Survivor’s off-limits camera camps • Traitors messiness • true crime worth your time • recaps & reviews
Dear newsletter friends,
It’s been one of those weeks:
Some super-fun reality TV!
An anxiety spiral or three!
Working on exciting things for the near future!
Realizing I completely forgot to do the next part of the exciting thing I was working on now! 🙃
Thankfully, this week I also listened to an episode of Ten Percent Happier on which Dan Harris interview Kristin Neff, whose work is in self-compassion. So now I’m working on that, too.
Apparently being nice to yourself is key to “radically improving our mental and physical wellbeing.” Sign me up.
I hope you’re being kind to yourself, even if that means allowing yourself some time in front of the TV. And if you need some recommendations or reading to go along with it, I’ve got you covered! 😍
🤯 The Traitors
My recaps and reviews:
ICYMI, episode 5: How not to be a traitor, starring two-thirds of the traitors
All of my Traitors US season 3 recaps, now in a handy list 📋
🪓 More recaps!
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives:
Deal or No Deal Island 2:
At the end of the recap, my interview with the eliminated player, who was first recruited for Big Brother!
🎧 My podcast — and my workshop
I talk about Survivor’s camera camps
Discussed why I didn’t review Secret Lives of Mormon Wives last fall
Shared three recommendations
Listen here or find it on any podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts | Overcast
🚨 One week from tomorrow:
🔪 True crime
A review of Netflix’s American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson: can it say anything new using the same old framework?
Read-Handed: ’80s hackers, movie gangsters, and sleuthing brothers
News and links from Sarah D. Bunting:
I happened to catch Reveal's audio report on the death of Braven Glenn on NPR over the weekend, and I recommend it. It's nothing flashy, just careful reporting on a high-speed chase that claimed Glenn's life — and the police force that shut down entirely shortly afterwards.
Former New Jersey senator "Gold Bar Bob" Menendez got sentenced today to 11 years in prison
I'm saving Anne Helen Petersen's (Scandals of Classic Hollywood) Culture Study interview with Pagan Kennedy until I've had a chance to read Kennedy's new book, The Secret History of the Rape Kit -- but that doesn't mean you have to wait.
🗓️ Reality TV premieres
This week’s reality show premieres included new seasons of The Bachelor, Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, and Outback Opal Hunters; plus The Challenge All Stars: Rivals, which is now on MTV, not Paramount+. Also: New shows following comedian Tom Green, and HGTV exes Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack.
Specials and documentaries premiering include The Real Housewives of New York City reunion, which, given the events of the finale, will probably be more interesting than this boring season; Netflix’s new O.J. Simpson documentary and Investigation Discovery’s Diddy doc; Guy’s Ultimate Family Cruise, on which the Food Network personality goes on, uh, a family cruise
💬 Comments of the week
On this story about a show’s cancellation, one of its stars wrote:
It was fun making the series, and got to be ourselfs. No set ups, no fakeass drama, no scripts and we did as we wanted and knew best to do. Worked out quite well, and the trust given us was tremendous.....or we would have failed.
I once read a producers note , made before coming to us, it said "Hailstones will make four episodes, to be determined by conditions" and that was it....LOL!!
On this Traitors recap, Claire wrote:
I think Sandoval is playing the game perfectly: that is, he’s such an idiot that he’s a threat to no one. If he had been doing this consciously I’d think he was a genius. As it is, I just think he’s Tom.
🗞️ Reality TV news
The Real World Boston lumberjack Sean Duffy is now Secretary of Transportation
Hoarders’ Matt Paxton has a new Discovery Channel series coming in March
I don’t know if this is sadder and more pathetic for Bar Rescue’s Jon Taffer or Variety for publishing this: ‘Bar Rescue’ Host Jon Taffer Partners With TuneIn to Launch New Original Content (EXCLUSIVE)
🤩 I recommend
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, now airing weekly on ABC and streaming on Hulu
Watching Jeff Probst’s family attempt his new card game: “Don’t send this to Jeff”
This piece: The reality TV roots of the MAGA coalition
Hope you have a terrific rest of your week and weekend—and great start to February!
best,
Andy
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🌄 This is issue 405 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 31 January 2025, and it would like to know where January went, please.