13 deep dives into how Survivor works behind the scenes, from casting to The theme song, the rule book to Jeff Probst’s shirts.
behind-the-scenes
Exclusive reports, interviews, details, and observations from behind the scenes of reality TV productions, from soundstages to islands, Trading Spaces to Survivor.
How Queer Eye’s editors work together to ‘help the audience connect with the hero’
Three of Queer Eye’s Emmy-winning (and once again Emmy-nominated) editors discuss their process of taking raw footage of the Fab Five and turning it into episodes for Netflix.
How Big Brother’s set is designed: an interview with production designer Scott Storey
Emmy-winning production designer Scott Storey talks about his work on the Big Brother house, which he’s been designing since season six.
RuPaul’s Drag Race and Guy’s Grocery Games: how their sets were designed
Reality TV production designer Scott Storey shares behind-the-scenes details about his designs of two of cable TV’s most well-known reality competitions.
How I went from reality TV fan to reality TV story editor
What does a reality TV story producer do? How do you find work in reality show post-production? In this edition of The Confessional, Eric Reynolds shares his story.
How Antiques Roadshow works behind the scenes, and what’s changing
Antiques Roadshow executive producer Marsha Bemko on how much appraisers are paid, how the show is filmed, and why it made a major change this season.
Big Brother behind the scenes
Answers to questions about what happens behind the scenes of CBS’ Big Brother: from the casting process to live feed cuts, producer manipulation to what’s behind the mirrors in the house.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race contract
Drag queens give up everything from rights to revenue in order to appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and everything from per-episode compensation to Drag Race’s rules are covered in this 51-page participant agreement that contestants sign during the casting process.
Behind the scenes with the new Mythbusters
I went behind the scenes with new Mythbusters Jon Lung and Brian Louden during filming of part of their “Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Rage” episode.
Behind the Scenes of American Ninja Warrior
Behind-the-scenes details about American Ninja Warrior’s city qualifiers and city finals production: How it’s filmed, how locations are chosen, and more.
How American Ninja Warrior created stars like Jessie Graff and Drew Drechsel
I interviewed American Ninja Warrior stars Jessie Graff & Drew Drechsel, and hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila & Matt Iseman, about how the show created celebrities.
Behind the scenes of American Grit season two
John Cena’s reality show left the Pacific Northwest for the swamps outside of Savannah, Georgia, for season two.
Interview: John Cena on American Grit season two’s major changes
An interview with John Cena about American Grit season two, which changes the Fox show in significant ways, starting with the contestants themselves.
Behind the scenes of CBS’ Hunted
A person who appeared on CBS’ Hunted reveals key details about how the show works—and Channel 4’s version of Hunted also offers insight.
Fact-checking a scene from CBS’ Hunted
How does CBS’ Hunted work? How do the hunters get access to private information? CBS wouldn’t grant an interview, so I dug into one scene to find out.