At least some of the "reality" shows SyFy has presented tie into genre themes, like "Face Off", the makeup competition series. I loved that show and I'm a bit bummed it has "concluded" (until such time the network might change its decision). True, the first season was "shaky and shady", focusing upon "backstage melodrama" with contestants allying themselves to 'do in" those they disliked. Thankfully, they dropped that mess by the second season and focused instead upon the chaos of the workshop.
I'm sure it was at least partially "scripted", but one of the best "situations" I saw involved a contestant who always found a few spare minutes to help his competition. One day, a heavy mold fell upon his hand, crushing at least two of his fingers and required a trip to the ER. Under normal circumstances, he would have been out of the running because of the time lost, a full day. But since he was such a nice guy, the others found enough spare time to separate his mold; remove the clay and cleaned it so it would be ready to cast the foam rubber pieces. The next day the injured man returned and was able to cast the appliances at the same time as everyone else. When judged, his entry was at least in the top three. He might have actually won, but I can't recall for certain. Again, it was likely "guided" by the director, "Come on! You're gonna' help this fellow!", but it was great to see people helping instead of backstabbing one another.
SyFy has also presented other competition shows (usually only getting a season or two), like one where creators had to design and build a set suitable for filming, and a show about costuming (not to be confused with an earlier work where a recording crew simply followed "catty" teenagers around conventions).
I've always loved "behind the scenes" stuff ever since I read "The Making of Star Trek" in the early 70s, so I found these genre themed competition shows quite fascinating.
