reality blurred

The stupid conspiracy theory about Clay Aiken's Apprentice loss, Arsenio Hall's win

Andy Dehnart — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:41:02 -0500

Following Clay Aiken's surprising loss to Arsenio Hall on Sunday night's live Celebrity Apprentice finale, a conspiracy theory emerged suggesting the show was fixed, collusion between Trump and NBC and Comcast and Magic Johnson and quite possibly Voldemort. After I praised Clay's performance, some of Clay's fans flooded the comments with versions of the theory: Comcast, as part of its agreement with the government to diversify its networks following its purchase of NBC Universal, announcedkeep reading »

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2011-2012's reality shows, ranked by ratings popularity

Andy Dehnart — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:55:39 -0500

Despite the never-ending flood of new and returning series, the 2011-2012 television season has officially concluded, and now it's time for the results show. Once again, the most-popular reality show in the country is American Idol, though it has fallen to number two, behind Sunday Night Football. Of the seven shows in the top 20, six are singing competitions, and the other is Survivor South Pacific. The least-popular network reality show: The CW's Remodeled, producedkeep reading »

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Summer 2012 reality TV debut schedule

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:20:20 -0500

For me, the start of summer is not Memorial Day, but by the start of So You Think You Can Dance, as spring ends with the conclusion of American Idol. But it's June when the onslaught of new and returning reality shows will really hit, from last summer's awesome surprise The Glee Project to ABC's improved-upon version of Big Brother, The Glass House. The following is a frequently-updated list of officially announced debut dates forkeep reading »

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Phillip Phillips had eight surgeries during American Idol

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:19:23 -0500

American Idol 11 winner Phillip Phillips' win is a bit more remarkable when you consider that he had eight separate operations for kidney stones during the show. Eight! No wonder he was excused from participating in those awful Ford music video shoots. Phillip, who's 21, will have yet another operation to have his kidneys reconstructed, but will recover in time to join the tour when it starts on July 6. That's according to his dad,keep reading »

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Vote for which Top Model looks best dead with her head mounted on a wall (really)

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:13:43 -0500

Viewer voting is now open for the fall season of America's Next Top Model, and the first photo shoot features the models' heads mounted to wood plaques as if they were hunted, killed, and dismembered. I mean, they are "'wild animal' fierce" according to the show's Facebook page. Voting ends at midnight ET tonight, because viewers' impressions of the photo shoot taxidermy will be used during judging of the show (which is in production nowkeep reading »

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Phillip Phillips' win, Ace Young's awful proposal to Diana DeGarmo end Idol's lowest-rated finale ever

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:50:50 -0500

Phillip Phillips won American Idol 11 last night, and though he beat Jessica Sanchez by earning the majority of "a world record 132 million votes," according to vote-counters, it was the series' lowest-rated finale episode ever, following the lowest-rated performance episode ever. That may be because his win was rather predictable, or because this season had talent but no soul. About 20.7 million people watched, and among viewers 18 to 49, that was a dropkeep reading »

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Arsenio Hall won, but Clay Aiken is Celebrity Apprentice's true winner

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:10:28 -0500

Clay Aiken lost his second national reality TV competition on Sunday, losing Celebrity Apprentice to Arsenio Hall, who joked that he was "Skinny Ruben" [Studdard]. Both were deserving finalists and either would have been a satisfying winner, and their friendship throughout the competition made it even more rewarding. Still, I think Clay Aiken was the real winner. The win itself is meaningless--except for the $250,000 for the winner's charity, which isn't insignificant, of course, butkeep reading »

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The Real World (smartly) alienated its original fans by refusing to age with them

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:56:26 -0500

In the nostalgia surrounding The Real World's 20th anniversary on Monday--a day MTV ignored--one thing that's pretty clear is that many of us who found the show in our teens now find ourselves not watching the show we once loved. That the cast members rarely have lives or ambitions outside of the show is now basically a cliche argument; when the show aired its 10th season in 2001, I wrote that "seven strangers come onkeep reading »

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Several NFL teams have rejected HBO's Hard Knocks

Andy Dehnart — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:07:52 -0500

HBO's Hard Knocks didn't air last year because of the lockout, and now, the documentary reality series isn't finding teams willing to be followed by its cameras. The Seattle Seahawks, "the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins have either declined or, like the Seahawks, stated a lack of interest in appearing in the program ahead of an offer," NFL.com reports. There is still time for a team to getkeep reading »

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The Real World turns 20 today: seven strangers spawned 27+ seasons, 20 years of reality TV

Andy Dehnart — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:07 -0500

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 andkeep reading »

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