Survivor explained to a Survivor winner, and more comedy and catastrophe
Dear newsletter friends,
The image above is not from Florida, though it could be, since the northern part of the state got snow this week. So many jokes about hell freezing over, so little time!
Amid the cold weather and flurry of news that I am ignoring, it was an active week in reality TV, so let’s jump right in to what reality blurred covered this week!
🐐 2 reviews
I reviewed:
The Joe Schmo Show 4 on TBS
Sarah D. Bunting reviewed:
Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy on Peacock
⭐️ 3 recaps
I recapped:
The Traitors, episode 5: How not to be a traitor, starring two-thirds of the traitors 😩
Below Deck Sailing Yacht: Did a reality star face consequences for his actions and lies Monday? In which Gary becomes a super-subtle metaphor 😆
Deal or No Deal Island 2: A Survivor winner had Survivor explained to them 😂 😂 😂
🎧 My podcast
the challenges of interviewing reality TV contestants
How I’m trying to find joy amidst the chaos of current events
advice to help you kickstart your blogging journey
Recommendations, including how to keep some of your data out of Meta’s hands
Listen here or find it on any podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts | Overcast
Bonus: I was interviewed on the PublishPress podcast about running a website using WordPress
🗓️ Reality TV premieres
Reality TV premieres this week include new seasons of Expedition X, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and Toya & Reginae; two new sports shows: Brady vs. Belichick: The Verdict and Kobe: The Making of a Legend; and new—but familiar—series W.A.G.s to Riches and Harpoon Hunters.
Documentaries and specials premiering: Amazon’s This Is the Tom Green Documentary; Nature’s two-part Big Cats, Small World; and Nova’s What Are UFOs?
💬 Comments of the week
On this DONDI recap, Bad Mitten wrote:
An underrated part of that MG/David interaction was him claiming that a survivor winner would be the “gold standard” as he looked into the camera and did his best Jim Halpert impression (since David’s nickname is the Golden God of Survivor)
On this recap of The Traitors, Brekkie wrote:
Thank god Bob the Drama Queen has gone – just a horrible player with no respect for the game or their fellow traitors – one of the worst players in the Traitors role I’ve seen. Really hoping Carolyn comes out on top of the Traitors remaining, but Boston Rob is playing a good game because he’s playing the game, not making it personal as Bob and a few others were. I don’t like seeing the Survivor style tactics of plotting in plain sight though and how the US version is much more about reality show alliances than the “Faithful” working together.
🗞️ Reality TV news
Shirley Chung, recovering from cancer, filmed Guy’s Grocery Games before her diagnosis
Tournament of Champions 6’s chefs, judges, and changes
The game show The 1% Club has been renewed, but will lose both its streaming home (Amazon Prime Video) and host (Patton Oswalt, who was the best part of season one).
Season two will move to Fox (which aired season-one episodes after they premiered on Prime Video), and be hosted by Joel McHale, who already hosts Fox's Crime Scene Kitchen.
Ah, just what the world needed: more Duck Dynasty! That's what A&E is bringing back this summer, for two full seasons of 10 episodes each.
Duck Dynasty: The Revival "will follow Willie and Korie and their growing family of adult children and grandchildren," A&E said. I can't wait to ignore this!
Tobias Dorzon, who was shot during a robbery attempt in November, returned to work this week, but is still re-learning to walk, according to NBC's Washington affiliate. “Today is my first day outside in 65 days, and just wanted to come by and say hi to the people who support me and my staff,” he said on Thursday.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, who lost their house in a fire, are suing Los Angeles, blaming the city for the loss
Industry news:
Corie Henson, the well-respected NBCUniversal executive who’s overseen competition and game shows including The Traitors and Deal or No Deal Island, has been shoved out as part of the company’s restructuring. Maybe keep the people responsible for shepherding the TV people actually watch?
What's a Bravo show? NBCUniversal executive Rachel Smith told Realscreen it's a "cocktail of real humor, earned drama, heart and emotion, [as well as] uninhibited personalities, lavish settings and 'memeable' moments. And all that can take a while to come together — it’s hard to launch new shows, it takes a few seasons for some of these ingredients to really bake in, but those are what we’re looking for."
The reality TV production company 44 Blue Productions celebrated its 40th anniversary at the end of 2024. Rasha and Stephanie Drachkovith's producing started in 1984 with Bob Uecker’s Wacky World of Sports and has included shows such as MSNBC's Lockup, Animal Planet's Pitbulls and Parolees, and A&E's Wahlburgers.
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced the nominees for its 16th annual film awards, including two documentary categories.
🤩 I recommend
The new Joe Schmo Show, if only to see how quickly the schmo is on to the production
This piece about how Drag Race has become more of a variety show than reality competition
What to Do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace (PDF version)
That’s everything for this week! I hope you have a great weekend, and stay warm if you’re in a cold climate and/or Florida.
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 404 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 24 January 2025, and it’s sitting on a heated blanket right now