reality blurred + archives + October 11 to October 17, 2009

week of October 11, 2009

Jason Guy is now a local news anchor in Orlando, says Big Brother helped his TV career
If you need any additional evidence that local news is crap and nonsense that exists only to sell ads by using fear and annoyingly, absurdly...
Rod Blagojevich cast on Celebrity Apprentice 3
Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will be on The Celebrity Apprentice 3, according to The Chicago Tribune. While a production spokesperson "said he could neither...
CBS promos spoil the sad end of a repetitive Amazing Race episode
Any episode that starts with an image of a masturbating monkey1 should be great, but that other masturbating monkey, Andy Rooney, jinxed it. The old...
Real World's release says those who interact with cast cannot talk to media, "may contract certain [STDs]"
If you agree to interact with a Real World cast member, you might get an STD, according to the release given to people who appear...
Zev's passport was at the monkey Roadblock
Zev and Justin were eliminated because of Zev's lost passport, but his passport wasn't lost after all. On Elimination Station, which follows the teams after...

Tyra Banks' $30 million last year made her prime-time TV's highest-paid woman
Creating a reality competition that's all about herself has worked well for Tyra Banks: The America's Next Top Model creator and judge was the top-earning...
Dancing with the Stars is having its lowest-rated season since season one
Although it still remains popular, viewers are fleeing from Dancing with the Stars, giving the show its worst ratings since it debuted. USA TODAY reports...
ABC's Shark Tank improves on Dragon's Den despite its stupid name
Mark Burnett produces epic unscripted television, but only sometimes does epic work with the subject matter (Survivor, yes; Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant, no). His adaptation...
HBO's Maurice Sendak doc: why he "hated" his parents, doesn't "believe in childhood"
Spike Jonze film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is in theatres Friday (watch the trailer--it's great), and a few days earlier,...

Pilot Jake Pavelka will be the 14th bachelor in The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love (gag)
For its 14th season, which debuts next year, The Bachelor will continue to to follow the VH1 model by finding its stars in the cesspool...
Zev, Justin only had 26 minutes to find passport; went to therapy; Zev rejected prize
Some interesting information surfaced in two post-Amazing Race 15 interviews with the tragically eliminated Zev and Justin: they only had 26 minutes to find their...
Hell's Kitchen winner Dave will be just "an employee" at Araxi in Whistler
Hell's Kitchen 6 mercifully concluded last night, and although I vowed to give up this awful show last season, I watched most of it for...
A&E denies Michael Jackson's kids will be three of the 23 Jacksons on its reality series
A&E has denied a report that its series about Michael Jackson's brothers will now include the pop star's three kids: Prince, who's 12, Paris, 11,...
Bravo gives Jackie Warner a new series, Thintervention, despite controversial Work Out
Work Out star Jackie Warner is getting a new reality series on Bravo, which may be a surprise considering how reviled Jackie was when her...
Fox Reality Channel shutting down next spring
The Fox Reality Channel will cease operations next spring, on March 31, just shy of its five year anniversary. The network "in its present form...

Jon & Kate will end forever in Nov., report says; TLC: "a limited number of episodes [remain]"
Jon & Kate Plus Eight may end forever next month, if a tabloid report--or even TLC's own promos--are to be believed. With production shut down,...
Exclusive! Celebrity Apprentice 3 taping with Sharon Osbourne, Daryl Strawberry, Sinbad, Bret Michaels, Cyndi Lauper
Production on The Celebrity Apprentice 3 began yesterday in New York, and thus we now know the identities of many of the cast members. In...
Mia Michaels says she's quitting SYTYCD
Emmy-winning So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Mia Michaels posted three messages to Twitter last night that say she's leaving the show. She wrote,...
Balloon boy's parents were on Wife Swap
The 6-year-old boy who may or may not have fallen out of an experimental balloon that floated around and transfixed the country before landing in...
Nigel Lythgoe confirms Mia Michaels left SYTYCD; she "is always welcome to return"
Mia Michaels' all-caps Twitter postings announcing her resignation from So You Think You Can Dance were not the work of a hacker nor a joke:...
Fox Reality will become Nat Geo Wild; president admits network had identity problem
On March 31, the Fox Reality Channel will officially die and turn into Nat Geo Wild, a spin-off of the National Geographic Channel, which itself...

Ice skating spin-off of Dancing with the Stars considered, despite Skating with Celebrities
ABC and BBC Worldwide are considering producing an adaptation of Dancing with the Stars that would let celebrity contestants learn how to ice skate. Joe...
Nina Garcia and Michael Kors will judge every episode of Project Runway 7
The preview for next week's episode of Project Runway 6 showed something unbelievable: Nina Garcia and Michael Kors both judging--at the same time! Nina reappeared...
Balloon boy says "we did this for a show," vomits live on TV; dad says he's "appalled"
Jon and Kate Gosselin's kids now have competition for our sympathy from Falcon Heene, aka balloon boy, whose parents appeared twice on Wife Swap and...
Richard Hatch finally released from prison for good
Richard Hatch got out of prison early this morning and is finally done with his 51-month sentence, which was ended with him being released to...
Ashley "not the only" Foa Foa who failed challenge, despite editing, Probst's comments
Last night's Survivor Samoa was mostly miserable, thanks to an eating challenge involving local Samoan food blended to be especially disgusting to American contestants, never...
Storm Chasers, Monty Python series start, while Flipping Out, Housewives depart
Here's what happened last week, and what to watch for next week: The Past It may have been a week that started with a federal...