Two Bachelorette seasons?! More Selling Sunset and Bling Empire! Should you cross The Bridge? and much more
Dear newsletter friends,
It’s been a busy week for me, and I have a lot of reality TV news to share with you.
But I want to start by just acknowledging that it’s also been an emotional week, as we reflect on on year since the lockdowns began, and a year of living like this, whatever that may mean for you.
As I write this, I am feeling very hopeful, especially with the news that vaccines will be available to all adults in just six weeks, never mind the fact that actual help is on the way for so many people, from parents to restaurant owners. (If you’re a visual learner like me, here are some fun graphics.)
I’m grateful that we’ve all had TV and the Internet to connect us over this past year, and I know it will continue to do that over the coming weeks, months, and years.
Speaking of: Here’s an awkward transition to this week’s reality TV news and reviews!
Twice the Bachelorette news
The Bachelor concludes its season on Monday, with a reunion hosted not by Chris Harrison, who is out indefinitely, but by Emmanuel Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.
That’s when the show will announce this big news:
There will be two seasons of The Bachelorette and thus two Bachelorette stars this year.
In other Bachelor Nation news:
Before last week’s episode, on which Matt James talked to his father, Matt told viewers “that too often, we see dangerous stereotypes and negative depictions of Black fathers in media. And they have consequences when presented without context.” He included a link to this interesting article.
Rachel Lindsay tweeted that the “episode was so disturbing and disappointing for so many reasons.”
A Discovery+ move, crabs, and murder
Food Networks’ Restaurant: Impossible is back on TV two months after it was moved to Discovery+. Failed experiment or…?
The new Deadliest Catch season will premiere early on Discovery+, but it won’t only be streaming.
Read an exclusive excerpt from Joe Kenda’s book, which of course is about a murder. The Homicide Hunter star is now on Discovery+ with a new show, American Detective.
Recap and a review
I reviewed The Bridge, a UK show that made its way to America last month. It’s like a combination of Survivor, Big Brother, and The Last Alaskans.
I recapped Survivor: The Australian Outback’s merge episode, which was great—and discussed why I like using previous votes as a tiebreaker better than a rock draw
Even more news
Bling Empire star Kelly Mi Li posted on Instagram that she and Andrew Gray “made the difficult decision to officially separate.” Soraya McDonald’s reaction to this news is the same as my own.
Bling Empire will return for a second season and Selling Sunset has been renewed for two more seasons, Netflix announced.
The CW is going to produce an American version of Killer Camp, the fun horror movie-inspired UK series it aired last year. I hope they fix its major problem, as I outlined in my review.
Legacy List, the PBS show starring Hoarders' Matt Paxton, is now casting for its third season. I previously talked to him about why he created his new show, and what it means to him—and how Hoarders filmed during a pandemic. (It’s back March 22.)
⭐️ I recommend
This exceptional show, which is one of the best reality shows I’ve ever seen. While it originally aired on Starz, it is now free to watch, on demand, on Tubi. 🎉
This show on HBO Max, which I thought was sometimes frustrating but ultimately very good.
This video I took of tiny worm things in my shower, if you’d like to see the real-life start to a horror movie.
And I’ll leave you this week with that horrifying image, though yesterday there were like 30 of those worms in the shower, so now I’ll leave you with that image.
Have a great rest of your week and weekend.
best,
Andy
🌄 This is Reality in Focus issue 234, first sent March 12, 2021, and it will not be moving to a streaming platform.
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📷 Photo of a yellow flower emerging from snow by Ilona Frey