reality blurred: reality tv reviews, reality show recaps, and news

News & updates

• ❑ Wednesday, Jan. 1, 12:01 am | Andy Dehnart

  Happy new year! 🎆 🥳 🎇

  May 2025 be filled with outstanding reality TV shows and great discussions about them, and be a year that leads us toward a world where kindness and peace prevail.

• ❑ Tuesday, Dec. 31, 9:29 am | Sarah D. Bunting

  Best Evidence full subscribers got my review of The Mole Agent late last night; grab a paid sub now to get that -- and a metric tonne of archival materials!

• ❑ Monday, Dec. 30, 3:08 pm | Andy Dehnart

  This parody of reality TV dating show intros by Niall Gray is basically a documentary. 😂

• ❑ Sunday, Dec. 29, 1:58 pm | Andy Dehnart

  A milestone I missed this year: Mark Ballas and Derek Hough's dance on the finale of Dancing with the Stars season 33 was the first time two men performed a dance together on the show in 20 years.

  “This hasn’t been done on the show before in 33 seasons, which is actually kind of crazy if you think about it. And we were like, you know what? It feels like one, it’s the right time," Derek Hough told Deadline, adding that he hopes more will follow: “We wanted to be able to introduce this concept in a way that if there’s anybody out there who might feel a certain way about it, we’re like, ‘hey, check this out.’ I think that it opens up a lot of opportunities and doors for the show to have that."

• ❑ Thursday, Dec. 26, 9:58 am | Sarah D. Bunting

  Meant to post this last week: Gothamist's "unscientific attempt to get answers" on where NYC's stolen packages go after they're nicked off doorsteps. Gothamist put tracking devices in three different products and followed them on their post-theft journeys, also interviewing bodega and shop owners along those routes to see if the products -- or others believed to have been stolen -- were offered for resale by possible/alleged thieves.

  There's also a response, if you can call it that, from NYPD, basically victim-blaming complainants and telling them to stay home for deliveries -- not an option for many, or that much of a deterrent to the more organized grab groups. When Exhibit B. had a physical "plant," the tree well in front of it was where the neighborhood substance misusers would strip the boxes they'd taken, and they were pretty brazen despite both me and the burly roofers next door looking out at them, in broad daylight. So...you know. The answer to how to stop these thefts is to improve economic circumstances for everyone, which doesn't seem super-likely short-term.

• ❑ Monday, Dec. 23, 7:34 am | Sarah D. Bunting

  The Congressional report on Matt Gaetz is set to hit today, per CBS News' Michael Kaplan. Too busy wrapping gifts/not wanting to vomit to check it out? The 37-page report notes that "there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress."

• ❑ Friday, Dec. 20, 9:26 am | Sarah D. Bunting

  The BBC World Service and the CBC have a true-crime podcast, The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby, hitting January 14. From the press release: "Kaitlyn, a pregnant young woman in crisis, takes dozens of birth workers through a series of disasters – rape, baby loss, and even a coma. One by one, the doulas struggle to support her, to grieve with her, and even to save her life as they are led down a devastating path. Then the truth comes out – it’s all lies." The podcast is hosted by Sarah Treleaven, who's written several of the fraud subgenre's most memorable longreads from the last few years.

• ❑ Wednesday, Dec. 18, 10:32 am | Andy Dehnart

  Top Chef and Tournament of Champions alum Shirley Chung posted an update with photos and videos on her cancer treatment: "I finished my 10 weeks radiation and chemo in patient treatments," but then "experienced the hardest / worst days of my life during recovery."

  There's good news. Shirley wrote, "My pain finally got better 3 weeks ago.💧The first sip of water was glorious, it was still super painful, but after 3 months of not being able to swallow anything, it was a small win! ❤️I have since learned to drink smoothies, had soups,ice cream and egg custard, my taste buds are coming back, I can taste 50% of sweet and savory and all the warm spices."

  Shirley also said she has a final checkup at the University of Chicago in January, and is going home for the holidays.

• ❑ Tuesday, Dec. 17, 5:05 pm | Sarah D. Bunting

  Variety and others report that Investigation Discovery has ordered a Luigi Mangione documentary special from Dan Abrams. Recent Abrams product suggests we should set our innovation/insight expectations low.

• ❑ Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2:40 pm | Andy Dehnart

  Below Deck captain Jason Chambers revealed he's been diagnosed with melanoma.

  "I thought I was resistant to the damaging effects of the sun," he wrote in a caption for an Instagram video. "I love the sun and its health benefits are evident, but be wise and like everything in life, it’s all about balance, choose your battles."

  He said "I now have an anxious wait and what I thought was a skin spot turned in just 6 months, early detection is the key," and recommended people "find a chemical free sunscreen product, get some shade with a hat and enjoy the sun with protection."