Reality TV - Reality Show News

jennarose · 04-16-2006, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Eye casts 'Brother' with help from aud
Viewers will get the chance to help select players

By JOSEF ADALIAN

CBS is planning an all-star edition of summer hit "Big Brother," but with a twist: Viewers will help cast the show.

Details are still being hammered out, but the current plan calls for CBS and the producers to select a pool of 20 past "Big Brother" players. Viewers will then get the chance to help select which of those 20 get to move into the "Big Brother" house in Studio City.

It's the first time any of the various international "Big Brother" formats has allowed audience members to participate in the casting process. There's been buzz about an all-star "Big Brother" for a while now (Daily Variety, Oct. 12).

Exec producer Allison Grodner said that 12 or 14 players will ultimately move into the house, depending on how the public votes. She and CBS are staying mum over just how the voting will be conducted, but it's expected producers will retain the right to cast some slots with past players who aren't audaud favorites.

There's no word on a premiere date yet, but if history is any guide, skeinskein will premiere the week of July 3 -- most likely on Thursday, July 6.

Picking the cast isn't the only way auds will participate in "Brother""Brother" this season.

"This will be the most interactive 'Big Brother' yet," Grodner told Daily Variety. "Viewers will be getting involved more than in the past."

Players will still decide who gets booted from the house and who wins the $500,000 grand prize. Julie Chen returns as host.

Producers are planning a number of other twists for the seventh season.

Grodner, Arnold Shapiro and Rich Meehan are the exec producers of "Big Brother: All-Stars" in association with Endemol USA.

Date in print: Wed., Apr. 12, 2006, Los Angeles

jennarose · 06-05-2006, 06:08 PM

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition...ycon05.art.htm

Quote:

Reality TV's fun festival
Convention brings fans, stars together

By Ann Oldenburg
USA TODAY

NASHVILLE — The first Reality TV Convention had all the makings of its own reality show — a little drama, some crazy antics and a funky cast of characters.

Stars were told that 1,500 tickets had been pre-sold, but organizer Joe Blackmon said they were “distributed” to radio stations and other outlets. Attendance was closer to 300 at the airport Marriott. Speculation was that maybe the Dukes of Hazzard reunion, which drew 75,000 to the local fairgrounds Saturday, may have pulled fans away.

Nonetheless, the weekend fest had its moments. A few vignettes:

•Jonny “Fairplay” Dalton, notorious for lying about his grandmother's death on Survivor: Pearl Islands, was rarely without a beer in his hand. As for what he has been doing lately, he said: “I signed a $150,000 contract with TNA Wrestling for a year. I ended up doing eight appearances for 40 minutes. Then I signed a second contract and they didn't use me, so I'd like to thank (them) for $300,000 for 40 minutes' worth of work.”

He was the class clown all weekend, from doing a flip into the shallow end of the pool after Saturday's panels to lying down on a convention room table and telling fans, “You can pet me for $1.”

At Saturday night's convention concert, he got down on one knee and asked Survivor: The Australian Outback star Jerri Manthey to marry him, even though he didn't have a ring. She rolled her eyes. At a bar afterward, he wound up spitting on Real World star MJ Garrett, who, several people say, then picked him up and put him, unhurt, on the ground. Bouncers led Dalton out.

Later, Dalton's forearm got stuck in the hotel elevator door as it was closing. He was taken to the hospital, checked and released. On Sunday, in the lobby, he was wearing his hospital gown over his shorts and drinking a beer. “I'm still in pain,” he said.

•Jennifer Candler Oldham, whose ex-husband, Dave Oldham, dug her up after she was buried alive with rats and worms on Psycho Fear Factor, spent a lot of time taking pictures with other reality stars. “Are we the cheesiest people here for doing that?” she asked.

•The Survivor panel — an open question-and-answer session for 45 minutes — was the most well-attended of all panels over the weekend. Motivational speaker Scout Cloud Lee, known for her orange hat on Survivor: Vanuatu, played a nose flute. Wanda Shirk, one of the first two eliminated in Survivor: Pulau's debut episode, did a Survivor rap song. And Tina Wesson, winner of Survivor: Australia, explained what she did with her $1 million winnings: “$470,000 goes to Uncle Sam, so you're not really a millionaire, you're a $530,000-aire. I bought Colby (Donaldson) a motorcycle. I paid off a best friend's house. I invested in real estate. I started a (charity). And cars and insurance and blah blah blah.”

