Popular Reality TV

Bloated, expanded reality show episodes and results shows may irritate almost everyone, but they’ve also become the norm because they work. One network executive anonymously (surprise) told TV Guide that two-hour shows “a big commitment, and they are so unbelievably padded with crap. At the beginning of the TV season people may go, ‘There are things I want to check out (rather than) watching this for two hours.” A producer for either Dancing with the Stars or The Biggest Loser said, “Two seasons ago we started talking about pulling back to an hour, but no one wants to do it.” Why not? There are multiple reasons, as TV Guide details in its report : “viewers are still more likely to stick around than if the credits roll and another show comes on”; “audiences build throughout the evening, making that last half hour the most valuable”; “costs can be amortized over two hours,” meaning it’s far cheaper to produce a second hour than another, separate hour of television; and “talent and prod...

Each episode of Comedy Central’s series South Park is written, recorded, and animated in just six days, and that insane process is explored and revealed in a new documentary, aptly titled Six Days to Air: The Making of South Park . The documentary, which follows the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, debuts at 10 p.m. ET tonight on Comedy Central. As you can see in the trailer below, the episode featured is last spring’s “HumancentiPad,” which satirizes Apple’s products and draconian terms of service agreements by having characters shit into each others’ mouths—classic South Park, basically, cutting satire and hilariously over-the-top humor. The film’s director, Arthur Bradford, who also created How’s Your News , said that Matt and Trey “wanted it to look like a real documentary, not a reality show; not a celebrating all their accomplishments kind of thing, try to make it a true documentary. That was the esthetic I was working on.” He also said that “Matt and Trey can smell ...

December 6th, 2010 by Lisa McGarry. 1 Comment This week promises to be one of the most explosive in Coronation Street’s history as the ITV1 soap showcases its 50th anniversary episodes. Tonight’s (06.12.10) show – which is the first in a week-long series of catastrophic events dubbed ‘Devastation Street’ – will see a host of ‘Corrie’ favourites fighting for their lives after a tram ploughs into the street. The drama will begin when an explosion rocks The Joinery bar – where Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) is celebrating his stag night – causing a Weatherfield tram to plunge off the viaduct and into the cobbles below. Costing £1 million to produce, the scenes will see the likes of Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox), Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns) and Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) trapped under the rubble. Actor Bill Roache – who has played Ken Barlow since the very first episode of ‘Coronation Street’ – admitted while the tram crash spectacular was “emotional” to film, he believes the scenes are a...

December 6th, 2010 by Lisa McGarry. No comments Coronation Street’s tram crash disaster won’t be an “anti-climax” for viewers. Actor Bill Roache – who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV1 soap since it first launched in 1960 – explained the repercussions of the explosive scenes will reverberate around the cobbles for a very long time. He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “The event doesn’t dominate – you’ve got all these stories leading up to this big event, which then catalyses the soap and will be ongoing for a very long time. There are about five or six little stories all leading to the point of the explosion. “I promise there won’t be an anti-climax as the stories will go on and on. The repercussions will reverberate for a very long time. Forever in some circumstances.” The veteran star also admitted he feels angry for his ‘Coronation Street’ alter-ego, who is faced with the difficult prospect of having to tell his son Peter (Chris Gascoyne) that his fiancee Leanne (Jane Danson) has bee...