Two Of The Greatest Reality Shows Ever Made Were Just Added To Netflix

By Jonathan Klotz | Published

Big Brother host Julie Chen

A pair of CBS reality shows just landed on Netflix for the first time, with subscribers able to watch two seasons each of Big Brother and The Amazing Race. CheatSheet reported the additions to the streaming service, though potential viewers that want to avoid spoilers should take care when reading, as the added seasons are from 15 to 10 years ago. More seasons will slowly be added to the service for each show, with the ones currently available representing fan and creator favorites.

Big Brother was a landmark reality show when it first premiered back in 2000, a fun fact sure to make people feel old. The concept of the show is simple, take a group of strangers and put them in a house with no contact to the outside world, throw in some competitions, group votes to see who is forced out each week, and the result is 22 years of genre-defining success. One of the unique hooks to Big Brother is the live feed, viewable from the official show website, which allows viewers to watch the contestants 24 hours a day.

The two Big Brother seasons available on Netflix right now are Season 10 and Season 14. Season 10 was the first of the back-to-basics seasons, while Season 14 brought back past contestants as coaches. Each is a fan favorite season of the reality show, with Season 14 in particular including moments that have lived on with fans for the last decade.

While Big Brother takes place in one location, the other reality show coming to Netflix is the exact opposite, with every season taking contestants around the globe. The Amazing Race starts with teams of two in the United States and quickly sends them to foreign countries with little to no guidance. Each leg of the journey has teams competing in events to offer them bonuses or challenges that have to be conquered in order to progress to the goal line.

Currently available on Netflix are The Amazing Race seasons 5 and 7, with seasons 17 and 31 joining the service later this week. Season 5 is famous among reality show fans for a certain moment involving an ox. Season 7 on the other hand, features a famous team comprised of former Survivor contestants, Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano and Amber Brkich.

The Amazing Race has a special reality show record, having won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program 10 times out of the 19 times that the award was offered. Season 1 of the show first aired back in September, 2001 though it was filmed before September 11th, making the airport scenes of the original season a strange time-capsule compared to every other season. Contestants on The Amazing Race have visited an outstanding 92 countries, touching down on every continent, except for Antarctica, multiple times.

The reality show seasons available on Netflix are just a small sampling of the hundreds of episodes that make up each of the award-winning franchises. While just a tase of what the shows have to offer, the curation is also ensuring that newcomers get to watch some of the best possible seasons first. For existing fans, Paramount+ will soon be the home to every season of Big Brother and The Amazing Race.