•Fan Racheal Rickman, 21, of Ontario, Calif., graduates from community college next week; her mother sent her to the convention as a gift. She posed for a photo with Dalton, who pretended to be grabbing her chest. “He's hilarious,” she said, adding that she had a good time Friday partying with the cast of The Biggest Loser.

•What's meteorology student and Star Wars fan Howie Gordon of Big Brother 6 up to? “Selling light sabers and trying to compile a hosting reel. … I think there's Hollywood in store for Howie.”

•Andrea Overstreet, a 220-pound hairdresser before dropping 75 pounds on The Biggest Loser, is now a personal trainer. “I get 40 e-mails a day. The show has had a really positive effect.”

•Marguerite Perrin, who captivated Trading Spouses viewers with her yelling, vomiting and fundamentalist Christian views, was sweet, giving away signed photos (most stars charged $5) along with a CD: “It's sit-down comedy. I'm too fat to do stand-up.”

•At Saturday night's convention concert, fourth season American Idoler Scott Savol got the small crowd dancing, while Jessica Sierra tried out new material and Lindsey Cardinale wooed with her smile, jean skirt and cowboy boots.

Earlier, the three had named their recent Idol favorites. Jessica said Chris Daughtry and Mandisa; Scott said, “My personal favorite was Elliott (Yamin)”; Lindsey said, “I liked Taylor (Hicks).”

•For Burton Roberts, Survivor: Pearl Islands launched a career. He's shopping around two travel-show pilots and running his own adventure travel business with reality stars as guides. “I would do Survivor every week of the year if I could. I loved it. It was definitely a life-changing experience.”

•Dennis Luciani of Average Joe threw National Lampoon T-shirts at people walking by his table. He works as an accountant for Lampoon and has a part in the upcoming movie National Lampoon's Totally Baked: A Potumentary. “I'm a reality geek. I love it. For the most part, these are all great people.”

Moochie · 06-05-2006, 09:01 PM

That sounds like a fun convention! Sad that there were only 300 attendees though.

jennarose · 06-07-2006, 03:50 PM

Especially since 75,000 fans attended a convention for a 25 year old show nearby.

jennarose · 07-04-2006, 12:17 PM

I don't know where else to put this. I've opened a Livejournal community for reality TV icons/avatars: Reality TV Icons. It's still new -- I started it last night -- so there isn't anything there yet but I'm hoping that once word gets out, icon makers will start posting there. So go join, especially if you make icons.

jennarose · 07-18-2006, 05:55 PM

There's an article here on The Amazing Race 10. It contains spoilers about the teams and the beginning of the race.

This blog has links to reality TV stars on MySpace.

jennarose · 09-08-2006, 07:39 PM

I saw an ad on Bravo this week saying season 2 of Top Chef begins in October. I didn't realize it would be on so soon.

-Kelly- · 09-27-2006, 08:50 PM

Wife Swap sex assault claim

From correspondents in London

September 28, 2006 12:07pm
Article from: Press Association

BRITISH reality TV show Wife Swap has been thrown into chaos after a participant claimed she had been assaulted.

The woman, who had traded places with Noelie Klineberg to be with her fiance, Robin Goforth, said she had been attacked by one of Goforth's friends.

According to The Sun newspaper, the woman claimed she had been sexually assaulted. She was halfway through the 10-day swap when the allegation was made.

A spokeswoman for Channel 4, which broadcasts the show, said filming had stopped shortly after the claim was made, and added the woman had since decided to withdraw her allegation.

"We are aware of claims made by a Wife Swap contributor against someone she met during the swap," the spokeswoman said.

"However, she has now advised us that she has withdrawn all of these allegations."

http://www.news.com.au

jennarose · 10-23-2006, 04:35 PM

Road Rules is coming back

Quote:

Viewers set "Rules" in MTV reality show
By Carly Mayberry

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - MTV is resurrecting its reality show "Road Rules," which ended its run in 2004, but the rules of the game have changed.

Set to premiere in January, the new season will incorporate interactive elements, among them the ability of viewers to determine through an online vote which cast member is eliminated each week, putting them in control of which six people remain behind the wheel.

"This is MTV's first reality show where viewers are actually casting the show and rendering the verdict about who they liked most and least," said Brian Graden, president of entertainment at MTVN Music Channels Group and president of Logo.

