Before the calendar turns over from the month of gratitude to the month of glorious consumerism in the name of gift-giving, a brief thanks to the 55 people who’ve given me a huge gift by being the first to step up to support reality blurred and my writing. I am so grateful to all of you…. continue reading
Archives for November 2017
In three hours, this Survivor season turned itself around
Going into these three episodes of Survivor—the pre-Thanksgiving episode and the two-hour episode last night, amusingly titled “Buy One, Get One Free”—I expected the merged tribe to just burn through the remaining three people who were in the minority alliance: Cole, Joe, and Mike. Conveniently, they also happened to be the most grating personalities remaining. But… continue reading
MTV’s Challenge had a “hostile work environment” with “unwanted touching”
An MTV’s The Challenge cast member detailed a culture of sexual harassment on the set of the show that the production tolerated and even encouraged.
Review: Floribama Shore is MTV garbage in an uglier package
The title of MTV’s newest series is not Floribama Shore. It is MTV Floribama Shore, that’s how tightly MTV is tying itself and its identity to the series, which follows seven people spending the summer in Panama City Beach. So if this show is MTV, what is MTV now? It’s a woman so intoxicated that she drops her… continue reading
The lavish promises made by the host and judges of Fox’s The Four
Fergie will host Fox’s The Four: Battle for Stardom, and she and judges DJ Khaled and Sean “Diddy” Combs really talked the show up.
Two Survivor episodes, Floribama Shore, and other reality TV this week
A preview of reality TV and docs airing this week, which includes the final episode of Fashion Police, a double Survivor, and a new Jersey Shore.
A short, athletes-only spring Dancing with the Stars
Instead of a regular season, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars will air a short, four-week season late next spring, and all of its contestants will be athletes.
Survivor and the problem of expectation
I was voted into a family last week. About an hour after our marriage license was signed, we gathered around a shiny dance floor surrounded by dinosaurs at a science museum, and my husband’s parents and brother surprised me with a reverse Tribal Council. They held up replicas of actual votes with my name on… continue reading
The Thanksgiving story we weren’t told
My idea of Thanksgiving, the one I learned in school and reinforced with construction paper Pilgrim hats and traced-hand turkeys, is a story about people coming together and bridging cultural divides, of a bountiful feast and joyous celebration, gratitude and joy. Even though the story was told from the perspective of the Pilgrims, I was… continue reading
Are Marcus Lemonis’ Profit checks real? Will there be a Partner season two?
On CNBC’s The Profit, Marcus Lemonis invests in businesses by writing his own check personal checks. Are those checks real? And what happened to season two of The Partner?
What are the best reality shows? Start with these.
If someone asks me about great reality TV—or is skeptical that reality shows can be excellent—this is where I’ll send them to start their quest.
Project Runway’s Wendy Pepper died
Project Runway season one cast member Wendy Pepper, whose full name was Anne Eustis Pepper, died Sunday. Her obituary, published today in the Washington Post, and which also lists her name as Anne Pepper Stewart, says she “died peacefully on November 12, 2017, surrounded by her loving family,” but does not give a cause of… continue reading
American Idol voting starts Sunday
American Idol doesn’t return until March, but voting will start this Sunday, as ABC is smartly using the American Music Awards and Dancing with the Stars to promote its investment in Idol.
A twist of spaghetti gives Survivor HvHvH its best episode yet
A recap of “Playing with the Devil,” Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers episode 8, on which the reward challenge led to a dramatic scene at camp.
An interview with the new Mythbusters
An interview with new Mythbusters Jon Lung and Brian Louden, who talk about the myths they’ll test and the legacy they’re inheriting. The new version airs on Science Channel.