reality blurred + archives + October 17 to October 23, 2010

week of October 17, 2010

Bravo renames an already-shot series The Real Housewives of Miami
In March, Bravo announced it was developing a new series called Miami Social Club, had nothing to do with its previous series Miami Social. Instead,...
Reality TV's annoying laugh track needs to die (cymbal crash!)
Reality TV has been with us on prime-time network television for more than 10 years now. Back then, TV was awash with generic sit-coms that...

I Love New York 2 cast member gets 50 years to life in prison for murder
Jamal Rashead Trulove, an I Love New York 2 cast member whose appearance on the show led to his arrest for murder after someone recognized...
The Amazing Race forgets to make its challenges actually challenging
Is it possible to be an apologist for The Amazing Race after one of its task--a Speed Bump, no less--is sitting on a chair for...
How much a 30-second ad costs for reality shows, from Idol ($467K) to Apprentice ($99K)
Despite having a new judging panel and losing its real star, American Idol is still the most expensive prime-time network reality TV show this year,...
New celebrity Apprentice cast selling pizza in New York Tuesday
The reality stars who are serving as the cast members for The Celebrity Apprentice 4 are selling pizza Tuesday in New York City at Famous...
Hoarders' Sir Patrick is a convicted sex offender, felon
One of the more memorable people to appear on A&E's awesome Hoarders this season is actually a convicted sex offender. Sir Patrick, an eccentric hoarder...

ABC wastes 30 minutes on an insulting Dancing with the Stars recap
Dancing with the Stars decided to compensate for the absence of its four eliminated contestants not by shortening the performance episode to 90 minutes, but...
Big Brother's Steven Daigle arrested after fight that followed Real Housewives viewing party
Big Brother 10 cast member turned hard-core gay porn star Steven Daigle was arrested last night after a viewing party for his appearance on The...
More reality stars tell gay teens "it gets better"
Among the hundreds of videos uploaded to YouTube as part of the It Gets Better project are several reality TV stars talking to gay teens...

Teen Mom spinning off another series; is it another Jon & Kate Plus Eight?
Last night, the second season of MTV's Teen Mom concluded, and today there's a report that the network is creating a spin-off of the series,...
Bristol Palin also "surprised and shocked" she's safe, Florence Henderson was eliminated
Dancing with the Stars eliminated Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas last night, leaving Bristol Palin in the competition despite the fact that she had the...

TJ Lavin has pneumonia but expected to make "a full recovery"
Challenge host T.J. Lavin is expected to recover from injuries he suffered last week that left him in a medically induced coma, although right now...
Survivor: a little bit bewildering, boring, and bananas
What a weird episode of Survivor Nicaragua. With one rather weak challenge--even one that has three parts and both individual immunity and tribe reward--it was...
Jersey Shore spin-offs and a fourth season are coming as it ends its popular second season
Jersey Shore ends its second season tonight, less than a year after debuting to controversy and going on to massive ratings. And now there's the...
Why Survivor has 20 people instead of 16, and why there's usually a final three
Survivor's trend of having 20 cast members and a final three most seasons isn't going to change any time soon. Jeff Probst explains why in...

Donald Trump and "the strongest group of words I've ever heard on The Apprentice"
Donald Trump is fond of superlatives, which are the best and most important phrases ever, but when he said last night that he'd heard "the...
Yve blames Probst; Kelly B. just as baffled as the rest of us about NaOnka's hatred
Kelly Bruno was bafflingly voted off of Survivor Nicaragua this week after being targeted by first NaOnka and later her team, apparently all because the...
A&E burning off Tony Danza's Teach after it loses viewers
A&E is burning off the remaining four episodes of Teach: Tony Danza by doubling down this week and next, and thus ending the series next...