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reality blurred
Babysitting reality TV's bastard child every day, with news and analysis about the best and worst of reality television
- The Real World turns 20 today: seven strangers spawned 27+ seasons, 20 years of reality TV
On May 21, 1992, MTV debuted The Real World, with its creators, Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim, taking a cue from PBS' American Family and turning real people's lives into a soap opera. But as the introduction said, this wasn't a pre-existing family, but something else: "This is the true story of seven strangers picked to live in a house and have their lives taped. Find out what happens when people stop being polite and
- SYTYCD will have two winners: one with a penis and one with a vagina
There's another major change coming to So You Think You Can Dance this summer, besides its new once-a-week schedule and longer season: there will be two winners, one male and one female. "Girls dance totally differently than guys," Nigel told TVLine, which says that Nigel was "pointing out the apples-vs.-oranges vibe that's pervaded most SYTYCD finales. By naming a male winner and a female winner in Season 9, Lythgoe hopes to avoid that problem." What
- Viking Shores: Whale Wars goes into Sea Shepherd's mind, and it's a scary place
After a ridiculously fast season, six hours over four weeks, Whale Wars: Viking Shores concludes tonight with two back-to-back episodes, having taken us into the minds of Sea Shepherd's activists to find its drama. (Alas, Sea Shepherd founder and captain Paul Watson won't be able to watch, as he's in a German jail facing extradition to Costa Rica.) Animal Planet's spin-off of one of its most-popular series has been fascinating, but it's not at all
- Top Model adds viewer voting; new judge, mentor named
America's Next Top Model has named its new judging panel, but those judges won't have all the say: viewers will be able to vote each week. Following the firing of the judges, the new panel will consist of Tyra Banks, Kelly Cutrone, and "international male model" Rob Evans; stylist Johnny Wujek will be the new mentor, who the show is calling a "creative consultant." As to voting, the show won't air live when it moves
- After firing Top Model's judges, The CW moves it to Fridays
America's Next Top Model is being moved to Friday nights after 16 seasons on Wednesdays. The CW has also fired the show's panel of judges: Nigel Barker, Jay Manuel, and J. Alexander. The CW has themed each night of its 2012-2013 schedule, and says in its press release that "Fridays are filled with fierce females," as the show will be paired with Nikita, starring Maggie Q. Top Model has aired on Wednesdays since its third
- Swamp People's Mitchell Guist died of natural causes; fans invited to his funeral
Swamp People star Mitchell Guist died Monday of natural causes, according to an autopsy. He'll be buried Saturday, which would have been his 48th birthday, and fans are invited. The Baton Rouge Advocate reports that "Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley said the parish coroner, Dr. John Fraiche, determined from preliminary autopsy findings that the star of the popular reality television show died of natural causes. Guist, who appeared in segments of the series with his
- Jennifer Lopez quitting American Idol, it seems
Jennifer Lopez appears to be quitting American Idol after two seasons judging and less than two years since the drama of her hiring unfolded over the summer. Yesterday, she laid the groundwork for exiting by telling Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show, "I don't know. I enjoy it, I really do enjoy it. I've done it--now this is my second year. I don't know; I don't know if I can go for a third year.
- Russell Hantz and Dick Donato on Amazing Race? Oh no
Survivor spoiler Russell Hantz suggested last night that he's training for The Amazing Race with Big Brother star "Evel Dick" Donato. This is, we hope and pray to whatever gods we can find to pray to, a terrible joke, although it's not like The Amazing Race can get any worse. The two interact on- and offline (reality stars are inducted into an incestuous fraternity after their show airs), and Russell actually first mentioned this possibility
- Probst calls Survivor One World "a letdown," was the series' lowest-rated finale ever
Survivor One World's long, drawn-out finale was the show's lowest-rated finale ever, down 30 percent among people 18 to 49 from Survivor Redemption Island last spring, while the more lively reunion lost 29 percent of last season's viewers. Overall, an average of 10.22 million people watched, with 8.07 million sticking around for the finale, according to TV By the Numbers. Unsurprisingly, host Jeff Probst used the opportunity to acknowledge the problem in an interview with
- Babies named after Kardashian kid, Jerseylicious star
Reality TV is once again affecting the names of babies: An increasing number of people named their kids Mason and Briella, which the Social Security Administration attributes to the son of Keeping Up With the Kardashians' Kourtney Kardashian and a star of Jerseylicious. While Briella--like Jerseylicious's Briella Calafiore--is the 497th most-popular name, it moved up 394 positions; Mason is much more popular, having moved from 12 to 2, having jumped from 34 to 12 following
- Britney Spears, Demi Lovato will try to save X Factor 2 from drowning in Simon Cowell's ego
Britney Spears and Demi Lovato are joining Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid to judge the second season of Fox's The X Factor. If you're still conscious after that sentence, you can see the new panel in a photo of the new judging panel Simon tweeted this afternoon. Fox said in a press release that "Spears is one of the most successful and celebrated entertainers in pop history," while "Lovato is an accomplished singer and actress
- Kim dominated drawn-out Survivor One World finale that came alive during the reunion
Kim Spradlin is the winner of Survivor One World, and won $1.1 million for convincing both her peers and viewers that she played a pretty flawless social and physical game. Besides winning four of the five last immunity challenges, including the final two challenges, she managed to betray people and backstab them, and for some reason, they did not care. That's remarkable. Alas, the finale was not, and felt long and drawn out--more nature shots
- Survivor Philippines confirmed but preview doesn't name Jonathan Penner, Michael Skupin, Russell Swan
Survivor Philippines will be CBS show's 25th season, bringing back three men who "have paid the ultimate price, pulled from the game with one uestion in their hearts: what could have been," according to Jeff Probst's preview of the new season. While it showed images of Jonathan Penner, Michael Skupin, and Russell Swan, it did not explicitly name them as the returnees, and instead showed silhouettes. Probst said that "three castaways who were airlifted out
- The Voice may get new coaches along with other changes
NBC's decision to air two seasons of The Voice every year means that the show may need to cast new coaches for its spring edition, potentially replacing some or all of the current coaches: Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Blake Shelton. Having screwed up its second season, the show will also make other changes. NBC Entertainment President Bob Greenblatt told THR that "We love them all and they're all spectacular and different
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