Entries Tagged 'Reality TV' ↓

In possibly the least-appealing programming announcement of the week - I know it’s early, but still - NBC said Monday that Ryan Seacrest will produce a reality-game-dating show called "Momma’s Boy" to premiere after the Summer Olympics. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? The show from Seacrest and partner Andrew Glassman will ask "possessive mothers" to choose the perfect bride for their sons. Ick, uck, ptoo! But wait, it gets worse. Check this hideous synopsis: Conflict results when numerous mothers and their eligible bachelor sons are housed together with several  "brides-to-be." As the tension mounts, viewers will watch the controlling mothers search for their son’s perfect mate. Some of the possible brides are "nice girls" — while others might not be as appealing to the mothers. As expected, rivalries are formed, drama mounts and emotion builds as crucial choices must be made.
It’s like "Big Brother" but with Estelle Costanza and Marie Barone […]

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Well, at least I resisted making a doggy style joke, right? Oh, wait … Anyhow, I have already picked my favorite new show of the summer. "The Greatest American Dog" debuts July 10 on CBS, and my only regret is that Buffy (left) and I were not invited to participate in this reality competition. Pets and their humans will live together while competing in feats of skill that will test their ability to train and work together. Every kind of pooch, from pampered show dogs to family mutts, will compete. And the prize is, brace yourself, $250,000. Now do you see why I wanted in? Of course, one could argue that a TV reality show about dogs featuring a quarter-million dollar prize is one more example of American decadence that shames us in the eyes of the world. But I’m too busy trying to get Buffy ready for the […]

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At this point, there is basically no parody of reality television so broad that we can trust that someone won’t think it’s a genuinely good idea. Just a few weeks after the brilliant "30 Rock" had a gag show-within-the-show called "MILF Island," TV Land has announced its plan to create well, almost exactly that. The as yet unnamed project will center around a bunch of young men who will try to win the heart of a "sexy and accomplished mature woman." Since there’s no mention of her children, I suppose technically she’s a cougar and not a MILF, which is way classier. I have no doubt that TV Land will give this topic the sensitive, tasteful treatment that it deserves.
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"Tim Gunn’s Guide To Style" has been renewed despite lackluster reviews and lackluster ratings. But it will be different this time. For one thing, according to Reality Blurred, it won’t include Veronica Webb, who’s moving over to the BBC to do a different show. Also, everyone involved is aware of the issues the show had, and aims to fix them. Most notably, all the "fakeness" that comes from trying to plan to be spontaneous, which at one point led Tim to a "diva moment."
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I caught the Boston Independent Film Festival’s screening of "Jay McCarroll: Eleven Minutes" last night - introduced onstage by our dear friend Ducky and Jay McCarroll himself -  and it was, to be honest, totally awesome. It was what I wish reality TV could be, and isn’t. It’s got all the background and depth and character you miss on a TV show, and none of the trumped-up drama and tendentious music.
"Eleven Minutes" is a full-length documentary about Jay, produced by the same guys who did "Project Jay" for Bravo, following the process of creating a fashion show from sketch to completion, including visits to jewelers, shoemakers, hair stylists, publicists, sewing workshops, and sales meetings.

The film begins with the question everybody seems to want to ask: Why isn’t Jay a bigger star?  Where can I buy Jay McCarroll clothes? Why aren’t they being sold in stores? It’s been four years […]

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"Farmer Wants A Wife" is in dire need of more than just some girls. The theme song alone makes me want to run from the room screaming - it’s like one of those ad jingles from the 80s when Madison Avenue figured rap was instant cool, but got it all wrong.

And yet, I’m probably going to end up watching it, because prissy girls being grossed out by animals is sure-fire comedy every damn time.
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Dr. Drew won’t comment, and we don’t have any other names on the slate, but Heidi Fleiss (left) says she’s already signed on for the sequel to "Celebrity Rehab." Her problem? Meth to stay up and Vicodin to sleep. It should be exciting to watch her kick that habit.
More importantly, she’s got a sharp tongue, which should keep things lively in group therapy sessions. For example, she recently told Radar she’s in awe of Rush Limbaugh’s ability to toss back the oxys and keep working. Oh, snap!
Of course Mr. Tough On Crime says he’s clean, but I think he’d be great on the show. I mean, what sober man would call for violent race riots in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, and then deny doing it the very next day?
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If "American Idol" is too tame for your tastes, you might consider tuning in to MTV’s "A Shot At Love II," which debuts tonight Like the first edition, it stars ambisexual Tila Tequila, her ambivalent charms, a bevy of chicks and dudes, and also a whole bunch of liquor. Idiocy and hijinks ensue.
Bostonist will be rooting for Michelle, hometown hero and former boxer. She’s managed to avoid the cauliflower ear, but not the unfortunate fashion choices, of her pugilistic upbringing, and I just don’t think she’s as cute as last year’s fan favorite, Dani.
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The boat flooded in September, but the roughest seas were from October, and "Deadliest Catch" post-production editors spliced them together to make it look like they’d happened at the same time. Scandal! Sort of. Those crab-fishermen are still out there, there are still waves, and there is still flooding. Only the order and dramatization are in question. Still, people seem outraged that a bastion of honesty in entertainment would have used post-production editing tricks  to punch up the drama, instead of relying on the more conventional "somber narrator and tendentious music" strategies that at least are obvious.
Nobody, however, seems to be surprised that the Pentagon paid analysts to punch up the drama before and during the most recent US invasion in Iraq, and to soften criticisms of American human-rights violations. Those analysts, of course, didn’t disclose their conflicts of interest, and even if they had, mere disclosure doesn’t stop an […]

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I guess somebody finds "Work Out" interesting, and I can see the appeal, as long as the volume is off and the camera is just lingering on Jackie Warner. Everybody who sees her pretty much wants her to do crunches on their face. I won’t deny it.
But I lose interest when they start talking, or when her trainer assistants start bickering or doing stupid crap.
Apparently, all of repressed suburban married female America thinks Jackie’s the best thing since getting drunk and kissing another girl that one time Freshman year when the world was your oyster, before you had to pick a major, before that handsome man became your beer-bellied compromise who isn’t romantic but can be relied upon to at least keep gas in the tank and the lawn mowed and show up at the little league games half the time.
Welcome to the club of what might have been, […]

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