An HBO documentary helped free three men who've spent 18 years in prison, and a new film already in the works will tell their full story when it's released in January.
The men known as the West Memphis Three, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly, were released from prison today, having been convicted of raping, murdering, and mutilating three Cub Scouts--although as the New York Times reports, their release "does not result in a full exoneration; some of the convictions stand, though the men did not admit guilt."
HBO announced today that the 1996 documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, will be followed by Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, which debuts in January and "tells the entire story, from the arrests in 1993 to the growing movement, through the entire appeals process and the uncovering of new evidence, concluding with their release."
Director and producer Joe Berlinger said his first two films contributed to the three men's release: "To see our work culminate in the righting of this tragic miscarriage of justice is more than a filmmaker could ask for." Co-director Bruce Sinofsky said in a statement, "Today, we, along with HBO, are humbled to be a part of this remarkable outcome."
As The Wall Street Journal notes, "Sensationalistic local media coverage fed the prosecutors' case that the killings were part of a satanic ritual, and the teens' personal taste in heavy metal music and horror literature was used against them," and the documentaries "rallied high-profile supporters to the West Memphis Three's cause, including Johnny Depp, Metallica, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks."
Bravo president Frances Berwick told Variety, "Contrary to what is being reported, we have not made a decision to change our original premiere date but we are in the process of re-editing the show."
Earlier, The New York Times reported that "was not expected to appear nearly as often this season, according to the plot outlines offered by Bravo. But Mr. Armstrong's wife, Taylor, is one of the main characters in the series; their marital problems and pending divorce had provided a significant plotline in the show."
Variety noted that "Berwick declined to specify exactly how the series is going to change, though it is likely the series will reshape or eliminate the presence of Armstrong over the course of the season."
That would be a mistake. In fact, any editing is a mistake or, at the very least, exposes guilt on behalf of the production for doing exactly what Russell's friends claim he said producers did: pressure him into being someone he's not, and threatening to edit him certain ways. Whether or not that's true, editing the show will make it look like the producers are either covering up or whitewashing reality, whatever that reality was, just as it's a clear acknowledgment that producers control how he appears.
Whatever happened, Russell agreed to be filmed for the series, and it would be disrespectful to his memory to pretend that he did not, or to pretend that he was not a part of the production. The Real Housewives can't just pretend this never happened. Of course, his mental state and marital problems shouldn't be sensationalized or exploited for the sake of ratings, but they should also not be ignored.
Big Brother 13 picked up a little last night, thanks to the second exit of Brendon, a fight between Rachel and Jeff, and the reappearance of Shelly's eight-year-old daughter Josie, who is by far this season's most interesting and best character.
In fact, I want the producers to bring Josie into the house and let her play, really. It's not like they don't break their own rules all the time anyway. But Josie is smart, no-nonsense, and clearly far more self-aware than her parent--and every other person in the house. During a segment about Shelly's family, Josie recommended her mom align with Jeff and Jordan, and best of all, told the camera, "I understand that she doesn't want me to get all upset, but, I mean, she kinda needs to stop lyin' and just pick a side."
She's a star.
Meanwhile, Jeff has had enough of Rachel's bullshit, and called her out on it when she got upset that he and Jordan wouldn't cast symbolic votes for her man. It was clear he'd been holding back his frustration for a while, and he basically said that he and Rachel would have a problem--which is good for us, because that alliance needs to be split up. I imagine they'll work it out and stick together, though, dashing all hopes of anything interesting happening ever.
The HOH competition didn't end by the end of the episode, though there was time to see the producers dump white foam all over the houseguests--although unevenly, so Rachel basically had none in her lane. However, the results of the HOH competition have the potential to make things interesting this week, and combined with next Thursday's fast-forward episode, I hope we see a lot game play. But we'll probably just get the same-old predictable nominations and result as we slog toward the finale, which is less than a month away now.
If you want a job in reality television, or want to understand how it works behind the scenes, or think you have the perfect show to pitch, you should probably read Reality TV: An Insider's Guide to TV's Hottest Market before you do anything else. Besides covering the basics of reality TV, the book explains production from outlining a show to conducting OTFs to post-production, and also explains how to work in the industry, starting with entry-level jobs.
Its author, Troy Devolld, who has worked on reality shows from Flipping Out to Basketball Wives, and has offered to give away six signed copies to reality blurred readers.
One of those winners will also get free registration for the Aug. 27 conference Future of Story in Los Angeles (you need to provide your own transportation and hotel--i.e., probably live in the L.A. area). The half-day conference is for writers ("Screenwriters, television writers, novelists, non-fiction writers, graphic novelists and all those interested in emerging trends in narrative") who will "have an opportunity to network one-on-one with experts on screenwriting, pitching, and various aspects of filmmaking."
You can enter daily until noon ET next Thursday, Aug. 25 by leaving a comment below; note in the comment if you just want the book or if you also want to be eligible for the free conference registration because you can be in L.A. that day.
When you comment, make sure that whatever service you use to sign in displays your real name and makes it possible to contact you. (If your comments aren't being approved, check the quick and easy instructions.) The fine print: No purchase is necessary. I'll randomly select the six winners at 12:01 p.m. ET on Aug. 25, when the contest ends, and contact you to get your mailing address. Awesome! If you don't respond within 24 hours, I'll randomly pick someone else. Sad!
