Next week: Headhunters rescue soldiers and a Real Worlder goes back to Iraq

A look back at the first week in November and a look ahead at next week:

The Past

• The beginning of November started with a news organization producing TLC programming: guess who it was about? There was good news for Shark Tank fans and bad news for people who thought Cheaters was real. SYTYCD’s producers decided Billy Bell’s fate, while Tiffany and Maria revealed what their actual decision was during their final Amazing Race 15 episode. The rose ceremonies are going high def, while this site went high tech.

The Forward

• Friday, Nov. 6 If you’re still looking for Halloween scares, Ghost Adventures [Travel Channel, 9 p.m.] returns for a second season and visits Pennhurst State School and Hospital. Or just go see Paranormal Activity: that shit is scary. Also frightening: Platinum Babies [WEtv, 9 p.m.], which is about couples who spend tons of money on their kids—and not on future therapy bills.
• Sunday, Nov. 8
  Keeping Up with the Kardashians airs a special [E!, 9 p.m.] about Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom’s wedding, because of course, that hasn’t gotten enough attention already. Tool Academy concludes its second season [VH1, 9 p.m.], when the final two tools compete for $100,000 and the title of Mr. Awesome.
• Monday, Nov. 9
  Anatomy of a Takedown: Washington Sniper [Discovery Channel, 9 p.m.] follows police investigator Barney Forsythe as he tracks the DC snipers. Jon & Kate Plus Eight airs an hour of “viewer’s top moments” [TLC, 9 p.m.]. But what if my top moment is the day the show goes off the air?
• Tuesday, Nov. 10
  So You Think You Can Dance [Fox, 8 p.m.] airs another two-hour performance episode, which doesn’t bode well for the way these have been dragging, but at least viewers get to start voting to save contestants from the judges’ Wednesday eliminations.
• Wednesday, Nov. 11
  On Veterans’ Day, two very different documentaries look at contributions of men and women in the military. The debut of The Airmen and the Headhunters [PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings] is based on a a book subtitled “A True Story of Lost Soldiers, Heroic Tribesmen and the Unlikeliest Rescue of World War II” that is about a World War II bomber crew rescued by headhunters in Borneo. Return to Duty [MTV, 9 p.m.] follows Real World Brooklyn star Ryan Conklin as he goes back to Iraq for his second tour. MTV says it is “a documentary honoring young veterans and active duty servicemen and women.” Also for Veterans’ Day, HGTV’s Carter Oosterhouse and Monica Pedersen play Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on transitional homes for veterans located in Philly and St. Louis.[HGTV, 8 p.m.] Also tonight: The debut of Coca-Cola: The Real Story Behind the Real Thing [CNBC, 9 p.m., repeats at 10, 12 a.m., 1 a.m.], which CNBS says “reveals never-before-seen labs, secret archives and high-tech product testing” and “the men and women whose mission it is to put the buzz back in the bottles.”
• Thursday, Nov. 12
  Project Runway 6’s finale begins [Lifetime, 10 p.m.] as Tim Gunn climbs into some product placement and visits the three designers as they work on their collections.

Russell and Erik both get blindsided; Erik “was completely vilified in five minutes”

Finally: Survivor Samoa kicked into overdrive, with the merge episode pulling it out of its mid-season slump. After the tribes merged into Aiga, which Brett said was Samoan for “extended family” (maybe also for “extensive retching caused by cheesy tribe names”), everyone woke up from their game-play comas.

Just as he did on day one, Russell talked to everyone, showing his immunity idol to anyone who would look at it. He also formulated a plan to get rid of Laura, ending the Laura/Monica alliance. I’m still not sure why she or they constituted the greatest threat, but when Laura won one of two immunity necklaces at the first individual immunity challenge (another so-so challenge; I’m convinced they’re saving the good ones for all-stars, or hopefully later this season) everyone went into a scrambling panic.

It was like the game went from 0 to 60 in two minutes, and it was great. It led to Russell finally losing control and playing his idol at Tribal Council even though he got zero votes, and also to Erik being blindsided but everyone except Shambo, who had earlier forgotten who he was (“Who’s Erik?”).

