Behind the scenes of The Challenge's challenge • Buddy Games • Ninja Warrior's winner •
Dear newsletter friends,
Happy Friday! First, a welcome to those new members of our community—thanks for subscribing!
And thank you to those who've been here for a long time, and to thank you to those who support reality blurred.
This week, I was interviewed by The Chicago Tribune’s Nina Metz, about this recent column I wrote.
And I interviewed showrunner Kevin Lee—twice!
We first talked about the show he created, Fight to Survive, including about the rules for its actual fights, and also his philosophy behind the show.
It was a fascinating conversation, and connects back to a previous show of his that you may remember, Stranded with a Million Dollars.
We also talked about The Challenge: USA; more on that below. Enjoy!
😍 1 review, 2 recaps
I reviewed:
Buddy Games, the new CBS competition starring Josh Duhamel
The Challenge USA season 2:
Recap bonus! An exclusive interview with The Challenge's showrunner about why that challenge took three hours
Episode 9: coming soon!
American Ninja Warrior
American Ninja Warrior has a winner, but this record-setting season really timed out
🗞️ Reality TV news
ABC announced the cast of the new Dancing with the Stars: Tyson Beckford, Xochitl Gomez, Alyson Hannigan, Harry Jowsey, Charity Lawson, Ariana Madix, Jason Mraz, Adrian Peterson, Lele Pons, Jamie Lynn Spears, Mira Sorvino, Mauricio Umansky, Matt Walsh, and Barry Williams. How many "stars" do you recognize? I was surprised that it was 10 for me!
The Surreal Life is returning (it was rebooted last fall) and changing networks, from VH1 to MTV. The new cast: Macy Gray, Chet Hanks, Ally Brooke, O.T. Genasis, Kim Zolciak, Johnny Weir, and Josie Canseco.
Rita Ora will judge 2024's The Masked Singer season 11 alongside Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke, and Anti-Vax Sally, while Nicole Scherzinger judges the UK's version of the show while performing in a West End show
Also:
The Brady Bunch house, featured in HGTV's A Very Brady Renovation, has been sold. HGTV listed it for $5.5 million; it sold for $3.2 million. HGTV paid $3.5 million for it. Oops.
Drag Race is doing its own Winter House, which will be called Slaycation, and have six queens from international versions of the show living together in a house in Canada.
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.
🗓️ This week's reality TV
This week's reality premieres included the first Food Network holiday competition, Halloween Baking Championship, with John Henson back as host, with a "Henson & Sons Carnival" theme, plus new seasons of Southern Charm, Love After Lockup, and Love & Marriage: Huntsville.
Specials and docs premiering this week included a Masked Singer 10th season special; PBS documentaries about desegregation (The Busing Battleground and The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi’s Schools); and the sports docs Kelce and Football Must Go On.
💬 Comments of the week
Whoever wrote this disgraceful article forgets that the obstacles caused some of the best athletes to go out earlier than normal and also demeans the accomplishment of this incredible athlete who refused to be defined by what we so commonly refer to as a disability and instead believed in his abilities.
—Chase, on this review
This is awesome, I don’t know that I have seen this kind of feedback with Challenge producers before, or at least not regularly and certainly not so soon after the episode. Would love more like this!
—Kurt, on this story
🤩 I recommend
This show, which returned for season two this week on FX/Hulu
This video from Survivor’s Carolyn with advice to future reality TV players
This essay about Ashton Kutcher, which links Punk'd to his recent support for convicted rapist Danny Masterson
This clip from Star Trek: Lower Decks, so you'll know who Moopsy is 🥹🥹🥹
Coming next week: Even more from my interview with Challenge USA showrunner Kevin Lee.
Have a terrific weekend!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 353 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 15 Sept. 2023, and it cannot stop saying "Moopsy!"
📸 Photo of a park in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Srecko Skrobic