TLC says it has cancelled its reality show LA Ink, but its star, Kat Von D, says she quit the Miami Ink spin-off and insists that the network intends to sensationalize her breakup with Jesse James, the Celebrity Apprentice and Monster Garage cast member.
The show will end Sept. 15 after four seasons, which began airing in 2007. TLC said in a statement, "TLC has decided that the current season of LA Ink will be its last. The network is proud of what the series has accomplished in its four seasons, following Kat Von D's journey as an artist from Miami to Los Angeles."
But Kat wrote on Twitter, "I love how me deciding to not continue doing LA Ink, turns into being 'cancelled.' Thanks @TLC. Regardless of everything I remain grateful." She added later that the series' end "also means I can speak more freely now too."
Kat also promised "a more in depth, more honest statement," and told People, "In an effort to capitalize on my recent breakup, the network has decided to focus their energy on re-editing events that didn't happen while filming. I have no regrets and am very proud of the original footage. In my opinion, any attempt to compromise the honesty of that would be an insult to my fans and viewers. As grateful as I am to have been a part of a show like LA Ink, I'm ready to end this chapter and want to focus on other projects now."
Last week, I was in the North Sea aboard the Steve Irwin, covering Whale Wars spin-off for Playboy, somewhat worried about being imprisoned and/or dying. That meant I missed three episodes of Big Brother, among other TV shows, and coming back to those was quite the contrast.
After five days away, I lost all interest in the show. That was in part because the post-ship land sickness (I've self-diagnosed myself with this syndrome) has been making it difficult for me to actually watch TV for a few days. But literally, it dropped away, even with the big, pre-spoiled twist. However, I had too much invested to just drop out now--I'm not the kind of person who walks out in the middle of a movie--so I just watched all four hours in a row.
That's left me with some observations about this season and the show in general:
The point of watching is that you've already watched a lot. A significant part of the motivation of watching the show is the investment I've already put into it. (I have no idea what motivates people who watch the live feeds; they're stronger people than I am.) Usually at the end of the season, I can't believe I've wasted more than two months on this nonsense and purge it from my brain, which allows me to approach it with fresh enthusiasm the next summer. But stopping mid-season is much more of a shock to the system.
Watching Big Brother is like riding a kiddie roller coaster and losing your memory every time it pulls into the station so you think there's brand-new track ahead: it's mildly exciting at some points and you keep thinking it'll get better, but really nothing changes and it's not that exciting to begin with. If you do regain your memory mid-ride, it makes it difficult to keep going around and around and around. That's because:
The show is incredibly boring. Let's be honest: Even when there's something interesting happening strategically, Big Brother is actually a really boring show. The episodes don't even start until about three or four minutes into the hour, and end four minutes before the end of the hour, which is actually only 43 minutes without commercials. Add in all of the stock lines the houseguests are forced to say, the descriptions they are forced to give us of things we can see perfectly well for ourselves, and absolutely useless footage, and it's maddening considering there's a lot of content that the episodes ignore.
On top of that, we get the same challenges, the same musical cues, the same structure for every episode, and it just drags and drags and drags. Some familiar elements make sense--"the tribe has spoken" and so on--but the challenge of editing the show in near-real time has given us an increasingly familiar show.
In four hours, very little happened, although it had the potential to be very interesting: Rachel sobbed, Lawon nominated himself and got voted out, Brendon returned, the underdogs prevailed and Daniele became HOH only to play nice and nominate the least-controversial people, Daniele back-doored Brendon when the opportunity presented itself. I would have liked to have seen more depth to all of this rather than, say, footage of Shelly pacing around in solitary.
Brendon's return proves "story" matters more than reality.Big Brother is watched by around 7 million viewers, which is not a lot, and most of them don't watch the live feeds or follow the show online, probably because they have things to do. All they have is the TV show, so that is their reality.
When I interviewed executive producer Allison Grodner a few weeks ago, she repeatedly mentioned "story," and noted that the pre-existing relationships from the duos "gave us a lot of story, and that has been what's driving this particular season." In other words, that's what they've primarily chosen to focus on.
So, it's no surprise Brendon got voted back in, even though many of us can't stand him or his relationship with Rachel. First, the 2 million votes that were cast aren't that significant: that's 200,000 people voting 10 times each (assuming people didn't cheat and log in under multiple identities). Brendon got 1 million votes, which is just 100,000 people voting. Although the fact that he got 50 percent of the vote seems impressive, he got far more than half the screentime this season, and the others never had a chance. The producers might not fix the game directly, but they exercise tremendous power with what they choose to focus on.
The casting sucks. The CBS executives who approve and/or insist on this cast need to get a little perspective and stop this madness. Pouring an even less-interesting person into the same mold every season has got to stop, as does the return of previous houseguests. Lawon's absolutely hilariously stupid decision to vote himself out of the house and Shelly's delusion about her lies are mildly amusing, but fail to compare on any significant level with the entertainment or game play we've seen in the past. All that happens now is that the clones of previous contestants try to imitate behavior they learned when they've been forced to watch previous seasons during casting, and the cycle repeats itself, but just gets duller.
There is no reason any of this will ever change. The show nearly always wins its timeslot and sometimes even outperforms itself, and those ratings justify all of the decisions that are making the show suck, which means we'll never see significant changes. Our only hope is another network finding a summer show to put up against Big Brother and either killing it or waking its ass up.
