The director of photography for Senior Prom, a dance competition featuring old people over the age of 70, has quit the production along with other crew members, saying they haven’t been paid. The show was in production in Naples, the formerly sleepy city in southwest Florida, where I grew up (and then fled). Executive Producer… continue reading
Archives for July 2012
Survivor winners, Steven Tyler on Idol, Tyra Banks almost quit, Louis C.K. and Tim Gunn
People catches up with 10 winners of Survivor, finding out what they’re doing now, besides appearing at cast events/fame orgies. [People] Steven Tyler says of American Idol, “I loved it and hated it. It was a great job, I sat next to J. Lo and I made a ton of money. It was a moment… continue reading
Giant crazy skee ball: Glass House’s great challenge can’t compete against the Olympics
As a skee ball fan, I was just excited by last night’s The Glass House challenge: giant, crazy, curved skee ball–and not just because it was a head-to-head challenge, which are always better than the timed, one-team-at-a-time challenges. Alas, competition from real sports–the Olympics–didn’t help the show’s already-low ratings: it lost 25 percent of its… continue reading
Jeff Probst explains why Survivor will have returnees “as often as possible”
Survivor‘s future involves returning cast members, both this coming year–the fall (Survivor Philippines) and spring seasons have returnees, with more in spring, akin to Fans vs. Favorites-levels–and in the future. That’s according to host and executive producer Jeff Probst. He was promoting his fall talk show, which premieres Sept. 10, in front of TV critics,… continue reading
Big Brother thrusts and tongues its way through Sunday
Sunday’s episode of Big Brother was kind of meh; it feels like we’re in the boring home stretch when we’re only a few weeks in. Perhaps the coaches entering the game and decimating the newbies will make things interesting starting Thursday, but for now, we got a coach challenge that was one of the least… continue reading
Glass House vs. Big Brother: CBS, ABC disagree about whether lawsuit is over
The presidents of CBS and ABC disagree about whether or not the Big Brother versus The Glass House lawsuit is over. ABC thinks it is; CBS, who sued ABC, said it is not. ABC entertainment president Paul Lee told TV critics on Friday that their experiment with the series “was totally worth it” and added,… continue reading
Bachelor finalists revealed, maybe
The Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss revealed, probably, five finalists for the title spot on the show’s 17th season: recent Bachelorette cast members Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Sean Lowe, and Ryan Bowers; Roberto Martinez, who has been long-rumored to be cast; and Tim Tebow. Tebow’s inclusion is suspect, and Fleiss also listed “the singer from Free Credit… continue reading
So You Think You Can Dance wins TV critics’ second reality TV award
Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance has won the Television Critics Association’s second award for outstanding achievement in reality programming, defeating nominees The Glee Project, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, and The Amazing Race. The award was presented by the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Terry Morrow and accepted by Mary Murphy and Barry Adelman,… continue reading
Bristol Palin blames media for her reality TV career; insists, “I love gays. I’m not a homophobic”
With Todd Palin on NBC’s Stars Earn Stripes and Bristol Palin returning as an all-star on Dancing with the Stars, Sarah Palin’s family has found a home in reality television. As Dancing host Tom Bergeron noted a few minutes ago, the Palins “haven’t really gone full Kardashian,” but it’s impossible to deny that the family… continue reading
Big Brother coaches will return (probably) and viewers will take the blame
With Big Brother three weeks into its season, there’s only one thing to do: throw out the twist and un-level the playing field even more than usual. Yes, let’s let the coaches, who’ve single-handedly protected, impacted, and evicted other players, be part of the game! Of course, this is no surprise, and of course it’s… continue reading
All-star Dancing with the Stars cast: mostly winners, runners-up
ABC just announced the all-star cast of Dancing with the Stars 15, and the identities of the three who will compete for a final spot. Although TV Guide reported that no winners would return, the opposite is actually true: there are six winners in the announced cast of 12. And every single (non-viewer-voted) cast member… continue reading
Sean Duffy fourth-dumbest in Congress; Nina Garcia affects stock market; Kathy renewed; Sister Wives suing Utah
Congressman Sean Duffy, who got his start on The Real World Boston, is the fourth-dumbest member of Congress, judging by the grade level of the language he uses in his speeches. It averages 8.04 according to The Sunlight Foundation. The average in Congress is 10.6, down from 11.5 in 2005. [Upworthy] Bravo has ordered a… continue reading
Willie Hantz arrested for intoxication while operating a vehicle
Big Brother 14 cast member Willie Hantz was arrested early this morning for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, i.e. drunk driving, in Lafayette Parish, La. TMZ has his mugshot and reports that he “was arrested in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana at 2:07 AM for OWI — operating a vehicle while intoxicated.” The site says he “is… continue reading
Real World appears headed to Portland
MTV’s The Real World looks to be filming its 28th season in Portland, Oregon. Top Chef is taping its 10th season in Seattle, meaning a lot of reality TV activity in the Pacific Northwest, which lasted hosted the MTV series in 1998. Last month, blogger Byron Beck claimed that the show would be going to… continue reading
Time-lapse footage of Big Brother’s veto competition being constructed
Big Brother 14 has gotten more “social” this season, and that has given us a behind-the-scenes video about the construction of last night’s veto challenge. It’s too brief and not very detailed, and is narrated by the show’s “Social Insider,” who reads off of cue cards and really should not. It also failed to mention… continue reading