Category Archives: Reality TV
CBS Announces New Fall Schedule
On Wednesday, CBS announced its Fall 2012 schedule. While Fox and NBC have spread out their show debuts over a month and a half, all of CBS’s shows will debut toward the end of September.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, this is the full CBS Fall Schedule with new shows in ALL CAPS.
Wednesday, Sept. 19
8-9:30 p.m. Survivor: Philippines
Monday, Sept. 24
8-8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
8:30-9 p.m. PARTNERS
9-9:30 p.m. 2 Broke Girls
9:30-10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10-11 p.m. Hawaii Five-0
9 Reality Shows That Didn’t Last
In recent years, entertainment has been suffering an overload of reality television, most of which is trite and unintelligent. A lot of the programming is still on the air, but a lot of it is now a part of television history no one appreciates. Let’s revisit some of the shows that flopped.
Married By America
In Married By America, viewers voted for pairs of single men and women would be engaged and arranged to be married all within a 5 week span. The dating pool was originally selected by the suitors’ loved ones. America then voted in to decide which man would propose to which women without even having seen her face or talked to her at all. After the fiances were paired up, they spent five weeks first getting to know the person they were planning to marry. At the end of each episode, so called relationship experts would decide which engagement was going to end. By the final episode, two couples were left to plan their weddings Thankfully, neither of the couples went through with it. I’m surprised this wasn’t thought of as unethical from the start, but cancelling it after a season was the right call.
Viacom Stops Free Streaming of Its Shows
The fight between Viacom and DirecTV has officially affected everyone. Since DirecTV decided to direct their customers who want to watch Viacom shows to their corresponding websites, Viacom has decided to pull full episodes of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, SpongeBob Squarepants, iCarly, Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and more. However, full episodes do remain on Hulu.
AGT Results Recap: July 11th
Hawley Magic Performing on Tuesday
Four of 12 acts were set to advance on last night’s America’s Got Talent and it was once again the boundaries of what should be considered true talent. The live shows started with 48 acts and a lot of them didn’t deserve a shot. The semifinals will consist of 24 acts, many of which will be misplaced. However, there’s nothing the show can do about it. The judges were never shown a good selection of talent this season. Past seasons have certainly been better, so this is not the best the show can do. It just seems that they got incredibly unlucky this time around. This is the point where the competition is supposed to be getting serious, but it’s difficult at this point to take the show seriously.
The first result brought Turf and Tim Hockenberry to the stage. I was initially surprised. Then I remembered that both acts usually advance when only two are brought on stage. Turf did not deserve to advance, but four acts had to. America probably got it right. After all, both of them are talented. It was clear though that Hockenberry outperformed Turf on Tuesday. The judges usually say the talent is overwhelming and it would be true in most seasons. However, the acts that have been advancing might have already been gone in a more competitive season.
AGT’s Second Night of Performances
Turf
America’s Got Talent has provided its viewers with a selection of acts that basically asks America to go with the lesser of 48 evils. This isn’t to say that some of the acts aren’t good at times, but this is a season with many subpar acts. Even a lot of the ones the judges think are good will never be worthy of a Vegas show. This season’s highest quality should be considered mediocre television. Once again, it’s hard to say whether four acts actually deserved to advance. America will just have to take it as it is and realize those are the rules.
Lion DanceMe
Lion DanceMe act consisted of the performers dressed in their lion costumes jumping in between platforms. This is supposed to be a cross between a dance act and a danger act. There was neither. This act did not deserve to make it past Vegas. As the judges said, their act seems the same every performance. The platforms might have been a little higher and there might have even been less dancing. That makes the act only slightly better in one aspect and much worse in another. In the package beforehand, Sharon said she loved the element of danger. When considering the danger acts, it is incredibly unfortunate that any other truly dangerous act is put into the same category as Lion DanceMe. Howie got bored watching the performance as did I. Both Howard and Sharon were constructive, but it’s not worth it. Lion DanceMe does not really belong on the national stage.
