TVSquad

(S13E02) "He's a ball of emotion." - Sarah about Terence

Sure, Terence could very well be a "ball of emotion." But this week's episode of The Amazing Race might be better titled a "Ball of Confusion." I'm not talking only about the inevitable airport fiasco we're privy to each week. I'm talking about so many errors made by so many teams. Tonight's drama within the teams stepped up a bit more than what we saw last week.

In the past some online venues have had to cut off the wagering as it became evident that spoilers were leaked by either the cast or the crew. In particular, I remember the winners of two Amazing Race seasons leaked. We're just starting the fall television season and those sites are already hopping. Now, I myself am not a wagering kind of woman. I never condone throwing away money. But I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the sites to see how the odds are running for players in my favorite reality shows.

Be warned -- there may be some spoilers past the jump, especially with pre-taped shows. Shows such as Dancing With the Stars are live and dependent on the audience votes so they're more popular opinion than any real spoilers.

(S13E01) "The bees are much calmer than all of this!" - Anita to Arthur

Well, The Amazing Race has won yet another Emmy and tonight we were treated to the premiere of the new season. I've decided this is never a show to watch just before retiring for the night. The pace on the viewers might not be as frantic as for the racing teams. But as the music builds and things get frantic, it's better than a caffeine rush! Read on past the jump for the skinny on the show.

No, it's not going away. The reality television genre is growing even stronger as it becomes the umbrella for shows ranging from the traditional reality "game" shows like Survivor or The Apprentice, to actual game shows, to real life drama such as The First 48 or Intervention to talent contests and beyond.

What I'll be doing here is taking a look at some of the current newsworthy bits from recently-aired shows, checking out upcoming shows, and sharing the latest reality TV gossip. Is it real or is it just reality TV? As long as I'm entertained, that's all I ask of any show, scripted or not. Are you game? Join me beyond the jump.

It's really a no-brainer. What's a better second home for CBS's perennial Emmy-winning reality show The Amazing Race than the Travel Channel? What doesn't make sense to me is that the Travel Channel picked up seasons 12-14 of The Amazing Race. Season 13 premieres September 28 on CBS, with Travel debuting last year's Season 12 a few weeks earlier on September 3. But why didn't the Travel Channel just pick up the whole catalogue?

One of the things that makes The Amazing Race such a fantastic show is it gives us the opportunity to travel the world and see such wonderful and exotic places. Coupling those excursions with the Travel Channel's own wonderful documentaries about those same places would make for a great night of entertainment and information. Because of the travel aspect of it, it's one of the few reality competition shows that can be rerun without losing 90% of its appeal. It could be a preemptive move to establish a home on a cable network in case CBS ever pulls the plug; the show is only picked up one season at a time and always seems to be on the bubble.

The fall season of The Amazing Race is set to premiere on Sunday, September 28, at 8 PM ET/PT. Although it seems to be a bit early, CBS has already announced the teams. Looking at them, it seems my pre-season spoilers were indeed spot on. The aged hippies exist!

Phil Keoghan returns as the host of this Emmy-winning race around the world and I'm looking forward to another season of whirlwind excitement. You can check out the new teams in the gallery below and read on past the jump for more about them.

Everybody who watches reality shows, especially reality competition shows, does it: you wonder how well you would fare if put in the same situation. I really don't have the talent to be on a Project Runway-type show, or the ability to eat gross crap that you need to make it on Survivor, but I think I could hang on The Amazing Race for a while. I don't think I'd win or anything, because I would definitely be the one who constantly has meltdowns over obstinate camels and whatnot, but I don't think I'd be eliminated first, either. I can't cook much more than pasta, but I'm also pretty sure that if I were on Hell's Kitchen, at the very least, I wouldn't make Gordon Ramsay vomit like Matt did.

AOL asked a bunch of celebrities what reality shows they would tackle if given the chance. While most of the answers sounded more like desperate pleas for a job, others were annoying and some were just kind of hilariously misguided. Check out some of the answers after the jump.

The summer of 2000 started out to be a typical one for television: repeats, theatrical movies edited for television, repeats, shows that needed to be burned off because they were so bad, and repeats. It was a formula that hadn't really changed for the Big Three networks in several years. And, it was one that viewers had gotten used to as they mourned the last episode of their favorite series and waited with eagerness for the new season to begin in September.

Then, something happened. CBS decided to air a 'game show' about a group of strangers stranded on a tropical island. Survivor began at the end of May and continued into the end of August. Along the way it gained more and more fans and produced more and more publicity for both the show and the network. By the last episode, on August 23rd, Survivor had become a huge success as well as one of the highest rated original shows ever to air in the summer.

