Watching Reality TV

Denise Richards and Dina Lohan each debuted new reality shows on E! last night. Now due to some travel delays I have not seen either show yet, but come on we all know these shows spell DISASTER.

Denise Richards, who was once known for making out with Neve Campbell in Wild Things, is now basically known for her much publicized divorce from Charlie Sheen. Denise Richards: It’s Complicated follows Denise as she juggles work and single motherhood while dealing with the death of her own mother. Let’s be honest here she is rich and doesn’t really seem to have a career. so I’m really not sure how much of a real struggling single parent she can be.

Living Loham chronicles Dina Lohan as she manages her daughter Ali’s aspiring singing career, while trying to prove that she is really just a single mom raising her kids in the suburbs of New York. Dina Lohan just a soccer mom, I don’t think so.

Although I honestly do believe each of these shows will be a train wreck, I am so going to watch them. And even though I clearly have prejudged each show, I do hope that they are each so bad they’re good. Those reality shows are my favorite. So tune in Mondays at 10PM on E! to see what is happening with Denise and Dina.. Oh and don’t forget to read my blog to see if I am right about the shows or if I was too quick to judge.

Let me ask you a question, after you watch the season finale of your favorite reality TV show do you get a kind of sad feeling? I ask because with the recent finales of Big Brother, Survivor and The Hills I would get this kind of a sad/disappointed feeling after each episode ended, and I decided this feeling is season finale sadness. Let me explain. Each week all season I would tune into say Big Brother with such anticipation and excitement to see who would get nominated, win the power of veto, and get eliminated. Well once the winner is announced at the season finale the excitement and anticipation are gone and I am left feeling a little bummed out. I don’t mean sad and bummed in the sense of “Oh I am depressed blah blah� but more like something is missing feeling. Granted the feeling is pretty much gone by the next morning, but never the less it is still a real feeling. So I am now fully admitting to everyone that I suffer from season finale sadness. And yes I realize that may make me somewhat of a crazy person obsessed with her shows, but I accept that. Furthermore, I would be willing to bet that I am not the only person who suffers from season finale sadness, you may just not have know what to call it. So how many of you out there are willing to admit you suffer from season finale sadness?
Oh yeah and for the record I am a completely normal person; I just love my reality TV.

The battle of the dueling Davids is over and the winner is David Cook! Both David’s have had their own personal issues during this season of Iodl. David Cook’s brother is battling brain cancer, while David Archuleta’s dad was banned from being back stage. In my book they are both extremely talented and are winners
Congrats to David Cook on being this seasons American Idol.

Fox kicks off it’s summer season tonight with So You Think You Can Dance at 9 PM EST. The hit dance show will air Wednesdays at 8 PM EST and Thursdays at 9 PM EST through out the summer. Unlike ABC or NBC, which have a variety of new and returning reality shows for the summer, Fox has only returning shows. Fox’s most socking reality show of The Moment Truth will air all new episodes beginning Thursday June 12th at 8 PM EST. Gordon Ramsay and Hell’s Kitchen will continue to heat things up this summer as all new episodes air Tuesdays at 9 PM EST until Gordon picks the winner. The hit show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader returns Sunday June 1st at 7PM. America’s Most Wanted and Cops will continue to bring the action and drama with all new episodes on Saturday nights at 8PM EST through the summer. All in all I have to say I am not too psyched about the Fox Summer. I think the only show I will be watching is So You Think You Can Dance. Such a shame I had much higher expectations for Fox.

Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas. Last night Kristi Yamaguchi became the 1st woman winner since General Hospitals Kelly Monaco, who was the 1st Disco Ball Trophy winner. Kristi & Mark beat out Jason Taylor & Edyta Sliwinska, and Cristian de la Fuente & Cheryl Burke, with Cristian and Cheryl being the 1st to be eliminated in the 2 hour finale.
Congrats to Kristi & Mark.

As you all already know from reading my ABC Summer Fun blog, The Bachelorette with Deanna Pappas premiered Monday on ABC. I thought with tie newest installment from The Bachelor/Bachelorette installment under way I would give you some interesting yet random infrormation about the franchise.

