Posts with tag Real World
Posted Jul 16th 2008 7:06PM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, News, Celebrities

I usually associate
Real World cast members with drunken barfights, threeways, and tearful meltdowns--but politics? That's a first.
Kevin Powell, former
Real World reality star, is running for Congress in Brooklyn's 10th District. Old-timers like myself remember Kevin from the show's very first season, back when the cast members weren't equal parts hot and crazy.
Powell's post-reality career has set him apart from the typical fame-seeking MTV celebs. According to
his campaign website, he's written seven books and is a successful lecturer and activist. That certainly beats stints on
The Surreal Life and the
Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
Continue reading Real World alum running for Congress
Posted Jul 9th 2008 6:00PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Celebrities

In the early days of reality TV as we know it, when the
Real World was less of an alcoholic sex romp and more of a genuine social experiment, the "usual" way for talentless people become famous was to either be born into obscene wealth or fall down a well. Or both. Then, some time around the appearance of
Survivor Season One, normal folks realized that they could capitalize on exaggerating their personalities on television. "Richard Hatch walks around naked? And he's gay? And painfully manipulative? Yes, I will sacrifice my time and attention to watch your crappy show."
Continue reading Reality celebrities and their unfortunate existence
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
- At 8:30, G4 has their Comic Con '08 Live Preview.
- At 9, NBC has a new Baby Borrowers, followed by a new Celebrity Circus.
- PBS has a new Nova scienceNOW at 9.
- Also at 9: Sundance Channel has a new On The Road In America.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
- At 10, TruTV has a new Black Gold.
- TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 10.
- Bravo has a new Shear Genius at 10.
- Also at 10: MTV has a new episode of The Real World.
- At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted Jun 18th 2008 4:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
- NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, followed by a new Celebrity Circus.
- At 9, The CW has a new Farmer Wants A Wife.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime, then a new House Hunters.
- At 10, TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
- Tru TV has the series premiere of Black Gold at 10.
- MTV has a new Real World at 10.
- Also at 10: Bravo has the Top Chef Reunion.
- At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted May 23rd 2008 9:55AM by Jay Black
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Awards, TV Squad Awards

I'm in Los Angeles right now. From my observations: everyone is perfect looking, the weather is always beautiful, and everyone drives everywhere despite the fact that gas is approximately eleventy billion dollars a gallon and it doesn't appear that anyone is actually, you know,
working. LA doesn't exist in any kind of recognizable reality. Let's put it this way: if the guys in
Plato's cave were to figure out that the figures being cast onto their walls came from the Sunset Strip, they'd probably opt to stay chained up.
It stands to reason, then, that any genre springing to life in such an environment would bear no resemblance to what the rest of the world calls "reality". TV Squad therefore presents its first annual The Reality Shows Have Writers!? Award, recognizing those shows that in no way reflect a life that any human being on the planet is actually living but, for some reason, call themselves "reality shows."
Continue reading The Reality Shows Have Writers!? Award: Call for Considerations
Posted Apr 30th 2008 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
TLC has a Little People, Big World marathon all night.
- TNT has the NBA Playoffs all night.
- At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, then new episodes of Supernanny and Boston Legal.
- CBS has a new Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular at 8, followed by new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
- NBC has a new, two hour Deal Or No Deal at 8, then a new Law and Order.
- FOX has new episodes of 'Til Death, Back to You, and American Idol.
- The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8, then the series premiere of Farmer Wants A Wife.
- PBS has a new Secrets of the Dead at 8, followed by a new installment of Carrier.
- At 9, Rachael Ray guests on a new Larry King Live, on CNN.
- Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters at 9.
- Also at 9: Oxygen has the new movie Husband For Hire.
- At 10, Bravo has a new Top Chef.
- Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
- There's a new Real World on MTV at 10.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted Apr 2nd 2008 4:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and Men in Trees.
- CBS has a new Big Brother 9 at 8, then new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
- NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8.
- FOX has the season finale of Moment of Truth at 8, then a new American Idol.
- There's a new America's Next Top Model on The CW at 8.
- At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters, then a new Destination Truth.
- Travel Channel has two new episodes of John Ratzenberger's Made in America starting at 9.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
- At 10, TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
- Comedy Central has a new South Park at 10, followed by a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.
- Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
- Also at 10, MTV has a Real World reunion show, The Real World Awards Bash.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted Feb 20th 2008 11:41AM by Jay Black
Filed under: OpEd, TV 101

Like a lot of writers, I have an idea folder (it's manila, but I have it covered in puffy rainbow and unicorn stickers, so it's
beautiful). As each week progresses, I jot down all my ideas -- for columns, for stand-up bits, for ransom notes -- and at the end of that week, I take stock of my creative output.
This week, I noticed that there were a lot of ideas that I wanted to share, but that weren't quite big enough for a full
TV 101 column. I attached them to the end of my last column in a section called "Dribs and Drabs." It was a good thought, except that it took an already bloated piece (my writing makes the Unabomber's manifesto look like a dream of concise thought) and puffed it up into a 3000 word monstrosity. My editor suggested I break up the Dribs and Drabs section into its own piece, and that, dear readers, is what I did. Dribs and Drabs, after the jump...
Continue reading TV 101: Dribs and Drabs (or, stuff that wouldn't fit in my last column)
Posted Feb 18th 2008 12:02PM by Jay Black
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, TV 101

