TheAmazingRace-related stories
Posted May 21st 2009 11:03AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Apprentice, Survivor, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent
With the latest seasons of
Survivor,
The Amazing Race, and
American Idol wrapping up, fans patiently have to wait until the fall or spring 2010 for their favorite shows to return. But why wait? Several reality TV shows debut in the summer both as lighter fare than fall shows and a way to test for target audiences.
If one recalls, several summer reality TV shows have eventually moved to prime real estate in the fall or spring. If rumors are true the summer favorite
So You Think You Can Dance will be the next to move, airing in the summer and fall.
Here are some alternatives for your favorite reality TV shows.
Continue reading Summer reality TV alternatives
Posted Apr 25th 2009 9:00AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Apprentice, Survivor, Celebreality
One of the best things about reality shows for me is watching people succeed or crash in a fiery abyss. While watching
Grey's Anatomy, I caught the commercial for all the summer shows and was excited to see the return of
I Survived a Japanese Game Show. Last year was heavily underrated. All the contestants were likable, everyone learned about Japanese culture, and the biggest thing everyone came off learning something.
While I wait for summer and hope for a new season, this week started off MTV's
The Phone. I was nervous about Justin Timberlake being the executive producer, but the show surprised me. Any fan of
The Mole,
The Amazing Race,
Cha$e, or
Treasure Hunters should probably consider. Now on to the weekly awards.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards
Posted Apr 18th 2009 10:04AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Celebreality
As the numbers continue to dwindle on the competitive reality shows, tension is starting to rise and I want a front seat. The one thing I appreciate about network reality programs compared to scripted shows is that there are new episodes every week (I'm looking at you,
Grey's Anatomy).
I'm going to make a prediction that next week Coach will say something stupid, Frenchie will say something that needs subtitles, the cast of
The Biggest Loser will sweat, and Adam will regret singing "Play That Funky Music" a few weeks too early. This week's awards after the jump.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards
Posted Apr 4th 2009 2:03PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Survivor, Dancing With The Stars
This week, reality television maintained some normalcy. The outliers in
Survivor,
Dancing with the Stars, and
Hell's Kitchen went home. Although I'll lament the loss of Mel and Mike in
The Amazing Race, I believe that all the remaining teams deserve to be there.
Speaking of teams, the
Survivor Secret Alliance still has the numbers. With the merge inevitable, we'll see if one of the best alliances ever created will stick together. As long as Coach goes home, I'll be satisfied. More analysis after the jump.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards
Posted Mar 28th 2009 11:55AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, Commercials, Celebreality
This week in reality television was eclectic.
Dancing With the Stars was happily un-complicated with the absence of Denise Richards,
America's Next Top Model's most home-sick model mysteriously was on top, and no one should have watched
Survivor because it was a waste of time.
This is one of those weeks where you realize that the show casts people with little-to-no chance of winning just so that the people they want to win don't mess up. Although
American Idol's Michael Sarver is a great example, I'm looking mostly at Celia (right) from Top Model: she's too old. On a positive note, there was a lot of weird, memorable, and funny moments to compensate this week. More analysis after the jump.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards - VIDEO
Posted Mar 21st 2009 1:01PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Celebreality
I couldn't help but think that after last week's reality shows heated up, the flame went out and the episodes were a little boring.
It was probably because
The Amazing Race was a non-elimination,
Survivor was a clip show, and the photoshoot on
America's Next Top Model was horrible and uninspiring. I'm not even going to touch the fact that
Belinda Carlile was showing too much underwear for her age. More of the interesting highlights, and lowlights, after the jump.
Continue reading Weekly Reality Awards
Posted Mar 17th 2009 2:02PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Industry, OpEd, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Celebrities, Big Brother (US), Dancing With The Stars, Host, TV Squad Lists, Casting
Since the reality television boom isn't going to end anytime soon, this could be a lucrative career path for the up-and-coming toddler who likes to ham it up with a microphone. After all, in this time of economic woes, what could be a better goal than glam, glitz, red carpets, and Emmy awards?
The reality show genre encompasses the gamut from talent contests to living in the jungle to living in a house with insufferable drones and drama queens and beyond. As a result, the hosts for these shows are going to be a varied lot, as well. Who are these people? How did they get where they are? And, more importantly ... what do I think of them? Read on.
