Fox’s new game show Beat Shazam has contestants face off against a smartphone app. But how does that work? What are the rules? I have answers.
FOX
You the Jury cancelled, guilty of being terrible
Fox has cancelled its low-rated Friday night faux courtroom, pretend trial show You the Jury after just three episodes.
A second look at two new survival competition reality shows
Brief reviews and thoughts about MTV’s Stranded with a Million Dollars and Fox’s Kicking and Screaming, both of which have entertained in surprising ways.
A meal worse than drive-through tacos: preview tonight’s Kicking & Screaming
Last week, before the premiere of Kicking & Screaming, contestant and reality TV fan Maxwell told me that he went on the show to challenge himself: “I keep trying to push myself outside my box, because I think it makes me a better person,” he said. On the second episode tonight (Fox, 9 p.m.), leaving… continue reading
An interview with Kicking & Screaming’s Maxwell about the new Fox competition
Kicking & Screaming contestant and reality TV fan Maxwell Carr takes us behind the scenes, talking about surviving in Fiji and playing a new game.
Fox’s honest admission about a troubling reality TV trend
A Fox executive said out loud what producers have been hearing for a while: an insistence that celebrities be attached to reality shows. This is not good.
Fox reviving Love Connection, with host Andy Cohen, and both straight and gay couples
Fox is following ABC’s lead by rebooting nostalgic game shows from the 1970s, ordering 15 episodes of Love Connection, which will be hosted by Andy Cohen.
Jamie Foxx is hosting Beat Shazam, Mark Burnett’s Fox competition
Jamie Foxx, the actor, will host a Mark Burnett Fox reality competition that features people trying to beat Shazam, the music-identifying app.
Fox moves its food reality TV to Thursdays
Fox’s new and returning food-focused reality TV shows will all air on Thursdays starting on the first Thursday of 2017. Hell’s Kitchen, Masterchef Junior, and My Kitchen Rules will share Thursdays. Here’s how this new night of food reality TV—though it hasn’t been branded that way—will unfold: On Jan. 5, Hell’s Kitchen moves to Thursdays with two episodes of its 16th… continue reading
Fox cancelled Coupled, and was surprisingly candid about why
Fox programming executive Dana Walden identified the exact reason why Coupled, a Mark Burnett-produced Bachelor clone, failed.
How much is Fox’s Coupled like The Bachelor? A first episode review
Survivor and The Voice producer Mark Burnett’s first dating series, Coupled, debuts tonight. So is it better or worse than The Bachelor?
The spectrum of reality TV desperation, illustrated by two new shows
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
Things Fox executives said about American Idol and Knock Knock Live, translated
Fox Television chairs and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman talked with TV critics this morning at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. They talked about the network’s reality TV, including American Idol and Knock Knock Live. Inspired by this brief Twitter exchange with USA TODAY critic Robert Bianco, here are some things they… continue reading
Knock Knock Live. Who’s there? No one, so you’re cancelled
Fox has cancelled its quasi-live, Ryan Seacrest-hosted series Knock Knock Live. This is unsurprising: the first episode was an offensive mess, and in terms of viewers, the answer to “who’s there” on Fox’s Knock Knock Live was “pretty much no one.” Despite the presence of Justin Bieber on Tuesday’s episode, or maybe because of it, ratings… continue reading
On the failure of Knock Knock Live and reality TV’s faux altruism
When CBS first announced The Briefcase, I wondered why they show didn’t just give money away to families in need instead of using it to manipulate them. A few months later, Fox has debuted a show that answers that question and proves I was wrong. Such a show would be terrible—or at least, Knock Knock… continue reading