Listings Sydney_ to the familiarly titled Discovery+ series _Selling the Hamptons_. More importantly, _Sunset_ has set the template for reality TV in the streaming era, on Netflix and beyond. Packed with conflict, backloaded with cliffhangers, and clocking in at a breezy 30ish minutes, its easily bingeable episodes amount to a more potent form of a drug developed by the social engineers at Bravo. —_Judy Berman_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198561/selling-sunset/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198561/selling-sunset/"},"headline":"Selling Sunset","datePublished":"2022-08-04T12:30:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:05:23.313Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198561/selling-sunset/","keywords":["franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8726feaf679f6655/698a341786f68e832e6f175b/selling-sunset-reality-tv-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8726feaf679f6655/698a341786f68e832e6f175b/selling-sunset-reality-tv-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198561/selling-sunset/","name":"Selling Sunset"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Reality TV Has Reshaped Our World, Whether We Like It or Not","description":"Reality series aren’t exactly well respected; critics, social scientists, and even fans never stop unearthing revelations about their crass manipulations and toxic tropes. 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