Posted Oct 9th 2008 6:00AM by Maggie Furlong
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Interviews
She's almost completely covered in ink, she's dating a rock star and she reserves the right to refuse tattoos to anyone. Kat Von D is one tough lady.
In season 2 of her show
L.A. Ink (premieres Thursday, Oct. 9 at 10PM EST), Kat brings in even more celebrities for some body art and, of course, they all bring their drama -- some sad and some just plain crazy for Democracy.
We talked to Kat about her busy schedule and growing business, her favorite TV shows and why she refuses to tattoo a crazy underwater outer space scene anywhere on anyone's body ... so just don't even ask.
Continue reading Quick Chat with Kat Von D
Posted Sep 25th 2008 5:03PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities
Do you loathe
The Hills? Well, you're not alone. Even Oscar-winning actresses have a hate on for the hit MTV reality series.
Charlize Theron told
MTV News she didn't understand why the show is so popular. "Why is it so big? It's about nothing!" she wondered. "
The Hills is about nothing. I think the girls are beautiful and when they cry their mascara runs and that's real, but I don't get it!"
And she's not the only celebrity who's befuddled by
The Hills phenomenon, either. Singer
Juliana Hatfield blogged, "I hate the fact that I know Heidi Montag's name; that I know who she is; that she takes up any space at all in my consciousness."
Continue reading Everybody hates The Hills
Posted Sep 15th 2008 9:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Celebrities
The next time I have a panic attack, I want
Cesar Millan to talk me off the ledge. He might be known as the Dog Whisperer on the
National Geographic Channel, but I have a feeling he's great with humans, too. I'm sure I'd respond to his gentle "ch ch" murmurs just as well as the angry pit bulls he deals with regularly on
Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.
The show
celebrates its 100th episode on Sept. 19, and this household is officially hooked. There's something strangely meditative about the way he calms the dogs on that show. And, truthfully, it's not so much the dogs he works with as their nimrod human companions. Let's face it. The dogs are alright. The humans need work.
It's all about relationships, and his job, he says, is to draw out the good behavior in any given dog ("There are no killer dogs!"), and then tell the humans how to maintain it.
Continue reading Dog Whisperer celebrates 100th episode
Posted Sep 11th 2008 8:38PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Celebrities, Project Runway, Pickups and Renewals
You know the old saying, "looking good is the best revenge?" Well, looking good on television is even better. To that end,
Nina Garcia, the acid-tongued Colombian judge on
Project Runway, is appearing on a new reality show.
Garcia will be starring on Style Network's new series, Running in Heels.
Heels follows the staff at women's magazine
Marie Claire, which Garcia joined a short while ago after leaving her long-time position at
Elle magazine.
Garcia's split from
Elle was allegedly not on the best terms, so it's probably extra sweet for her that
Running in Heels is a direct competitor to CW's
Stylista; a reality competition show taking place at, you guessed it --
Elle magazine.
Continue reading Nina Garcia is Running in Heels
Posted Sep 11th 2008 11:04AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals
I recently started watching
Bravo. I'm not sure why. Something about those reality shows is strangely addictive. Like, no matter how screwed up my own life might be, it's nothing compared to most of the folks on those shows. I'm pretty sure that's why reality shows are so popular. It's because they make us feel so much better about our own pathetic lives.
There's a show on Bravo called
The Real Housewives of Orange County. Remember that movie
Peyton Place? Yeah, it's a lot like that. Only the women are a lot richer, and the problems are a lot more complex than they used to be in 1957. Still fascinating ... in a voyeuristic-stalker kind of way.
Continue reading The real young people of Orange County
Posted Sep 11th 2008 10:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Pickups and Renewals
If it were me, if I were the guy (or gal) sitting up in my solid gold throne at MTV tower in charge of programming at sister station VH1, I'd have thrown myself from the roof by now. I mean, I've already given Brooke Hogan her own show, I'm responsible for both
Rock of Love and
Flavor of Love and their bastard progeny
I Love Money (which is really what this channel is all about now).
How can I possibly live with myself? Sure, I also brought the genuinely entertaining
Best Week Ever to fruition, and I keep sub-par comedians in regular work with all my stupid list shows, but haven't I done enough to the world? Isn't it enough that I took a channel named "Video Hits One" and turned it into a circus side show of money-grubbing whores and E-List celebrities trying to recapture what little glory they never really had? Apparently not, because VH1 is going to air a show in which
they follow Antonio Sabato Jr. around while he tries to find true love.
Continue reading VH1 picks up Antonio Sabato Jr. matchmaking show
Posted Sep 10th 2008 12:43PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Super Skank Wednesday, Celebreality
Welcome to
Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows:
I Love Money,
Charm School,
New York Goes to Hollywood, and
The Surreal Life. Basically, I'll discuss the skankalicious shows that make
VH1 the network it is today.
So no
I Love Money on Sunday night? Wha-what? Pshaw! How can I do my awesome picture books without a new episode?
Okay enough complaining. After the jump, I'm going to discuss a show that doesn't exist (yet) in the VH1 skanktastic line-up:
Charm School: The Men of I Love New York. I've got a list of my fantasy cast.
Continue reading Super Skank Wednesday: Charm School for the men of I Love New York
Posted Sep 4th 2008 8:21AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Apprentice, Pickups and Renewals
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.
