😱 Ninja Warrior changes • Below Deck 💩s gold • Survivor Olympians • Wayne Brady
Dear newsletter friends,
Since there’s been no news this past week or month 😬, I did some investigative journalism no one asked for: I tried to figure out why a PBS show was still demanding ownership of contestants’ property.
The show is The Great American Recipe, which I was so excited about—and wish would be better, our own version of GBBO, instead of a bland show with no real identity.
Anyway, when people apply, they’re forced to give up the intellectual property rights to their own and/or their family’s treasured recipes, and allow them to be used without credit.
An executive tried to gaslight me a few years ago and insist that wasn’t the case, even though it was in his own contract. Then he said it’d change.
Guess what? The Great American Recipe promised to change its greedy contract. It never did.
🔔 Recaps and reviews
A new Hulu and Freeform show:
Claim to Fame:
Below Deck Med:
Episode 8: Below Deck Med poops television gold with laundry crimes and dopey docking
Fun story: Facebook kept deleting my post of this story; I assume that’s because of the word “poops.” The irony.
🔪 True crime
Is there more crime in July? Here’s The Midsummer Crime Cluster: an investigation
Book reviews:
🎧 Listen to The Docket:
Why, Netflix? Why is the doc industrial complex returning to Lou Pearlman yet again? And is there still a place in the modern mediascape for Unsolved Mysteries? Sarah and Eve discuss
True-crime news from Sarah D. Bunting:
The latest episode of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast is tackling Bernie this week, if you'd like an awards-forward take on 2011's docudrama. (Joe and Chris's guest, Kevin O'Keeffe, sat in on a Blotter Presents episode back in the day.)
🗓️ Reality TV premieres
New reality TV shows and seasons include the new fashion competition Dress My Tour, hosted by Kate Upton; the revival of Pimp My Ride, as Resurrected Rides; and new seasons of Love After Lockup and Antiques Roadshow Recut.
Documentaries and specials focus on subjects including Frontline’s look at Two American Families across 30 years; Dave Eggers exploring why his book and others were banned in South Dakota; Netflix’s doc about boy band slimebag Lou Pearlman; and HBO’s doc about disgraced baseball manager Pete Rose.
💬 Comments of the week
On this story, Bad Mitten wrote,
Oh cmon now let’s not act like the show screwed over Ryan. We very well know that she would have gotten more screentime if she was giving them something during her confessionals. Honestly it’s pretty ironic that she was just so bad/boring at confessionals that it tricked a lot of people into thinking she was the mole.
On this report, AngelaB wrote:
Great work uncovering this, Andy. Media corporations need to be held accountable.
🗞️ Reality TV news
American Ninja Warrior is trashing its format, dumping Mt. Midoriyama, $1 million prize
From The Digest, reality blurred’s front page mini-blog:
Survivor 43 players Noelle Lambert and Ryan Medrano are both heading to Paris on Team USA for the Paralympic Games. Noelle posted a photo of them and captioned it, "Would rather be covered in mud in Fiji, but these uniforms will do 😏😤".
After Survivor, Noelle suggested Ryan "try Para track and field," Team USA noted. "His decision to follow Lambert's advice is already paying dividends, as he claimed gold at the Parapan American Games Santiago 2023 in the men’s 400-meter T38 event."
Two fun videos, starring hosts of reality competitions:
An old internal Nintendo video starring Jeff Probst, future Survivor host, explaining their rebate policies
The Mole host Ari Shapiro reading hate mail he received
Brian Moylan writes about why Love Island USA season six took off, both in ratings and buzz. Among the reasons are new host Ariana Madix from Vanderpump Rules and the casting, which created "a perfect storm of reality-TV notoriety."
Two dancers on Strictly Come Dancing, the UK predecessor to Dancing with the Stars, have resigned after celebrities accused pro dancers of abuse. One dancer, Graziano Di Prima, admitted kicking his celebrity partner.
🤩 I recommend
Simon Biles Rising on Netflix
This episode of the podcast Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma, about ABC and reported by Vulture’s Joe Adalian
I’m going to go wipe sweat off my face and laptop now. Have a great, hopefully cool rest of your week!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 390 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 26 July 2024, and it wishes Noelle, Ryan, and all Olympians a great games.