reality blurred + archives + July 19 to July 25, 2009

week of July 19, 2009

CBS issues cop-out statement about its deceptive editing as Braden defends himself
In the aftermath of Big Brother 11's live eviction episode Thursday, CBS has issued a statement that avoids what really happened and pretends the network...
HGTV's Design Star returns without viewer vote but with new judges
One of my two favorite summer competition series, HGTV's Design Star, returns tonight for its fourth season at 10 p.m. ET. Like Food Network's Next...

Lifetime releases Project Runway 6 trailer
Lifetime has given us our first real look at the new Project Runway, which debuts next month. Everything looks very familiar, from the runway set...
Padma Lakshmi will star in culinary-themed NBC sitcom
NBC is creating a culinary-themed sitcom for Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi. Padma "has sealed a development deal with the Peacock and sister Universal Media...
Twitterers, finalists want American Idol to keep Paula Abdul
In the wake of Paula Abdul's manager's announcement/threat that she would not return for season nine, fans and American Idol contestants took to Twitter to...
John de Mol's Talpa Media buys Bunim-Murray for $50-70 million
The man known for jump-starting reality television internationally, Endemol founder Jon de Mol, has bought the company that established reality TV in the United States,...
Wes won't appear on The Men Tell All reunion
The Bachelorette 5's the Men Tell All airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET, but not all the men will tell all, as ABC did not...

Simon Cowell: "I want Paula on the show," "She'll be on the show"
Simon Cowell is throwing his weight behind Paula Abdul, although he admits he doesn't have much weight when it comes to renewing her contract. He...
Hell's Kitchen adds winner Heather as sous chef, plus anger to its chefs' incompetence
CBS' Big Brother gets additional competition tonight in the trashy, guilty pleasure reality TV genre from Fox's Hell's Kitchen, which returns for a sixth season...
Discovery's The Colony strands 10 people in post-apocalyptic world
Following its other great survival reality series such as The Alaska Experiment, Discovery debuts another extreme survival reality show, The Colony, at 10 p.m. ET...
Paula Abdul has no deal, "still [hasn't] heard from the producers"
Paula Abdul's return to American Idol 9 is still not happening, as she just wrote on Twitter, "I have not made a deal w/ #IDOL.Don't...

Susan Boyle on America's Got Talent moves Obama's press conference, which Fox ignores for SYTYCD
Prime-time broadcast TV is going to be rearranged Wednesday night thanks in part to both Susan Boyle and Barack Obama. The president's prime-time press conference...
Change-counting product placement challenge turns Big Brother 11 into big boredom
After last week's stunning Thursday episode, from its dramatic live vote to its censorship and the aftermath, Big Brother 11 quickly fell into a slump....
Survivor all-stars cast may include Coach, Fairplay, Rupert, Ozzy, Parvati, Cirie
Everyone's having fun compiling their own lists of who they want to appear on Survivor's 20th season and third all-star season, which starts production...
America's Got Talent beats Hell's Kitchen, which beat Big Brother, which is losing viewers
In their first Tuesday evening showdown, Gordon Ramsay and his crew of dumbass Hell's Kitchen chefs easily won more viewers than Big Brother's crew of...
Wipeout renewed for third season, but I Survived a Japanese Gameshow won't return
ABC's Wipeout will return for a third season, since it's very successful for ABC, although it's taken a hit from So You Think You Can...

Lifetime confirms all-star Project Runway challenge, which has a $100,000 prize
Lifetime confirmed the all-star challenge that was planned before the network acquired Project Runway, but the big surprise is that it will give the winning...
Top Chef Masters is surprisingly delicious, Next Food Network Star is very satisfying, and Chopped is just filler
Usually, copycat shows tend to suck, but two food competitions on cable networks have done an excellent job of taking Top Chef's format to new...
Amazing Race 15 cast includes Miss America 2004, Harlem Globetrotters, pro poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle
The 15th season of The Amazing Race is currently being produced, so its cast has not yet officially been revealed. But as the race started,...

Jon Gosselin's girlfriend surprised to learn he has another girlfriend
Newly released from the prison of his own making, Jon Gosselin is playing the field so fast his girlfriends can't keep up, not that it's...
Ayiiia declined Real World producers' offer for on-camera cutting help
Occasionally, The Real World attempts to balance its hedonism with a serious moment, and that happened Wednesday, when Ayiiia, the cast member described by MTV...
Ronnie holes up after the BB11 house confronts him over his duplicity
Ronnie's arrogant and reckless game play finally caught up with him on Big Brother 11 last night, and literally the entire house turned on him,...
SYTYCD turns 100 with its amazing dances dragged down by Katie Holmes
So You Think You Can Dance aired its 100th episode last night, and as usual, it was full of incredible dances and performances--except one, a...
Padma will stay with Top Chef, only have "have a recurring role" on her sitcom
There's one thing that makes sense about Padma Lakshmi's upcoming NBC sitcom: She won't star in it, and will stay on as host of Top...
Anna wins Bravo's Fashion Show
The Fashion Show aired its reunion/finale last night, and Anna McCraney won the Bravo competition series and $125,000, and you can buy her clothes. According...
Nigel Lythgoe to Katie Holmes "haters": "You make me sick"
Katie Holmes "performance" on So You Think You Can Dance was pretty much universally derided, but Nigel Lythgoe is hating on all of us haters,...