At the start of the film Hawking, Stephen Hawking, through his now-well-known computerized voice, says, “This film is a personal journey through my life, told in my own life. Come with me and I will tell you the story of… continue reading
Archives for January 2014
Top Chef’s soul problem, and how Roy Choi can help the show find it
As Top Chef New Orleans starts its two-part finale tonight to wrap up its 11th season, it became clear to me that it’s a solid show, but no longer must-watch. The series isn’t quite as bad yet as its short-lived… continue reading
Why CBS will keep bringing back contestants you hate
I basically laughed when, in the cast preview video for The Amazing Race‘s 24th season, host Phil Keoghan said that these returning cast members were “those teams you’ve grown to love.” He didn’t even add “and love to hate.” In… continue reading
Facebook will show real-time American Idol voting results
American Idol will reveal voting results in real-time for the first time ever, and do so via Facebook. In addition, the show has added yet another way to vote for contestants: people can vote while they’re searching Google, in addition… continue reading
Amazing Race’s secret “dramatic twist” is not all that secret, dramatic, or twisty
This morning, CBS revealed the teams competing on The Amazing Race 24, an all-star season featuring the return of Rachel and Brendon and a bunch of other annoying people. The network also teased a twist that isn’t really a twist… continue reading
COPS creator on Survivor; RHOM and Bieber, RHOA arrest; Xbox reality TV; Mitt Romney on Netflix
State and federal officials will investigate Animal Planet’s Call of the Wildman, which was revealed to be staging scenes with planted animals, some of which were drugged or even killed as a result. Xbox Entertainment Studios now has an unscripted… continue reading
The Taste’s second season: so much better than the first
Along with the silly spoons, most of the annoying parts of The Taste have all but disappeared, improving the ABC competition in its second season. The first season just didn’t work, but there was a lot of potential that has… continue reading
The new Fox series that combines Big Brother and Survivor
The brand-new reality series that strands 15 people for a year and broadcasts live feeds of their interaction is coming to Fox. Utopia debuted to strong ratings just a few weeks ago in the Netherlands and was created by John… continue reading
Call of the Wild not only fake, but abused, even killed animals
Animal Planet’s series Call of the Wildman has been revealed to not only be staged, faking its animal rescues by planting animals and using them as props in a scripted series. It’s even caused death to one of the animals… continue reading
Survivor Cagayan cast officially announced
CBS has officially announced the Survivor Cagayan cast, and as we already knew, it’s all new players, though heavily stocked with people who have some fame already. In the cast preview video below, Jeff Probst explains that “We have more… continue reading
First thoughts on Opposite Worlds, aka Glass House 2.0
ABC’s short-lived competition series The Glass House is back, it feels like, in Syfy’s new competition series Opposite Worlds, which takes much more from that series than it does from Big Brother–though of course, Glass House improved on the CBS… continue reading
The most disturbing reality show of the year may also be the most important
Esquire’s reality series Friday Night Tykes, which follows youth football teams in Texas, debuted last week, and has already generated response from USA Football, which insists what happens on the series is “in sharp contrast to USA Football’s core beliefs… continue reading
Shipping Wars death; Whodunnit’s future; Penn & Teller competition; Hoop Dreams’ 20th
The star of A&E’s Shipping Wars, Roy Garber, died Friday, two days after the show’s fifth season finished airing. His cat is okay. The cause of death was a heart attack, according to Variety. The documentary feature films nominated for… continue reading
The weird future of Celebrity Apprentice
Celebrity Apprentice‘s seventh season is so delayed that it there may be at least two years between seasons for the show, which was not on NBC’s schedule this year and which has not yet started production. It’s possible the show… continue reading
Juan Pablo on gay Bachelor: not “a good example for kids,” gays are “more pervert[ed]”
The Bachelor star Juan Pablo Galavis was asked if the franchise should have a gay or bisexual star, and in his answer he said he has “respect” for gay people but that they’d be a bad example for kids because… continue reading