New reviews, new recommendations, and a new website for the new year
Dear newsletter subscribers, I never thought when watching The Apprentice that it would lead to what happened Wednesday—though it has been clear over the...
Episode 4: Happy new site
Happy new year! In this episode of Walking with Andy, I talk about the new site redesign, and the article I wrote about Mike Rowe’s new Discovery+ show.
Happy 2021! Here's a ludicrous list of shows premiering this week
Dear newsletter subscribers, Happy New Year! It's 2021, and while things magically haven't changed since Dec. 31, when Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper were...
Episode 3: My favorite time of year
In Walking with Andy: episode 3, I reflect on why this week is my favorite week of the year. Plus: a preview of exciting changes coming to reality blurred—or...
All the reality TV premieres for the rest of the year
Dear newsletter subscribers. Before we get to the remaining reality TV premieres for the year, two things: First, don’t miss my extensive interview with The...
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...
Episode 2: Money before fingers
In Walking with Andy episode 2, I walk and talk about what’s been on my mind as I write about the year’s best reality TV, which takes me back to the...
This week's reality TV premieres (and two finales!)
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! This weekend, we attempted a family version of Nailed It! via Zoom, creating gingerbread houses from Target...
Walking with Andy: episode 1 of a new experiment
Dear newsletter friends, As I promised in this morning’s message, welcome to the first episode of a new experiment: a podcast. The world needed one more, so...
Survivor's timeslot has a new occupant, reality stars behaved badly, and I have something new for you
Dear newsletter friends, Before we get to this week’s links, later today you’ll get an e-mail with the first episode of a new experiment: my podcast, Walking...
This week's reality TV premieres, from The Challenge to The Great Christmas Light Fight
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! I've spent the weekend watching Ted Lasso, which is just a non-stop joy of a show (it's on Apple TV+). It's...
Survivor update, Padma's show, Matt Rogers' gay hosting, free cheese, and more
Dear newsletter friends, A few weeks ago, I mentioned a giant wheel of cheese in my review of a Netflix show. A company that sells giant blocks of cheese,...
This week's reality TV premieres: Nov. 30 to Dec. 6
Dear newsletter subscribers, We've made it to the end of the month: one more day and one more month to go in 2020. And now that December is (almost) here, so...
Does the Great British Baking Show have to end? Plus: Amazing Race's MEGA LEG, weekend recommendations, and more
Dear newsletter friends, I hope you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving, whether it was with the people you’ve spent the last eight months with, or via Zoom....
Reality TV premieres for Thanksgiving week
Dear newsletter subscribers, We’ve reached the final week in November, which is a holiday week in the United States. It presents various opportunities: to...
15+ stories for you: : Survivor, Amazing Race, Candy Land, Bachelorette, Lego Masters...
Dear newsletter friends, It’s been a rough couple weeks. Two weeks ago, just after writing to you, I learned our 7-year-old cat had a tumor, and we said...
This week's reality TV premieres: Nov. 16 to 22
Good evening, and happy National Fast Food Day eve! That designation for Monday seems like the most American of days, celebrating our access to cheap, quick,...
Reality TV premieres for Nov. 9 to 15, 2020
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! After the longest results show I've ever watched, I'm ready for some slightly less-real television. Reality...
Amazing Race's missing episode and a Jeopardy GOATs show
Dear newsletter friends, As votes are counted in the presidential election and we wait for results, I’ve been thinking about how previous elections have...
Reality TV premieres for Nov. 2 to 8, 2020
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! I hope you’ve enjoyed your extra hour of sleep! Besides the time change, it’s the start of a new month, and...
How Survivor changed casting, when Big Brother will return, and how Kim Kardashian's island party was mocked
Dear newsletter friends,It was Kim Kardashian West’s 40th birthday recently—you’re forgiven if you didn’t send a gift, or didn’t know, or just didn’t care....
Reality TV premieres for Halloween week
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good evening! This week will bring us the end of October, and the end of what people now call "Spooky Season" (I think I...
Eco-Challenge's end, Shark Tank's worst, Top Chef's spin-off, Supermarket Sweep's return, and more
Dear newsletter friends,It’s Friday, again, somehow. And we’re already coming up on episode two of Shark Tank, which returned last Friday and which I...
Reality TV premieres for Oct. 19 to 25
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! Tomorrow is National Evaluate Your Life Day, but that seems like a heck of a lot to ask right now, when...
Bachelorette producers punish a contestant, Amazing Race starts, Trading Spaces turns 20, and more
Dear newsletter friends,This week brought us several big broadcast reality TV premieres—including, finally, The Amazing Race 32. Before the season premiered,...
Amazing Race to Bachelorette: a huge week of reality TV premieres
Dear newsletter subscribers, Of the many feelings I've experienced this year, which can change on a minute-to-minute basis, one of the most persistent has...
