reality show-related stories
Here's a preview of tonight's premiere of The Superstars
ABC had an earlier version of The Superstars, many years ago, and if I remember correctly the celebrities they had were actually stars. Tonight's celeb list includes David Charvet, Estella Warren, Dan Cortese, and Julio Iglesias (Junior). But at least the athletes are pretty well known. Skier Bode Miller and tennis player Jennifer Capriati should be interesting to watch, and Terrell Owens is there for some reality competition show drama.
Chelsea Handler rips apart The Cougar
The Cougar is in the running for Worst TV Show of 2009 honors in my mind, so it's good to see that late night host Chelsea Handler feels the same way. Here she is doing a little rant about the show (some suggestive scenes and jokes included, so put your headphones on if you're at work).
I'll say this again: isn't it awful how low TV Land has gone? It's weird that I can watch a great Andy Griffith Show marathon, immediately followed by The Cougar. There's something wrong there. (Video also here if the one below doesn't work for you.)
I'll say this again: isn't it awful how low TV Land has gone? It's weird that I can watch a great Andy Griffith Show marathon, immediately followed by The Cougar. There's something wrong there. (Video also here if the one below doesn't work for you.)
Here's a sneak peek at MTV's new show about a phone
Justin Timberlake and MTV have teamed up for a new reality show titled The Phone (it premieres tonight at 10). Here's the trailer for the show. Though the title makes it sound like a remake of one of those Japanese horror flicks, the trailer makes it look more like The Mole or 24.
Sharon Osbourne talks Osbournes: Reloaded
For those who might think the new Osbournes: Reloaded variety show is a quick-fix, six-episode ratings boost, think again. Reloaded, which premieres Tuesday at 9PM on Fox, was two years in the making. According to Sharon Osbourne, who spoke with reporters via a conference call Thursday, the family was given a somewhat open-ended invitation to return to television, and they wanted to make sure they picked the right project. They cycled through a few options, rejecting most of them, including one idea that will be a smaller part of the finished product. "It was going around the country just looking for other Osbournes, and I was like, I don't think so," Sharon told the group. "But we did keep that as a segment on the show."
Continue reading Sharon Osbourne talks Osbournes: Reloaded
Reality show audition lines will be a thing of the past
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.
Continue reading Reality show audition lines will be a thing of the past
Here's where the next Survivor will be set
Survivor host Jeff Probst usually reveals the location of the next season at the end of the live reunion show which happens at the end of the last episode (this Sunday at 8 on CBS). But the news has been released a little early this season.Probst was on Ryan Seacrest's show (yes, I know, this is the second Seacrest interview I've linked to this week - who knew he'd be such a fountain of breaking news?), and Probst reveals that the next season of the show will be in Brazil. Which means it's another jungle setting, which means we can expect more bugs, more heat, perhaps some rainstorms and footage of animals that usually don't make it anywhere near the camps. In fact, they're already done filming the next season, which debuts on February 12.
Probst also talks about running into Anderson Cooper when he was doing The Mole and the debacle that was The Emmys.
Continue reading Here's where the next Survivor will be set
TV Land plots a Harry Hamlin & Lisa Rinna reality show
There are two things that I find disturbing about the news that there's a reality show in the works for married actors Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna for TV Land. Number one, do we really need another show biz couple exposing their personal lives for the cameras? Number two, why is TV Land getting away from celebrating TV history by broadcasting great old shows to do banal entertainment like this kind of unscripted drivel? Are audiences really clamoring for more of this stuff? I know I'm not, and I don't know anyone else who is! Seriously, this is not reality TV. There's nothing real about it except that they're using their real names. (Yes, those are their real names!)
Continue reading TV Land plots a Harry Hamlin & Lisa Rinna reality show
Sam Raimi gets into reality with Fear is Real
Director Sam Raimi, the man who created such gut-wrenching horrors as The Evil Dead trilogy and Spider Man 3, takes his talent for disemboweling innocent people and chopping off limbs with a dull ax to television ... for a reality show?!?13 - Fear is Real premieres
The reality show aims to do for horror movies what Next Action Star did for action movies - rip them off and turn them into another schlock reality show that requires little to no creative ideas or thought.
Continue reading Sam Raimi gets into reality with Fear is Real
If you're a call girl, Showtime wants to hear from you
Showtime is looking for call girls.The cable network is developing a new documentary series (Link NSFW) about the world's oldest profession. They're looking for call girls to live in a Hollywood mansion and have cameras film their every, um, move. Not sure why this is called a documentary and not just a reality show. If it's a true documentary then I don't think they'd go the Big Brother/Real World route; they'd just film their real lives and what happens to them. Seems the show is having a hard time finding cast members.
There's no title for the series yet, but I have a few suggestions.
Continue reading If you're a call girl, Showtime wants to hear from you
My day at the first school in the world dedicated to art of appearing on reality TV shows. (Yes, this actually exists)
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...
The New York Reality TV School (Parts 5 and 6)
Part Five: The Money ShotAfter 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.
Continue reading The New York Reality TV School (Parts 5 and 6)
Billboard magazine developing a reality show
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.
CBS going to the dogs this summer
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.
Continue reading CBS going to the dogs this summer
TV Land orders dating show for Cougars
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.
Continue reading TV Land orders dating show for Cougars
Are you ready for a Christmas-themed reality show?
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.
Continue reading Are you ready for a Christmas-themed reality show?
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