The last Friday newsletter of the year
Dear newsletter friends,
This is the last Friday newsletter of the year, and not just because the next two Fridays are holidays: I’m taking the time to take a break. Or, to try to take a break: I have shows to catch up on, and some exciting work on the site itself.
You will get a Sunday-night, end-of-year preview of the reality premieres and specials coming up during the rest of December (just like last week’s). If I decide to record another episode of Walking with Andy, you’ll get that too!
And I do have a few stories scheduled to go up over the next two weeks—including something later today that I’m really excited about.
Sounds like a break, doesn’t it?! 😆
This week:
I recapped The Amazing Race 32’s joyful but suspense-free finale
Published my list of the best reality TV I watched in 2020
Finally reviewed We’re Here, one of my favorite shows of 2020
I also published a really heartfelt and interesting essay by one of the cast members on 12 Dates of Christmas: Corey on being himself, and the Black gay role model he never had
News
Kids Say the Darndest Things, hosted by Tiffany Haddish, was cancelled by ABC but CBS is picking it up
Mark Burnett’s “lack of new reality hits is not the only area in which the addition of Burnett's businesses appear to have fallen short”
Survivor South Africa just completed filming a season in South Africa
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Tom Girardi “stands accused of stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable clients”
Jacob Roloff: “I was molested by an executive field producer for Little People Big World”
☃️ I recommend
All of these reality shows from 2020
This Christmas-themed reality show from 2015, which is now free to watch online, or you can buy it from Amazon
This profile of a documentarian whose 45th (!) feature is out this month, and who’s created “a series of cinéma-vérité documentaries about American institutions”
This thread highlighting TV and film critics and their work
Making the Band star Ashley Parker Angel’s Instagram, which is sometimes kind of NSFW, but endlessly fascinating because of all the awkward poses
It’s been a hell of a year, and I’m grateful for you inviting me into your inbox every week. Here’s to a safe, healthy, fun end to 2020—and an even better 2021.
See you back here on the second Friday of January 2021! Happy new year!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is Reality in Focus issue 224, first sent 18 December 2020, and it’s ready for a break.
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📷 Photo of a Christmas tree and fireplace with stockings by Chad Madden