Continue reading Six reality show hosts, six different realities
Posted Feb 2nd 2009 9:01AM by Eliot Glazer
Filed under: The Amazing Race, Video, Casting
Just when you thought everyone you knew, ever, had endured their 15 minutes on some reality show, you've been hoodwinked. It's no longer just the lady in accounts payable who you spotted on
Cheaters or your brother's friend whose family appeared on
Wife Swap. These days, it's low-profile celebs, too, who are seeking a 16th minute, and no longer exclusively via humiliation on VH1.
Continue reading Why does that reality show contestant look so familiar? - VIDEO
Posted Jan 5th 2009 1:05PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, TV Squad Lists, Casting
Yep, it's almost here. Well, actually the newest season of
The Amazing Race won't premiere until February 15, but we can peruse the spoilers that are out and about on the web. Even though the racing teams themselves are under contract not to reveal anything, it's hard to hide the camera crews and teams as they gallop around the globe.
Since I can't really go globe-trotting physically, I roam the internet for the best and most likely to be true spoilers. Then I come back and report them to you. No, I don't have winning team kind of spoilers here. But if you want some information on possible teams and the route taken, read on.
Continue reading Seven Amazing Race 14 pre-season spoilers
Posted Dec 2nd 2008 9:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Today's news that CBS ordered
five more episodes of Eleventh Hour is not a big surprise. A big surprise would have been if the network didn't give the freshman drama a re-order. The Jerry Bruckheimer production has been in the most-favored nation position at CBS -- meaning whatever Jerry wants, he usually gets.
The network enjoys a very fruitful/profitable relationship with the TV/filmmaker. Together, CBS and Jerry share
Cold Case, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Without A Trace and
The Amazing Race. They're thinking of changing the initials CBS to Columbia Bruckheimer System. (Kidding!)
Continue reading CBS orders five more Eleventh Hour eps
Posted Oct 27th 2008 2:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
For CBS, tradition and consistency are the keystones for success. So while CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves talked about a few new projects in an interview with
TV Week, he also shared the news that the network will be booking
more Survivor and The Amazing Race editions in the seasons to come.
To this I say, hooray! Especially for
The Amazing Race. There's a reason this show has won the Emmy so many times. The current race has been terrific.
Survivor seems to be having a bounce back season, as well.
I was turned off to the last couple of seasons -- China was a drag -- but I'm enjoying the current contest. Anytime an antagonist like Ace emerges, that's good TV to me.
Continue reading CBS is sticking with winners, looking for new ones
Posted Oct 19th 2008 11:57PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S13E04) "Okay, Fidel. Are you done now?" - Ty to AjaBefore I get into my review of tonight's
The Amazing Race, I ask that you please bear with me as I must go into an atypical anti-sports delaying my show rant. CBS, you do this to me every Sunday night. Knock it off. If it's not golf, it's football. If it's not football or golf, it's baseball. Enough already. If shows are going to be consistently delayed, just go ahead and schedule them an hour later. That way DVRs could be set, the CBS scheduling won't interfere with other networks, and I could actually watch a show in the 8 PM block if TAR isn't expected until 9 PM. None of this fifteen or forty-five minute stuff, delay to the hour if you must. And change those schedules around! Thank you.
You may return to your regularly scheduled review now ...
Continue reading The Amazing Race: I Wonder If They Like Blondes in New Zealand?
Posted Aug 22nd 2008 8:03AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Programming, The Amazing Race, Pickups and Renewals
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.
Posted Aug 18th 2008 12:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Game Show, Reality-Free
Perhaps it's unfair to prejudge, but I am really, really disappointed in the Food Network. The announcement that they are planning
a new series that involves competitive eating called Eat the Clock sounds like a sell-out.
It sounds like Food Network is following in the footsteps of classy shows like
Hurl and
Fear Factor. I expect better from the network that espouses to be about the best in food and cooking, not how fast you can jam it down your throat.
The same company that's behind
Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, Pie Town Productions, has cooked up
Eat the Clock. They're comparing it to
The Amazing Race, but with eating contests thrown up -- I mean, in. There will be travel involved, which relates to Rachael's travel show. Maybe they'll have Rachael try her gullet at consuming mass quantities. (Oh wait, that's the Coneheads.)
Continue reading Food Network cooks up competitive eating show
Posted Apr 22nd 2008 11:04AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Industry, OpEd, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Project Runway
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."
Continue reading True confessions: I watch reality TV
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