Monica Lewinsky, the one-time host of reality dating competition, delivered a TED Talk recently about shame that indicts reality TV as contributing to a dangerous and damaging culture online. It’s a must-watch. In part, she says: “For nearly two decades now, we have slowly been sowing the seeds of shame and public humiliation in our cultural soil, both on- …
Esquire and Oxygen announced today that they’ll each air a reality series that’s connected to the other. Both shows follow the same group of comedians but from two different perspectives. Esquire’s version, Comedians of L.A., will follow a group of comedians who tour and perform around the world. Oxygen’s version, Living with Funny, follows the comedians when they’re at home. It’s a …
The companion series to RuPaul’s Drag Race has been demoted to a day-after, online-only series, but the stripped-down version is proving to be even more compelling than the version that aired on television. Thinking about Untucked also helps take my mind off last week’s bullshit elimination. Episodes of Untucked start in media res, as RuPaul tells several of the queens they’re safe from …
I was just wondering if you have ever applied to any reality tv show? Would you like to be a contestant in any reality, or be the subject of a docu-reality series? Just curious! –Francisco I’ve applied to one show: The Mole season two. That story in a minute. As to the other questions, the answer is …
A category five cyclone devastated Vanuatu over a 24-hour period earlier this month, and relief organizations have asked for help this week. Cyclone Pam hit the island nation March 13 with sustained winds of 155 mph, and it was one of the most-intense storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. In Port Vila, 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed; that’s …
I love when plans go awry on Survivor. That may explain why, during Tribal Council, when Jeff Probst asked Sierra, “Why not stick together for a couple more votes?”, I wanted someone to scream back, Why not shut up right now k thx? In terms of thrown challenges backfiring, Joaquin’s exit is nothing at all like last season’s spectacular downfall. In fact, neither of those …
Discovery’s hit reality TV series Naked and Afraid is spinning off a new series, while NBC has nearly simultaneously ordered a show, The Island, that sounds extremely similar. When Discovery announced the fourth season of Naked and Afraid, which returns in April, its press release started with, “There have been many copycats, but nothing ever comes close to the original.” That’s …