I was sad to see Erik go, and not just because his handling of Shambo and color commentary were both fantastic, nor just because he was so enthusiastic about playing the game after coming to Samoa as an alternate. Erik seemed to be one of the few people besides Russell who were actively engaged by the game, thinking ahead, especially before this week.

I just talked to Erik, and he told me that being voted out “broke my heart, man.” He said he felt most betrayed by Brett and John, because “the plan was hatched and they didn’t do anything to stop it, which to me was even worse.”

That plan unfolded at the last possible second, and happened really fast, which is why Erik truly was blindsided. “The entire plot went down within five to seven minutes, from the idea to spreading to implementation to actually going to Tribal Council,” he said. He’s still dismayed that it came from Foa Foa: “This idea came from a Foa Foa member … shut up and think about what you’re doing,” Erik said.

Earlier, he communicated with Foa Foa about plan, to vote for Monica after flushing out the idol, and because he came off as obnoxious, that seemed to trigger the chain of events that led everyone to blindside him. “Was I cocky? Was I arrogant? Absolutely. It was a show, it was a facade, and it was a show I put on for Foa Foa,” Erik said. “I didn’t care if they didn’t like me. They were the enemy.” He said their support was irrelevant: “No shit you can get four votes. We, Galu, are in control of this game.”

Erik also said, “never in my wildest dreams didn’t I think being cocky to Foa Foa would come back to haunt me.” And he’s someone who would think about that: Pre-game, he kept an 80+ page journal with his observations of the other players.

By the way, Erik said voting for Monica was “John’s plan” but “I got the blame for it.” He said that while “I knew it was a good decision to break that [alliance] up,” he was willing to go along with it instead of a bigger power play because “I was loyal to my guys,” and because he knew they could “make that work without jeopardizing our tribe.”

I asked him if it was smart to continue to play a tribe-based game post-merge, and Erik said he tried to fight everyone’s perception that the merge changed the game for a reason. “I did not want to get into an individual mindset, because an individual mindset works against me,” Erik said. “I definitely underplayed the individual part of the game because I couldn’t let my group start thinking that way” because in an individual game, “I am one of the top two or three people to go.” But with Foa Foa gone, “I’m at least in the top eight,” Erik said.

Now, he’s the first member of the jury.

Project Runway 6 has its final three, and just two episodes to go

“I’m a bit shocked to see this from you today,” Heidi Klum said to one of the designers while critiquing her dress. That’s exactly what I thought about this episode of Project Runway 6. I tuned in to half-watch as usual, and suddenly there were just five designers left, participating in their final runway challenge. Two went home, leaving the final three who will present at fashion week. Last February.

Anyway, this means that this misfire of a season will be over soon: two more episodes for a Nov. 19 finale.

The three designers who presented collections, and will be seen creating them in next week’s episode, are Althea Harper, Carol Hannah Whitfield, and Irina Shabayeva. Gordana Gehlhausen and Christopher Straub were eliminated; the judges thought he was too inexperienced, and they couldn’t figure out what her perspective was.

Christopher’s exit meant that all male designers had been eliminated, which makes Irina, Carol Hannah, and Althea the show’s first-ever all-female finalists, although not the first-ever female final three: Last season, Jerell was a finalist, but he was eliminated in a finale challenge before presenting at Fashion Week.

Jeana quit Real Housewives over money, which “wasn’t enough”

Jeana Keough has confirmed rumors she’s leaving The Real Housewives of Orange County because of money. She’ll appear in the first three episodes of the new season, which debuted last night; Bravo claims that she’s leaving because her “real estate business has been hit the hardest, and she makes the decision to turn her focus away from the ladies to concentrate more on her work and family.”

But Jeana told The Daily Beast, “I just didn’t feel appreciated by the girls or the network. There’s a lot of work that is involved—it’s an all-year-round thing with all of the shooting and the press, and it wasn’t enough.”