Little did CBS know that this summer replacement show would begin the Reality Revolution and change the landscape of network television forever more.

I've noticed that one of the more overused phrases on reality shows is "I'm not here to make friends." It's that moment in the competition where some controversy/confrontation comes up and the player that everyone seems to dislike the most explains to them that they're "there to win the game" and "not here to make friends." Of course, the fact that many of these people probably can't make friends even in real life probably doesn't even cross their minds.

Now someone has taken a bunch of those "I'm not here to make friends" moments and created a YouTube montage. You'll see contestants from shows like Survivor, The Apprentice, The Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model, The White Rapper Show (whatever that is), Project Runway, Forever Eden, Hell's Kitchen, and other shows. One player even says "I ain't here to make no friends," which is at least a twist on the phrase.

It has gotten to the point where they really have to outlaw this phrase from all reality shows, though I think the phrase would make for an awesome t-shirt.

The new season of The Amazing Race won't premiere until September 28 on CBS. But, you see, the filming is done. The cast and crew of the show have signed strict nondisclosure contracts. You can bet they're not leaking any information.

Now, if we were back in time to the 1950s, there would be no leaks -- less air travel, no internet enabling the average Joe to spread the word. But in today's world it's really hard to have racers running through airports without folks taking notice.

Warning -- Extreme show spoilers after the jump!

Are you anxiously awaiting news of who was in that SUV that exploded? Still fraught with worry over how Gibbs is going to get his team back together? Or maybe you are just excited that Survivor is finally going to be beamed into your living room in glorious HD. Well, you can start making plans for your fall scheduling now. The eye network has released the schedule of premieres for their new and returning shows.

I'm a little concerned about two things on the schedule. First, The New Adventures Of Old Christine and Project Gary lead into Criminal Minds on Wednesday nights. That's an odd pairing, and I don't think bodes well for either of the comedies. And second, The Unit gets shuffled off to Sunday at 10? NCIS and The Unit have done remarkably well paired up on Tuesdays. Good for The Mentalist, not so much for The Unit. The whole thing kicks off with Survivor on September 18th. The rest of the schedule is after the jump.

CBS announced its plans for the 2008-2009 season today. For the most part, things are staying the same, but there are two new sitcoms and four hour dramas planned. Here are the highlights:

Returning: The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, The Unit, Cold Case, Numb3rs, Criminal Minds, The Ghost Whisperer, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, 60 Minutes, Without A Trace, Survivor, The Amazing Race

Out: Shark, Moonlight, Cane, Kid Nation, Power of 10, Secret Talents of the Stars, Viva Laughlin, Welcome to the Captain

New: The Worst Week, Project Gary, The Ex List, Eleventh Hour, The Mentalist

Mid-season: Harper's Island, Rules of Engagement

Schedule and detailed descriptions of the new shows coming soon, after the jump.

Okay, I admit it. I like reality TV. Or maybe I should say unscripted TV. These days the parsing of the term "reality" has become as much a discussion as the genre itself. And don't kill me for calling it a genre. It is. It's here to stay. As long as producers can come up with ideas that make money and networks give them air time, reality/non-fiction/unscripted television is going to continue to proliferate the tube.

It's not with any great pride that I admit I'm hooked on reality shows -- some reality shows. My favorites include the high quality, classy shows, like The Amazing Race and Top Chef and Project Runway, as well as trashy ones, i.e. The Real Housewives of Orange County (and New York), Hell's Kitchen and Bridezillas. I like some of the competition-oriented shows, but that doesn't stop me from gazing in astonishment at the train wreck docu-series like Hey Paula and Being Bobby Brown. In fact, when I hear Kathy Griffin riffing on those shows -- her imitation of Whitney screaming "Bobby!" is classic -- I want to cry out, "Yes, yes, I watch that one, too."

Okay, here's the pitch. A reality competition show in which American contestants go to other countries and have to adapt. Does that sound like CBS's The Amazing Race? It did to me, but apparently it's not. ABC has ordered an unscripted competition show in which Americans go abroad and face challenges. I guess this is a case of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery?

Nobody would ever confuse Rufus Sewell for Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), right? Well, super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has chosen Sewell for the lead in the $4 million pilot of the British drama series Eleventh Hour. Presumably, Rufus will be playing the same role Patrick played, that is Professor Ian Hood, Special Advisor to the government's Joint Sciences Committee, enlisted to tackle all kinds of dangerous threats stemming from science gone awry.