The fall TV season is almost upon us, and it’s time to see what reality TV has for us, from the usual network series (Survivor, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, Shark Tank) to attempts at ambitious new series (such as Utopia on Fox and The Chair on Starz) to the usual cable fare (Top Chef, Chrisley Knows Best, and a lot more). The frequently-updated… continue reading
Archives for August 2014
Free Utopia live feeds start today as the cast moves in
Fox’s Utopia begins streaming today from southern California, as 15 people–including a pregnant woman–leave sequester in a hotel and move onto a five-acre site, where they’ll attempt to create a new society over the next year. The actual series will debut Sept. 7 after football, and it will air twice weekly after that, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Unlike Big Brother,… continue reading
Nigel Lythgoe: “committing suicide is both stupid and selfish”
In a series of extended tweets, So You Think You Can Dance judge and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has responded to criticism of his comment on last night’s show about the suicide of two friends; now, he’s doubled down on what he said, writing that “committing suicide is both stupid and selfish.” For a counterargument, read this therapist… continue reading
CBS announces Amazing Race cast again, in case you forgot
CBS today re-announced The Amazing Race‘s 11 teams and a new twist for the 25th season, having already revealed the cast earlier this summer when the race started publicly in Times Square. The cast includes Survivor contestants Whitney Duncan and Keith Tollefson, while Survivor‘s new cast includes an annoying Amazing Race team. Of course, re-announcing the cast… continue reading
Exile Island returns to Survivor, replacing Redemption
Exile Island will replace Redemption Island on Survivor San Juan Del Sur. When production began on season 29 in Nicaragua, executive producer and host Jeff Probst revealed that Redemption Island had been dumped at the last minute, meaning those voted off were gone permanently, though he said the arena was built and would still be used. That replacement twist… continue reading
Cops crew member Bryce Dion killed by police during robbery
Bryce Dion, a 38-year-old sound mixer on Cops and crew member who’s worked on many other reality series ranging from Top Chef to Trading Spaces, was killed Tuesday night filming Cops in Omaha. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, who’d previously said he invited the show to film there because “[I] want the professionalism of our… continue reading
Survivor cast includes John Rocker, Amazing Race’s Twinnies
The cast of Survivor San Juan Del Sur was announced this morning, and while the second blood vs. water season’s cast is all new to Survivor, it includes former baseball player John Rocker and, as we learned earlier this summer, The Amazing Race team known as the Twinnies. There’s also a Michigan State football player and Miss Michigan… continue reading
COPS sound engineer killed
Update and new information, 2:18 p.m. ET: The COPS crew member who died was a sound engineer, not a camera operator, as someone incorrectly said while radioing for help after the shooting. The camera operator and all police officers were uninjured, the Omaha World-Herald reports; the paper said “at least 30 shots were fired” by police only, because the… continue reading
ABC doubling up The Quest episodes
Starting this Thursday, ABC will air two episodes of The Quest every Thursday, concluding the series on Sept. 11–though some markets won’t see the show until later, because it’ll be pre-empted by pre-season NFL games. The series has lost viewers every week, dropping from a low debut of 2.8 million people and a 0.7 rating… continue reading
I finally understand why The Amazing Race won its 10th Emmy
The Amazing Race won its 10th Emmy for reality competition last night, with its streak of wins interrupted only twice, by Top Chef and, last year, by The Voice. My reaction was predictable. The CBS competition isn’t a bad show; I meant every word I said when I presented TAR with the first reality TV TCA Award. There are a lot… continue reading
Big Brother’s Frankie: “lesbians choose to become lesbians”
The Big Brother houseguests had a lengthy conversation about a question they were asked during casting, leading Frankie Grande to lecture the others about sexual orientation while angering some viewers who thought he said that lesbians choose to be gay. He said that, but did he mean it? The conversation, which you can watch on the… continue reading
The real winner of Rising Star was not a singer
ABC’s Rising Star concluded its first season last night with the optimistic hope that it will return for a new season, declaring the “winner of Rising Star 2014,” as if there will be a “winner of Rising Star 2015.” The show’s final episode illustrated the summer singing competition’s strengths and weaknesses. It had the final four compete in a… continue reading
A kiss, a kick, and a fail: Big Brother in six seconds
I think we’ve reached the point on Big Brother where we’re just waiting for the alliance to burn through the non-alliance members before they turn on each other, when things could potentially get interesting. Actually, we reached that point long ago, but with Nicole re-entering the game, there was momentary potential for plans to be derailed. But… continue reading
Oh my: George Takei’s documentary is online today
All-around awesome person George Takei has parodied The Bachelor, been fired on Celebrity Apprentice, and was part of a King of the Nerds challenge. Now he’s the star of a documentary about his present and past, from Japanese-American interned in the U.S. during World War II with his family to Star Trek star to universally beloved… continue reading
Zach attacks with Froot Loops, Julie Chen soaked
With handfuls of Froot Loops tossed onto his fellow houseguests and his hair unruly because his signature hat had been cut into little pieces by its actual owner, Zach Rance exited Big Brother 16. During his time on the show, he’s run the spectrum: Sometimes he proved himself to be a complicated, emotional person who defied stereotypes and gender roles, and other… continue reading
Mythbusters drops Tory, Kari, and Grant
Discovery’s Mythbusters has dropped/fired its B-team cast, Tory Belleci, Kari Byron, and Grant Imahara. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will host next season by themselves. Kari Byron tweeted that “The show is taking a new direction.” Their exit was announced at the conclusion of tonight’s season 16 finale, after which the show’s official Twitter account thanked… continue reading
Julianne Hough will be Dancing with the Stars’ fourth judge
Dancing with the Stars will add a fourth judge this season: former cast member Julianne Hough. Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli all return, even though the show probably could have benefitted from replacing one of them. But change is scary; see Randy Jackson’s perpetual role on American Idol. Then again, Idol also offers… continue reading
Zingbot, Kathy Griffin try to shake up this Big Brother cast
Ziiiinng! How I loved hearing those words again. Big Brother‘s twist on the Zingbot, which was broken and only capable of issuing “props,” was clever, as was its integration with yet another strong challenge. The houseguests game play, however, was the opposite of creative, and continues along the path of making the game play increasingly uninteresting…. continue reading
Top Chef adds a former winner as a judge, sudden-death challenges
Richard Blais, the winner of Top Chef All-Stars and runner up of Top Chef‘s fourth season, will join the series as a recurring judge, the first time a former contestant has been given such a role on the Bravo show. Blais is also currently on Top Chef Duels, and was featured on the short-lived Life After Chef. Top Chef Boston will… continue reading
Watch Barely Legal Pawn starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul
I’m not sure this video qualifies as a pawn shop reality show parody, but that doesn’t really matter because it’s so awesome: It stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as the owners of Barely Legal Pawn and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a customer trying to sell some of her property. Produced by the Television Academy, it’s essentially a viral… continue reading