The PBS Show That Wrecked a Family and Invented Reality TV

The Loud family didn’t get famous. They got destroyed. And reality TV was born in the wreckage.

Everyone thinks reality TV started when Kim Kardashian dropped a sex tape and turned it into a billion-dollar brand.

But the truth is nastier—and a hell of a lot smarter.
The first reality show didn’t air on E!
It aired on PBS.

There were no glam squads, no product lines, and no one got famous for Brazilian butt implants or low-stakes drama about who sat wh…