“To say that there aren’t women in shark science is utterly ridiculous,” a Black female marine biologist told me. So I asked both Discovery’s Shark Week and National Geographic’s Sharkfest why they focused on white male shark scientists in their marketing and casting.
Clare Crawley replaced by Tayshia Adams on The Bachelorette
The Bachelorette season 16 is being filmed in Southern California, and reports that emerged over the weekend suggest the oldest Bachelorette ever, Clare Crawley, will be replaced mid-season with the franchise’s second Black star, Tayshia Adams.
BB22’s live premiere, Chopped: Beat Bobby Flay, and other reality TV shows debuting this week
Besides the return of Big Brother (yay? ugh?), there’s a special Chopped tournament that mashes up with Beat Bobby Flay, plus new seasons of Selling Sunset, Backyard Envy, and more.
Taskmaster, now on the CW (and YouTube), turns dumb challenges into great fun
Taskmaster’s dumb challenges inspire a lot of creativity and humor, and the show really grew on me. The CW is starting to air Taskmaster season 8 in the United States, and seasons 1 to 7 are also free on YouTube.
Shark Tank, Masked Singer, RHONY’s reunion will all be filmed in person, and soon
ABC, Fox, and Bravo are moving forward with plans to film reality shows in person despite the risks, though they are making some changes to Shark Tank, The Masked Singer, and The Real Housewives of New York City.
Survivor Borneo’s players actually strategize, and almost oust Rich and his ego
In an incredibly strong episode of Survivor season 1, Kelly bails on the Tagi four, but doesn’t join with Pagong members to vote out Rich, whose lack of clothing becomes a real problem that Jeff Probst even brings up at Tribal Council.
All the Emmy-nominated reality shows and hosts, led by Drag Race’s 10 nominations
Love is Blind, Cheer, Tiger King, We’re Here, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Queer Eye, Shark Tank, Top Chef, and The Masked Singer are among this year’s unscripted Emmy nominees.
Canada’s Drag Race stays with a familiar format, but has been modernized and Canada-ized
Canada’s Drag Race premiered on cable TV in the United States on Monday, and revealed itself to be an updated version of the drag race competition.
Reality TV premieres for the week of July 27 to Aug. 2
From Martha Stewart on HGTV to Robert Irvine in restaurants to The Real Housewives of Potomac, here’s what’s premiering this week.
BB22 will have a live move-in, new timeslots, and no studio audience
CBS has announced the premiere date and other details for Big Brother 22, which will be the show’s second all-star edition.
Survivor’s first loved ones visit comes via videotape, but not for one player
Survivor Borneo’s eighth episode focuses a lot on Greg and Jenna, who end up receiving all of the votes at Tribal Council.
Love Island, Big Brother 22 both film soon, and Love Island is moving to Las Vegas
CBS’s summer reality shows Love Island and Big Brother both appear ready to go into production soon, with a major change for Love Island season 2.
RHONY became a drunken mess this season, and it’s just not fun
RHONY used to be light and fun. But then Bethenny left, and so did everyone who knew how to tell a coherent story other than drunken fighting. Also: Who is Elyse and why is she everywhere?
Hoarders and Intervention return, Joe Exotic’s animals’ fate, and more reality TV this week
What happened to Tiger King Joe Exotic’s animals? What’s it like for people on the spectrum to date? How did the feds take down the Mafia in 1980s New York? New unscripted series try to answer those questions.
Nick Cannon, fired by VH1 for anti-Semitic comments, stays as Masked Singer host
Fox says Nick Cannon “inadvertently promoted hate” and “has sincerely apologized,” so he won’t be fired. But he did not apologize immediately for anti-Semitic comments he made in June, on an episode of his podcast.