reality blurred + archives + May 4 to May 10, 2008

week of May 4, 2008

Groomer Has It: too many dog puns but just enough ass-sniffing
Recently, Animal Planet borrowed from Bravo's industry-specific reality competition playbook and debuted Groomer Has It, in which dog groomers face off. It airs Saturdays at...
Matt denies report of post-Big Brother 9 orgy
Perhaps because there was absolutely nothing else to talk about once this boring season of Big Brother finally reached its miserable conclusion last week, rumors...
David Archuleta's problems: Neil Diamond song lyrics, his dad, and his "dead, dead eyes"
Last week, Entertainment Weekly went behind the scenes during American Idol 7's song selection and rehearsal process. Besides letting us know about Jason Castro's apathy,...
Magical Elves quit Project Runway, sign first-look deal with NBC Universal, and may create a new fashion show for Bravo
Magical Elves, the company behind Project Runway, will not produce the show when it moves to Lifetime for its sixth season. In addition, they have...
VH1 renews Celebrity Rehab, will announce I Love Money cast members on its blog
VH1 has renewed Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, the horrifying yet compelling series that was this year's best new show. Dr. Drew will likely return...

Clay Aiken's fourth album, On My Way Here, released today
American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken releases his fourth studio album today, and continues to overshadow everyone else from his season. On My Way Here,...
100th episode of Dancing with the Stars airs tonight
Tonight, Dancing with the Stars airs its 100th episode, just shy of its three year anniversary. Because the producers apparently hate their viewers, they're celebrating...
MTV renews The Hills for a fourth season, which debuts in August
MTV has officially picked up The Hills for a fourth season. The show ends the second part of its third season on Monday, and there...

Fox Reality cancels Reality Remix, orders "cynical" Reality Binge
Reality Remix, the Kennedy-hosted show that acted as a sort of Entertainment Tonight of reality television, has been cancelled by Fox Reality. In its place,...
David Archuleta: "I want to see if there are any other occupations I'd find interesting"
In an enlightening interview with Billboard, David Archuleta says all the right things, but it's also easy to analyze what he said and read it...
Jason Castro screws up lyrics, seems bored
One side effect of Paula Abdul's judging screw-up last week was that Jason Castro's second performance was pre-judged, which at best seems unfair to Jason,...
CBS needs to steal Big Brother with puppets and people idea that was once pitched to Fox
We're now between seasons of Big Brother, and that means the producers are developing and/or fine-tuning the upcoming 10th season, which debuts in July. Because...
Ratings up for Dancing with the Stars as American Idol's continue to drop
Even as ratings continue to fall for American Idol 7, its ABC competition, Dancing with the Stars 6, is experiencing ratings increases. While Fox's series...

What can possibly happen during Survivor's "most shocking Tribal Council ever"?
In its promos for tonight's penultimate episode of Survivor Micronesia, the announcer says, "We guarantee the most shocking Tribal Council ever." After last week's shocking...
Jason Castro finally leaves American Idol and there's no clear favorite among the final three
American Idol 7 voters finally listened to Jason Castro, who's all but given up these past few weeks, and stopped voting for him, so he...
Gretta Monahan will be Tim Gunn's new Guide to Style co-host
With Tim Gunn's Guide to Style co-host Veronica Webb out for the second season of the makeover show, it seemed like Bravo might be abandoning...
Jason Castro: "I would have liked to go farther, but I don't think I could have handled it"
Jason Castro, who told a reporter two weeks ago that he was done with the competition, now says he did not want to leave American...

Road Rules' Dave Giuntoli shows up on Grey's Anatomy, other scripted shows
There's so much cross-pollination between reality shows that it's barely newsworthy anymore, but when a reality star crosses over into scripted territory, that's a bit...
Nina Garcia moves to Marie Claire magazine, which may replace Elle on Project Runway 6
One of Project Runway's marquee sponsors may also be out once the show moves to Lifetime in November, but that may be good news for...
ABC rejects Golden Cage because of cost
ABC has decided not to produce The Golden Cage, a reality series in which contestants live in luxury and compete to win the house, which...
ABC slowly releases details about new Mole
ABC's strategy to generate interest in the highly anticipated return of The Mole seems to be to drip out a little bits of information at...
Heidi and Spencer are "entertainers," she says, and "improv TV personalities," he says
What's the secret to Hills villains Heidi and Spencer's success? Apparently, it's that they know how to play along and play the game. "Obviously we're...
Erik gives up immunity and becomes "the dumbest Survivor ever"
At just 22 years old, Erik Reichenbach has secured himself a place in reality TV history as "the dumbest Survivor ever," as two contestants branded...