Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from Top Chef -- no, seriously, that's the production company's name -- to succeed in the food field where NBC has flopped in the past. Remember The Chopping Block? Remember Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant? NBC has more luck with the dieters on The Biggest Loser.
This go-round is not about a single restaurant. It's about a chain of restaurants. To me, that's a questionable goal. Most successful chains start off with one great restaurant and then take off. This concept is go big or go home. Maybe it's more complicated, but it doesn't sound that way.
In his never ending quest to turn everything into some kind of reality series, Survivor and Apprentice creator Mark Burnett announced he will birth a new reality show baby based on the TV show Fantasy Island.
You might be thinking to yourself, "Isn't every reality show already just a real life version of Fantasy Island?" Not so fast Tattoo. Barnett's already got a trick up his sleeve. The contestants won't just be competing to have their fantasies come true. They are also competing to become the next Mr. Rourke.
I wish Ricardo Montlaban was still alive right now. He could "Khan" this whole production down with just one simple line.
Joan Rivers was in Pasadena in July to promote her show on TV Land, How'd You Get So Rich?, but when I spoke to her after her presentation, I was more interested in a couple of issues. First, her longevity in a business that takes even older comedians and tosses them to the side (Cosby, for instance, is more community activist than comedian these days). Second, I wanted to ask her about her experience on The Apprentice, which included her feuds with wedding planners, Clint Black, and Annie Duke.
But, Joan being Joan, she also randomly let loose on Brooke Shields, Sarah Palin, and whoever else was in her mind during the ten minutes we spoke.
We start off by talking about longevity. She feels one of the reasons she stays relevant is that she doesn't live in the past. "I don't give a shit about Johnny Carson," she said.
I'm starting to slog through my backlog of TCA-related material, and I wanted to make sure this got out there before it gets lost. When I interviewed Joan Rivers while I was in Pasadena, I asked her about the incident on The Celebrity Apprentice finale where David Tutera, whose firm was helping to plan both teams' parties, pulled out of the show completely after Joan requested changes to his plans.
After Tutera presented a panel introducing the second season of his WE show My Fair Wedding, I caught up with him outside the ballroom to get his response to Joan. He knew the questions were coming, because I had mentioned them to his publicist, but I wanted to ease into things by asking him about the show and its upcoming season. Oh, and I asked him for suggestions on how to throw a relatively inexpensive wedding in New Jersey, but that was just for personal reasons.
But Tutera seemed ready. He answered Joan's charges calmly and without the same rancor she used.
I had the great honor of interviewing the legendary Joan Rivers after her TCA panel promoting her new TV Land show How'd You Get So Rich? While the panel was hilarious, Joan was in fine form during the interview, telling me a good story about why she doesn't dwell in the past, criticizing Sarah Palin and Brooke Shields, and giving her one-millionth rebuke of her Apprentice rival, Annie Duke, or "Annie Douche" as she called the poker star during the panel.
But Rivers also took some vicious shots at David Tutera, the party planner who left her and Duke high and dry on The Celebrity Apprentice's finale, quitting after Joan asked him to make some changes to his plan. Since Tutera is scheduled to do a panel on his show My Fair Wedding on Friday, I wanted to post what she said about him here and then give Tutera a chance to respond.
What started out as just a TV wrestling stunt could have Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment in a headlock from federal authorities.
As we reported earlier this week, the WWE's Monday Night Raw is running an angle in which Donald Trump purchased the show from McMahon. It's all a big wrestling "work" -- a story element to drive the weekly show and entertain fans.
The trouble is that both WWE and Raw's parent network (USA) sent out official press releases announcing Trump's "purchase." And, WWE publicly held shares fell nearly 7% the next day.
On a three-hour edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw on USA, CEO Vince McMahon announced he had sold the show to Donald Trump.
Before a shock wave ripples through the sports entertainment and reality show worlds, it's safe to say this is "a work" -- as they say in grappling circles. Trump has his orange-topped mug back on TV as an on-screen performer with WWE. Behind the curtain, when the arena goes dark, McMahon is still in charge.
According to McMahon, Trump will take over running the show in person next Monday night when a special, commercial-free Raw originates from Green Bay, Wisc.
Considering how prevalent reality television is these days, it's got to be a pretty daunting task to try and put together a comprehensive list of the best and worst of all time. But Entertainment Weekly thinks they've done just that. They've compiled the top 20 reality shows of all time, but also the ten worst reality shows of all time. All in all, they did a pretty damned good job.
I completely agree with the top six, but they lose me with Jackass at number seven. I have never understood the appeal of filming morons doing stupid things on purpose just to be stupid. But there were some shows missing from the list completely, like Little People Big World, So You Think You Can Dance and Beauty and the Geek. Surely those shows are better than The Hills and The Real Housewives of Sesame Street, or whatever franchise they're spinning now.
