The Today Show’s web site “surveyed nearly 19,000 people and found those who watch reality TV consider themselves more extroverted, more neurotic, and say that they have lower self-esteem than folks who aren’t fans of the genre.” Our lower self-esteem is probably because of polls like this. NBC announced today that American Idol winner Carrie… continue reading
Archives for November 2012
Sea Shepherd hiring crew to film next season of Whale Wars
Footage for the next season of Whale Wars may be shot by camera operators and producers hired by Sea Shepherd, the organization the show covers, according to an ad it posted. Sea Shepherd leaves Saturday for its campaign Operation Zero Tolerance, which includes four ships, including the new SSS Sam Simon, and drones to search… continue reading
The story of how Survivor inspired Lost, which stole its name from yet another reality series
That CBS’ Survivor inspired the ABC drama Lost is well-known, but a new book reveals that the show also took its name from another reality series, NBC’s Lost, which was executive produced by Conan O’Brien. That’s revealed in HitFix critic Alan Sepinwall’s book The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed… continue reading
How do you solve a problem like Abi-Maria? Not by rigging Survivor
In the aftermath of last week’s Survivor Philippines Tribal Council, Abi-Maria returned to camp having been thoroughly beaten up by the tribe, who told her exactly how her behavior was being perceived. Even though she lacks self-awareness, even she knew that she was done the next time Tribal Council rolled around. Luckily, she had a… continue reading
Big Brother’s Will Kirby to remove Romney face tattoo
Big Brother winner Will Kirby is the go-to guy for removing unwanted things from one’s body: Having previously removed Mike “Boogie” Malin’s penis wart, he will now remove a tattoo of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign logo from a man’s face. I wasn’t aware, but the multi-talented reality star “is widely considered to be a leading… continue reading
Carnival now says Drag Race cruise can actually include drag
The “Drag Stars at Sea” Carnival cruise will now actually permit people to dress in drag, reversing a decision Carnival made that said drag would not be permitted except by on-stage performers. It’s billed as “the largest gathering of drag stars in history” and includes more than 30 cast members from Logo’s reality competition RuPaul’s… continue reading
Flipping Out’s unexpectedly emotional surprise ending
Flipping Out ended its seventh season not with the departure of a cast member, Jenni Pulos, as previews and the last few episodes suggested might happen. Instead, it ended with something even more shocking: the death of a cast member, Monkey, Jeff Lewis’ cat, who was put to sleep. “This is the worst thing I’ve… continue reading
Abby Lee Miller is a “Maniac”: Dance Moms meets Flashdance in new promo
Lifetime has released a promo for its next season of Dance Moms, which debuts early next year, that’s set to “Maniac” by Michael Sembello, notably featured in Flashdance, and borrows slightly from that sequence. It’s a well-produced music video featuring a made-up Abby Lee Miller forcing girls to dance as their moms are locked out… continue reading
Sean Lowe’s Bachelor and possible engagement spoiled
The Bachelor‘s 17th season won’t debut until January 7, but the woman Sean Lowe selects and what happens during the final rose ceremony has already been revealed, thanks to Reality Steve, of course. Steve reveals that the spoiler, below, is “1000% confirmed” and acknowledges skeptics might point to the season when he was wrong, but… continue reading
Hidden camera elevator prank: horrifyingly hilarious
I generally find hidden camera shows to be an impossibly low form of reality television and humor, because they usually involve emotional manipulation of someone for a cheap laugh. (I am all for emotional manipulation when the subjects consent, like on SyFy’s hilarious Total Blackout or, you know, any other reality series.) There’s just no… continue reading
Cyber Monday special: tell me what I should write about
Today is Cyber Monday, the end of the beginning of our month-long consumerism binge, which begins on Black Friday–or even earlier this year, on Thanksgiving Day, because who wants to sit around listening to racist grandparents when you can shove aside (or shoot) fellow bargain-hunters for a chance at a $38 Blu-Ray player? Anyway, this… continue reading
As Extreme Makeover returns, find out how Trading Spaces and other shows cheat reality
Ten years ago, I went to Houston, Texas, and spend three days on the set of Trading Spaces, which was at the height of its popularity. It was finally cancelled four years ago, but spawned the makeover genre that still lingers today in shows as diverse as Hoarders, which now does mini-makeovers after cleaning up… continue reading
Happy Endings + The Real World = awesome
ABC’s comedy Happy Endings parodied The Real World on last Tuesday’s episode, with the storyline revolving around Damon Wayans and Adam Pally’s characters appearing on The Real World Sacramento, a season that was never broadcast season because one of the cast members burned down the show’s firehouse home. Happy Endings has been really hit or… continue reading
Why I’m thankful for this season of Survivor: a Thanksgiving reflection
It’s Thanksgiving, and Survivor started the holidays with an early gift of a new episode instead of the usual not-really-new recap episode. And while I’d normally appreciate the break, Survivor Philippines has been so strong that I’m glad that there was no interruption. And last night’s episode was yet another that’s firing on all torches,… continue reading
Dirty Jobs cancelled; Mike Rowe thanks those involved with “the most honest show in the history of reality TV”
The Discovery Channel cancelled American Chopper last week, and now Dirty Jobs has been cancelled, too, according to its star, Mike Rowe. Both shows were produced by Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios. Mike Rowe wrote on his blog, in part: “A few weeks ago, I was officially informed that Dirty Jobs had entered into a new… continue reading
Honey Boo Boo’s power: she caused Hunger Games star’s car accident
Jennifer Lawrence is currently filming The Hunger Games in Georgia, and rear-ended another car after she got distracted by who she thought was Alana Thomson, aka Honey Boo Boo. Also she confused the word “boobs” for “Boo Boo” and thought there was a parade for Alana, which illustrates the power Honey Boo Boo has to… continue reading
Penn Jillette’s fascinating revelations about Apprentice and Donald Trump
The Celebrity Apprentice cast member Penn Jillette talks about production of the show, Donald Trump, and reality TV in general in an excerpt from his new book, Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!: More Magical Tales from the Author of God, No!. Considering how much he talks about the show and Trump, who he says… continue reading
American Chopper will end again, for real (maybe)
The TLC and Discovery Channel reality series American Chopper will end next month with a live episode on Discovery, about 2.5 years after it aired its series finale. The show found a second life even after its stars, Paul Teutul, Sr. and Paul Teutul, Jr., had a public falling out. The show has been broadcast… continue reading
Jeff Probst, back for Survivor 27 and 28, talks credibility, boredom, man crushes, over-reaching
Survivor host Jeff Probst will be back for seasons 27 and 28, which CBS hasn’t officially ordered but is pretty much a sure thing. In two recent interviews, he discusses criticism of his hosting by fans. First, although he hasn’t yet signed a contract, that’s “a formality” for hosting Survivor 27 and Survivor 28, he… continue reading
Danielle Staub back to RHONJ? Dog Whisperer suicide attempt; Courtney Robertson on Bachelor brainwashing
Jeremy Renner is hosting SNL tonight, and though he has been in The Avengers and done other high-profile acting work recently, I’ll always think of Renner as a cast member on Bravo’s The It Factor. A few years ago, he told me the show didn’t help him get work, but instead “made me more expressive.”… continue reading