reality blurred + archives + September 19 to September 25, 2010

week of September 19, 2010

VH1 burning off edited I Love Money 4 after skipping season three
An edited version of I Love Money's fourth season debuted on VH1 last week more than a year after a scandal led the network to...
The Zingbot, Big Brother 12's best part, is still funny
We've been free of Big Brother 12 for days now, and I have no doubt that in a year, we won't be able to recall...
Apprentice bombs, losing half of celebrity version's audience
The return of the regular The Apprentice to NBC after a three-year absence was the show's lowest-rated debut ever, with less than 50 percent of...

Mark Cuban will appear on Shark Tank
Dallas Mavericks owner and former reality star Mark Cuban will join Shark Tank's panel of sharks for three episodes in its second season. This makes...
ABC renews, renames its obesity reality series Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition
ABC has changed the name of its upcoming weight loss series Obese to Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, which has already been renewed for a...
Discovery sues Deadliest Catch captains Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand for $3 million
Time Bandit captains and Deadliest Catch stars Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand have been sued for $3 million by the Discovery Channel, which claims they bailed...
Brad Womack returning as The Bachelor
The Bachelor's 11th star, Brad Womack is returning as the star of the show's 15th season. That report is contrary to other reports that the...

Dancing with the Stars: still the same weird show
Dancing with the Stars returned last night, and its reality star-heavy cast delivered what we expect from this weird show: odd moments featuring quasi-famous people...
WE TV's Raising Sextuplets dad arrested for threatening domestic violence
The father in Raising Sextuplets, WE TV's knock-off of Jon & Kate Plus 8, has been arrested for threatening his family and resisting arrest. Bryan...
Real World's Dunbar, VH1's Pumkin also on Playboy's sex series Foursome
The Real World Sydney cast member Dunbar and Flavor of Love's Pumkin are two of the reality stars featured on the new season of Playboy's...
Chopped judge Amanda Freitag reveals judging secrets
The final semi-final round of Chopped's Champions season airs tonight, before the four winners face off for $50,000, the show's biggest prize, next Tuesday. Over...

Ron Jeremy connects reality shows' "very strong sexual themes" to porn
Last night, I moderated a debate on pornography at Stetson University between The Surreal Life 2 cast member Ron Jeremy, who of course is not...
David Hasselhoff eliminated, upsetting DWTS producers who thought he'd draw viewers
Dancing with the Stars 11 has lost its first contestant, and it is former America's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff. Before he was eliminated, he...
Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler will officially join American Idol today during live event
At 1 p.m. ET today, American Idol will officially announce something we already know: Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler will join Randy Jackson as judges...
American Idol 10: now with more technical screw-ups, and some new judges
American Idol 10 had its big reveal of its new judges at 1 p.m. ET, and streaming the event live was a colossal failure. The...

Top Chef All-Stars cast officially announced; Anthony Bourdain, Muppets will judge
The cast of Top Chef All-Stars was revealed yesterday when Bravo confirmed the existence of all-star competition. The show's eighth season will debut Dec. 1...
Shannon flames out after homophobia flares at epic Tribal Council
What's wrong with these people? I've never seen a group of Survivor contestants play so recklessly, stupidly, and weirdly before. But since it came with...
Tim Gunn's detailed criticism of Project Runway's producers not censored by Lifetime
Tim Gunn's detailed criticism of Project Runway producers' incompetence was removed from Facebook voluntarily, he said. Vulture asked yesterday if Lifetime was censoring him. The...

New Endemol show is like Big Brother, except social media popularity decides winner
Reality producer Endemol is pitching a new reality format at Mipcom this week that combines Big Brother with social media. As part of its slate...
Waiting for Superman explores education in U.S.; ticket purchase gives $15 to a classroom
A film being released today explores the US' educational system, and buying tickets for it also comes with a $15 credit to donate to a...
Shannon Elkins: "I was concerned that [Sash] was gay and I was protecting my butthole"
In his exit interviews, Survivor Nicaragua cast member Shannon Elkins responds to his controversial exit in various ways: he blames editing, makes a funny joke,...
Survivor 22 call sheets leaked, reveal crew schedules, merged tribe name
The Smoking Gun has obtained and published call sheets from season 22 of Survivor, the Rob Mariano versus Russell Hantz season. They were left in...