Okay, seriously, who's with me to pitch the first Hackathon Reality show based on MasterChef and The Voice that features 48-hours of drama, suspense, beautiful graphics and working app at the end?
Has been tried for a game jam. Exploded spectacularly, mostly because the production company didn't understand the game dev culture.
This polygon article has an overview and links to individual positions: https://www.polygon.com/2014/3/31/5568362/game-jam-reality-s...
Or the Y(C)-Factor, where they just televise the YC process.
Given the bizarre effect the X Factor had on the entire ecosystem it operates in you could make a very strong case that it would be a massive net benefit to all participants.
I participated in a startup weekend hackathon that was just about that. They recorded the entire weekend, and specifically pulled people off our team for 'interviews' (which was really a blessing because then we could reach a decision and just move on). We won the hackathon with a beautiful working app. I don't think the show go picked up anywhere.
EDIT: Here is HN discussion of a different link about the same topic from last year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7503842