reality blurred + archives + January 4 to January 10, 2009

week of January 4, 2009

Celebrity Big Brother returns to the UK; cast will be "chucked out" for racism, bad behavior
The sixth season of Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother debuted Friday night in the UK, after being cancelled last year over racist taunting of a...
Charges against Ace Gordon dropped due to "insufficient evidence"; Bianca Golden won't be prosecuted
Two reality stars arrested with crimes last year won't be prosecuted. In August, Top Model 9 contestant Bianca Golden was arrested after an airport brawl...
Kara DioGuardi: viewers "may think my intensity and my boldness are bitchy"
Here's a new year prediction: American Idol's new judge, Kara DioGuardi, will be awesome, and may help rescue the show. Previously uncovered evidence suggested she...
Producer Kathy Wetherell died
Kathy Wetherell, a reality show producer with wide-ranging credits, died in a car accident before Christmas. Variety reports that she "was killed in an automobile...
The Bachelor, True Beauty, other shows debut
A flood of new reality series kick off this week; from last Friday to next Sunday, there are 17 new shows, eight of which debut...

The Old Man and the Storm debuts tonight, explores 82-year-old's post-Katrina rebuilding
Tonight, PBS' Frontline debuts The Old Man and the Storm, a documentary that examines post-Katrina New Orleans through an 82-year-old man who tries to rebuild...
Biggest Loser 7, Homeland Security USA debut
The seventh season of The Biggest Loser kicks off tonight, as does a brand-new ABC reality series that follows people who work in the Department...

Real World Brooklyn debuts in high definition with eight cast members
Tonight, MTV debuts the 21st season of The Real World, which is the third season to be set in New York City. Episodes air Wednesdays...
Smile...You're Under Arrest gets attention for "dangerous" "buffoon" sheriff Arpaio
There's a shitty new reality series airing on Fox Reality, but what's most surprising is not how much it sucks, but how much press it's...
Scammers using American Idol in mail fraud; "Idolize yourself" using mall backdrops
Scammers are using American Idol's name, logo, and producer's name in mail fraud, but malls are hosting American Idol's logo to help promote the show's...
Niki Taylor, judges dropped for Make Me a Supermodel 2
The second season of Make Me a Supermodel is getting a makeover, and will feature 50 percent fewer wooden models-turned-reality show hosts, as Bravo has...
13: Fear is Real is really scary bad
More than eight years ago, there was a fantastic series on MTV called, simply, Fear. The series featured a lot of scary moments and maybe...

ABC reviving Superstars this summer
A year after NBC's relaunch of American Gladiators found success and then sputtered out, ABC will revive another television franchise: Superstars, which first aired in...
Big Apple Circus will be subject of PBS' Circus
One of the best reality series last year was PBS' documentary series Carrier, and its producers are now following members of New York's Big Apple...
Cast includes Clint Black, Brian McKnight, Dennis Rodman, Annie Duke, Herschel Walker
NBC has announced the 16-member cast of The Celebrity Apprentice 2, some of whom were identified earlier. They are Clint Black, Andrew Dice Clay, Annie...

Crazy Love documentary traces obsessive love affair, and airs on Sundance, YouTube
The award-winning and compelling documentary Crazy Love is being broadcast on YouTube until the end of this month, thanks to the Sundance Channel, which debuts...
Olivia's cousin Nevan Donahue's arrests include offering Oxycontin for oral sex
The City is barely two weeks old and already it's making news. Sociailite Olivia Palermo's cousin, Nevan Donahue, who complained about being ticketed for spitting...