Discovery Channel’s new show sends billionaire Glenn Stearns to Erie, Penn., with $100 to see if he can build a $1 million business in three months. But it also tries to argue that you, too, can do the same.
Interviews with reality TV show producers, cast members, and television executives about how shows are produced, what happened on certain episodes or seasons, and what's fake and what's real.
Why Serengeti’s director tried to create the opposite of ‘big spectacle’ nature TV
The creator of American Idol and Pop Idol was inspired to create Serengeti, and its director has spent a lot of time finding ways to creatively film animals.
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted’s producer, chefs, and network respond to criticism of the show
I interviewed chefs who appeared on Uncharted (“I needed a lot of convincing before I said yes”) and its showrunner (“When viewers tune in to see Gordon Ramsay, they want to see something through Gordon Ramsay’s point of view”).
Why Cajun Navy’s stars and producers hope the doc—about people who save lives—will affect our lives
An interview with the producers and subjects of the new Discovery Channel documentary, which follows the volunteers known as the Cajun Navy.
Robert Irvine on Restaurant: Impossible Revisited, and what’s changed on his show
“There are other restaurant shows out there; they come up with a big truck, spend five days or whatever, they’re never there, they don’t care about the people, it’s TV. To me, it’s not TV, it’s somebody’s life.”
How local news footage of the JFK assassination led to the idea for a new kind of doc
NatGeo’s Apollo: Missions to the Moon is the latest documentary from Tom Jennings that doesn’t tell viewers about historical events, it immerses them in the story.
Secrets of Scare Tactics, the horror/prank show that’s now on Netflix, uncensored
The creator of the hidden camera horror/prank reality show discusses whether the show will return, the surprising way Scare Tactics is cast, how a lawsuit affected the production, and much more.
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 Mexican Dynasties became Bravo’s first show with an all-Latinx cast, and why it matters
“I can’t tell you the last time I saw rich Mexicans being as silly and over the top as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or the Shahs of Sunset. I don’t see that, and I grew up as an American loving reality TV.”
Lisa Whelchel on how Survivor changed her life, and on her new reality show
“Being able to accept all of myself, and not just part of myself, was a real transformational gift that Survivor gave me.”
Why Josh Gates will be live from Egypt tonight, opening a 3,000-year-old sarcophagus
On Expedition Unknown: Egypt Live, Josh Gates hosted as Egyptologists and archeologists uncovered three mummies and a wax head. Details about what they found.
Hostile Planet is an intentionally brutal natural history series
National Geographic’s new natural history series is tough to watch. You probably don’t want to watch the clips in this story. I warned you.
A podcast that goes behind the scenes of an ABC drama’s creation, and Hollywood itself
An interview with The Fix’s showrunners, Liz Craft and Sarah Fain, from the reality shows they watch and love to what it’s like being a writing team in Hollywood.
An interview with Sam Neill about his reality series The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook
The Jurassic Park actor traced the route of Captain James Cook.
Mark L. Walberg on Temptation Island’s return, and its authenticity
An interview with Temptation Island host Mark L. Walberg, in which he talks about what’s changed, how produced the show is, and how he views his role.