Viewers tuning in to the first episode of Big Brother After Dark in its new TVGN home last night discovered that the broadcast of select live feeds wasn’t uncensored, like it was when Showtime aired it. Instead, words–and sometimes entire phrases–were censored. That was not the cast for Canada’s broadcast of the show on Slice…. continue reading
Archives for June 2013
Ratings drop for Big Brother’s debut
Big Brother 15‘s debut and new twist attracted far fewer viewers than last summer, as only 6.51 million people watched the episode. It earned a 2.2 rating among viewers 18 to 49, compared to a 2.6 last summer, down 15 percent. Its all-time low was in the summer of 2008, a 2.1. In its timeslot,… continue reading
Big Brother MVP gets nomination power, houseguests get sprayed in the face
Those hoping Big Brother would change or evolve probably had their dreams crushed in the first few minutes, as Julie Chen twirled awkwardly in the house to find new camera angles and the cast pretended awkwardly to be surprised that they were cast and that cameras were there to capture that moment. At least we… continue reading
American Idol adds producers of Bravo’s Start-Ups Silicon Valley: awesome
American Idol‘s 13th season has added two more executive producers: the producing team known as Den Of Thieves, Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager. Most recently, they produced Bravo’s short-lived Start-Ups: Silicon Valley. That’s great news for the Fox series. Den of Thieves was hired by 19 Entertainment, which co-produces Idol with FremantleMedia North America, which… continue reading
SYTYCD adds SuperVote; Nigel Lythgoe, Adam Shankman Prancercise
Starting with tonight’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance, Fox is offering a new “patent-pending” way to vote for contestants, casting multiple votes at the same time. SuperVote allows viewers to vote via the show’s web site, the FOX NOW app, and Facebook, on which they can allocate up to 20 votes even… continue reading
People think ABC’s Whodunnit actually killed contestants
Update: The show’s executive producer Anthony Zuiker discusses this and gives behind-the-scenes details. The new ABC reality competition Whodunnit debuted last night and included the pretend murder of two contestants, one of whom wasn’t really a contestant at all. Some viewers were, at best, confused about whether or not the show was really killing people,… continue reading
Padma slams Top Chef product integration (“shit”), Phil Keoghan regrets family Amazing Race; Gordon Ramsay wants aftercare
Randy Jackson, Gordon Ramsay, Tom Bergeron, Phil Keoghan, Heidi Klum, and Padma Lakshmi had a completely fascinating hour-long discussion about reality TV with The Hollywood Reporter. The full video is below, but highlights include Top Chef‘s host calling its product placement “shit” and The Amazing Race‘s host dissing the family season. Highlights from their conversation:… continue reading
Whodunnit is on fire: a reality TV CSI where thankfully the cast gets killed off
While I like the first 10 minutes of Whodunnit, it was not until the last moments that I was hooked, as a cast member with a dumb theory and bad strategy was set on fire. Yes. More, please. The middle parts of the episode were hit and miss, but it was still worth watching (the… continue reading
Tim Gunn gets crazy power on Project Runway 12
Project Runway‘s 12th season will give the series’ breakout star, Tim Gunn, more power than he’s ever had before: a role during the judging, including the ability to rat out the contestants’ behavior in the workroom, and the ability to save one contestant at some point. Lifetime announced that “Gunn will join Klum and the… continue reading
Summer Break: teenagers’ social media narcissism becomes social media-only reality show
A new reality show started airing this week: Summer Break follows nine pre-college, Los Angeles-area teeenagers. The catch is that the show exists only on social media, and will consist entirely of brief daily episodes and slightly less brief weekly videos that are professionally shot and edited, but will also may incorporate the endless real-time… continue reading
Big Brother 15’s young houseguests: Rachel Reilly’s sister, no returnees
Big Brother 15‘s houseguests have been revealed, and there are 16 people, nearly all of whom are in their 20s and white. As Julie Chen had already promised, there are no returnees, but because a season without a connection to Rachel Reilly is not a season of the show, her sister, Elissa Slater, has been… continue reading
Whodunnit’s first 10 minutes: a killer start
ABC’s Whodunnit? debuts Sunday, and every since it was announced, I’ve been anxious to see if it’d be Clue, The Mole, Murder in Small Town X, or some combination of them. Based on the first 10 minutes, it’s hard to tell, but those minutes represent a very strong start. Watch it first, then we’ll discuss…. continue reading
Blake Shelton’s three-win streak: does it hurt The Voice?
The Voice‘s fourth season ended with what’s now become a three-times-in-a-row trend: a member of Blake Shelton’s team winning. Danielle Bradbery, who at 16 years old is the youngest contestant this season, defeated Michelle Chamuel. Season one went to Adam Levine team member Javier Colon, but all the winners since have been members of Blake… continue reading
Big Brother twists: three nominees, weekly MVP
CBS announced two of Big Brother‘s twists today: three people will be nominated each week instead of two, while viewers will select an “MVP” who will have a “secret power.” A press release says that “contestants will nominate three in this summer’s edition,” and that doesn’t explicitly mention the Head of Household being the person… continue reading
Big Brother 15’s house: new paint, no nomination chairs, hint of a twist
Photos of the new Big Brother 15 house/set design have been released, and if you were expecting something massively different, you will be massively disappointed. However, the design apparently relates to a twist, including the lack of nomination chairs (a couch is in their place) and is slightly more sophisticated than before, echoing The Glass… continue reading