Popular Reality TV

An image of a crowd lined up to audition for Fox’s MasterChef , the Gordon Ramsay-hosted competition between amateur chefs, shows that groups of people were included repeatedly, making the crowd seem bigger than it actually was. At the beginning of the fifth episode, which aired Monday night, there’s an overhead shot of a crowd of people waving and screaming as the announcer says, “From the thousands that applied…” But as you can clearly see in the video and image below, that crowd was created in post-production, as multiple people appear twice. The most visible is a woman wearing an orange shirt who’s waving enthusiastically. Agence France-Presse journalist Alex Ogle tweeted a link to a screenshot, writing “Lies. It’s all lies.” The image appears to have originated on Reddit in a post titled “Television Sorcery,” and the screen capture includes circles that helpfully identify what has been duplicated. It’s actually stunning, both in terms of the technical flawlessness of the edit...

Jersey Shore has been in Italy since mid-May, filming the fourth season of the MTV show. Their stay will be short—they leave later this month—and their temporary home of Florence, Italy, hasn’t been giving them a warm welcome. Snooki, The Situation, and company aren’t even allowed to be filmed drinking in bars, clubs, or public places. The Wall Street Journal has a detailed report about the reception the cast is getting, which it describes as “a very cold shoulder.” One restaurant even has a sign in the window saying, “No Grazie, Jersey Shore.” Giuliano da Empoli, the Florence mayor’s culture deputy, said, “I certainly didn’t invite them to come, and I’m not especially honored by their being here.” Florence’s mayor, Matteo Renzi, who’s 36, said, “If you want to try to make Florence seem like a party town, you better know it isn’t so.” He has banned the cast from drinking in public or being filmed in clubs and bars. The code he issued says, “The cast will not be filmed in bars and cl...