#1 – Of the 12 Bachelors only 5 proposed to their final chosen woman.
#2 – Of the 5 who proposed ZERO have been married and only 2 are currently engaged. Byron Velvick is set to wed Mary Delgado in 2008. Matt Grant and Shayne Lamas are currently engaged, but since that just happened last week we’ll have to wait awhile to see if they actually get married.
#3 – Thee was one Bachelor, Brad Womack, who did not pick either of his final two women.
#4 – All 4 of the Bachelorettes have been women who were previously rejected by a Bachelor.
#5 – Bachelor Bob Guiney met his wife Rebecca Budig only weeks after breaking things off with Estella Gardinier, his final rose choice.
#6 – My top three favorite Bachelors were Andrew Firestone, Bob Guiney, and Andy Baldwin. Jen Scheff was my favorite Bachelorette.
#7 – Trista and Ryan Sutter, the only couple in the entire Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise to get married, have been together for 5 years.

Alright so after looking at my random facts I came to the conclusion that the chances of Bachelorette DeAnna finding true love are slim. But on the flipside you never know where you will find your true love, so I for one wish DeAnna good luck in her quest.

So I could only think of 7 random bits of information but if you know of any random Bachelor/Bachelorette information please share it.

As I walked through the airport this weekend I saw the cast of The Hills on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and as I thumbed through the magazine, it dawned on me that The Hills has become a freaking phenomenon. I mean when was the last time that a cast of a reality TV landed a cover of Rolling Stone it ‘s crazy. Along with the Rolling Stone cover Lauren and Heidi were the cover of US Weekly last week. In all honestly it seems to me that someone from The Hills is on the cover of US Weekly at least once a month. From People to blogger Perezhilton to Access Hollywood these girls have become a staple in Hollywood reporting on them. Never in reality history has this kind of pandemonium been reached. Yes shows like Survivor and Big Brother are big hits but even during the season you rarely hear about the casts, much less when the show is on hiatus.

Besides the coverage of the show there is the day-to-day conversation about The Hills. I actually had a conversation with my friend Courtney last week about how ridiculously fake the show is, yet how much we love it and love to talk about it. This conversation went on for about 20 min, and then we switched to discussing the finale and Aftershow. All in all I would say we spent a good 45 minutes discussing the show. And I am betting that I am not the only person out there who has had conversations like this.
I guess what is all comes down to is, people love the show, it’s cast and all the drama that comes with The Hills. Me personally I am just fascinated by the fact that these girls live the lives they do at such a young age. Yeah I admit I vicariously live out my I want to be young, beautiful and famous dream through these girls. Sad, but true.

I would like to say to the non Hills viewers, you should really check it out. Oh and I promise not to over blog about The Hills, I understand that while it is my obsession, it may not be everyones.

Alright so who agrees with me, The Hills is a phenomenon right?

Let the summer fun begin!

ABC kick’s off it summer reality series tonight with the 2 hour premiere of The Bachelorette at 9PM EST. The lucky Bachelorette is DeAnna Pappas who was last seen on The Bachelor with Brad Womack. Also returning to ABC is The Mole, which premieres on June 2nd at 10PM EST. Watch as 12 contestants try to find out who is trying to sabotage their shot at the money.
Along with its two retuning reality shows ABC is debuting 5 new shows this summer.
• Wipeout premieres on June 24th at 8PM EST – twenty-four contestants compete in an extreme obstacle course to bring you the biggest wipeouts in television.
• I survived a Japanese Game Show premieres on June 24th at 9PM EST – 10 American’s are taken to Japan to compete in the ultimate Japanese game show.
• Dance Machine premiers on June 27th at 8PM EST – each week six new people will face off in a series of one on one-dance wars.
• Wanna Bet? premiers on June 21st at 9PM EST – Four celebrities have the chance to win money for their favorite charities based on the betting whether or not people can do some of the wildest stunts ever dreamed up in front of a studio audience.
• And I saved the best for last…Highschool Musical Get in the Picture premieres on Sunday July 20th at 8PM EST – you guessed it a casting competition, hosted by Nick Lachey, to appear in High School Musical.

The Real World will be back for its 21 season. The 7 new roommates will live in a house in Brooklyn. MTV recently changed the format of the Real World from a half hour show to an hour-long show, but with fewer episodes. It looks like MTV will stick with the new format for season 21 as 12 hour-long shows have been ordered. The show is slated to begin airing in the winter.

I was glad to see the Real World renewed; it is after all the original reality TV show. Before Survivor, or Big Brother or The Hills, there was the Real World. I had wondered if since Season 20, which is currently airing, was filmed in Hollywood, if it wasn’t going to be the last season. I mean let’s face it, there does come a point where all shows must come to an end. I like Real World but I will admit I have not watched it since Denver, and I only watched Denver because I used to live there. Somewhere after the Vegas season it just lost its appeal to me. Every new season I set up my DVR to record it, but it only holds my interest for maybe two episodes.

What do you think, are you happy there will be another Real World, or do you think it has passed its prime and needs to say goodbye, or do you even care?

