reality blurred + archives + April 17 to April 23, 2011

week of April 17, 2011

Unscripted Mad Men, Department of Homeland Security reality shows coming to AMC
AMC, the network best known for exceptional dramas such as Mad Men, The Walking Dead, and, most recently, The Killing, is getting into reality television,...
Trump's presidential nonsense could end Apprentice, which is already being damaged
Donald Trump's decision to transition from reality star to nonsense-spewing potential presidential candidate has already threatened Celebrity Apprentice, leading people to tune out when they...
Jeff Probst buys Gene Autry's $5 million estate
Survivor host Jeff Probst has bought a famous house for $5 million: it's Gene Autry's Studio City estate. Jeff paid $5 million, a good deal...
Gary Busey, genius saboteur and/or crazy person, finally exits Celebrity Apprentice
Gary Busey has finally exited The Celebrity Apprentice, just as his brand of insanity was starting to get old. As Donald Trump is fond of...
Amazing Race adds more product placement as Kent and Vyxsin survive, threaten to fight more
All in all, a decent episode of The Amazing Race last night, at least relative to its weaker episodes, and despite the fact that Kent...

Bachelorette Ali more concerned about her hair than staples in head from kayak accident
The Bachelorette 6 star Ali Fedotowsky was injured in a kayaking accident on Sunday, but not enough to stop being concerned about her appearance and...
Top Model quits Tough Enough because of kid she has with Survivor who quit his show because of that same kid
On USA's awesome Tough Enough last night, a contestant quit the competition, citing wanting to be with her daughter. That contestant is Michelle Deighton, a...

Idol, Apprentice had much more product placement than Amazing Race, yet it feels like the reverse
Last month, eight of the 10 shows with the most product placement were reality TV shows. This is unsurprising, but it is surprising is that...
ABC forcing Emily to not discuss her break-up with Brad
Reports that Brad Womack and Emily Maynard have broken up have persisted since their season of The Bachelor ended, and they revealed that they'd nearly...
Photojournalist and documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington killed in Libya
Tim Hetherington, who filmed the Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo, was killed today while photographing the conflict in Libya. He was 41. He had been actively posting...
Viewer votes may be adjusted to correct for Idol voters' bias toward singers with penises
Paul McDonald's exit last week on American Idol marked the first exit of a male from the finals this season, unless you count Casey Abrams,...

Danielle Staub, Jake Pavelka, Heidi Montag reality series: opening a restaurant with Big Brother's Mike Malin
The reality series starring a bunch of unlikeable reality stars has been revealed, and despite the fact that it stars Danielle Staub, Jake Pavelka, and...
An intelligent conversation about race emerges from Phillip's craziness on Survivor
On Survivor Redemption Island, Matt and Mike may have won the first three-way duel, making its loser, Dave, the first member of the jury, and...
Bethenny Frankel sold Skinnygirl liquor for $120 million, says her show has one or two more seasons
Six years ago, Bethenny Frankel first came to our attention as a contestant on Martha Stewart's version of The Apprentice. Three years ago, she first...
God will decide whether Jennifer Lopez returns to American Idol or not
God is busy on reality shows lately. Besides all of his work to keep Matt on Survivor Redemption Island against Matt's will, God is now...

An American Family will finally be rebroadcast this weekend, following HBO's scripted film
This weekend, An American Family, the 1973 series that followed the Loud family and was the first unscripted, narrative TV show, comes back to life...