Less than a year after ending its run in the UK, cancelled because of low ratings, Big Brother is being resurrected--but with major changes.
The show will now air on Channel 5 and has a new house, while the show's host, Davina McCall, is out, replaced by previous winner Brian Dowling. More significantly, the show will no longer offer the live feeds that have allowed fans to watch online.
Tonight, the eighth celebrity series begins, and it will be followed by a new regular-person series, both of which will air on the show's new home, Channel 5, which has a two-year deal with Endemol to broadcast it. Channel 5's director of programming Jeff Ford told BBC News that the network bought the show "to connect to a younger audience, and very importantly, we will continue to serve the viewers who love us. But we're not going to tailor it for a Channel 5 audience because we want all audiences who used to love the show."
A journalist friend of mine is raising money so he can distribute his documentary film about a previously untold story: the internment of more than 4,500 Japanese men, including United States citizens, in Santa Fe during World War II.
The documentary draws from "20 hours of exclusive interviews with former Santa Fe survivors and their families, declassified government documents and private photographs," and "tells a story that, in many cases, fathers never told their own children after the war," according to its director, Neil Simon, who notes as part of his request for help to fund it that "No film, book, or museum collection exists to tell the full story of what happened there, who the men were, their lives before the war, and where they went after."
Neil is raising money via Kickstarter to distribute the film. Donors can give $1 or more; pledging $25 or more gets them the DVD first, while $50 gets their name in the credits. (If you've never heard of Kickstarter, it's a pretty awesome way for creative people to fund specific projects; if a goal isn't reached, no one pays, and donations result in tangible benefits for those who give. Other documentary filmmakers are also seeking funding.)
You can watch an excerpt from the film, and there's a director's statement from Neil on Kickstarter; here's its trailer:
Abercrombie and Fitch got its name in the news today not by producing a catalog full of homoerotic images of nearly-naked people who ironically aren't wearing the clothes they're selling, but by offering to pay Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and the Jersey Shore cast to stop wearing its clothes. In a press release, the company said,
"We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans. We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino and the producers of MTV's The Jersey Shore to have the character wear an alternate brand. We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response."
Also today, Abercrombie's stock dropped; CNN notes that "fell nearly 10% at one point on Wednesday and finished nearly 8% lower for the day." But that likely wasn't because investors didn't like the publicity stunt, because CNN notes that "what more likely moved the stock was a retreat from a recent run-up after the company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations, and gave tepid comments about its outlook."
The Wall Street Journal attributes agrees, citing "a disappointing conference call following its quarterly earnings report." And although clearly the publicity stunt wasn't enough to counter other reactions, the WSJ quotes from analysts who actually think the stunt was a good idea. One of them, ISI's Omar Saad, wrote, "We applaud the decision to dissociate A&F brands from 'The Jersey Shore' characters. Especially overseas, this is a proactive step to help maintain the brand's emerging position as the beacon of casual American luxury."
American Idol's cast will remain unchanged for season 11, with Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, and Randy Jackson on the panel and Ryan Seacrest hosting.
Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said as much this past weekend, and the only real question was whether Jennifer Lopez would return, and if so, for how long. Since the announcement only says the panel is returning for season 11 in 2012, the negotiations presumably resulted in a one-year contract, meaning she can get more money and/or leave after season 11. Lots of media reports say she's getting $20 million for next season, up from $12 million, but they tend to attribute that vaguely, and I can't find a clear, attributed source of that information.
Anyway, Fox said that the new season will debut Jan. 22, a Sunday, following the NFC championship game; that's two weeks before The Voice returns following the Super Bowl on NBC.
"To be frank, I didn't understand why we're talking about contestants being gay or not gay. I don't go into my dentist and say, 'Are you gay?' I don't say to contestants on So You Think You Can Dance, 'Are you gay?' What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody? When does privacy stop in this country? If somebody wants to say they're gay, it’s up to them. You don't expect us to turn around and say, 'Are you gay?' Why would we do that? -- 'By the way, he's a Catholic and he supports Obama and here's his sexuality' -- what does that have anything to do with singing talent? Maybe it does for Adam Levine, but not for me. So the reason nobody has been openly gay on Idol is that it's up to the contestant."
Okay, Nigel, you assclown, the reason it matters is because both of your shows make constant references to the actual or presumed heterosexuality of both your contestants and the audience, which is what happens every time you insist that all girls will love some boy's performance, or whatever.
Also in the interview, Nigel actually pretends to not know whether Adam came out during or after the show ("Did Adam Lambert come out?"), and when asked more specifically, Nigel said, "There's no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what they're [sic] sexuality is, who they're going to vote for or what their religion is."
If only people on television would stop coming out with how stupid and ignorant they are.
The apparent suicide of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Russell Armstrong is being at least partially blamed on the Bravo reality show, which has not yet announced how it will respond.
Blaming suicides on reality TV has been popular among lazy journalists who oversimplify complicated and often impossible-to-know circumstances. In Russell's case, however, it is clear that, at the very least, the show did not help his mental state.
A friend of Russell's, William Ratner, told the Los Angeles Times, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, I think, was [Russell's] downfall. The TV show put a lot of pressure on him to produce financially. You're on a show with a couple like the Maloofs, who are verifiable billionaires, and you're not."
