🍁 fall reality TV 🎃 • How Survivor & Amazing Race will use their extra 30 minutes • Claim to Fame & Challenge...
Dear newsletter friends,
I hope you had a great long weekend, whether it involved labor or taking a break from work.
Post-Labor Day means it's fall—okay, at least it's time for fall TV, even if fall weather hasn't fully arrived (definitely not here in Florida, where it's just slightly less oppressive than usual).
Of the many premieres this fall, we'll have The Amazing Race returning to its roots as its episodes expand. Some fascinating details here:
Alas, Survivor is taking a very different approach to its longer episodes:
😍 3 recaps, 1 review
I reviewed:
Claim to Fame season 2:
Who won Claim to Fame season 2? And does it need a better endgame?
News with spoilers:
Claim to Fame season 2 winner Gabriel says he knew Donny Osmond was Chris's celebrity relative from the "teen idol in the 70s" clue, though the editing didn't show us that, making us think no one figured out Chris until the end.
Claim to Fame producer Eric Detwiler told Parade there are an equal number of clues for each player, and said producers try to "try to our best to level the playing field on the clues to make them as even as possible. But it's a highly subjective thing."
The Challenge USA season 2:
Episodes 5 and 6: A ‘full-frontal attack’ by ‘Wes’s minions’ leads to fallout
Episode 7: Will The Challenge USA 2’s merge change the trajectory of the game?
Episode 8: coming soon!
🗞️ Reality TV news
In my August round-up of curated links, you'll find:
a Bachelorette contestant whose Drag Race girlfriend says he faked his death
a Survivor who’s dating an OnlyFans content creator
a detailed examination of Big Brother’s product integration,
In other news:
Why it’s finally time to unionize all reality TV cast and crew, and what’s happening now
The Great British Bake-Off is returning to "traditional" theme weeks, and dumping ones related to nationalities or regions—i.e. they're not going to do casual racism again. Executive producer Kieran Smith told The Guardian, “We didn’t want to offend anyone but the world has changed and the joke fell flat. We’re not doing any national themes this year.” [The Guardian]
The Australian Lego Masters’ seventh season will be Australia vs The Rest Of the World, with four teams from Australia and four teams from other shows. [Nine]
Bachelor Matt James' mom, Patty, who's 70, is one of the women on The Golden Bachelor [L.A. Times]
Top Chef Seattle’s obnoxious contestant John Tesar was removed from his restaurant at The Laguna Cliffs Marriot Resort and Spa, which will now rebrand it, because of his violent confrontation with striking workers in which he broke a person's drum and yelled, "Take your union and shove it up your ass," among other things. [Page Six]
🍁 🍂 🎃 Fall reality TV 🎃 🍂 🍁
I've published my brand-new guides to fall premieres, which now include handy "back to the top" links to help you navigate these increasingly long lists!
Bookmark these, as I update them throughout the quarter:
Also, we just celebrated a fall premiere anniversary:
💬 Comments of the week
Seriously, while this may represent more of a racial diversity, age diversity has taken a huge back seat. Over half of the cast is between 25-35! I’ve watched Survivor since season 1 and if anything I enjoyed how people of different generations interacted and learned from each other.
—Kerri, on this story
Well, fuck my old boots, that is NOT the extra 30 minutes I want to see.
—Melissa, also on this story
🤩 I recommend
This show, both the new season and season one
This show, which is still going strong in its 11th year
I'm working on some exciting things for next week, so stay tuned for those!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 352 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 8 Sept. 2023, and it cannot wait for fall weather
📸 Photo of Cadillac Mountain in Maine by Jack Ward