Is a word from a Yank acceptable here? Everything you have described sounds just like American tv. Those "reality" shows which have some element of actual reality are in a bottomless rut: making over the house, making over someones wardrobe, or masking over someones bodily tissue, hour after hour, channel after channel. Prime time "reality" consists of putting people in the most degrading situations anyone can dream up, of baiting them into the most appallingly manipulative behaviour to win the bucks, or both. When we do turn the thing on, we watch a high % of history or discovery channel (although the discovery is sliding into its own "reality" rut with countless hours of a bickering clan building extreme motorcycles), pick out the rare decent series, and give thanks for some of the vintage comedy series from your side of the pond. In a word, tv sucks just about everywhere.