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Well, it looks like the consensus is quite clear:

I'll be counting down the Top 40 Most Epic Reality T.V. Scenes Ever!

A few notes before we begin:
First of all, I'm only including moments I myself witnessed, and not ones I just heard about later. And that might result in some good moments being taken off the list, but it's hard for me to judge something I myself have never seen, so I'm not going to do it. It's what'll make my lists unique, after all, and I welcome any suggestions from you guys, because there are scenes you're sure to have seen that I have not.
Second, I'm only including moments that I know most people here are familiar with. It's why you're not going to see scenes like the host of Cheaters getting stabbed or that guy who found out his blanket was worth $500,000 on Antiques Roadshow, because nobody watches those shows. If the show isn't epic, then scenes within the show can't be epic either.
Third, I'm not including game shows. Those are an entirely different animal, and while Ken Jennings finally losing Jeopardy was probably a moment for the ages, it won't make an appearance on this list.
Fourth, this list is Survivor heavy, but of course it is. Survivor's had 15 seasons to come up with epic scenes, and it's one of the best produced reality shows in existence. Any scene that beats out a Survivor scene has made an accomplishment in and of itself, because Survivor's clearly the favorite for every spot on this list.
And finally, there are plenty of moments that just barely missed the cut, and you're free to feel outraged that they weren't included. Paschal drawing the purple rock, for example, didn't make it on here, along with Marie Osmond fainting on Dancing with the Stars and Mike Skupin killing a pig on Survivor. I doubled the size of the list because I just couldn't bring myself to leave so many great moments off, and I just couldn't make it any longer without seriously devaluing it.

With that said, let's kick things off with our first 5 moments.

40. Sharon Osbourne storms off the set of America's Got Talent



Even in reality T.V., there's a little thing those of us involved in theatrical or cinematic productions like to call the fourth wall. And when that wall is unintentionally broken, you know something's up, and whatever it is, it's going to be memorable. On America's Got Talent, that wall was broken the second the judges turned from judging the acts to judging each other.
Those of you who watch the show know that Piers Morgan is the Simon Cowell of AGT; he's tough, he's rude, and he'll tell you like it is, even if it means crushing the dreams of thousands of hopefuls. And while everyone knows you have to take the good compliments with the bad criticism on a show like this, when kids are involved things change. Because the young people that show up to audition for America's Got Talent are a bit more perceptible to negative comments, and when Piers Morgan tore into nine-year old cheerleader Breeze, Sharon Osbourne had had enough.
Here's the set-up. After this little girl finishes her act, Piers suggests to her that she's not really interested in what she's doing at all, and that her mom is just pushing her into it. Well, Breeze and the host, Jerry Springer, bring her mother onto the stage to defend herself, and when Piers continues to rip into them both, Sharon rips her note cards into little pieces and storms off the set, declaring the whole situation as horrific. And the moment one of the judges left, you knew something big was happening here, because the judges are supposed to be the rocks of the show, and one of them had just quit.
We follow Sharon backstage, as Piers tries to reason with her through a closed door. And I'd say that personally, I think Piers acted quite childish about the whole thing, but regardless, the mood is one of complete tension, and only when Sharon finds out Breeze and her mother are still waiting onstage does she return to the judge's podium to apologize to them.
After that, the show moves on. But it was an interesting reminder that everyone involved in reality television is, for better or for worse, human, even the judges and the host himself. And every once in a while, it's good to remember that.

39. James Clement can't throw the challenge in Survivor: China



The sixth episode of Survivor: China was a crazy, crazy episode. I'd go so far as to say it was an epic scene it and of itself, because everything about it was just Herculean. But one of the most epic parts of the episode, and the part that got to me most of all, occurred during the Immunity Challenge, a challenge everyone was trying to win, except James.
The idea was that James would throw the challenge for Zhan Hu, just like the rest of the tribe had done to him in the previous episode, and then James would play the Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council and send one of the original Zhan Hu members packing. It was diabolical, it was genius, and it was fool-proof. All James had to do was make sure his tribe lost, and all Fei Long had to do was make sure they won. And the whole episode revolved around this strategy, because it would make or break the game for almost everyone involved. If things went according to plan, Zhan Hu would be crushed, James would be saved, and Todd would take control.
So we get to the Immunity Challenge, and it ends up being a gross food eating challenge. The tribes are neck and neck, and then it comes to James' turn. He faces off against Denise, and it's a done deal - he's never going to eat the balut placed in front of him, because he has no intention of trying to.
But then the unexpected happens. Denise is having trouble - a lot of trouble. And James can only pretend to cough and gag for so long. Denise tries again and again to swallow a single piece of her balut, and she just can't do it. And James is stuck in a situation where he either goes against everything in his personality and keeps trying to throw the challenge to finish the plan, or save Denise from humiliation and show what he's truly made of and stomach the balut, even if it means Zhan Hu might win the challenge.
Ultimately, James eats the two chicken fetuses, and it's all over. The plan is shot to smithereens, and Zhan Hu goes on to win the challenge, destroying all of Todd's genius scheming. And it truly is epic, every part of it. The music, to the facial expressions, to James' evident inner turmoil, it's all there. Because in the span of 20 seconds, you can see what James is going through, even though he never says a word. And you can see what every other person in the game is thinking, just by looking at their faces. We know where each one stands, we know what each of them has riding on this, and it's a fascinating dynamic to see play out. And that raw emotion is conveyed so well, that I have to give a hand to the editors on this one - they nailed it.

