There's a prevailing school of thought that reality television programs are a low point for screen entertainment. These people note the contrived situations, manipulative editing, and often frivolous topics and overlook all the good parts. The very fact that reality TV shows engage an audience where many scripted shows do not points out their superiority in certain areas.

Instead of crying about reality TV, take the things it does that are remarkable and incorporate it into your fictional storytelling.

More Context

One reason why reality TV is so powerful is that it is non-fiction. At first glance this might seem like an insurmountable advantage, but what it actually points to is that people are more interested in content when they understand the world better. Our world we know, so stories set in this world (reality) are easy to relate to. In your stories you need to add lots of more stuff to approximate the context that being non-fiction gives reality TV. People need to know more about your story world. If you won't tell them anything, they will go elsewhere.

Race With Being Racial

A lot of reality TV is produced on the coasts where there is a multi-racial population. These are the people that have trouble getting on scripted shows because producers assume only white people can hold an audience's interest. If you do have characters of another race in your production it's probably a movie about racism. Reality TV shows have a need for lots of content and that means lots of opportunities for non-white people to star in episodes. It shows that Americans will watch a show about a multi-racial family and they can just be Americans, not representatives of or a credit to their people.

Meritocracy

Often the reasons why people of color make it onto reality programs is because they won a contest or a competition of some kind. Though we think actors are chosen on ability, they more often are chosen by look. So whereas a scripted show will almost always pick white people regardless of skill, many reality shows fill their show with people depending purely on skills or pluck. It goes to show that people want the best not just white bread.

Story Trumps Production Value

Reality TV shows are all shot on video and often with minimal professional lighting. They look more like news shows than TV shows, yet people still watch them. For so long scripted shows have worried about the look of the show and neglected the stories. They take the safe way with the stories making sure they all end happily. Jokes/drama is milked to the furthest extent and they just put lots of effort into making the audio perfect and the pictures pretty. Instead of worrying about the look, reality TV proves it's more important to have a compelling story. Audiences want a moving experience, not a boring but shiny one.

Genuine Endings

I'm a fan of certain reality shows and even though they have a pattern for how they end, there are always those few shows that take it in a surprising direction that is a treat. These are the endings nobody would ever write in a scripted show. In scripted TV there are rarely sad endings, there is always a resolution. There is never a story where somebody chases after somebody and it's a dead end. This does happen in reality TV and it works. It's new wave cinema but on TV and people like it.

You don't have to do these things all the time in your shows but any intelligent addition of these characteristics will give your production those qualities they crave. Instead of trying to do the opposite of reality TV, take what it is they do well and make it your own.