Ratner also said, "I went in and talked with him, and he said, 'I don't know why she's doing this. Why can't she do this off the show?' He said there were still two weeks left of shooting and he didn't want to be in it. He said the producers at Bravo told Russell and Taylor that they picked them as the 'disaster couple,' and if they weren't going to have drama in the second season, they would cut them and replace them with someone else."
There is some evidence from Russell that he was bothered by the show itself. Last month, in a People magazine story, Taylor said her relationship was physically and emotionally abusive, and Russell told the magazine, "Did I push her? Yes, maybe things happened in the heat of the moment, but it was during a time in our lives that was not characteristic of who we were. This show has literally pushed us to the limit."
People has a round-up of reactions from his co-stars and others, including Andy Cohen, who said he was "so very sad" about Russell's death. (Those reactions run counter to what TMZ reported in one of its typically horrifically written, unsourced, and sensational posts, saying that Bravo told the cast they could not talk about Russell's death to the media.)
The big question is how Bravo will respond, with the new season set to debut Sept. 5. In a more credible story, The Hollywood Reporter said Bravo "is waiting at least 24 hours to make a decision about whether they'll postpone the show," noting that "Shooting has yet to wrap. But there were no shoots planned for this week, according to a Bravo spokesperson. Producers are still editing and sources said before the news of Armstrong's death, that the network had ordered an additional four episodes bringing the second season total to 18."
The saga of America's Next Great Restaurant's not-so-great end continues as Chipotle is getting the blame for killing Soul Daddy, which closed its third and final restaurant in June.
Earlier this month, TMZ claimed that winner Jamawn Woods said Chipotle was to blame, although he wasn't actually quoted in their post, which did more to prove that no one at TMZ knows how to use ellipses or em dashes.
But host and judge Bobby Flay did say Chipotle had all the responsibility for running the restaurant. He told Eater that Soul Daddy's closing "was just an unfortunate thing
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Russell Armstrong, Taylor's estranged husband, died Monday night, apparently from hanging himself.
"I can confirm that Mr. Armstrong was found dead from an apparent hanging in a residence on Mulholland Drive," a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told People, which noted that Taylor "filed for divorce on July 15 from Armstrong, citing physical and verbal abuse."
TMZ first reported the death, and updated with a statement from Bravo that said, "All of us at Bravo are deeply saddened by this tragic news. Our sympathy and thoughts are with the Armstrong family at this difficult time."
Their troubled relationship was part of the series first season; the second season debuts Sept. 5.
While Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star is a pretty weak competition series, the other major reality show on the new network, Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes, is surprisingly great television. I rarely watch Oprah, but I find it to be fascinating; I'd watch an hour of this ever day if I could.
The show, which airs new episodes on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET, follows Oprah's daytime talk show's producers as they assemble episodes of the show, and cameras go everywhere from dressing rooms to rehearsals to Oprah's office. There's a little too much of what I think of as the ABC reality show vibe: that jaunty music, the overly dramatic orchestration, the obviously controlled presentation. I'd like it to be a little rawer and grittier, because the show touches on some raw, tense moments, but I understand why they'd want a shiny surface on the less-than-perfect parts.
Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes works because there is a real willingness to show the things you wouldn't expect to see: Liza Minnelli telling a producer to "cut that" question about her marriage, Oprah telling the camera crews "okay guys, thank you!" when she wanted them to leave her and Gayle alone, Liza Minnelli arguing with producers about her live performance. While there's nothing awful that happens on camera, and you get the sense that the interviews with producers and even Oprah gloss over some details, it does show the rough edges, from Jon Stewart showing up late to Oprah being irritated by producers' plans for her to do a stand-up introduction while on location.
Oprah usually seems like she's in performance mode, but I'm not sure she has another mode. That said, we do see a slightly new side of her, and she doesn't always come off as perfect (although just by virtue of allowing cameras into her office where she disagrees with staff and admits her mistakes, she looks great, of course, even when she's wrong). In the first episode, Oprah is confronted by her publicist about a comment she made on air, telling a man, "you seem gayer," and she has a discussion about whether this is offensive. The behind-the-scenes show even broke its fourth wall, as a producer stepped forward as a gay man to discuss this with Oprah, just as Jon Stewart acknowledged the camera crew.
It's very clear that Oprah is rather insulated from the reality of producing her show, and her producers are the real stars of this series, and really do give us a sense of what it's like to produce a daily reality TV show. It's fascinating to watch them control reality and carefully plan nearly every detail of every show--not surprising, just interesting, especially when it leads to conflict.
The camping episode was by far the best, in part because there were a lot of behind-the-scenes moments on location, and in part because it illustrated the central problem of orchestrating reality. "You must be out of your mind. You're delusional," Oprah told a producer when the producer suggested Oprah put on her clothes from the day before to re-shoot something they didn't get on camera. Oprah says, "I don't have to make anything up or repeat anything." Thanks to her willingness to be actually unscripted, Oprah's given us some great reality TV.
Next Media Animation has released an animated news story that previews what might happen when the Jersey Shore cast goes to Italy, and it's pretty hilarious. Two words: coliseum tigers. Meanwhile, check out the teaser trailer for a reality series that follows three Canadian friends on vacation in The Bahamas, which is described as "Entourage meets The Hangover," but is more like a vacation episode of The Real World.