AGT Results Recap: Tuesday July 3
The CMYKs’ Monday Performance
A less-than-stellar crop of acts were facing elimination on last night’s results edition of America’s Got Talent. This whole season has been a disappointment and the performances are not really getting better. Even though four of the 12 acts were advancing, it seemed not even four of them deserved it. Once again, an average act looks fantastic against relatively poor competition. This continues to be the case this season.
The first result featured Michael Nejad, Shanice and Maurice, and Nikki Jensen. It really wasn’t hard to know that Shanice and Maurice would be the ones making it to the Top 24. They were clearly the best of out the three. However, that says very little about their actual talent. They were adequate on a night when Jensen’s singing went downhill and Nejad was horrible. They got lucky this time.
AGT’s First Night of Live Performances: How did they Stack Up?
Edon
America’s Got Talent began its live shows last night and there really wasn’t much to be excited about. This season has clearly been a disappointment. Subpar talent got through Vegas and is now performing for America’s vote. Some of the acts were mildly entertaining, but I don’t know if four of them deserve to go through. Acts that would face a tough elimination against serious talent in past seasons are now simply the best of the mediocre. The show opened with an unnecessary half hour “countdown” with audition footage and outtakes. It served to remind the viewer just how lackluster this season has been. The performances didn’t start until 9pm.
Distinguished Men of Brass
The group performed a marching band style rendition of “Crazy In Love.” Once again, they were sloppy and disorganized. Howie said they had to take it beyond a marching band or a halftime show. Unfortunately for them, the act is pretty much a marching band and not much more. There is no way they can win the competition and I’m surprised they got through Vegas. Then again, the selection in Vegas was never good anyway. This act is not horrible enough to eliminate, but the competition is probably over for them.
Clark Gable Is the New Host of Cheaters
Clark Gable, grandson of the actor Clark Gable, will replace Joey Greco as host of Cheaters. Executive producer Bobby Goldstein, who created the confrontational show where people confront their cheating significant other, told The Hollywood Reporter, “We just felt it was time to freshen up the show with a new host.”
Before landing the gig with Cheaters, Gable modeled and had a minor role in the low-budget Italian film Looking for Clara. When it comes to acting, Gable says, “It’s in my blood, and I really want to do it. Just like my grandfather. But I don’t want to be compared to him in any way because I am different. I just happen to be born into these great circumstances, so I feel it gives me a great opportunity for what I want to do.”
AGT Asks Viewers to Standby in Vegas
The All Ways
I didn’t know what to expect for Wednesday’s episode of America’s Got Talent. On the one hand, the first night of Vegas performances were terrible. I’ll never understand why the judges were willing to let 25 of the acts go to New York. On the other hand, Tuesday’s episode proved that the show is capable of getting better. Day three in Vegas was mixed. Some acts were impressive and some acts were a disappointment but none of the acts were amazing. The meager selections of The Top 48 this season leave a lot to be desired.
The magic acts were first. Magicians have never been great on the show and now they are definitely below average. Hawley Magic started with a cheap looking levitation trick, but made it through anyway. The most impressive act of this category was Jarret and Raja, but that is not saying much. The magic acts this season are for the most part unexciting. They have never been great, but even compared to the sub-par acts this season has had, the standard of magic is low.
AGT’s Second Night in Vegas
Tom Cotter
I was really not looking forward to Tuesday’s America’s Got Talent. After a very disappointing showing on Monday, I didn’t really have any expectation that it would get better. Fortunately, I was wrong. Tuesdays performances were not great, but it was a considerable improvement compared to these awful last few weeks.
The show opened with the magic category. First up was mind reader Eric Dittelman. He was entertaining in his initial audition, but also very intimate. His act seemed a bit small for Vegas. It still might be. As the judges agreed, he’s not a great showman. Nonetheless, overall he was impressive. At this point, the show was already far better than the first night in Vegas. Next up was one of my favorite acts, escape artist Nate Horseman. He was a bit better in his initial audition, but watching him escape from a glass box underwater was still exciting to watch. On the plus side, there might have been higher risk for serious damage, but escaping from a straightjacket is still more exciting. Both Dittelman and Horseman will get a chance to further prove themselves in New York.
Wait! What's A Dial? 