More bad behavior, but much better responses from reality TV shows! Plus: 2 reviews, 2 recaps, and news
Dear newsletter friends,
This week, we once again saw some awful things on reality TV shows. But we also saw appropriate reactions to those things.
It was just a few years ago that Survivor camera operators stood around and filmed harassment and unwanted touching.
This week on Below Deck Down Under, individual TV crew members (producers, camera operators) stepped in to stop two possible sexual assaults.
Meanwhile, on Big Brother, which has in the past been host to a lot of horrific behavior, a player casually used a racial slur and then giggled about it.
Then, CBS and the producers did what they said they'd do: ejected him from the game. They also included some of this on last night's TV show, which I recapped at the bottom of this piece.
Does this mean systemic, industry-wide change? I hope so, but doubt it. Do I wish both incidents never would have happened? Of course.
But individuals and shows doing the right thing? That's a solid step in the right direction.
😍 2 recaps, 2 reviews
Big Brother recap:
Claim to Fame recap:
Two reviews:
Fight To Survive is like Survivor with violence instead of Tribal Council
Big Nailed It Baking Challenge is a half-baked expansion of Nailed It
Coming soon, probably Monday:
A recap of The Challenge USA season 2's premiere. I'd hoped to do it today but ran out of time, as I'm helping family out this weekend
🗞️ Reality TV news
PBS's The Great American Recipe revealed its winner this week, and I interviewed that person, who initially ignored the show's casting producers because they thought their messages were a scam!
The Television Critics Association announced its 2023 TCA Award winners, including in the reality TV category
The Emmys have been delayed until 2024
SAG-AFTRA will help reality TV stars who want to unionize
Lizzo released a statement calling accusations by three of her former dancers, including two she cast on her Amazon reality show, "false allegations" and "sensationalized stories." Meanwhile, more people are coming forward
🗓️ This week's reality TV
The reality shows premiering this week include a new Worst Cooks in America, subtitled "Love at First Bite" because all the cooks are single; CBS's new competition Superfan; a new season of Hard Knocks, following the New York Jets; and shows starring Anthony Anderson, Cedric The Entertainer, LL Cool J, and Ice T
Among this week's TV documentaries are Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop, The Elizabeth Thomas Story with Elizabeth Smart, and Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey
💬 Comments of the week
Do you get a lot of clicks for hate watching Big Brother? I don't know why you continue to watch year after year or promote your same decade old articles about how you toured the house and Rachel's Reilly's hair extensions got stuck in your mouth or something.
—Kyle, on this recap
My family loves ANW and has been watching since Kacy Catanzaro's historic runs in 2018. We enjoyed all the "extra" side shows like Ninja v. Ninja, college competitions, USA v. the World., etc. We hate the new race component of the main show (although admittedly Kayden v. Kai was pretty cool), and hope ANW ditches that format after this season.
—Jay, on this review
🤩 I recommend
These shows, which won 2023 TCA Awards
This new competition, if you like survival shows and hand-to-hand combat
This spin-off, if you desperately need more Nailed It
Coming soon: A recap of the first Challenge USA season 2 episode.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, friends!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 349 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 11 August 2023, and it still has Rachel's hair extensions in its mouth
📸 Photo of two ducks in Lisbon, Portugal, by Miguel Alcântara