Ladies and gentlemen it looks like there will be a battle of the David’s on next Wednesdays season finale of American Idol. Last night Syesha Mercado was sent packing leaving David Cook and David Archuleta as the final 2. Honestly I like them both so I have no preference as to who should win. One thing is for sure, it is going to be one heck of a show. So don’t forget to tune in next week to see which David will be the newest American Idol.
Wow I can hardly wait!

Last night 20 year old Whitney Thompson was crown America’s Next Top Model. Thompson won a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl, a deal with Elite Model Management and a cover story with Seventeen magazine. The size 10 mode,l who has struggled to make it to the top because of her size, wants to teach young boys and girls about body confidence. I applaud Tyra Banks and America’s Next Top Model show for picking a beautiful woman who was not a size 0. I think Whitney will be a great model for young kids. Congratulations Whitney, in my opinion the best woman won.

I have to apologize I wrote in my blog on 5/11 that last nights airing of America’s Next Top Model was the series finale, however that is not the case. The CW Network released its fall schedule on Tuesday and America’s Next Top Model will be back for its 11th cycle. I had heard from a reliable source that the show was not going to be renewed, but as we all know anything can happen in television. So I apologize for the error and I look forward to watching more catfights and drama in the fall.

Last night Marissa Jaret and partner Tony Dovolani took their last spin around the ballroom. That means going into next week’s finals are Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas, Jason Taylor & Edyta Sliwinska, and Cristian de la Fuente & Cheryl Burke. I was said to see Marissa and Tony go, I was rooting for them, event though I knew they would most likely not make it to the Final 3. Although I wish all 3 couples good luck, I will be keeping my fingers crossed that Cristian and Cheryl take home the Disco Ball on Tuesday. I know she has won with Drew and Emmitt but I really like her. Since my man Max didn’t dance this season Cheryl has become my favorite dancer. Although I must admit I have not been a faithful watcher this season. Two nights became a little too much for me to commit too. I know I am a bad fan.

On a side note, one of the reasons I watch Dancing With the Stars is because I used to dance myself and love anything to do with dancing, especially since I am so not a good dancer anymore. I guess you could say now that I live out my dance dream vicariously through the show. And now DWTS has made it even easier for me to fulfill my dance fantasy with the dance fitness book Dancing with the Stars: Jive, Samba, and Tango Your Way into the Best Shape of Your Life and dance video Dancing With the Stars: Cardio Dance. I haven’t decided which one I am going to get yet, but seriously how great is it that you can learn to dance and lose weight at the same time. Love it!

Best of luck to all to 3 final couples next week.

NBC kicked off its summer reality season last night with the premiere of an all-new American Gladiators, which will air Mondays at 8PM EST.

NBC is bringing back two of its hit summer shows Last Comic Standing premiering Thur May 22 9:30 PM EST and America’s Got Talent returns on Tuesday June 17th at 9PM EST.

The USA hit Nashville Star moves to NBC premiering on Monday June 9th at 9:30 PM.

The newest reality show for NBC is Celebrity Circus where celebrities will compete in some of the most dangerous and exciting circus acts ever. Viewer votes will determine which celebrities go home each week.

And last but definitely not least the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. I know it isn’t what we would normally call a reality show, but it is the Olympics so it deserves a shout out. Opening ceremonies for the summer games is on Friday August 8th at 7PM EST.

So much happening this summer on NBC so set your DVR’s or TiVo’s now so you don’t miss a minute!

Shayne!! After sending Chelsea packing Bachelor Matt got down on one and proposed to Shayne a.ka Lorenzo Lamas’s daughter. Obviously she accepted. Although there was a proposal word is the couple is not rushing into marriage yet. Interesting statement, I feel like maybe I have heard it before after a Bachelor season finale. Anyway best of luck to Matt and Shayne

Parvati Shallow beat out pal Amanda Kimmel to win the 1 million dollar prize and title of Sole Survivor in the season finale of Survivor: Mirconesia Fans vs. Favorites. Personally I was shocked, I thought Amanda had it in the bag. I mean Parvati pretty much initiated the blindsides where most of the jury members were voted out, so I figured there was no way she could win. However from a strategic standpoint Parvati played one heck of a game and apparently some of the jury members realized that too. To be quite honest I was not a huge fan of either of the final two women, but since I had to choose I was rooting for Amanda.

Parvati may have one the money, but Amanda walked away with Ozzy. Turns out the two are still going strong. $100,000 and Ozzy I’d be happy. Congratulations to both women on playing an extremely successful game of Survivor.