reality blurred + archives + March 20 to March 26, 2005

week of March 20, 2005

Chopper is new pork skins spokesperson.
Chopper is new pork skins spokesperson. Making the Band 2's break-out star, Chopper, has hit it big. Besides being signed to Bad Boy South, where...
Ruben sues manager, gets countersued.
Ruben sues manager, gets countersued. Ruben Studdard, the sweaty winner of American Idol 2, sued his manager last month, and now his manager is suing...
Elvis and Idol now owned by same company; writer rates the finalists.
Elvis and Idol now owned by same company; writer rates the finalists. The company behind American Idol and Pop Idol has been acquired by the...
GM pays $12.5 million for Survivor placement; Eliza hasn't received her car.
GM pays $12.5 million for Survivor placement; Eliza hasn't received her car. USA TODAY examines one of the Survivor franchise's longest running product placement partners,...
Jeff Fraza leaves because of chicken pox; Peter Manfredo returns; Najai loses.
Jeff Fraza leaves because of chicken pox; Peter Manfredo returns; Najai loses. As reality blurred revealed last week, Peter Manfredo returned to The Contender after...
The Osbournes concludes tonight.
The Osbournes concludes tonight. Three years and two weeks after helping to inaugurate a new reality TV subgenre, The Osbournes limps to a conclusion as...
Project Runway will return later this year.
Project Runway will return later this year. Bravo has picked up a new season of its hit fashion design reality TV show. The network "is...

Contender "ignores ... that boxing's appeal rests with its resistance to cleanliness."
Contender "ignores ... that boxing's appeal rests with its resistance to cleanliness." Examining NBC's The Contender and its lack of overwhelming success so far, The...
Debbie and Bianca aren't lesbians.
Debbie and Bianca aren't lesbians. The last all-female team remaining on The Amazing Race 7 was eliminated last week. And in two separate interviews, Debbie...
Starting Over cast member's cancer story is an "homage" to Mary-Ellis Bunim.
Starting Over cast member's cancer story is an "homage" to Mary-Ellis Bunim. A recent Starting Over storyline focuses on Allison, a woman who has breast...
CD being rereleased to focus on Mario; more about his sexual orientation, contract.
CD being rereleased to focus on Mario; more about his sexual orientation, contract. American Idol 4's Mario Vazquez is still all over the news, almost...
Idol idea lawsuit appeal rejected; court says distributed idea wasn't "a trade secret."
Idol idea lawsuit appeal rejected; court says distributed idea wasn't "a trade secret." An appeals court has denied an appeal filed by a man who...
Kathy Griffin: Surreal Life 5 starts taping soon; TAR's Jonathan denies conversation.
Kathy Griffin: Surreal Life 5 starts taping soon; TAR's Jonathan denies conversation. In an interview with Page SixSixSix yesterday, Kathy Griffin revealed that The Surreal...

is A&E's Intervention exploitative?
is A&E's Intervention exploitative? A&E's newest reality series, Intervention, which kicked off earlier this month, focuses on two people in need of help each Sunday...
Chasing Farrah debuts tonight.
Chasing Farrah debuts tonight. Two days after we lost the grandparent of celebrity reality shows, The Osbournes, a new one arrives to take its place....
ABC calls anarchy-filled, rule-less, cheap-ass Bachelor 7 "unplugged."
ABC calls anarchy-filled, rule-less, cheap-ass Bachelor 7 "unplugged." For its last-ditch effort at its reality romance franchise, ABC is saving a few bucks while throwing...
American Idol 4 runs wrong numbers; live show airs tonight, with results Thursday.
American Idol 4 runs wrong numbers; live show airs tonight, with results Thursday. During Tuesday evening's American Idol 4 episode, the wrong phone numbers were...

Project Greenlight 3 script contest losers get options from Affleck and Craven.
Project Greenlight 3 script contest losers get options from Affleck and Craven. Project Greenlight 3 is following the creation of a film called "Feast," but...
Ulong loses again, is down to three.
Ulong loses again, is down to three. The lamest, most failure-ridden tribe in the history of Survivor is Survivor Palau's Ulong tribe, which lost its...
Wife Swap participant punches his daughter in the face; production stopped.
Wife Swap participant punches his daughter in the face; production stopped. A 38-year-old father, who was participating in the ABC series Wife Swap, punched his...
American Idol 4 conspiracy theories called "rubbish"; results show airs tonight.
American Idol 4 conspiracy theories called "rubbish"; results show airs tonight. American Idol 4's telephone number screw-up led to a quasi-rebroadcast of Tuesday's episode last...

Patrick says "we could hear on the walkie-talkies that" other teams were ahead.
Patrick says "we could hear on the walkie-talkies that" other teams were ahead. Generally, the only rule on The Amazing Race is "never give up."...
Fear Factor episode saved woman's life.
Fear Factor episode saved woman's life. A woman is crediting a rerun of NBC's Fear Factor with saving her life. As her car went into...
Apprentice 3's Alex was just an intern; told producers not to call him a lobbyist.
Apprentice 3's Alex was just an intern; told producers not to call him a lobbyist. Donald Trump called Apprentice 3 candidate and prosecutor Alex Thomason...
Stallone says "NBC is not giving up" on The Contender and compares it to Rocky.
Stallone says "NBC is not giving up" on The Contender and compares it to Rocky. Despite tepid ratings, Sylvester Stallone says definitively that "NBC is...
Mikalah voted out of American Idol 4.
Mikalah voted out of American Idol 4. Mikalah Gordon, one of the three contestants who was affected by the wrong phone number problem, was eliminated...