Continue reading ABC diving into The Shark Tank
Posted Sep 3rd 2008 11:38AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Industry, Programming, OpEd, The Amazing Race, Big Brother (US), Dancing With The Stars
No, it's not going away. The reality television genre is growing even stronger as it becomes the umbrella for shows ranging from the traditional reality "game" shows like
Survivor or
The Apprentice, to actual game shows, to real life drama such as
The First 48 or
Intervention to talent contests and beyond.
What I'll be doing here is taking a look at some of the current newsworthy bits from recently-aired shows, checking out upcoming shows, and sharing the latest reality TV gossip. Is it real or is it just reality TV? As long as I'm entertained, that's all I ask of any show, scripted or not. Are you game? Join me beyond the jump.
Continue reading Reality TV Newsy Bits
Posted Sep 1st 2008 10:04AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Early Looks
It's rather interesting, when you think about it, that chef Gordon Ramsay has not one but two shows on FOX,
Hell's Kitchen and
Kitchen Nightmares. And this isn't like Rachael Ray having 22 different shows. She has a show that is syndicated to many stations around the county, and her other shows are on a cable station, Food Network, where she is a brand and one of the top stars. FOX is a major network, with not as many time slots as a cable station, so FOX must really believe in Ramsay to give him shows that air year-round, not just in one season.
Fans of the first season are going to be particularly interested in what happens on the very first episode.
Continue reading Kitchen Nightmares season 2 - an early look
Posted Aug 28th 2008 1:01PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Celebrities
I've been watching
The Girls Next Door for a while and it presents such a quandary for me. I feel like I'm betraying the feminist movement every time I tune in. If I knew an old man who had relationships with multiple young girls and made them "kept women," I would think he's a sleaze ball and wouldn't want to have anything to do with him. However, I fully admit that I find
The Girls Next Door fascinating.
It's probably because the life that's portrayed is so far beyond my frame of reference that I can hardly believe that it's real. In any case, I've been a semi-regular viewer and I've found myself even rooting for the girls. I want Bridget to finish school, and yes, I've even been rooting for Holly to get Hef to marry her. Well, I believe Bridget has gotten her Master's degree, and it seems like Holly may even get her wish too.
Bridget was recently overheard dishing about a "huge wedding" coming up on the show.
Continue reading Will The Girls Next Door end with a wedding?
Posted Aug 27th 2008 2:03PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Super Skank Wednesday, Celebreality
Welcome to
Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows:
I Love Money,
Charm School,
New York Goes to Hollywood, and
The Surreal Life. Basically, I'll discuss the skankalicious shows that make
VH1 the network it is today.
This Wednesday let's do another picture book fairy tale. I'm learning a lot from
I Love Money. How about you? After the jump, I have a piece I call "12 Pack's Destruction, A Tale of Hubris." I'm not a betting woman, but I don't think anyone on
ILM knows what the term "hubris" means.
Continue reading Super Skank Wednesday: 12 Pack's Destruction, A Tale of Hubris
Posted Aug 27th 2008 8:38AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Programming, OpEd, Daytime, Talk Show
In a media crossover,
People magazine is coming to TV screens.
ABC has scheduled an hour-long special called
Half Their Size: The People Magazine Weight Loss Challenge for Sept. 30 at 10 p.m.
The franchise began in
People in 2002, and focuses on folks who need to shed more than a few pounds -- preferably, half their size. Obviously, the magazine stories have been a big hit, since anything about losing weight is always a big hit.
The show will focus on eight residents of Mississippi -- the nation's "heaviest" state -- for a nine-month period to see how their lives change through diet and exercise.
Continue reading People magazine catches the reality TV wave
Posted Aug 22nd 2008 8:23AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Episode Reviews
(S02E11 ... or is that 12?) The live auditions were considered a sort of special, so does it count as episode one? This finale featured the return of all the crews from throughout the season and the results of which of the final two crews would be crowned. I'll just come right off the top and say that I was pretty disappointed to see Fanny Pak taken down before the finale. Of all the crews this season, they were the ones who got me the most excited.
The problem is I'm not sure which of the top two finalists I would have eliminated to make room for them. I just don't think either of them was stronger overall than Fanny Pak. Even the judges didn't seem pleased going into the finale with the remaining two crews. And unfortunately, throughout last week's performance episode, it was one disappointment after another until the final two dances. I appreciate the differences in these crews, but I don't think it was as exciting a finale as we could have had.
Continue reading America's Best Dance Crew: Finale
Posted Aug 21st 2008 1:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Pickups and Renewals
Not to be confused with
Cashmere Mafia or
Legally Blonde or
Sweet Charity, Lifetime has a new reality series in the works with the catchy title of
Blonde Charity Mafia. It's a docu-reality series, so they say.
Lifetime has ordered six half-hour episodes of Blonde Charity Mafia, following the lives of three young society women in Washington, D.C
. who are famous for their work on political and philanthropic fundraisers in the nation's capital. If this sounds something like the Bravo
Real Houswives franchise --
Real Housewives of Orange County, Real Housewives of New York and
Real Housewives of Atlanta -- it's all intentional.
The
Blonde Charity Mafia mavens may not be married ladies, but the very rich, society swirl sounds very much like the well-heeled women on Bravo.
Continue reading Lifetime says yes to high society reality show
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Giveaway Monday: Back to You season one DVD
Six shows that I am watching pretty regularly this season
