reality blurred + archives + September 18 to September 24, 2011

week of September 18, 2011

Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Kelly Bensimon, Cindy Barshop fired from Real Housewives of New York City
Bravo has fired more than half of the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City, including three of its most best-known sources of...
Amazing Race unbelievably wins another Emmy
The Amazing Race won its eighth Emmy for outstanding reality TV competition last night, its streak interrupted only by Top Chef's win last fall that...

Food Network's Great Food Truck Race screwed up its second season, while Top Shot keeps getting better
Last summer brought the debut of two new surprising competition series: Food Network's Great Food Truck Race and History's Top Shot. Both returned this summer,...
Next Iron Chef changes: new cast of Food Network and Top Chef judges, chefs; new structure
For its fourth season, Food Network's Next Iron Chef is making major changes to its format and casting, as its contestants are all well-known chefs...
Top Chef adds Redemption Island, allowing eliminated chefs to return
Buried in a Bravo press release about a cross-platform Toyota sponsorship, or "fully-integrated transmedia play," is news that Top Chef is taking a page from...
Brendon and Rachel did not get married
Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas didn't celebrate Rachel's Big Brother win by getting married in Las Vegas this past weekend, despite Rachel insisting they would...

Dancing with the Stars: stage is new, but the band and Brooke Burke are still awful
Dancing with the Stars returned last night with a massive new three-story set--with more staircases and no dangling Christmas lights!--and an impressive new cast who...
Biggest Loser's cruelest elements: weigh-in outfits, two-hour episodes, more
The Biggest Loser returns tonight for its 12th season, and it has gotten its own makeover: Jillian Michaels and the show's producers are out, and...

Bill Clinton turned down Dancing with the Stars
Former president Bill Clinton said he turned down an offer to appear on Dancing with the Stars, but only because he didn't have time. On...
X Factor finally debuts tonight, and Paula Abdul explains what's changed
The X Factor debuts tonight, more than a year and a half since Simon Cowell officially announced that he was leaving American Idol to bring...
Top Chef Texas will start with 29 contestants
Besides adding its own Redemption Island to give eliminated contestants a chance to return, Top Chef Texas will follow in the footsteps of other reality...

The X Factor: a show for people who like American Idol
Whether or not you loved, hated, or had other feelings about The X Factor depends entirely on whether you love, hate, or have other feelings...
Survivor: an even more disturbing Hantz, another great Tribal Council
Tribal Council perfectly illustrated why Survivor still works after all these years, and despite its missteps in game structure or casting: human beings playing a...
X Factor beats Survivor but is beaten by Modern Family, had less than half of Idol's ratings
The years of hype didn't really pay off for Fox's The X Factor, which had significantly fewer viewers than American Idol did when it returned...
Geo Godley wasn't naked during the X Factor performance that made Paula Abdul heave
The X Factor auditioner who took of his pants wasn't actually naked, but instead was wearing a leopard print thong. The editing of the audition,...
Reality TV houses: their sale and rental prices
If you've ever wanted to live in a house featured on a reality TV show, or at least wanted to know how much they cost,...
Idol semi-finalist imprisoning himself to illustrate the show's restrictive contract, promote his album
American Idol 10 semi-finalist Tim Halperin will lock himself in a fake jail cell for the final 28 hours of the restriction placed on him...

Taylor Armstrong discusses Russell's abuse, Real Housewives' role in his suicide
Taylor Armstrong has discussed the role of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in her husband Russell's suicide, and also talked about his abusive behavior....
Survivor tribe solved the puzzle before the challenge even began
The Savaii tribe's comeback in the immunity challenge during Wednesday's episode of Survivor South Pacific happened because the tribe figured out the puzzle part of...
Celebrity Wife Swap with Gary Busey, Ted Hagard cancels shoot at GLBT center, which producers threatened to sue
For the Wife Swap spin-off Celebrity Wife Swap, actor turned reality star Gary Busey and his girlfriend Steffanie Sampson are switching with pastor Ted Haggard...