I found Love Island's home, people watched 32 years of Shark Week, you can own a Mythbusters prop, and more!
Dear newsletter subscribers,
Greetings from Florida, where the Delta variant has also decided to vacation this summer, so we now lead the country in new cases.
In all seriousness, it’s bad here. And if you’re on the fence about getting vaccinated, whether it’s because you don’t love needles or are concerned about the side effects, please talk to someone you trust, like your doctor.
I know I’m just another white guy on the Internet, but if it’s helpful, my vaccine shots were the easiest injections I’ve ever gotten—I literally didn’t feel the first one, so my anxiety thought they might have missed!
Thankfully, my arm felt sore later that day—similar to a flu shot—so I knew I had gotten it. And the (completely expected and normal) side effects from the second shot were uncomfortable for about 12 hours, when it basically felt like I was starting to get sick, but then disappeared.
You can easily find free vaccines near you. And then you’ll be eligible to watch the Masked Singer live! 🎉
Okay, on to the reality TV stuff.
I found the Love Island villa
While I didn’t watch past the first episode last fall for these reasons, I’ve been enjoying Love Island this summer. (Perhaps that’s why I haven’t yet watched Fboy Island, because I already have plenty of beautiful stupidity on my TV.)
A helicopter shot of the villa sent me to Google to find it. All of the articles I read just pretended to have identified the location, but only had vague or blatantly incorrect information.
It didn’t take me a long time—I’m not going to win a Pulitzer for this reporting!—but I found Love Island 3’s Hawaiian villa, and that led me to the discovery that it was also used by an MTV reality show.
My Olympics: The Mole 2: The Next Betrayal
I’ve started to re-watch The Mole 2, which has not been available for the past 15 years or so.
While there’s a lot that I remember, I forgot how much the show changed, especially in these early episodes:
The Mole season 2 sets fire to its players’ belongings, changing its tone
Mole 2 gambles with emotional manipulation and deception in its second episode
Anderson Cooper dunked in a Mole 2 episode that focuses more on exemptions than tests
I’ll be continuing most weekdays for the next two weeks, and adding new recaps to this season-two list as I publish them.
And if you didn’t read my season-one recaps, they’re all here.
Reality show news
What is Shark Week actually airing? A group of scientists and researchers watched and documented 32 years of shows. Here’s what they discovered.
Mythbusters props are for sale for the first time ever, in an auction benefitting Grant Imahara’s foundation, which helps kids in STEAM. The props include an actual Buster, and several things Grant built on the show.
Top Chef Portland winner Gabe Erales posted an apology after previously admitting to an affair followed by "discriminatory" actions
Also:
Stupid Pet Tricks, the segment from Letterman’s old show, is coming back as a reality series hosted by Sarah Silverman
Simon Cowell’s The X Factor is not returning to ITV after 17 seasons. It lasted just three seasons in the U.S. before Fox cancelled it.
Recommended
This GIF (scroll down) I made of Anderson Cooper getting thrown into ice-cold water by the cast of The Mole 2
This show, still—and to see what every other show is trying (and failing) to copy with their narrators/commentators.
This piece on Fboy Island, in which my friend Melanie McFarland explores how it “is calling out reality dating shows”
That’s everything from me for this week. Have a great weekend, and rest of the month!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is Reality in Focus issue 253, first sent July 30, 2021, and it will gladly live in the Love Island villa—after it’s been emptied and cleaned.
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📷 Photo of fields in Vogtsburg, Germany, by Claudio Testa