Fans of reality television, or maybe just ridiculous TV, may be interested in “Ready, Set, GOAT!” streaming on Prime Video and Amazon Freevee. Comedian Daniel Tosh presides over this competition between 14 veterans of other reality series to see just who is the “Greatest of All Time.”
As you can expect, they will be housed in a gilded McMansion known as “GOAT Manor” and degrade themselves in a series of silly games while submitting to the prying eyes of cameras, even as they argue over bathroom privileges.
The familiar faces competing for the $200,000 grand prize include Tayshia Adams (“The Bachelor”), Joe Amabile (“The Bachelor,” “Dancing With the Stars”), Kristen Doute (“Vanderpump Rules”), Reza Farahan (“Shahs of Sunset”), CJ Franco (“FBoy Island”), Wendell Holland (“Survivor”), Teck Holmes (“The Real World,” “The Challenge”), Justin Johnson/Alyssa Edwards (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Paola Mayfield (“90 Day Fiance”), Da’Vonne Rogers (“Big Brother,” “The Challenge”), Joey Sasso (“The Circle,” “Perfect Match”), Jason Smith (“Holiday Baking Championship”), Lauren Speed-Hamilton (“Love Is Blind”) and Jill Zarin (“The Real Housewives of New York City”).
This collection, or herd, to keep the GOAT metaphor running, reminds us that the best way to get cast for a reality series is to have already appeared on a reality series.
Tosh offers a wry sendup of a reality TV host, emphasizing the series’ ironic and self-deprecating take on its highly derivative nature.
I have long expected that the genre would peter out once it became a self-parody. But it has proven resistant to that particular form of decline and fall. The notion first occurred to me around the time of the reality spoof “The Joe Schmo Show,” a series that perfectly ridiculed the genre’s tropes and stereotypes. It aired in 2003 on the Spike network, which has itself undergone any number of changes since then. (It’s now Paramount.) But the kind of entertainment it sent up has remained largely unchanged.
While reality series provide a great deal of fodder for network schedules, there have been many hits original to streaming apps, from Netflix’s “The Circle” and “Nailed It!” to “The Traitors,” which has emerged as a major hit for Peacock.
— Speaking of unchanging, “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us,” streams on Prime Video, the umpteenth teen melodrama set at a prestigious prep school where ambitious scholarship students clash with the privileged children of the well-connected.
While everyone here speaks with a posh British accent, all the voices are actually dubbed. “Maxton Hall” is a German series. Proof that certain cliches require very little translation. All six episodes stream today.
— Hulu streams the documentary “Black Twitter: A People’s History.” It examines the emergence of an online community on the service now known as X that became a significant outlet for political activism.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A therapist’s troubled clients become suspects in his murder on “Law & Order” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— The final three compete on the season finale of “Next Level Chef” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Bitter memories for Sykes on “Law & Order: SVU” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A tracking app proves distracting on “Elsbeth” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Stabler and Randall give Joe an ultimatum on “Law & Order: Organized Crime” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Directed by John Singleton, the 1991 coming-of-age drama “Boyz N the Hood” (9 p.m., BET, TV-14) features a talented cast, including Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Tyra Ferrell, Laurence Fishburne, Regina King and Angela Bassett.
SERIES NOTES
On two episodes of “Young Sheldon” (CBS, TV-PG): getting snippy (8 p.m.); making the big move (8:30 p.m.) … A mother-and-child abduction on “9-1-1” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
Working overtime “So Help Me Todd” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Two remain on “Farmer Wants a Wife” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … A new patient dredges up sad memories for Simone on “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14) … A local park becomes a battleground on “Station 19” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Ryan Gosling and Desi Lydic are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jon Glaser and Laufey on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Chris Pine, Bert Kreischer and Andra Day appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Tiffany Haddish and Cam Heyward visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Jessica Kirson, Steph Tolev and Eddie Pepitone on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
