Results tagged “realitytelevision”

When we first caught wind of Jerry Seinfeld's new reality show, The Marriage Ref, he declared, "This is going to be a comedy show; I’m not interested in the reality of it.”

It was bound to happen: YouTube-itis, or more accurately "Truman Show Delusion," which is what doctors are calling the malady that has patients claiming they're starring in their own reality television shows. Joel Gold of Bellevue Hospital is currently treating five patients with the disease that he says "involves the entire world." The patients are men between the ages of 25 and 34 who believe they are the "focus of attention by millions and millions of people" and that everyone has been written into their script. One patient said "he planned to climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty, and if his true love were waiting for him, the puppeteer strings would be cut. If she failed to show up, he would jump to his death." There's clearly only one way to stop this disease from spreading: end all reality television.

As surely some of the Lohan clan help declare open season in the Hamptons over Memorial Day weekend, the show "Living Lohan" will premiere on the E! network. The NY Post takes a look at the latest reality television family, and the momager who turned even more cameras on her fam: Dina Lohan.

What has Conan O'Brien been doing in his spare time? His writers have only been putting pen to paper for their picket signs, and even though he returned to his late night desk earlier this month -- he's been a one-man show, lacking his trusty troupe of scribes. Alone and living in a world of reruns, he's been unloading in his diary strike journal.

Are you ready to meet the Real Housewives of New York City? Bravo is spinning off their Orange County-based reality show with a look into the lives of some select East Coast ladies. The show will air March 4th, and The Daily News reports that the "stars" will be Bethenny Frankel, LuAnn de Lesseps (that's Countess, to you), Ramona Singer and Jill Zarin of the Upper East Side and Alex McCord of Cobble Hill. We're glad they branched out of the UES and threw a Brooklynite in there (though we wish it was a Park Slope mom); at 34 she's the youngest of them all.

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week?

Earlier this year reality television and Broadway collided in the form of "Grease: You're The One That I Want". The show aired on NBC and documented a trip down memory lane with a troupe of wannabe Sandys and Dannys all vying for the coveted roles. By the end, two were left standing, and tonight they make their debut in Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theater. And now, with Xanadu, Broadway is hosting two movie-to-stage Olivia Newton-John vehicles. Can Two of a Kind be far behind?

In the world of reality television, keeping secrets from faithful viewers is everything: any notable off set development helps to propel rumors, and draws higher ratings. Last week, when puckish Top Chef finalist Ilan Hall left the dimly lit plancha-teria Casa Mono, it prompted a avalanche of speculation of a size usually reserved for Punxsutawney Phil. Rather than reporting on whether Hall saw his shadow, the virtual crowd gathered on the Internet posited that this in fact meant that the Long Island native had won the Top Chef title. Two days ago, Food and Wine magazine accidentally “leaked” a major spoiler onto their web site in the form of a feature story naming the winner, only to pull it from their server in a matter of minutes. Suspicious. Food and Wine has since explained that victory writeups are commissioned for both finalists- in this case, Hall and “crazy-hair” Marcel Vigneron, and that the gaffe has nothing to do with the show’s real outcome, which airs tonight. No matter who wins, there’s probably going to be six more weeks of winter.

Did anyone see Tim Gunn on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last night? If anyone puts the clip on YouTube, let us know, but he was super charming and funny and a good foil for a very manic Conan. Tim admitted it was hard that Project Runway lost at the Emmys last year, and then he said, "Maybe we're like cilantro. You don't know what it is at first, but then you want it again and again." (Or something like that - the heat is making our head fuzzy.) Project Runway - the cilantro of reality television! Except we love PR much more than cilantro. If you listen to Tim's podcast about episode 4, you'll hear how the producers decided to handle kicking Keith Michael auf - they knew about the books independently of the designers. It's very touching - Tim felt very bad for Keith and it proved how Tim is a good guy.

Dave Rubin, Comedian

Read the America's Next Top Model forum at Television Without Pity. And watch the finale again tomorrow night, on the UPN, and refer to our drinking game.

Laurie Woolever, Cook/Food Writer

Reality television has been around in the U.S. long enough for one of the new Survivor:Amazon castmates to have written a senior thesis on "The Impact of Reality Television."