First, here's Next Media Animation's look at MTV's decision to send Jersey Shore to Italy, a video that includes digital versions of the Sistine Chapel, Venice, and the cast members.
And here is the teaser trailer for The Boys of Paradise, which isn't quite as strange as the hilarious trailer for the Canadian Jersey Shore. It follows Darren Giroux, Craig Collins, and Andrew Goss on vacation in the Bahamas. While this is probably the last show I'd actually watch, considering it highlights drinking, partying, fighting, and puking, it is gorgeously shot. The lighting and and composition of each frame just looks fantastic, even when someone is, say, hurling into a toilet.
SallyAnn Salsano, the woman who created Jersey Shore (and HGTV's Design Star, among other series), was a finalist to be a cast member on The Real World Miami in 1996.
Yes, SA, as she calls herself, might have been working on the business (Delicious Deliveries!) with Dan, Melissa, Joe, Flora, Sarah, Mike, and Cynthia, minus one of them.
She revealed that during an interview that resulted in this Daily Beast profile, in which she tells me, "I was Snooki" and said that she'd be a cast member if she wasn't producing it, because she is "a huge fan of reality TV. There's not a show that I don't watch. I don't watch it for research, so I can see what the competitors are doing. You know what? I fucking love every second of it."
Whatever you think of Jersey Shore, it's unquestionably been a huge success, and she explains why that is in the full interview, and the answer, like its success, is surprising.
Jersey Shore creator SallyAnn Salsano told me that being fired by HGTV from another popular reality show she created, Design Star, "really hurt my feelings," but that watching Mark Burnett's version of the show made her realize that she and her team are "geniuses."
Today, in The Daily Beast, I profile SA, as she's known, based on a conversation we had in Los Angeles, where she was promoting TV Guide Network's upcoming series The Nail Files. When writing the story, I realized that the press release announcing she'd been replaced as producer of the HGTV show went out on the same day as the debut of her MTV series; the world is funny that way.
I included some of her comments about the HGTV show in the story, but didn't have space to include them all, and she offers a lot of insight into both the process and the politics. When I asked about the HGTV competition, SA told me, "I loved Design Star. Design Star was my baby. There is no show that I loved more than Design Star. To say that I was devastated when I was fired--fired!--from having the number one show on a network, never being over budget, and working my ass off, harder than I've ever worked. It's the hardest show I ever produced."
I asked her specifically about the one thing I've hated about Design Star from the beginning: the lack of clear deliberations from the judges. "It's so hard, because they were so long. Our eliminations, we would shoot for five hours. And I have six minutes, and the big thing is showing the before and afters," she told me. "Normally in reality TV that you and I watch, we want to hear the back and forth of the judges, but to the HGTV home audience, they want to see the reveal of the rooms. It was actually doing two shows in one. I was doing a competition elimination show, so fans of that were coming, but the core audience of HGTV wanted the process
CBS has posted a video of Jeff Probst evaluating the Survivor Redemption Island cast. Because it seems like this was filmed before the first Tribal Council, it's his actual pre-game assessment of their potential rather than mid-season pretend assessment of their potential, which is interesting. It also manages to make the cast seem more interesting than they did when it was announced, and so many of them seemed like copies of previous seasons' contestants.
Jeff's analysis, which is interspersed with footage of the contestants goofing off around the pool at what I presume is Ponderosa, falls apart a little at the end when he calls Russell Hantz and Rob Mariano "icons on our show," and worse, says that "nobody has had two alliances go all the way to the end like Russell has." (Um, what? There seem to be many examples of that, although they are women, so perhaps they don't count.)
The Jersey Shore cast is going to Italy later this spring, but a report says Ronald "Ronnie" Ortiz-Magro might not go with them, if he can't get a visa because of legal problems. However, his manager says that he will be going to Italy.
Radar reports that because he "has been indicted by a New Jersey grand jury on an assault charge" and "is facing one count of third-degree assault, which is punishable by up to five years in state prison," he might not get a visa. An Italian embassy representative told Radar, "Persons who are currently in the criminal process can not by issued a Visa. Any person applying for a Visa to Italy must have their case fully adjudicated."
However, it's hard to imagine that producers and the network didn't work this out before announcing the new season, so I'd guess he'll be going with everyone else. TMZ reported that "two months ago execs began working on getting visas for the cast and crew."
And after publishing their original report, Radar talked to Ronnie's manager Matt Cohen, who said, "As of now, he is free to travel wherever he chooses and has a clean criminal record. Until he is actually convicted of a crime, he can go wherever he wants."
Asked specifically about the embassy's comments, Cohen said, "We have plans for Ronnie to be part of season four of Jersey Shore and travel to Italy for the show."
Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke has published a new memoir in which she discusses being molested as a child and physically abused as an adult by two boyfriends.
Cheryl's book, Dancing Lessons: How I Found Passion and Potential on the Dance Floor and in Life, will be released Feb. 8, and since it was ghostwritten by People magazine writer Monica Rizzo, the magazine has an interview with Cheryl, and reports that when she was a kid, "Burke was repeatedly molested by a friend of her family's -- and testified against him in court, helping send him to prison for nearly two decades," while as an adult, she suffered "physical abuse by two former boyfriends."
