As someone who loves reality television, and loves a great reality TV series, I always root for shows to succeed. I want producers and networks to take risks, and to risk failure to try something new. I want great unscripted art and entertainment, and I want it to do well. And then I read about… continue reading
A&E cancels series after exposing, lying to sex workers
A&E’s controversial 8 Minutes has been cancelled after five low-rated episodes and several damning claims. Episodes are no longer on the show’s web site one day after BuzzFeed reported that the show–which promised to help sex workers–actually lied to and exposed them. A&E said the show would follow a pastor, Kevin Brown, on his “harrowing… continue reading
A&E’s The First 48: ruining innocent people’s lives or just documenting reality?
On its web site, A&E says its reality series The First 48 “takes viewers behind the scenes of real-life investigations as it follows homicide detectives in the critical first 48 hours of murder investigations, giving viewers unprecedented access to crime scenes, interrogations and forensic processing.” But a pair of stories argue that by documenting botched… continue reading
A&E’s badly acted, scripted Modern Dads illustrates why Duck Dynasty is so special
The success of Duck Dynasty continues to astound everyone, apparently even its own network, because based on its new series Modern Dads, it seems that not even A&E understands what makes its own show so great. (Of course, many cable networks are churning out scripted shit masquerading as reality TV, and A&E is not alone… continue reading
Duck Dynasty, Storage Wars, Swamp People DVDs: free
If you’re a fan of A&E’s reality series Duck Dynasty, Storage Wars, and Swamp People, you can win DVDs of all three shows in reality blurred‘s latest contest. If you’re one of three winners, you’ll get Storage Wars: Volume 4, with 16 episodes and extra footage; Swamp People: Season 3, which includes all 22 episodes… continue reading
A&E cancels Gene Simmons Family Jewels
Gene Simmons Family Jewels has been cancelled after seven seasons and 160 episodes by A&E, but the show’s producers suggested it may live on somehow. The series exits as the longest-running celebrity reality show, one that was sometimes questioned on its authenticity; Vulture wrote last year gave us “a new kind of ouroboros: The reality-show… continue reading
Billy the Exterminator arrested for synthetic marijuana
The star of A&E’s Billy the Exterminator, William Bretherton, and his wife, Mary, were arrested Friday for possession of synthetic marijuana. They bonded out of jail following their arrest. The Shreveport Times reports that they were charged “with one count each of possession of a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance (synthetic marijuana) and possession of… continue reading
Russell Hantz’s A&E series delayed, moved to Saturdays
The debut of Flipped Off, Russell Hantz’s A&E series about house-flipping, has been delayed until later this month, and the show will now air on Saturday nights. It was supposed to debut today, in the Monday at 10 p.m. timeslot usually held by Intervention, where A&E is instead airing a repeat of Beyond Scared Straight…. continue reading
Flipped Off, Russell Hantz’s A&E show, has a debut date
A&E’s Russell Hantz house-flipping series has a new name, Flipped Off, and debut date: April 9. And it also has cast members other than Russell, including his brother, Shawn, and “beautiful and savvy real estate agent, Kristen, … who isn’t afraid to slap some sense into the Hantz brothers when their egos get in the… continue reading
A&E sells its soul by giving Russell Hantz his own house-flipping series
A&E, the network that has brought us exceptional, high-quality reality television such as Hoarders and Teach: Tony Danza, has sold out by giving Survivor pest Russell Hantz his own show about house flipping that even has a title that’s a bad knock-off of Bravo’s Flipping Out. Flipped “follows ‘Survivor’ Russell Hantz, a ‘flipper’ himself, along… continue reading
Arnold Shapiro defends Beyond Scared Straight’s programs against criticism
A&E’s Scared Straight concludes its first season next Thursday, having debuted to record ratings in mid-January. Following the show’s debut, there was controversy: two of the three states featured on the show have suspended their programs, and the show and the programs it features have been criticized. The series, which takes at-risk teenagers into prisons… continue reading
Beyond Scared Straight’s screaming inmates draw a record number of viewers
A&E and Arnold Shapiro’s new reality series Beyond Scared Straight, which follows kids kids got in trouble as they go prison to get the shit scared out of them by actual inmates, became the network’s most-watched new series ever. It’s based on the Oscar-winning 1973 documentary. An average of 3.7 million people tuned in on… continue reading
Ryan Buell leaving Paranormal State beacuse “we need some freedom to be and to grow”
The A&E reality series Paranormal State will lose its star and subject after five seasons of following Ryan Buell and his Pennsylvania State University Paranormal Research Society after Ryan announced he was quitting the show. However, the future of the series is unclear; an A&E representative told me that there is no official word yet… continue reading
Addicts who Relapse will be focus of new A&E series from Intervention producers
A&E has ordered another series focusing on addicts: Relapse, which focuses on coaches who work with addicts to help them through relapses. It’s produced by Intervention‘s producers but isn’t a spin-off, though it certainly is thematically related to that show and to Hoarders, which also focuses on mentally ill people getting help. In its announcement,… continue reading
A&E pulls The Hasselhoffs as Americans tell the UK: you can have David Hasselhoff
After airing just two half-hour episodes, A&E has pulled The Hasselhoffs off the air, after getting evidence that we are no longer crazy for David Hasselhoff. He was voted off Dancing with the Stars first, shocking producers but no one else; he hasn’t been missed on America’s Got Talent, where Howie Mandel fits in perfectly;… continue reading