38. Dorothy finds a white hair on her journal in The Mole 2



This one's probably going to be a surprise to most, and I doubt half of you will even remember it, but it's always been one of my favorite little moments from The Mole 2, and it was the point during the game when I realized just how epic the concept of this show really was.
It all happened in the ninth episode, during a task where everyone was involved in assembling a car. As the group pieced together a car they had just taken apart, the mole, Bill, the older male in the cast, was focused on a different task. His job was to neutralize one of the other players by placing a sticker in their journal. He succeeded, and nobody seemed to notice.
The player whose journal he targeted, Dorothy, was neutralized and rendered incapable of winning an Exemption for the round. However, when the host revealed this by showing the players the sticker that had been placed in her journal, the tables were turned, as Dorothy told us in a confessional:
"I'm not certain who neutralized me, but I suspect Bill. I inspected the sticker. I picked up the edge and there was a little white hair."
I know it sounds lame, but you have to realize how epic this was. Because this was big. "A little white hair"? What was this, CSI? Of course not, because there was no DNA test, but still, this was a big deal. This showed just how intense the players were by this point. It wasn't just a game anymore. They were really doing everything they could to hunt down the mole, to the extent that they were finding hairs he left behind. I mean, it's just so fantastic, that you have to suspect she's lying, except she's dead-on. Bill really did plant the sticker, and he really was the mole, and Dorothy caught him because he left behind a hair in her journal. And it doesn't get much more epic than that. Because that's crime fighting material, right there.

37. Jerri Manthey is voted off of Survivor



This moment is one that speaks for itself. Because anyone that was alive duirng the airing of Survivor: Australia knew who Jerri Manthey was. I didn't watch Survivor at the time, but there were two things I still heard about:
1) That Jerri woman is the biggest bitch in the world.
2) Oh my god, Jerri was just voted off! It was sooooooo good!
It didn't matter if you watched Survivor or not, you knew about Jerri, and you heard when she left the game. She was the biggest villain Survivor ever had, and she had been cut loose in the most vicious way possible.
And it wasn't just that Jerri Manthey had finally been voted out. That wasn't all there was to it. Sure, that was the big part. That was the part that got lines devoted to it in movies. That was the part that had the nation talking. That was the part that made magazines. But the part that really got the fans of the show going?
For the first time ever, a Pagoning hadn't happened. This was the first time that someone in the majority tribe had been voted off after the merge, and someone in the minority had been spared. Jerri wasn't just voted out, she was backstabbed. Her alliance had broken the Survivor gameplan just to get rid of her. And that was the ultimate icing on the cake. That was what viewers dreamed would happen, but never really expected to see transpire. And when it happened, you had one of the most epic scenes in reality T.V. history, because the bitch was finally gone.
Ding dong.

36. Colin is almost arrested in Kilimanjaro



I can only say so much about Colin without spoiling my Amazing Race Teams List, but I will say that this moment was certainly epic. Here you had a team that never got along with each other or other racers. Here you had a team that made themselves the biggest villains of the race. Here you had a team that was super intense and accused their ox of being broken. And here you had a team that was almost arrested. And that's just delicious.
It's even better when you consider the context. Because why did Colin find himself escorted to a police office in the middle of Kilimanjaro? Well, it was because he didn't want to pay his cab driver, of course. Why else would you almost get yourself arrested in a race around the world for one million dollars? Colin felt his cab driver had cost him precious time by driving on a doughnut, and so he didn't feel obligated to pay the $100 the driver asked. He offered $50, and that was that, because that was Colin, and he always got his way.
Except this cab driver wasn't happy with $50. He wanted $100, and damn it, he was going to step up to this ignorant American. So what does he do? He calls the cops. Not that Colin minds. Because now Colin's pissed off, and when Colin's pissed off, "you can call the president of your country," and it won't matter.
So Colin gets dragged down to the police station, where he has no real options, because now he's dealing with the cops, right?
Wrong. He still doesn't give an inch. He explains to the officer exactly why he's only paying $50, and then tries to leave. Because it doesn't matter if you're a cop, damn it. He's Colin, and what Colin says, goes.
Unfortunately, the police in Kilimanjaro aren't that lenient, and they don't let him leave. And now you have Christie telling Colin he's wasting time. And that's one of my favorite parts. Christie isn't even remotely concerned that her boyfriend might be arrested. That's not what she's thinking about. She doesn't care that the cab driver is pissed off, or that Colin is just asking for a show of police brutality. No, what Christie is worried about is the fact that they're wasting time in the police office when they should be trying to make their flight. And ultimately, that's what makes Colin pay the $100, and then storm out. Because he's just as concerned with winning the race, and he has "a flight to catch!"
And you just have to love that when this team is presented with being arrested, it's not the jail time that worries them. No, it's the fact that they might miss their flight to their next destination, and they might not pull out the first place finish they were so accustomed to earning. You want to know how epic the Amazing Race is? Watch this scene, and it'll give you a pretty damn good idea.