"They're not secrets. There's no shame," Cheryl said, adding that she's telling her story because, "If I can help just one person, for me that's all that matters."
Previews for next week's episode of The Bachelor show Brad Womack on a date with Emily Maynard, whose fiance and the father of her daughter, NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, was killed in a plane crash. On the date, they're wearing racing gear and are at a racetrack, and host Chris Harrison defends this because he says producers have limited time and needed to force Emily to get over her trauma.
Chris Harrison, who has apparently lost all human emotions after hosting the show for nine years, told TV Guide, "If you take it at face value, I get why people are angry, but people need to see the date and see how it plays out. This is another watershed, breakthrough moment and it's therapeutic for Brad and Emily. It's a very moving episode and obviously a moving date. It's definitely scary, but again if you play armchair psychologist, it's kind of a hurdle they need to get over. We have to force the issue because we have such a time constraint. It puts Brad on the spot, puts Emily on the spot, like you guys are either going to deal with this and go forward, or it's not going to happen and it's over."
By the way, if you've read this season's spoilers, Chris' conversation about one date might be particularly interesting. He discusses Chantal's helicopter date, saying, "Historically speaking, that's the best date you can get -- apparently, it goes straight to engagement after that. When I see them together, they're like old friends; it doesn't feel like they just met. It's like their relationship has already evolved well past three or four weeks in."
Last year, the documentary Afghan Star profiled contestants on Afghanistan's version of American Idol (watch the trailer), and a new film follows up with one them, the woman whose life was threatened by her appearance on the show.
Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star profiles Setera, who was subject to death threats for her singing and dancing, especially after her hair was accidentally exposed when she was eliminated from the competition--a show that was helping to change culture but was also controversial. (In the Kansas City Star, Aaron Barnhart reports that similar competition series "have been wildly popular with young people wherever they go, and their enthusiasm has often spilled over into the larger society," often igniting debates.)
In the new documentary, which debuts tonight on HBO2 at 8 p.m. after an encore of Afghan Star at 6:30, "director Havana Marking revisits Setara as she deals with ever-present threats to her safety and starts a new life as a wife and mother-to-be, while continuing to nurture dreams of becoming a pop-music idol," according to HBO. The network notes that "Setara pushed the boundaries of modesty" and "enraged traditionalists" but "was adored by many young people who admired her courage and determination to challenge the restrictions on women's freedom in public."
Top Shot, the surprisingly good History Channel competition between marksmen, is now casting for its third season, as its second season debuts Feb. 8, and will be once again hosted by Survivor's Colby Donaldson, who told me before the first season debuted that its crew was "hoping we take this thing as long as Survivor has gone on."
For its third season, the series is looking for couples, though Pilgrim Films and Television's casting director told me that a couples-themed season isn't necessarily a given. Semi Aboud said that it "depends upon what we find and how it works out," and added that "both of them have to be pretty decent shooters."
Although the show has a requirement that people know how to shoot, he said that "ideally, we love a healthy balance of both skill and personality." Because "its a reality television show, chracter and story and interaction is important," so they'll select "the best personalities, the most well-spoken of the most skilled people," he said, but added, "We're not casting Rock of Love." Plus, "folks in the gun community who do this well tend to be pretty even-tempered."
Aboud wants people of "all skill levels to apply," and said that they've had "a lot of military, police officer, and competitive shooters on the show--which is great, but I want to hear from people who consider themselves self-taught," people who are "confident enough that they can hang with the pros."
He pointed out that "it's not just a shooting competition; it's very physical," so that means "there are a lot of great marksmen out there who are not necessarily in physical shape to take on these challenges." Those who apply "don't have to be an ultimate fighter" but should be able to "climb and swim and jump."
We discussed how non-gun enthusiasts, including me, like the show, and Aboud said, "it surprised me how broad of an appeal the show is getting." He told me, "I knew very little about guns before I started casting Top Shot," and added, "I'm very impressed by the gun community and the really upstanding, respectable people who've applied for the show and have opened my eyes to a whole new community."
Aboud told me that for season one, they had less than 1,000 applications, but close to 5,000 for season two. Applications are due Feb. 1, and Top Shot's third season films for six weeks starting in April and going through mid-May, so they'll miss American Idol's final weeks (bonus!).
MTV has renewed Jersey Shore for a fourth season, unsurprisingly, but it will not be filmed in New Jersey or Miami. Instead, the network will send the cast to Italy, and that's expected to be the same people who've been on season three: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Jenni "Jwoww" Farley, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, Vinny Guadagnino, and Deena Nicole Cortese.
The network's press release says the cast will go there sometime this spring and "drop in on Vinny's family for a famous Guadagnino dinner" and "trade gorillas for Italian stallions," and brags that they will turn the country "upside down."
MTV also said that the series, produced by SallyAnn Salsano and her 495 Productions, has now become its "#1 series of all time among [viewers ages 12 to 34]," and in that demographic, it has 46 percent higher ratings than season two, and 219 percent higher ratings than season one.Last week's episode was also the highest-rated telecast in MTV's history.
We knew it was coming, and now it's official: Almost nine years after airing on CBS, The Amazing Race 2 has been released on DVD, joining seasons one and seven, the only two out of 17 to be on DVD.