Meanwhile, Vicki Gunvalson said the show has almost cost her money. “I almost lost a very large client of mine—a $2 million client—because he Googled me and said he didn’t like what he was seeing on the TV show. I never tell my clients I’m on the show, and I hope they don’t watch it, truthfully. They’re over 65. They don’t understand—this,” she said.

reality blurred now has iPhone and mobile phone versions

I recently learned that some people with newfangled mobile phones actually use them to access the Internets, and perhaps even sites like this one. So, if you have such a phone, which may look like this, you can now read a specialized version of reality blurred made just for your device.

Just use this URL: m.realityblurred.com. It will show a customized version for whatever kind of phone you have, including the iPhone. If you have an iPhone, press the + to add a link to your home screen, and reality blurred will appear there, just like an app.

For now, at least, your mobile phone won’t default to the mobile-formatted version (let me know if you think this would be valuable rather than annoying), but if you’re in the mobile version, you can always switch back to the regular web version via a link (“see full HTML version”) at the bottom of every page. Right now, commenting is only on the full version, so follow that link, or the comment link, if you want to comment from your phone.

Check it out and let me know what you think. If you’re insanely lazy, just enter your phone number here, and MoFuse—which powers the new mobile version—will text you a link to the new mobile version. Enjoy!

Willie Aames tries to rebuild his life on VH1 special Broke and Famous

Tonight at 10 p.m. ET, VH1 debuts a one-hour special that explores Charles in Charge star Willie Aames, who has gone from being a millionaire to being in financial and personal ruin, so much so that his 18-year-old daughter sold her books to buy groceries. (Clearly, his two appearances on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club didn’t make him rich.)

On Broke and Famous, a one-hour special, he works with life coach Sarano Kelley for seven days, who will give Aames $25,000 if he follows the coach’s advice. Aames looks, well, like shit, and kind of pathetic as he walks around in camo showing off the heads of animals he shot. And the coach is a bad-ass who calls Willie a “train wreck.” It’s an intriguing format and interesting that it’s just one hour, although it works as a back-door pilot for a series that could either keep following Aames or follow a different destitute star every episode. Either way, it’s kind of a welcome change in direction for VH1—just as long as he doesn’t get his own dating show.

Watch the first 12 minutes:

Celebrity Rehab offered $200,000 to Artie Lange; Dr. Drew saves football player’s life

Getting help from Dr. Drew on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab offers a significant benefit to its stars beyond sobriety: lots of cash, which may explain why some of them are willing to do the show.

Comedian Artie Lange said earlier this week that he was offered $200,000 to be on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab, but he turned it down. “They offered me 200 grand to do ‘Celebrity Rehab.’ I love Dr. Drew … but I don’t think that’s helping Jeff Conaway … They said it was about me getting better, but if I relapsed, they’re not going to air that? … My mother knows I’ve done coke, but she’s never seen me do it,” he told the New York Post.

Meanwhile, Dr. Drew, whose kinda bland spin-off Sex Rehab debuted last Sunday on VH1, also made headlines this week for saving a high school football player’s life. On Friday, he “was attending a football game [at Pasadena’s Polytechnic School, which his son attends] against Chadwick School when one of the ‘Poly’ players suffered a head injury … [and later] complained of a headache, collapsed, fell into a coma and stopped breathing. [Dr. Drew] administered CPR until paradmedics arrived,” KTLA reports.

The school issued a statement that said “We are especially grateful for the heroic efforts of Dr. Pinsky and prompt care and attention of Dr. Lewis, a faculty member and emergency room doctor at Harbor Medical. Together with the emergency medical personnel, they made all the difference in Jackson [Allan]’s progress.”

Adam Jasinski indicted by grand jury, remains jailed

Now that Richard Hatch is out of prison, it’s great that we have another imprisoned, dumbass reality show winner to follow: Big Brother 9 winner Adam Jasinski was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Boston “on a charge of possession of Oxycodone with intent to distribute,” The Boston Herald reports.

The paper notes that because the judge “[believes] him to be a flight risk, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin has refused to release Jasinski on bail, under any conditions.”