reality blurred + archives + July 13 to July 19, 2008

week of July 13, 2008

Joe Rogan: Fear Factor "boring" but "a great paycheck"
Two years after NBC burned off episodes of Fear Factor and then cancelled the show, its host says he did the show only for the...
New York and Tailor Made broke up
Despite early reports that they broke up, Tiffany "New York" Pollard and George "Tailor Made" Weisgerber moved in together and got engaged, they have now...
WGA will hold event at Idol auditions
American Idol 8 starts its eight-city audition tour Thursday, and they'll have company: protesters from the WGA. Variety reports that "the Writers Guild of America...
Christopher Brady, Adrianne Curry respond to Florence Henderson's criticism of their marriage
Adrianne Curry and Christopher Knight, who met on The Surreal Life 4 and went on to chronicle their relationship and eventual marriage in three seasons...

Don Cheadle: "Reality shows are here to stay"; Kevin Kline: "fact is always more interesting than fiction"
One topic that has come up somewhat regularly here at the TV critics' press tour in L.A. has been, surprise, reality television, as critics ask...
Big Brother classes up slightly by casting strangers and dumping Courier
Big Brother 10 may be a return to the ways of early seasons, and started with a sorta-twist where the houseguests elected an HOH immediately,...
Andrea Wong: Project Runway's "template" is easily reproduced
EXCLUSIVE I talked to Lifetime president Andrea Wong Friday night about Project Runway's move to her network, and asked about the related changes, specifically the...
Season five cast announced; Tim Gunn: "their personalities are so potent that I'm exhausted"
Two days before the premiere, Bravo has announced the cast of Project Runway 5 via USA TODAY and its own web site. The paper has...
Jessica King out due to injury, Comfort back in
Last Thursday, So You Think You Can Dance 4 revealed its top 10, but already, one of those contestants is out due to an injury:...

Australia's Big Brother cancelled
After nine seasons, including one celebrity season, Australia's Channel 10 has cancelled Big Brother. The show will conclude a week from today with the final...
Jamie Foxx's From Gs to Gents debuts tonight
From G's to Gents, a sort of Charm School for men who haven't been on another reality series, debuts tonight at 10 p.m. ET. The...
Mole producers say show "could be facing execution at the end of this season"
The producers of ABC's The Mole 3 have launched their campaign to save the show--but not from being cancelled this season. Instead, they're trying to...
Big Brother 10's debut down from the spring and is the series' lowest-rated debut ever
The first episode of Big Brother 10 was watched by 6.3 million viewers, down just over one million from the 7.4 million who watched last...

Nigel Lythgoe doesn't like "effeminate boys that mince around the stage"
Nigel Lythgoe, a judge on and executive producer of So You Think You Can Dance, says he and his shows have no problem with gay...
Final Bravo, Magical Elves season of Project Runway debuts tonight as Bravo reveals all of the challenges
The fifth and final season of Project Runway to air on Bravo and be produced by Magical Elves debuts tonight at 9 p.m. ET, a...
The Bachelor is not on ABC's fall schedule
ABC unveiled its fall schedule this morning, and the 13th season of The Bachelor is not on the schedule. But that's not because the show...
ABC exec wants more "controversy," "edge," and "competition," on Dancing, which may cross over to Eli Stone
Dancing with the Stars got a little boring, according to ABC's entertainment president Steve McPherson. He told critics this morning that the inevitability of Kristi...
Kimberly Caldwell will host, Gene Simmons will judge now-delayed CBS series Jingles
Jingles, the upcoming product placement-as-competition series that's being produced by Mark Burnett, will not air on CBS this summer. While it was scheduled to debut...
Bret and Ambre break up as VH1 renews Rock of Love for a third season
More than a month after a Canadian TV station revealed that a third season was coming, VH1 has officially announced the renewal of Bret Michaels'...

Big Brother 10 fast-forwards into strategy, drama
While Big Brother usually slowly builds its way into drama, like someone in their 80s pushing a car onto the interstate. But this week, the...
Comedy Central's Reality Bites Back and The Gong Show debut tonight
Does the world need another reality show talent competition? That's a rhetorical question, but it's worth answering: No. Twice: Hell no. But if we must...
ABC president: If The Mole 3's ratings don't improve, it won't be renewed
The Mole will be cancelled after this season unless its sliding ratings improve, according to ABC's president. I asked ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson about...
Emmys: Seacrest, Probst, Klum, Bergeron, Mandel get first reality host nominations
If you want to know who won, check out live coverage of the 2008 Emmys. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the...
New timeslot gives Project Runway a slight increase in overall viewers, decrease in 18-49
Bravo's actions may seem like it is trying to destroy Project Runway even as the show received five Emmy nominations, but ratings stayed about the...

Vogue will air online modeling series Model.Live
The magazine Vogue is producing an online-only reality series that follows "three models as they navigate casting calls, catwalks and airports for fashion weeks in...
Ashton Kutcher: "without reality television, the city of Los Angeles would be a pretty barren zone"
Promoting the new ABC reality series Opportunity Knocks yesterday, its executive producer, Ashton Kutcher, said that reality television has kept Los Angeles alive as films...
NBC Universal: Project Runway is "one of the most central programs to the entire company"
NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker and the Weinstein Company's Harvey Weinstein were in court yesterday, presenting arguments in NBC's lawsuit to keep Project Runway from moving...
Ratings drop for Big Brother, tying record lows
After having its lowest-rated debut ever on Sunday, Big Brother 10 lost a few viewers for its weeknight episodes, and was down from last summer....