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.
TheSurvivor producer is probably not the only person wondering that, but Burnett is getting a little more specific.
Mandel was nominated for his hosting gig on Deal or No Deal in the "Best Reality Host" category. Now, I'm just as surprised as you are to see that DOND is considered a reality show and not a game show (I think it's the amount of time they focus on the contestants and the family members on stage and the tears and the personal stories that tip some primetime game shows into the reality realm). Burnett doesn't think it's fair that you have someone like Jeff Probst, who hosts an unscripted (?) show like Survivor put up against people who host talent shows and game shows.
I've always enjoyed jingles, you know, those catchy commercial tunes that get in your head and never leave. "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." See, after all these years, it's still there. I wonder if Gene Simmons would have liked that McDonald's jingle?
We'll soon find out what the Kiss star likes in musical commercial craftsmanship because Gene Simmons has been tapped as one of the judges on the CBS reality show Jingles. It's a competition show, from producer Mark Burnett, he of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, Survivor and The Apprentice fame. We'll just forget about the ones that didn't fly, like On the Lot (that was painful to watch), Pirate Master (unwatchable) and Rock Star: INXS (truly a train wreck).
Jingles should be pretty challenging for contestants; it's hard to fake it when it comes to writing words and lyrics. The winner gets a contract with an advertising agency and $100,000.
The summer of 2000 started out to be a typical one for television: repeats, theatrical movies edited for television, repeats, shows that needed to be burned off because they were so bad, and repeats. It was a formula that hadn't really changed for the Big Three networks in several years. And, it was one that viewers had gotten used to as they mourned the last episode of their favorite series and waited with eagerness for the new season to begin in September.
Then, something happened. CBS decided to air a 'game show' about a group of strangers stranded on a tropical island. Survivorbegan at the end of May and continued into the end of August. Along the way it gained more and more fans and produced more and more publicity for both the show and the network. By the last episode, on August 23rd, Survivor had become a huge success as well as one of the highest rated original shows ever to air in the summer.
Little did CBS know that this summer replacement show would begin the Reality Revolution and change the landscape of network television forever more.
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 Moment of Truth, Jingles and other new shows.
Burnett is best known for creating the reality shows Survivor and The Apprentice. This would be his first venture into animation. Considering how much money he's made from reality television, I don't think it's that much of a risk for him.
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 Trading Spaces, The Newlywed Game and other new shows.
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.
There's more reality being served up by NBC: a food-based competition show in which couples vie to open a restaurant. British chef Marco Pierre White will be the judge. NBC has greenlit The Chopping Block for next season, calling it a sort of Top Chef meets Hell's Kitchen. Actually, it sounds like a twin for BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing. That one has nine couples competing for one restaurant with Chef Raymond Blanc as the judge. The NBC incarnation will have eight couples, and unlike Chef Blanc who has earned two Michelin stars for his restaurants, Chef White has three.
It's always intriguing when a cable network has two or three original shows they're working on. But TNT has gone project crazy this year, with a whopping 14 shows in development.
It's an interesting mix of shows too. You have your dramas, including a mystery series set in Boston, based on the novels of Tess Gerritsen; a drama about a family in 1950s Indiana; an espionage drama titled Leverage; a drama from Robert Redford titled Generations, which focuses on several families who have lived in the same house over the decades; and Truth In Advertising, which sounds a lot like a modern-day Mad Men (not that I'm complaining) and stars Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh, and Monica Potter. Comedies include a show about a single, middle-aged woman, from Betty Thomas and Elaine Pope.
Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.
Today, on TV Squad Daily:
I guess you'll have to wait longer to find out what not to do: Lynn Spears' parenting book is on hold indefinitely after Jamie Lynn's pregnancy announcement.
Spoilers, rumors, and foilers, oh my! With the internet at the hands of fans, secrets aren't always too secret these days. While scripted shows like Lost might possibly put out their own foilers -- red herrings to lead the audiences astray -- often the spoilers for shows such as Survivor or The Amazing Race are more spot on. In the case of the latter, too many people see the bits and pieces of the race as it goes through the countries.
This season's Survivor China actually inadvertently put out some of the first spoilers right in their own promotional videos on the official website. Maybe it wasn't so inadvertently, but you don't film in the challenge-making offices with information which can be enlarged and sharpened. Heh. There are websites like Survivor Fever and Survivor Skills who have a track record for accurate spoilers, as well as online wagering websites who have shut down betting due to odd patterns. Read on for severe show spoilers ...
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. 
The 
What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.
I've always enjoyed jingles, you know, those catchy commercial tunes that get in your head and never leave. "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." See, after all these years, it's still there. I wonder if Gene Simmons would have liked that McDonald's jingle?
The summer of 2000 started out to be a typical one for television: repeats, theatrical movies edited for television, repeats, shows that needed to be burned off because they were so bad, and repeats. It was a formula that hadn't really changed for the Big Three networks in several years. And, it was one that viewers had gotten used to as they mourned the last episode of their favorite series and waited with eagerness for the new season to begin in September.
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. 
Mark Burnett is no longer exclusively making reality TV shows. He has crossed over into animation and has 
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. 
Well, here's something about reality TV that didn't make me gag. 
There's more reality being served up by NBC: 
It's always intriguing when a cable network has two or three original shows they're working on. But TNT has gone project crazy this year, 
Spoilers, rumors, and foilers, oh my! With the internet at the hands of fans, secrets aren't always too secret these days. While scripted shows like Lost might possibly put out their own foilers -- red herrings to lead the audiences astray -- often the spoilers for shows such as 
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