The show, which debuted in 1995, spawning from the network's first reality show, "The Real World," chronicles the journey of six strangers stripped of all their money and traveling to locations guided only by a set of clues and their mission to arrive successfully. This installment finds six of the most infamous former cast members as its initial passenger crew.

In essence, the real-time version presents its action through two episodes -- one on-air and one on MTV's broadband video channel Overdrive.

After the new broadcast episode airs, viewers will vote for one of two cast members -- deemed the "weakest" by the rest of the cast -- to enter an elimination face-off to air on MTV Overdrive. At the same time, viewers will determine the nominee's challenger from an Internet replacement board of potential male and female challengers, which lives on MTV.com, along with video packages, personal blogs and statistics and background on each potential replacement.

Both will duel for a seat back in the "Road Rules" RV through an online challenge, with viewers not knowing the winner until the next on-air episode.

Additional interactive elements centered on the show include posted blogs and personal video diaries from cast members after each mission along with recorded message updates for mobile content.

"Viewers of reality shows have always been impassioned -- just go to the message boards, and you'll see this," said Jonathan Murray, co-creator and executive producer of the show since its creation in 1995 and the chairman and president of Bunim-Murray Prods. "These aren't actors reading lines. These are real people, and they very much represent the MTV viewers. The new 'Road Rules' takes that passion and allows viewers to channel the outcome of the show."

Murray elaborated on the challenges involved producing a series in real time that he described as "two shows going on, a whole bunch of community interaction and lots of stuff happening on MTV Overdrive."

"Normally these shows are taped months in advance, with it taking days to edit each episode," said Murray, who had been challenged by Graden to come up with an idea compelling enough to bring the show back to life. "But MTV is the only network that would do something like this -- to truly walk a high wire without a net."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

**Enigma** · 10-26-2006, 08:23 AM

Thanks for the article. Sounds interesting!

-Kelly- · 11-09-2006, 10:15 PM

Big Brother goes virtual

Big Brother could soon be watching you in cyberspace. According to Endemol, the Dutch programmer than pioneered the hit reality format, a new version of the series will appear in the online game Second Life.

"Big Brother Second Life represents a fantastic opportunity to amass knowledge of the virtual world," said Endemol Netherlands Managing Director Paul Romer. "In the future, we will use this experience to develop specific content for online communities."

Second Life, created by San Francisco-based company Linden Labs, is a three-dimensional virtual world that has more than one million registered users and even its own economy and currency.

Similarly to the real-world Big Brother, Endemol will select 15 Second Life players to compete who will then spend at least eight hours a day inside a glass-walled cyberhouse. Contestants will be voted off one by one to determine a winner.

The last contestant standing will win a virtual island within the Second Life universe that has a real-world value of $US1675.

Fans will have to log on to see whether the online edition of Big Brother can generate as much controversy as a real-life series.

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Pirates pillage reality TV
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Could reality contestants soon be donning eye patches and walking the plank as they compete for pieces of eight? It could be coming to your TV, with news that Survivor producer Mark Burnett is developing a new pirate-themed reality series.

Several seasons of Survivor have had a pirate undercurrent, though Burnett's new series will truly pillage the theme. According to Variety, the series will be set on both land and sea, "suggesting the presence of ships and islands as central characters in the unscripted drama".

US network CBS has approved production on the 13-episode series, which will begin casting shortly. The as-yet-untitled series is slated to premiere in mid 2007.

The new series will reportedly feature competitions and elimination ceremonies, though an insider told Variety that it will not merely be 'Survivor at sea' and will differ from that series in many ways.

Burnett, 46, is considered a reality TV pioneer. As well as Survivor, he has also worked on The Apprentice and Rock Star. He also teamed with director Steven Spielberg for an upcoming filmmaking reality series titled On the Lot.

Survivor: Cook Islands airs on the Nine Network on Wednesdays.

**stealing_kisses** · 11-10-2006, 08:39 AM

Interesting about Big Brother. Thanks!

jennarose · 11-10-2006, 07:44 PM

I think the pirate one sounds interesting.

addicted2much · 12-22-2006, 11:49 AM

Entertainment Weekly named it's Entertainers of the Year.

Project Runway is number 10.

**stealing_kisses** · 12-22-2006, 03:37 PM

Wow, that's awesome for PR.

Congrats!