Using Ryan Seacrest to measure, and talking with an Eco-Challenge team captain. Plus: Deaf U and Emergency Call reviews
Dear newsletter friends,Today is flu shot day for me, and annual vet visit day for our cats. For pandemic reasons, the cats will have to handle the...
Reality TV premieres for Oct. 5 to 12
Dear newsletter subscribers, From updates on President Trump's health to the vice presidential debate, I think it's safe to say that this week will be...
Top Chef's new twist, plus The Vow, The Weakest Link, Dancing with the Stars, and more
Dear newsletter friends,This week began with us learning how much Donald Trump earned from The Apprentice and his name—and that Trump’s businesses lost $89.9...
Reality TV premieres for Sept. 28 to Oct. 4
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! It's somehow already the final days of September, and it's time for your last weekly preview of the month....
Big Brother's racism, plus six competitions that are actually worth watching, and Top Chef news
Dear newsletter friends,I’m a vegetarian—well, the kind that eats mostly sugar, not vegetables—and yet I spent the weekend watching American Barbecue...
This week's reality TV premieres: Sept. 21 to 27
Dear newsletter subscribers, This week is the traditional start of fall TV, though it will certainly not look anything like the usual fall season. In reality...
Time to put your hands in the TV mud
Dear newsletter subscribers,I have a new favorite comfort-food reality show—though it may be familiar to some of you, especially those who live in the UK.If...
Reality TV premieres for the week of Sept. 14, 2020
Dear newsletter subscribers, A parade of fall reality TV premieres began last week and continues this week, with new and returning shows on broadcast...
Holey Moley, what a week
Dear newsletter friends,It has been a long week, even for a week that—for some of us—has been one with four work days, plus the west coast is on fire; there...
This week's reality TV premieres: Sept. 7 to 13
Dear newsletter subscribers, Summer reality TV is fully in swing—now that it's fall. And that means this very weird year will bring us the premiere of a...
Big Brother is broken, fall reality TV isn't
Dear newsletter friends,Happy Friday! Let’s start with this show, which I give my highest recommendation to. It’s on a network (MTV) and has a title (16 and...
This week on reality TV—well, Monday, at least
Dear newsletter subscribers, This week's update of upcoming reality show premieres is lighter than usual. That's in part because this week is actually light...
How Survivor changed the world 20 years ago. Plus: Masked Singer's fake audience, TAR's return, and more
Dear newsletter friends,Last Sunday was the 20th anniversary of Survivor: Borneo’s finale, which I rewatched this week. It holds up, and from Sue’s legendary...
How a single beer almost ended Survivor, and how dodgeball woke me up
Dear newsletter friends,If you’ve been reading my work for a while, you know I cannot get enough of silly, fun shows where people bounce off of things, like...
Reality TV premieres for the next TWO weeks!
Dear newsletter subscribers, Is it almost the end of summer? Of course, no, not really. Here in Florida, the heat and humidity don't really let go until...
Chris Harrison replaced after leaving quarantine, Big Brother's COVID-19 denier, and Eco-Challenge's return
Dear newsletter friends,I know it’s a cliche now that we’ve all lost track of time, but I just realized that I put “July 7” on last week’s newsletter, at...
This week's reality TV premieres: Aug. 10 to 16
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good evening! Tomorrow, Monday, is National Lazy Day. I tried to find its origins but gave up after 30 seconds, which seemed...
Bachelorette's replacement, Big Brother cast's positive COVID-19 tests, Drew Drechsel's arrest, and Shark Week's big problem
Dear newsletter friends,Shark Week starts on Discovery Channel this Sunday, the same day National Geographic’s copycat version, Sharkfest (which has been...
Big Brother and other reality TV premieres for Aug. 3 to 9
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good Sunday evening! It's the second day of August, which somehow feels impossible. It also feels impossible that several big...
Shark Tank + Masked Singer news, reality TV Emmy nominees, Canada's Drag Race, and more
Dear newsletter friends,On Monday, I was scheduled to be on a Southwest flight to Los Angeles: the start of another 2.5 weeks in Los Angeles, a trip I’ve...
This week in reality TV: July 27 to Aug. 2
Good evening! Here's your weekly preview of reality TV show and documentary premieres. These final days of July and first few days of August will bring more...
Big Brother and Love Island film soon, RHONY is a mess, and more
Dear newsletter friends,Did you know about the comet? I did not, until yesterday! So last night we took the trash out and took a drive, away from city...
Hoarders and Intervention return, Joe Exotic's animals get homes, and other reality TV premieres this week
Dear newsletter subscribers, Good evening! I hope you had a restful weekend and masked up if you were around other people. As much as I love watching reality...
Survivor dropped from CBS's schedule, DWTS replaced its host, a Mythbuster died, and more reality TV news
Dear newsletter friends,It’s Friday once again. Time is moving in weird ways these days—has it really been more than four months since all this began? Is it...