reality blurred + archives + March 16 to March 22, 2008

week of March 16, 2008

Grand Ole Opry will induct Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood will join the "Grand Ole Opry after she was invited Saturday to join the long-running country music show," the AP reports. The offer...
Gordon Ramsay will employ the winner of Hell's Kitchen 4 at his new West Hollywood restaurant
Gordon Ramsay is giving away a prize to the winner of Hell's Kitchen 4 that may affect his life and bottom line, as the winner...
ABC debuts sixth Dancing with the Stars, 12th Bachelor tonight
Tonight, ABC kicks off new seasons of its two reality staples. First, Dancing with the Stars 6 debuts at 8 p.m. ET, and will air...
CBS orders 10th season of Big Brother for summer
CBS has officially ordered Big Brother 10, which will air this summer. The renewal actually wasn't a given, according to The Hollywood Reporter, because "the...
truTV, TV Land announce upcoming reality series
Two cable networks, truTV and TV Land, have recently announced slates of new and proposed reality series. This summer, TV Land will air She's Got...
Sanjaya will return to Idol, but the media continues to cover him like he's on the show
One year ago this Friday, Sanjaya Malakar made a girl cry, officially making him part of the show's history. Soon, he'll return to the series,...
Idol Gives Back will start at 7:30 p.m., announces charity beneficiaries
For the April 9 edition of American Idol 7, Fox will do something extremely unusual: start the episode a half-hour before prime-time, at 7:30 p.m....

Samantha Harris allowed to talk but Marlee Matlin gets dubbed over on Dancing's premiere
America's number two reality series, Dancing with the Stars, returned last night, and despite the star power and their enthusiasm, was kind of flat. The...
Debut Dancing ratings even with last fall, down 14 percent from spring; Bachelor down, too
The first episode of Dancing with the Stars 6 may not have had much drama, but it did draw 20.9 million viewers, making it the...
Jonathan Penner was in the hospital for three weeks
On last Thursday's Survivor Micronesia, Jonathan Penner was forced to leave the game as a result of an injury. At the immunity challenge, Jeff Probst...

Tim Gunn shows up as The Biggest Loser shamelessly pimps itself out to even more advertisers
There's no reality show, as far as I'm concerned, that's more shameless about its product-whoring than The Biggest Loser. Hell, even the new host, Alison...
Gauntlet III concludes tonight; producers pay for cast's alcohol; Beth's blog rips the show
Tonight, MTV's 15th Challenge season, The Gauntlet III, concludes at 10 p.m. ET. With this latest season, the series that once was more entertaining than...
Finalists fumble Beatles songs, offer suggestive comments instead
With the American Idol 7 top 11 fumbling their second chance at Lennon/McCartney songs--"I'm not sure it was such a good idea doing Beatles again,...
Ratings up slightly but American Idol lost teenage girls and women, gained older men
The audience for American Idol seems to be changing, as the series has lost females but gained male viewers. Compared to last year's, last week's...

Viewers don't want to buy Amanda Overmeyer's concert tickets
Tuesday night, rocker Amanda Overmeyer stood in front of the studio audience in rock-star victory after declaring that she was just trying to show her...
Matty goes bye-bye on Big Brother
Two soulmates were broken up last night after James broke his promise and both nominated and later evicted Matt from the Big Brother 9 house....
Cheryl Burke, Drew Lachey deny affair during Dancing with the Stars tour
Dancing with the Stars 2 winners Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke are denying a report that they had an affair during the show's recent tour....
Kathy quits Survivor after having a breakdown
Note: Survivor Micronesia aired last night, Wednesday, as a result of tonight's basketball game (the show will also not be on at all next week)....
Disney Channel orders Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream reality series
The Disney Channel has ordered a reality series starring its stars the Jonas Brothers, the pop group that will also appear in upcoming fictional projects...
Woman who claims she created Oprah's Big Give appealing the dismissal of her lawsuit
A woman who claims Oprah Winfrey's production company stole the idea for Oprah's Big Give is appealing the dismissal of her lawsuit, according to a...

New reality shows follow coal miners, Iditarod racers; competitions between celebrity stylists, restaurateurs
Cable and broadcast networks announced new reality series this week, including competitions and docudramas. NBC will produce a reality competition hosted by Marco Pierre White,...
Lauren Conrad is not pregnant, Audrina Patridge did take nude photos
Days before the Monday debut of the continuation of The Hills' third season, two mini-scandals conveniently and coincidentally popped up. First, the show's star, Lauren...
Solitary renewed for third season; second season winner compares it to death row
Fox Reality's quasi-torture series Solitary has been renewed for a third season, according to a detailed report on the show in Mother Jones. It will...
Donald Trump picks Trace Adkins, Piers Morgan as final two to "see these two guys go at it"
Donald Trump selected Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins the final two contestants on The Celebrity Apprentice last night, opting to dump Carol Alt because he...