Popular Reality TV

For its third season, Bravo’s Top Chef Masters is dropping its format and modeling itself after its parent. And besides firing host Kelly Choi and replacing her with Curtis Stone, the show is dropping all its judges (Gael Greene, Jay Rayner, and Gail Simmons) except one, James Oseland, and replacing the others with food critic Ruth Reichl. Bravo’s announcement also included the identities of the 12 contestants , and said that they “will no longer be judged on a scale, but in elimination style challenges just as the tried and true format of the original,” so “money will be at stake, with the winners of every quickfire challenge winning $5,000 and elimination challenges winning $10,000 for their designated charities.” I’m disappointed that the show is dropping numerical scoring, which made the elimination decisions—if not the judging itself—far more objective than subjective. However, I really like that all the chefs will stick around until they’re eliminated; the previous format meant...

Just like last year, American Idol is seeking feedback about the show and its various components, from new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler to the individual theme weeks. The show conducted a similar survey last May, and may have influenced some of this season’s changes. At the very least, it is terrific that the show actively seeks comprehensive feedback from its viewers. The new survey , which is linked on the show’s web site, starts by asking if “the current season of American Idol is [more/just as/or less] entertaining than the last season,” and also asks about “the quality of contestants is better this year, when compared to last year.” The most interesting part for me was two questions related to the show’s web site which asked about interest in potential features, including the “ability to stream re-runs of full episodes of the current season or past seasons,” “live episodes as they air on television,” and “songs/performances of contestants.” There are specific questions...

About 11 years in to the modern era of reality TV, there are a lot of reality shows on the air. There are also many, many more shows being developed at networks and production companies. And there are a lot of series that are no more than an idea in search of actualization and attention—attention the media gladly gives them, while making a much bigger deal out of something than they should. Yesterday, TMZ reported that “Ted ‘Golden Voice’ Williams has inked a deal to star in his very own reality show — and he will begin shooting in two weeks;” Second Chances at Life “will document how Mr. ‘Golden Voice’ went from a promising radio career to living on the streets … to becoming a YouTube sensation. The series will also follow Ted’s life as he battles to rebuild his career and personal life.” Now there are a ton of stories whose headlines and bodies say he has a reality show . He does not—at least not yet, even if he’s signed a contract. There are a number of important details that are...