Chuck Klosterman, in his very excellent
Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, wrote an essay about
The Real World: San Francisco. He said that the third season of
The Real World was the moment the series stopped
reflecting youth culture and started
creating youth culture.
I'm not going to argue with Mr. Klosterman. I admire him so much that for a short while, I thought he was my own
Tyler Durden (all the ways I wish I could be -- that's Chuck). If we are, however, to take Klosterman's argument as truth -- that Puck and Pedro realizing the cameras were on them was the TV equivalent of Skynet becoming self-aware and destroying humanity -- we must then look to the second season of the show as the moment when
Miles Dyson started working for Cyberdyne. That is, the seeds for television's unraveling were sown not during the third season of
The Real World, but during the
second. As 2008 is the 15th anniversary of
The Real World: Los Angeles, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look back at how it managed to ruin everything...
Continue reading TV 101: The Day the Music Died (or, how the second season of The Real World ruined everything)
Posted Nov 20th 2007 9:21AM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother (US), Contestants, Alumni, TV Squad Lists

As you probably know AOL TV is listing the
50 Sexiest Women of TV. This week they added numbers 30-21. Looking at these pictures just brings back memories--Katie Holmes on
Dawson's Creek! I almost forgot she started on the small screen before she became the kept woman of that wacko Tom Cruise.
Their list over at AOL inspired me to create my own list--this time of Reality TV stars. Be sure to write who you would add to either AOL TV's list or my own list in the comments.
Continue reading The seven hottest reality TV stars
Posted Aug 29th 2007 5:21PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight
At 8, CBS has a new Power of 10.
- NBC has a new hour-long Most Outrageous Moments at 8, then a new Last Comic Standing.
- At 9, TBS has two new episodes of House of Payne.
- Discovery has a new Mythbusters at 9, followed by a new Cash Cab.
- There's a new Lost Worlds on History Channel at 9.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
- At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
- Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
- TCM has The Maltese Falcon at 10.
- Sci-Fi has the season finale of Mind Control with Derren Brown at 10.
- Also at 10: MTV has a new Real World.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted Aug 15th 2007 12:04PM by Varun Lella
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities, Casting
Adam reported earlier this summer that a Steve-O-hosted reality show titled
Dr. Steve-O, formerly
Camp Steve-O, was picked up by USA for the fall. The show focuses on the former
Jackass star as he roams the land from redwood forest to Gulf Stream waters trying to toughen up our nation's men.
Dr. Steve-O has now
added Trishelle Cannatella, formerly of
Real World: Las Vegas and
The Surreal Life, as the madman's assistant in "de-wussifying wimps."
Continue reading Dr. Steve-O adds Real World starlet
Posted Apr 30th 2007 10:06AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Adult Swim, TV Squad Lists
Welcome to TV Squad Lists, a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad. Of all the television I've watched in my life, there are few shows that I can say, I truly hate. Even a bad show has its place in TV history. However, if there is one thing I can't stand it's a show that doesn't live up to the hype. As always, these are only my choices. I'm sure you will have plenty of your own.
Continue reading The top 10 most overrated shows
Posted Feb 20th 2007 11:59AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Spike

Because there just aren't enough versions of
CSI, Spike is adding a reality show to the crime solving mix. The channel has
ordered ten episodes of a new show called
Murder from Bunim-Murray Productions. They are best known for
The Real World, Road Rules, and
The Simple Life.
The new show will find two teams of contestants investigating a replica of an actual crime scene under the watchful eye of Detective Tommy Le Noir, a 20 year veteran of law enforcement. The teams have 48 hours to complete their investigation before making their final presentation to Le Noir. The team that makes the best case will have a donation made in their names to charity.
The idea makes sense for Spike, given that they already run
CSI and
CSI: NY. Scheduling
Murder in alongside those is a good fit. On the other hand, I can't help thinking that this show was already done with
Murder In Small Town X. And just going on what we have here, it sounds like it was done better then.
Posted Feb 10th 2007 1:14PM by Brett Love
Filed under: FOX, American Idol, Music and Variety

We've already seen
Survivor and
Big Brother go the all-star route. And The
Amazing Race is getting set to kick off their own version. Heck, it seems like every time I click by MTV there is another show filled with past
Road Rules and
Real World cast members. So why not American Idol?
According to
TV Guide, Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe is trying to sell Fox on the concept. It's part of the planned songwriting competition. Lythgoe's idea is to narrow those entries down to ten songs and then bring in ten former
Idol contestants to sing the songs on the show.
I'm not an
Idol fan, but I have to say, that's a solid idea. I'm guessing they won't be able to get Kelly Clarkson, and chances are
Jennifer Hudson won't be involved. But assuming that they can manage to get ten of the more popular contestants, this should make for another huge week of ratings. And an
American Idol All-Stars CD... And an
American Idol All-Stars Special Edition DVD... And... good grief,
Idol is just a machine. At this point it's rivaled only by the power of
Harry Potter.
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