What if there was a reality show where contestants were software engineers working on projects (like hackathons).
Do you see it happening ?
What else would you like to add ?
All that to say, making an entertaining show would require an entertaining framing of programming, and there doesn't seem to be an accurate one that people have thought of yet. So if you can find a way to answer your question, it unlocks a lot more than just reality shows.
Without appealing visuals none of it will be interesting to people who don’t have a development background. Maybe generative art is the answer but IMO it is more about art than programming.
The customer chooses the lead who presented what they feel is the best solution.
The next quarter of the show is montages of the team building it, and the final quarter is the presentation of the results and customer response.
I think web sites or apps would be good for this type of show, since they have a visual element. People watching the show get a feel for the whole cycle, including project management.
An interesting show needs to have people the audience can identify with, facing stakes that the audience can understand and care about. You're not going to get either part of that with a reality show about software engineers. (Unless your audience is also software engineers - but I'm not sure how many software engineers would want to watch such a show.)
With hackathons I could see that the actual coding gets cut a lot (insert A-Team garage build montage) so the preparation, team building, occasional sound bits, and then final presentation is left.