For some, watching relationship-based reality programming is not their idea of a pleasant night in. Why should they watch shows about finding and keeping love when it takes so long to find that right person in real life? Yet, since the mid-'60s, viewers have turned-in to watch others search for their soul mate. Or, at least their soul mate of the hour.
Of course, in the time of the Reality Revolution, the way love was found on television changed a bit. Rather than asking a simple set of questions to a set of bachelors or bachelorettes sitting behind a wall, men and women would compete for the love of a well-to-do bachelor or bachelorette, or a rapper/model, or a washed up 80s hair band star. They would even compete to see if their love could withstand an onslaught of temptation.
Sometimes they would find their one true love on these reality show. Other times they would be tossed away, their hearts broken, like a piece of paper. Along the way they would be love, sex, fights, sex, heartfelt moments, and sex. With reality programming being what it is, the viewers ate it all up.
A month ago, bachelor Matt Grant handed the final rose and a $60,000 engagement ring to actress Shayne Lamas in the season finale of ABC's The Bachelor: London Calling. The final credits of the episode hadn't even finished rolling when people (I include myself in the lot) were already betting on how long the two of them would last together. No, the couple didn't officially break up yet, but Matt did move out of Shayne's house.
Are you a "momma's boy"? Or are you a mother who is really overprotective about who your son dates? Well, if you are, you might want to try out for Ryan Seacrest's (American Idol) and Andrew Glassman's (Average Joe) new show Momma's Boys. NBC's new reality series will air after the Summer Olympics in Bejing. The show will center around a group of mothers choosing the perfect woman for their sons. According to the press release, "drama ensues when numerous mothers and their eligible bachelor sons are housed together with several single women." So, they have to live together too? This sounds like The Bachelor meets Sister Patterson from I Love New York.
After weeks of dating and eliminating some 25 women, including some crazy ones like Stacey, London bachelor Matt Grant found his soul mate. The 27-year-old proposed to one of the final two ladies in this week's season finale of the ABC's The Bachelor.
Did he give the $60,000 engagement ring to 24-year-old Chelsea or 22-year-old Shayne? The answer after 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.
TV Squad's Fearless Leader, Keith McDuffee, is in charge of meting out the free screener DVDs he receives from various networks. Sometimes the screeners are awesome -- complete season sets of popular shows or weeks-in-advance pilot episodes of hotly anticipated new series -- and sometimes, well, they are not awesome. At some point I made a joke that he seems to send me the worst of our screeners (I keed! I keed!) and Keith's response was to start sending me every single bad screener offered to TV Squad. I'm talking the kind of programming they're currently showing at Guantanamo Bay.
Well, two can play at this game! I've decided that I'm going to review every horrible show Keith sends me. If I have to be tortured with the likes of Queen Sized and The Simple Life Goes to Camp, well then, you guys have to be tortured by reading about it. Sorry, it's only fair. Our first foray into Screener Hell is Farmer Wants a Wife(Wednesdays 9 PM, starting April 30)...
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 Bachelor, The Pick Up Artist, Teen Dream and other new shows.
I'm not what you'd call a fan of The Bachelor. I only watched Seasons 3, 4 and 7 of the ABC reality show (it's now season 12) and watched its spin-off, The Bachelorette. I had no plans to tune in this season but, since there was nothing else on that interested me and because I was too lazy to switch channels after watching Dancing with the Stars, I decided to watch the "London Calling" version of the dating reality series.
The main difference between this season and the others is the fact that the hunk du jour is from London. Besides that, the series hasn't changed much since I watched Charlie O'Connell give the final rose to Sarah Brice.
It was finally ABC's turn to unveil its winter schedule yesterday. There aren't many surprises in it except that Lost, as rumored, will now air on a new night and that Big Shots, who was benched last week, will get a fifth another chance. ABC's winter programming will also include the premieres of Cashmere Mafia, Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, Eli Stoneand Oprah's Big Give and the return of a few reality series, such as Supernanny and Wife Swap, to fill the void left when scripted series will have aired all their new episodes.
For some, watching relationship-based reality programming is not their idea of a pleasant night in. Why should they watch shows about finding and keeping love when it takes so long to find that right person in real life? Yet, since the mid-'60s, viewers have turned-in to watch others search for their soul mate. Or, at least their soul mate of the hour.
A month ago, bachelor 
Are you a "momma's boy"? Or are you a mother who is really overprotective about who your son dates? Well, if you are, you might want to try out for Ryan Seacrest's (American Idol) and Andrew Glassman's (Average Joe) new show 
After weeks of dating and eliminating some 25 women, 
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.
TV Squad's Fearless Leader, 
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. 
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