Although season one is fantastic TV, and has memorable moments such as Joe and Bill being left far behind on the last leg, this was the season when the show found itself, from the clue boxes to having Phil Keoghan and his eyebrows on the mat for every single team.
If you've only watched in recent years and can't understand what people like me are talking about when we complain about the series' decline, watch this season and see what you think.
If Project Runway's desperation to be more like its younger sibling isn't already evident, the series' producer is spinning off two competitions: Project Runway: Masters and Project Runway: Accessories. Apparently, someone has seen Top Chef Masters and Top Chef Just Desserts.
Ironically, the Weinstein Company reportedly took Project Runway from Bravo to Lifetime after being irritated over Bravo's copying of their format. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Weinsteins "plan to launch two spinoffs of 'Runway' this year: one called 'Project Runway: Masters,' in which professional designers compete in fashion challenges to earn money for their favorite charities. Another is titled 'Project Runway: Accessories,' where designers create new clothing accessories each week."
The paper doesn't say when exactly these will launch, or if they'll be on Lifetime, but presumably they will be on that network. But it does say that the show "is estimated to generate $10 million to $15 million in profits per year for Weinstein Co," and of course it makes more on advertising and such for Lifetime.
Survivor host Jeff Probst defended the 22nd season's returning player twist and insisted this will be one of the show's "top 5" seasons ever, after acknowledging the threat it faces from American Idol. Jeff also responded to criticism of his earlier comment that anyone who doesn't like Russell Hantz and Rob Mariano's return is
Acknowledging that having Russell and Rob play again isn't the most popular casting decision the show has ever made, Jeff addressed fans on Twitter and wrote, "Lots of love/hate about Rob/Russell.I get it,but have faith. Have I mislead you before?:) Great cast, great twist, great season. Top 5."
In interviews when the cast was announced, Probst said, "If you've had too much of Russell, I dare say you're not really a Survivor fan." He echoed that on Twitter, telling someone, "If you're truly a fan, then I'm gonna tell you this
Survivor has been renewed for a 21st and 22nd season, but its host has not yet officially signed on. I can't quite imagine anyone except Jeff Probst hosting Survivor, so I hope he decides to stick around, because as both a producer and host, he's an integral part of the series that has worked so well for 19 seasons.
If (or when) Jeff leaves, though, I fear CBS and SEG will try to find someone who's Probst-like to replace him, or some old cast member like Andrew Savage or even Richard Hatch. And even if they went with an unknown host, when's the last time you watched a new reality show and truly liked and appreciated whatever host they dredged up? There's just not that much workable talent, so these options would be a disaster, I think.
And that's why Conan O'Brien should host Survivor. For real.
Conan would be the anti-Probst, and that's what's so great about it. Anyone who tries to duplicate Probst is going to be so obviously not Probst that they'll suck. Past cast members have weird relationships to the show that probably won't translate well to the screen. A new host needs to completely re-imagine the role, and needs to be someone we wouldn't immediately think of as perfect for the job. Conan isn't a TJ Lavin; he's accessible, human, and comfortable on camera, and can handle everything a host needs to do.
Because Probst treated the game seriously--even the more ridiculous parts: he never even laughed at that fake chest of money at Tribal Council in season one--his hosting gave the game some weight and importance it might not have had otherwise. Conan wouldn't need to do that, in part because the show is well-established enough now that some self-deprecating humor would be welcome, and also because that's not Conan's strength. Instead of being serious, he could embrace the absurdity, even while presiding over a game worth $1 million. That would be a nice change for series that could use some refreshing, especially with less money being spent on challenges and locations now.
Perhaps the biggest advantage is that taking Conan out of a studio and onto a remote Tribal Council set will allow him to rediscover and emphasize what he does best as he works without writers. Some people didn't watch The Tonight Show over the past seven months in part because it was a watered-down version of what Conan did on his old show, and it's only when he let loose during his final weeks that the show took off, ironically enough.
This free, liberated Conan would be a blast as he stands in the sun, providing color commentary as tribes compete in challenges. And can you imagine him asking cast members questions at Tribal Council about their behavior and decision-making? If Conan can wrangle celebrities pimping their latest projects, never mind a masturbating bear, he can handle 20 model/actors, and it'd bring some levity--never mind new viewers--to the proceedings that could help sustain Survivor for another 10 years.
The logistics work, too: Conan can't appear on TV until Sept. 1, but that works for season 21, which won't debut until mid-Sept. And since the show now tapes over 12 weeks in the summer, he could conceivably do a late-night show on or another network and take a hiatus to host Survivor, though the network politics might make that difficult.
But if Jeff leaves, CBS executives should do everything they can to make this work, because everyone would benefit from being on Tribe Coco.
Design Star cast member Michael Verdugo was uninvited from the show's reunion and fired from his job as a cop when his gay bondage porn work was revealed, and now he going to sue his former Florida police department.
The Miami Herald reports that "Hollywood police put Verdugo on administrative leave with pay" in the summer of 2008 and "[a]n investigation followed and the department fired him in January 2009 for not disclosing on his police application that he had made the porn film. An arbitrator recently upheld the termination. Now, Verdugo has asked his attorney, Alberto Milian, to file a civil lawsuit against Hollywood police for wrongful termination and discrimination."
Of his one-time appearance in porn--Gay Porn Times has the details about it--openly gay Verdugo told the paper, "I don't regret it. It was a time in my life that I wanted to explore.
