As an intro to my article about The New York Reality TV School, I've asked Red from The Shawshank Redemption to narrate my opening paragraph:
I wish I could tell you that the New York Reality TV School fought the good fight, and that the students in attendance were not a collection of mostly desperate people whose desire for fame burned more strongly than their sense of dignity. I wish I could tell you that, but the entertainment industry is no fairy-tale world.
Thanks Red. Now, if you, the reader, would be so kind as to click through to the article, it would mean a lot to me. Not because I get paid more for click-throughs (I don't; AOL pays me a flat rate of 60 cents plus a pound of corn husks for every post I make, regardless of the number of clicks), but because I spent three hours attending the inaugural class of the NYRTV school last Saturday. I just couldn't take it if the end result of that is an article no one reads...
After about an hour and a half of fake fights, thrown tennis balls, and clap after clap after clap, everyone sat down for a Q&A.
The students were able to ask questions of the following three people:
Robert Russel, the aforementioned reality show casting director.
Dave Martin, finalist on season one of Bravo's Top Chef.
Jorge Bendersky, "Dog Stylist" on Animal Planet's Groomer Has It.
I'm going to do something that I haven't done up until this point: report what happened without snarky asides or not-so-subtle digs at the students or organizers. This hour was actually worth the price of admission. If you're someone that is truly interested in the way reality shows work and what they're looking for, the Q&A gave some real insight into the process.
When I read the news that Billboard magazine (which is probably best known for giving Casey Kasem source material) was going to go into the reality show business, I scratched my head to figure out what exactly they'd do. After all, countdown shows are as old as TV itself, so doing something based on the trade magazine's famous charts would have had to be pretty damn creative. I was envisioning someone standing on a street corner acting out the top twenty songs through mime. And, as we all know, nothing good can come from the use of mime.
Fortunately, we've dodged that bullet for now; according to The Hollywood Reporter (via Reuters), the reality show will be a competition series, dubbed Billboard Next. Artists from various genres will submit videos via a website, which will be voted on by the site's audience. Those with the most popular votes will compete for the grand prize, which right now is unspecified. I'd imagine it'll be some sort of recording contract, but for all we know, it might just be a professional redo of the artist's MySpace page. I guess it all depends on the budget.
So I was reading this press release about a new CBS reality show called Greatest American Dog (working title). The network has just named a host of the Greatest American Dog and his name is Jarod Miller. The show premieres on July 10. What caught my attention was this phrase, "Animated zoologist Jarod Miller." Now, maybe it was just me, but for a moment I envisioned Jarod Miller as Brian Griffin, the dog on Family Guy. You know, an animated cartoon creation. After all, on Family Guy, Brian is the most intelligent character, and he has co-hosted a radio talk show.
In fact, the only thing animated about Jarod is his enthusiasm for animals. He's a guy who really loves his job. He's been on talk shows galore, putting creepy crawlies on Rachael Ray and keeping snakes from slithering all over Jimmy Kimmel.
Many people think that the term "cougar," which is loosely defined as "older woman on the prowl for younger men to date" was introduced on last season's How I Met Your Mother episode that had Jane Seymour seduce Neil Patrick Harris' Barney. But like I said in my review back then, I had heard that term before that episode aired. But we can definitely say that HIMYM popularized the term.
Now it seems like TV Land, which is becoming the network for reality shows starring people over 35, has decided to pick up a Bachelorette-esque series where a number of young men will be competing for the affections of "sexy and accomplished mature woman." The show is being produced by Mike Fleiss, who was the executive producer for the network's version of High School Reunion.
Not even Christmas is safe from reality show producers.
The people who brought you Dancing with the Stars have another show up their sleeves: Clash of the Choirs. It will pit five celebrity singers who will go back to their hometowns and try to build a choir. Once the choirs are built and perform live, viewers will vote for them via phone (of course). The winner gets to pick a prize for their hometown (I suggest maybe passing a law that says no reality shows can be filmed in their hometowns). The four episode show will run just before Christmas, December 17-20.
I know that the most devastating news that came out of the recent network upfronts was that NBC didn't announce when or if The Apprentice was coming back. I think I actually saw people crying and screaming on the street that day, shaking their fists to the heavens. But then NBC said it wasn't canceled, they just hadn't decided what to do yet. And then Donald Trump "quit" before they could "fire" him.
But wait! Trump told Larry King the other night that NBC wants to do another season of the show and he wants to do it too. He also criticized the network, saying they ruined the show by putting it all over the schedule (yeah, OK). So I guess they'll be another season.
CBS has pulled Tuesday Night Book Club after only two episodes. The show was really low-rated, and CBS hasn't announced whether or not the final six eps will be shown or not. Which is a really bad sign, because usually when there are remaining episodes of a canceled show, they'll burn them off during the summer. But CBS isn't even planning on doing that.
My suggestion? Go read a book instead, in the show's honor.
As an intro to my article about The New York Reality TV School, I've asked Red from The Shawshank Redemption to narrate my opening paragraph:
Part Five: The Money Shot
When I read the news that Billboard magazine (which is probably best known for giving Casey Kasem source material) 
So I was reading this press release about 
Many people think that the term "cougar," which is loosely defined as "older woman on the prowl for younger men to date" was introduced on last season's 
Not even Christmas is safe from reality show producers.
I know that the most devastating 
Sometimes the networks get it exactly wrong (Eyes!), and other times, 
Celebrate the 4th by watching television!
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