Challenge USA 2 cast • Top Chef 🔥 emoji 😳 challenge • Maneet Chauhan • Swedish death cleaning • and more
Dear newsletter friends,
I get a lot of press releases announcing new reality shows. I'll add the info to my quarterly premiere schedule, and for many shows, never think about it again.
I almost did that with HGTV's newest renovation series.
But looking at the headline and the photo accompanying the announcement, I was like, 🧐🤔🤨.
So I decided to spend some time doing a little research, which included interviewing an expert.
I wanted to see if my initial reaction was right. Well: hunch confirmed! Though not too much of a leap, I guess!
🎙️ A review and two interviews
My review of Peacock's The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, which is charming, but...
How the story of a wrongfully convicted man and his unlikely allies was told
My interview with Maneet Chauhan, Tournament of Champions 2 winner and longtime Food Network judge and competitor
😃 Recaps
Survivor 44:
Episode 9: Betrayal! Survivor gives us Traitors-level backstabbing
Jeff Probst's podcast, which I listen to so you don't have to:
Episode 9: Controversial twists, in which Jeff Probst discusses which big, structural twists (fire-making, final three, Edge of Extinction) are here to stay and which may return
Top Chef:
episodes 7: two creative challenges were 🔥😍, despite some 🤨🙄 judging
episode 8: coming soon!
Big Brother Canada:
Hamsterwatch continues her recaps of everything BBCAN—just two weeks to go!
episode 23: Shocking surprises from BBCAN’s double eviction: Who joined jury? What was the murder scene?
episode 22: Puppies, family, and a mysterious lockdown
episode 21: A player begs, Wendy’s points steal the show
And the Digital Dailies:
🗓️ This week's reality TV
New and returning reality TV shows premiering include new seasons of Supermarket Stakeout, The Dog House: UK, and the outstanding Couples Therapy, plus a new Chopped tournament.
Nonfiction specials add docs on TV this week include a celebration of Carol Burnett and the story of how people came together to free someone from prison.
🗞️ Reality TV news
Challenge USA 2 is filming with these players, including two Survivor winners
Bling Empire and Bling Empire: New York were both cancelled by Netflix.
Amazon has filmed a James Bond-themed reality competition called 007’s Road to a Million that's being hosted, kinda of, by Succession star Brian Cox
Dan Renzi posted, on Reddit, some behind-the-scenes photos from The Inferno II 17 years ago
A former Drag Race challenge producer told a story on TikTok about how the show has the best catering he's ever experienced, and how his attempt to share that with Isaac Mizrahi resulted in an executive producer shaming him.
Top Chef alum Edward Lee created the menu for the state dinner for South Korea at the White House
💬 Comments of the week
Fun fact, Gabriele was on House Hunters International finding the house for the show.
—Mike B., on this review
If you ask people their all time favorite/most memorable Survivor moments, I promise no one is going to say, “OMG remember when half the players were safe and half of a showmance got voted out?” Like just let things happen.
—Logan, on this recap
🤩 I recommend
This show, mostly for its charm
This show, which returns tonight
This advice from Maneet Chauhan
I hope the last few days of April are great for you. See you in your inbox in May!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 334 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent 28 April 2023, and it's ready to do some clutter-purging
📸 Photo of a duckling in New Zealand by Kerin Gedge