reality blurred + archives + December 11 to December 17, 2011

week of December 11, 2011

Lowe's defends pulling ads from All-American Muslim, will "respectfully defer" to bigots
Lowe's is defending its decision late last week to pull advertising from TLC's All-American Muslim because of insane complaints about its portrayal of Muslims as...
Fear Factor comes out of its coma tonight
Five and a half years after being cancelled, Fear Factor is being resurrected on NBC tonight, now in HD and with more cow's blood. But...
TLC, A&E reject Todd Palin snowmobile series that Sarah Palin and Mark Burnett are pitching
Both TLC and A&E have rejected a follow-up series to Sarah Palin's Alaska following Todd Palin's activities as a snowmobile racer that is being produced...
Richard Hatch says he was replaced by Rob Mariano on Survivor Redemption Island
Survivor winner Richard Hatch would have been cast on Survivor Redemption Island instead of its eventual winner, Rob Mariano, but Hatch was not permitted to...

Fear Factor: same show plus creepy relationships equals big ratings
NBC's decision to resurrect Fear Factor proved to be a good one, at least based on the very strong ratings for last night's two episodes,...
Richard Hatch wants on Amazing Race, may star in a sperm donation offspring series
Now out of prison, Richard Hatch would like to be on The Amazing Race, and said that visits from children who were born as a...
Biggest Loser's plan for increasing drama: forcing couples to compete against each other
The Biggest Loser has a new plan to make people cry, and I'm not talking about stretching 40 minutes of content into two hours. For...
Sober Model House: Janice Dickinson's newest series
Celebrity Rehab cast member Janice Dickinson will soon begin production on a new show called Sober Model House that helps models get sober in a...
Ben Flajnik's Bachelor season spoiled
The woman selected by Ben Flajnik at the conclusion of this spring's The Bachelor 16 has been revealed by "Reality" Steve Carbone, who was sued...

Howard Stern officially signs as America's Got Talent judge
America's Got Talent has signed Howard Stern as the show's new judge, following Piers Morgan's exit last month. As a result, the series will move...
Jesus/Coach sends a member of his flock to Ozzy's Pleasure Dome
Divine intervention and/or incredible self-delusion and/or good strategy sent Brandon Hantz to Redemption Island on Survivor South Pacific, as Ben "Coach" Wade turned on his...
Kayak's All-American Muslim response is better than Lowe's, but still gives bigotry too much weight
The travel search engine Kayak has apologized for its handling of advertising on TLC's All-American Muslim, condemning "regrettable hatred" but also saying that the show...
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition cancelled
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the ABC reality series that gives deserving people brand-new homes and Sears appliances, has been cancelled, and will air its final...

Survivor's Coach discusses his religiosity, preaches to his real congregation
When I spent a weekend with Ben Wade earlier this year, I could never have imagined that he'd be back on Survivor a few months...