Category Descriptions
Outstanding Art Direction (Costume, Set, Makeup, etc)
From stage design to glitz and glam hair, makeup and wardrobe, Art Direction on reality sets is certainly unique. This award gives a nod to the creatives behind the scenes: set/stage design, makeup, costumes, lighting, etc. this awards if for the team that had anything to do with making your reality show look great.
Outstanding Competition Show
Memorable contestants, crazy obstacles, alliances, judges and even exotic locations. This kind of show is laid-out months before the world even knows that the next season has been announced. All you need is the unsuspecting characters and away we go!
Most Creative Challenge (Challenge Department)
Cast members are ready and willing to put themselves through anything in order to come out on top. These challenges test the limits of the contestants, show off the creativity of the challenge department and make for some of the most compelling television moments of the human spirit.
Outstanding Docu-Series
Productions based on real life: From a day-in-the-life to the opening of a restaurant, a famous struggle or triumph or just some good ole’ table-flipping confrontations, all forms of story telling are welcomed here.
Outstanding Digital Reality Series
This series streams online only as an independent production or support for an existing network or cable show.If you can find the series at a .com, .org, etc on the web, this category is all yours!
Best Editing (Editing Department)
The editors take the hours of footage and give it meaning, drama, suspense and intrigue! They cut thousands of hours of footage into a perfect season you can’t stop watching.
Best Feel Good Show
Making a difference and bringing emotion to every viewer. We can’t help it, we really want a good cry or hefty laugh once in a while or just something that gives us all the feels.
Outstanding Food Series
Any series where food is a main “character”… competition and docu-series all qualify as long as there’s cooking, eating, baking, or beauty shots of FOOD!
Outstanding Game Show
Ingredients for the perfect show: an amazing host, wacky contestants, massive prizes and/or life-changing money! Everyone wants to be on one, very few get the chance, and television has re-entered the golden age of game shows, but which one is best?
Guilty Pleasure Show
It’s the show you watch and don’t talk about…until someone else brings it up, then it’s game on! The water cooler show, the one your girlfriend has no idea you’re watching or following. This series is your own personal “must see tv”.
Outstanding Home Series
Renovation, building, home swapping, interior design or real estate, we have all spent time watching and fantasizing about our dream homes. This category proves that home is where the heart is.
Outstanding Host/Hostess
Does America tune in to your show because the host is so alluring? Has the host made your show what it is today? Or do they simply have the most followers on social media? Whatever the answer, they’re the person who guides us through the episodes week after week.
International Reality Series (Created/Produced Outside USA)
Are you a worldwide sensation, produced and airing overseas? Subtitles or not, the world is watching and downloading each episode as it airs. Why not be rewarded for it, our planet is big enough for all the characters!
Best Judging Panel
Knowledgeable, quirky, intriguing, and most importantly opinionated and fun to watch! Without judging, how would we know whom to like, whom to root for and whom should be crowned winner!
Outstanding Kids Reality Series
Junior versions of reality shows are the latest and greatest trend in the genre. This category features the leaders of tomorrow…kids! Who doesn’t love an adult-based competition show with pint-sized competitors, right? Thought so!
Outstanding New Cast (Casting Team)
You had the best casting team, and it showed! This is a cast who had a great mix of love, love to hate and hate to love! You tuned in each week to “hang” with them and these new faces became the talk of the town this year. These characters are what compel you to visit them week after week until the cliffhanger season end or the final competitor remains standing.
Outstanding New Show
You’ve heard through the grapevine that a new version or a new concept in reality tv is on everyone’s “must watch list”. The promos are cryptic. Did I just see a major celeb? Did I just see someone risk their life for $1,000,000? Did I just clear my calendar to watch every, single, episode? Yes, yes and yes! This is the new series that has everyone begging for Season 2.
Best Overall Show
The cream of the crop with a perfect balance of execution, star power, cast selection and a hold on the heartstrings of the American audience. The show that has all of America obsessed whether they’re chatting at home, at work, on virtual group chats and all social media.
Outstanding Paranormal Series
This celebrates the world of the unknown, whether it’s aliens, ghosts, psychics or another element that we can’t quite describe.
Outstanding Production Company
You had a ton of awesome reality shows this year, and are not afraid to come out and say it! Tired of hearing, “oh YOU make THAT show?” Why not reward yourself for it and have your company name on the tips of tongues everywhere! Now’s the chance for those behind the scenes executives and staff to be noticed.
Outstanding Production Crew
Harsh weather conditions, long hours, extreme teamwork, and/or lots of energy drinks. This “behind the scenes” off-camera team of on-set producers, camera crew and everyone in between gives their heart, soul and well-being to make their shows the best of the best.
Outstanding Recurring Cast
This veteran cast continues to keep America in awe, season after season. They may even have sippy cups, keychains or brands of wine with their faces on it. Bottom line, they are the catalyst of a show’s longevity and success.
Reality Royalty
The ultimate personality of the year. One person who rises above all else for whatever reason: love them, hate them, but face it, you kinda wanna be them!
Reality Villain
Did they just “stir it up” and make the Story Producer’s job easy? Are they the “baddest b*tch in town” with a phrase to tear you down or bring you to tears? The person you love to hate gets their flowers here. Bring it!
Overall Reality Podcast
Hundreds of reality shows air each year, this category gives a nod to those who talk about the incredible moments, interview cast and crew, or just chat about what’s the come.
Outstanding Talk/Variety Show
Talk and Variety shows have been around for decades and is a form of reality itself. You never know quite what is going to happen!
Best Reality TV Moment
Remember the song that tore the roof off the venue? The ex showing up at the most imperfect moment? That underdog who conquers a course or shocks everyone by their endurance and sheer will? Or the thing that makes TMZ salivate to create the next big headline moment? Yup, this is that category.
Outstanding Travel Series
Everyone loves a good vacation and there’s a ton of travel based reality shows to prove it. Whether its food, entertainment or business, there’s always a good reason to travel!
Outstanding True-Crime Series
True-Crime series now have a place in almost every network. Whether its telling the story, trying to solve the crime or your typical nail biter, we all want to tune in.
Unique Concept
Your development department drank too much coffee that day and created something really odd, but compelling, and hey, it worked! Make those creative juices the next big thing to be noticed in the world of reality television.