week of August 17, 2008

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008

• Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House debuts tonight
  Tonight, as part of its summer documentary film series, HBO debuts a documentary that profiles Helen Thomas, the journalist who's known as the "first lady...
• The Hills returns for its fourth season tonight
  Just over three months after the conclusion of the extension of season three, The Hills returns to MTV tonight at 10 p.m. ET. A total...
• Big Brother After Dark includes legal disclaimer required of pornographic movies
  One side effect of returning to the east coast after a month on the west coast was adapting to the time change. Mostly, it meant...
• Producers explain why their reality show hosts should win the first Emmy for best host
  With the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences finally creating a category to recognize reality show hosts, the producers who work with the category's first...
• Heidi says Lauren "is tired of" The Hills, but she and Spencer are "just beginning"
  When Lauren Conrad talked to Entertainment Weekly earlier this summer, she suggested that the fourth season, which debuted Monday night, would be her last. But...
• Beth Stolarczyk got married, is pregnant
  The Real World Los Angeles's Beth Stolarczyk, one of the show's most well-known alumni, got married over the weekend, and revealed to a tabloid that...
• Big Brother 10's ratings increase against the Olympics even as other shows drop
  NBC's Olympics coverage from Beijing has ruled prime-time television for more than a week now, as it pulls in roughly the same number of viewers...

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008

• The CW's Jennifer Bresnan becomes CBS' senior VP for reality programming
  Following the departure of CBS' executive Ghen Maynard earlier this month, CBS has hired Jennifer Bresnan as its senior VP for alternative programming. She's served...
• Amazing Race won't switch to HD; 13 new teams visited Kazakhstan, where locals feared another Borat
  CBS has announced the 11 teams who will compete as part of the 13th Amazing Race, which debuts Sept. 28. In a story about the...
• Hills season four debut down 1.3 million viewers from its March return
  When The Hills returned in March for the extension of its third season, 4.8 million people, a record number of viewers for the show, tuned...

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008

• Sundance's Architecture School is compelling, but moves too rapidly to explore its consequential subject
  Tonight, the Sundance Channel debuts a talent-based competition with actual consequence. Architecture School debuts tonight at 9 p.m. ET (and is also on iTunes; the...
• ABC plans Supernanny spin-off with male nanny
  ABC is planning to air a pilot of for a spin-off of its series Supernanny, and the new show will star a non-British, non-female nanny....
• Janice Dickinson's new deaf and gay model has done porn
  Janice Dickinson's increasingly contrived reality series, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, returns to Oxygen next week, with Janice deciding to move in with her models,...
• Jason Mesnick selected as 13th Bachelor
  The Bachelor 13 didn't have to look far to find its bachelor: 32-year-old single dad Jason Mesnick, who was rejected during The Bachelorette 4's finale,...

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008

• Reality TV Boot Camp teaches producers how to work in reality television
  New York City has the Reality TV School that teaches aspiring reality whores how to get on TV, and thus it makes sense that Los...
• The Cho Show, Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Glam God with Vivica A. Fox, The Principal's Office, Dragon's Dean, Jacked all debut tonight
  There's something of a torrential downpour of reality shows debuting tonight, and a genuine flood of them at 10. Forgive the metaphor, as tropical storm...
• Travel Channel will air Amazing Race 12, 13, and (maybe) 14
  The Amazing Race 13 debuts on CBS at the end of September, but at the beginning of the month, the Travel Channel will begin broadcasting...
• Gonzo is the most-popular theatrical documentary in a weak summer for docs
  Documentaries aren't doing well in theaters this summer, even though more than 24 have been released. Although the number of releases represent "a big summer,"...

Friday, Aug. 22, 2008

• The Black List offers "living portraiture" interviews, while Baghdad High follows Iraqi students
  HBO's summer documentary film series concludes Monday at 9 p.m. ET with The Black List: Volume One, which is described as "a new kind of...
• Nina Garcia: "I never wanted to be famous"
  Project Runway judge Nina Garcia has been the center of drama as the show gets ready to move to Lifetime; she was fired from Elle,...
• April leaves the Big Brother house but may still give us the show's first-ever baby
  Although she still has no idea why people dislike her--after all, she's done "nothing, except do dishes and make cakes and give people stuff," she...
• Wipeout sold to 17 territories, which all use its new set in Argentina
  ABC's summer hit Wipeout has now been sold to 17 different territories, and all of the non-U.S. productions will tape on the show's new obstacle...
• David Archuleta's "Crush" has the best Hot 100 chart debut in 18 months, besting David Cook's
  David Archuleta's first single, "Crush," was released Aug. 12, and it debuted at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, better than David Cook's #3 debut...

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