I've missed a few episodes of The Bachelor, so I tuned in last night to watch Jake dump four women, even though he only had to eliminate one, and simultaneously make the whole thing even more unseemly. For a total boring blank slate, Jake sure is kind of creepy.
First, on his one-rose date with Kathryn and Ella, he sent Ella home immediately, and then surprised Kathryn by sending her home, too. But the best part came during the rose ceremony when he had two roses left and three women. He started doing his Jake thing, where he's either choking up or short circuiting, and left the room, a camera following. A producer encouraged him to talk to Chris Harrison, who was standing outside in the courtyard with a camera already on him (hmm, why?).
Then Jake awkwardly asked Chris for advice: "What would you do, if you were in this situation? Do I have to give out two more roses?" I joked that it looked like he was going to give a rose to Chris Harrison, and he actually kind of did, because when Chris came to reclaim a rose and shock the women, there he was standing next to his bro, holding a rose.
Chris told Jake, "just so we're clear, you know for a fact that there's two women in there that are definitely not going to be your wife." And this gets at my central problem with Jake: He makes the whole thing seem like a bachelorette auction, like he's picking the perfect "wife" off a store shelf, even though he can't articulate what the hell he actually wants beyond some vague reference to "values."
Of the three remaining women, Ashleigh, Jessie, and Vienna, he decided to keep Vienna, causing panic. Ali said, "If that's what he wants, I am not what he wants." The most baffling part to me was why the women were upset, because who the hell would want to be with Jake?
American Idol's search for a judge to replace Simon Cowell and Cowell's search for a judge to join him and (most likely) Paula Abdul on The X Factor has led to the same music executive, someone you've probably never heard of: Mariah Carey's ex-husband Tommy Mottola, who co-owns Casablance Records and managed people ranging from Jessica Simpson to Jennifer Lopez.
He leads Idol's list of 25 potential Cowell replacements, according to Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke, whose reporting is nearly always accurate thanks to her well-placed sources. An insider told her, "Mottola is frontrunner for Idol, but when Simon became aware of this, he began trying to get Tommy to team with him and Paula Abdul for his new show The X Factor." Also on American Idol's list: is Guy Oseary, who's 38 and Madonna's business partner, and is number two "because they're cautious about skewing too old," the source said. Number three is music producer and Interscoe-Geffen-A&M chair Jimmy Iovine.
The interesting thing about all three names is that they aren't A-list, Ellen DeGeneres-style names who will immediately draw viewers. Contrast that with Life & Style's report that Jamie Foxx is "a strong contender," although the magazine also says Iovine is, too.
Survivor has been officially renewed for its 21st and 22nd seasons, while The Amazing Race has been renewed for one more season, its 17th, CBS announced today. This is great but unsurprising news, especially for Survivor, which has casting since November and continues to perform well (ratings actually went up for the finale).
What does the one-season renewal mean for TAR? The show typically gets renewed season by season; Phil Keoghan announced the 15th on Twitter. However, that the press release says the renewed shows will be "broadcast in the 2010-2011 season" could be interpreted to mean that CBS only intends to air one season, perhaps because it has enough confidence that a new reality series--like Undercover Boss, which will launch post-Super Bowl--can fill at least half the year, while the aging and far more expensive and logistically complicated race can drop back to one season a year.
No word yet from host Jeff Probst, whose Live for the Moment pilot airs Thursday. His contract expires at the end of season 20, but I'd say he'll be back, unless he pulls a Jay Leno and leaves, decides he didn't want to leave, and comes back. And if he doesn't come back, Conan O'Brien is available, and would make a great host (and I'm mostly not kidding).
The rumor that Michael Lynche was disqualified from American Idol 9 remains that, but some members of the media have been making a connection where there never was one.
Today, multiple publications reported that there's a definitive link between a story in the St. Petersburg Times by Eric Deggans in which Lynche's father confirms his son made it to the top 24 and the disqualification rumors. Yet there has never been any evidence of that, and they're simply mashing together what they've failed to read carefully. How embarrassing!
In my post Friday, I pointed out that there was no public evidence of Lynche himself violating his confidentiality agreement--I checked around, like on his MySpace page-- and only linked to Deggans' report as evidence that Lynche had made it to the top 24. Even the initial Joe's Place report said nothing of the connection, although its post later added a link to Deggans' piece.
But that didn't stop the press, which can't be bothered with nuance when it can create a link where there wasn't one: The New York Post said he "was booted over the weekend" because "his father told a local newspaper that his son made the semifinals, a violation of the show's confidentiality rules." People said he "was reportedly told to pack his bags after his father revealed to his local Florida paper, The St. Petersburg Times, that Michael had made the top 24." And then other outlets passed along the misinformation and kept the story going.
Perhaps it is true that that Lynche was disqualified, though that remains rumor, and while it may have had something to do with the confidentiality agreement, I can't quite imagine Fox disqualifying someone because a relative of his talked to a newspaper. But Fox isn't talking and neither is that relative: Deggans reports today that "Fox network has continually refused to comment on the status of contestants before it is revealed on the show and Marque Lynche Sr. has now disconnected his home phone in Sarasota, declining to comment."
So without any facts to go by, let's just make up stories and amuse ourselves with those.
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