Popular Reality TV

X Factor »     by Andy Dehnart / May 8, 2011, 5:54 PM Live auditions in front of audiences begin today for Fox’s fall series The X Factor , and the network officially confirmed the last bit of unconfirmed but already known news: that Paula Abdul would join the show as its fourth judge. This has been dragged out for 15 months, since Paula first hinted she’d be on the show in Feb. 2010. The real question with Paula is whether she will be crazy Paula Abdul or subdued Paula Abdul. On Twitter, Paula thanked her fans for their patience and gave them a hug , and tweeted a photo of herself and Cheryl Cole . Yesterday, the network announced the show’s hosts: Nicole Scherzinger, who has appeared on many reality TV series since her debut on Popstars in 2001, and Steve Jones, a model turned British TV host. Piers Morgan reported last fall that Nicole would be a judge , but although she did that job as a guest judge on the UK edition, she was pretty awful on The Sing Off , the NBC series she pres...

One year ago late last night, Discovery Channel released a statement announcing that Deadliest Catch captain Phil Harris had died . Now, the show’s remaining captains—who are back after several of them quit over pay last summer—say that their time on the Bering Sea is quieter, although Phil’s sons Jake and Josh Harris are on board the Cornelia Marie. For the anniversary of Phil’s death, Discovery is encouraging people to change their Facebook pictures, and has provided several images to use. Northwestern captain Sig Hansen told People , “Something is definitely missing. You can feel it everyday out here. There’s no more fun radio chatter among the boats. Phil was known for his colorful commentary about storms, crew life — whatever was on his mind. Our boat-to-boat radio was like The Phil Show. He always kept us entertained and now that is all silent.” Time Bandit captain Andy Hillstrand said, “We try to make up for his loss by getting on the radio and giving each other shit, since ...