The intrigue of watching reality television, though, is how involved the viewer becomes in the lives of the cast and the unraveling of their reasoning. And, in these two shows specifically, the casts really are friend groups. This was a concept that took me a while to trust because my relationships have never felt as saturated and inconsistent. The more I sat on my couch and researched, the clearer their sincerity became to me.

How can you tell if a reality show is struggling? When the mysterious controversy of a cast member’s cancer diagnosis is “the biggest hot topic of them all.” “Real Housewives of Orange County,”...