Another year is almost gone. Since Survivor and Big Brother came to CBS one otherwise dreary summer, preceded by ABC’s Making the Band, six and a half years have passed. Those years have brought us plenty of joy in the form of real people living and competing in often unreal situations. This year was no… continue reading
Archives for December 2006
The Top Reality Whores of 2006
Once again, it’s time to look back and reflect upon the past year. We’ve had 51 weeks of pleasure and pain from the world of reality TV, and a great deal of that has come from reality stars themselves. Some of them deserve special recognition, and this, the first of my two annual year-end lists,… continue reading
The Office’s Jenna Fisher wanted to be on Dancing with the Stars, but producers said no
The list of celebrities who want to be on Dancing with the Stars continues to grow. Jenna Fisher says in an interview with TV Guide that her people approached the show, but producers said no. Fisher plays receptionist Pam on NBC’s The Office, which is unquestionably the best comedy on television right now. She says,… continue reading
Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell clash
An war of words between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump began Wednesday and continues to escalate. Trump, whose new season of The Apprentice coincidentally debuts in just a few weeks, responded angrily to remarks Rosie made on The View about his decision to allow Miss USA to retain her title. On the show Wednesday, Rosie… continue reading
Nine of 10 product-placing shows were reality shows, which also were four of the five most-watched shows of 2006
Nielsen’s year-end lists are out, and unsurprisingly, the most popular television show of 2006 was American Idol. American Idol also ranked second for its results show, while Dancing with the Stars came in third and fifth for its performance and results shows, respectively. Thus, four of the five most-watched TV shows in 2006 were reality… continue reading
Taylor Hicks’ album has third-best debut among American Idol winners
Taylor Hicks, the debut album by none other than American Idol 5 winner Taylor Hicks, sold 298,000 copies in its first week of release, Variety reports. That makes Hicks’ debut the second best of any Idol winner, although he “barely edged the debut of Kelly Clarkson, whose ‘Thankful’ moved 297,000 copies when it was released… continue reading
CBS finally reveals jury’s votes
CBS.com has updated the voting history page of its Survivor Cook Islands for the second time this week, this time to add the jury’s votes. Ozzy received votes from Parvati, Nate, Jenny, and Rebecca. Yul received votes from Sundra, Adam, Jonathan, Candice, and Brad. That was the vote distribution that Yul assumed, with Sundra voting… continue reading
Canadian Idol allows auditioners to play instruments
Canadian Idol will at least one of the ratings-increasing changes made to the Australian version of the show: Those who audition will be allowed to play instruments. While the new rules “allow competitors to play instruments during their auditions,” the CP reports, “producers say competitors who perform a cappella this year will be judged the… continue reading
Katharine McPhee will make Rose Parade history by not lip-syncing aboard a float
American Idol 6 runner-up Katharine McPhee will make Rose Bowl history when she actually sings aboard a float, according to a press release. The song she sings will be from her forthcoming CD. Katharine will appear on the LifeSource Water Systems’ float, and the company says her performance “will be the first live (no lip-syncing)… continue reading
American Idol plans “a big event show” that “will blow America away,” producer says
American Idol 6 will have “a big-event show, sometime in the middle of the season, something that will blow America away,” according to one of its executive producers. Cecile Frot-Coutaz told the New York Daily News that they’re working on this “huge event,” but refused to say what it was. This appears to be partially… continue reading
Yul, Ozzy don’t know who voted for them; Yul says Jonathan’s hat incident was “manipulation”
Once again, CBS has inexplicably and pointlessly failed to reveal the jury’s votes following a Survivor finale. While CBS.com’s Voting History has been updated, it does not show the jury’s votes. Interestingly, the show’s winner, Yul, told Entertainment Weekly that he is “not 100 percent positive” who voted for him. However, he says, “My guess… continue reading
Reichen says he’s still dating Lance Bass, calls Perez Hilton “a common criminal”
Amazing Race 4 winner Reichen Lehmkuhl has responded on his MySpace blog to reports that he’s broken up with his boyfriend Lance Bass or is dating the singer just for publicity. Reichen writes that his book, Here’s What We’ll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, “was done before I ever… continue reading
Survivor Cook Islands finale wins the night, but the series continues to lose viewers
The finale of Survivor Cook Islands, the best season in a long time, was watched by 16.4 million viewers, making it the highest-rated show on Sunday night. By comparison, however, Survivor Guatemala‘s finale last fall was watched by 21.3 million viewers. And last spring’s lowest-rated finale to date for Survivor Panama was watched by an… continue reading
Survivor Cook Islands ends with a diverse final four; jury gives Yul a 5 to 4 win over Ozzy
A few weeks ago, when Jonathan told Candice, “Maybe it’ll be us four Caucasians in the final four,” it seemed like the most diverse Survivor ever was heading toward an all-white final four. Thanks to Jonathan’s betrayal of his alliance, however, and to incredibly smart strategy by Yul and incredible challenge play by Ozzy, that… continue reading
Survivor Fiji will have one tribe living in “luxury,” two hidden immunity idols
At the conclusion of Survivor Cook Islands, Jeff Probst introduced the next season, Survivor Fiji. First, he said that “Survivor turns the tables on two tribes, as one lives the life of luxury while the other is left with virtually nothing.” Perhaps not coincidentally, that’s the exact same thing that Mark Burnett’s other major network… continue reading