I watched The Celebrity Apprentice last night. Did you? While I thought the last non-celeb season of The Apprentice was a dismal grasping-at-straws season and the show should be put out of its misery, I once again got hooked during the first celebrity season.
I have my reasons I must watch. Yes, I wondered if Joan Rivers' face can actually show any signs of movement after all of her plastic surgery (it doesn't). Her mouth smiles, but that's about it. Nonetheless, Joan can be so outrageous and spontaneous that she'll crack me up anyway (and my face actually can move with expressions). Having her, Dennis Rodman, Andrew Dice Clay, Clint Black, and some of the others is enough to get me hooked on the show even before the season started. Oh, that doesn't mean I like them all. But I do like my just desserts and Clay got his cupcakes last night.
Have you ever wanted to audition for a reality television show, but didn't have enough sick leave to fake an illness for your boss or the patience to wait in lines that would rival the bread lines in Cold War Russia?
Mark Burnett has struck a deal that will let people produce their own audition tapes. Burnett signed a deal with Studio One Media to supply high traffic areas with self-serve kiosks that let people put together their own tapes for a measly twenty bucks. They can also provide a web-based service that lets contestants upload their own videos.
When I first heard about a reality show called The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers.
Helmed by Mr. Reality himself, Mark Burnett, The Shark Tank has been ordered to pilot by ABC. As I understand it, the unscripted project is adapted from a Japanese show called Money Tiger, which aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. The show has since been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the U.K.
The premise is interesting: aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to moguls, a.k.a. "Sharks," in hopes of landing investment funds.
Executive television producer Mark Burnett is being sued by his former business partner Conrad Riggs for $70 million. Burnett, a British television producer, is best known for kick-starting the reality television genre in the United States. He's been on the producer and creator train for shows such as Survivor, The Apprentice, Rock Star, The Contender, Martha Stewart Apprentice, Pirate Master, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, On the Lot (with Steven Speilberg), and more.
So, why is he being sued for the big bucks? Read on past the jump.
A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.
The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.
This time we have The Real Housewives of NYC ,The Moment of Truth and other new shows.
This whole thing seemed fishy from the get-go. On Howard Stern's radio show last year, Trump mentioned how he distanced himself from O.J. (scroll down to 'Donald Trump Calls In' at 9:25 AM) and made it pretty clear he had doubts about his innocence, even though O.J. attended his wedding. Now Trump is having meetings with the guy, even after that whole show-down in Vegas over memorabilia (trial still pending). So what's changed?
One has to wonder if the "leaked info" regarding O.J.'s interest in Celebrity Apprentice was merely a publicity stunt to drum up interest in the show, even just by making more people aware that it exists.
Well, here's something about reality TV that didn't make me gag. Survivor mega-producer Mark Burnett has a new unscripted project, greenlighted by CBS, called Jingles. It's a competition show in which contestants have to create tunes for products, commercial jingles. No mud wrestling, no unlocking keys to puzzle pieces the size of boulders, no eating slugs wrapped in wild boar bacon. This time it's all about catchy melodies, clever hooks and lyrics that incorporate product info whether the products an erectile dysfunction pill or a new luxury car.
Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from Top Chef -- no, seriously, that's the production company's name -- to succeed in the food field where NBC has flopped in the past. Remember The Chopping Block? Remember Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant? NBC has more luck with the dieters on The Biggest Loser.
Joan Rivers was in Pasadena in July to promote her show on TV Land, 
I'm starting to slog through my backlog of TCA-related material, and I wanted to make sure this got out there before it gets lost. When I interviewed Joan Rivers while I was in Pasadena, I asked her about 
What started out as just a TV wrestling stunt could have Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment in a headlock from federal authorities.
On a three-hour edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw on USA, CEO Vince McMahon announced he had sold the show to Donald Trump.
Considering how prevalent reality television is these days, it's got to be a pretty daunting task to try and put together a comprehensive list of the best and worst of all time. But Entertainment Weekly thinks they've done just that. They've compiled the 
I watched 
Have you ever wanted to audition for a reality television show, but didn't have enough sick leave to fake an illness for your boss or the patience to wait in lines that would rival the bread lines in Cold War Russia? 
When I first heard about a reality show called The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers. 
Executive television producer Mark Burnett is being sued by his former business partner Conrad Riggs for $70 million. Burnett, a British television producer, is best known for kick-starting the reality television genre in the United States. He's been on the producer and creator train for shows such as Survivor, The Apprentice, Rock Star, The Contender, Martha Stewart Apprentice, Pirate Master, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, On the Lot (with Steven Speilberg), and more.
A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.
A couple of days ago I posted of the rumors that 
Well, here's something about reality TV that didn't make me gag. 
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
