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by Raul Burriel Published: January 29, 2006
Speaking of Survivor, the contestants for Survivor: Panama - Exile Island have been announced. You can read their profiles on the official CBS site here. The web site tells us that we'll have four tribes, not two this season, broken up into younger men, younger women, older men and older women. Should be interesting. Subscribers of Entertainment Weekly get an extra treat this week as EW reporter Dalton Ross spends a night on Exile Island. There's good news for fans of Rock Star: INXS. It's been reported that the show has been picked up for another season. No word yet as to who the lucky band will be (The Doors? Queen?), but casting begins in March. Find out where you can go to try out to be a rock star here. And, yes, Canada's on the schedule again this season. Your obligatory Wendy Pepper reference: From out of the blue, it's been reported that Wendy Pepper's experience on the first season of Project Runway led to the end of her marriage. Read about it here. You know, given how we got to see Wendy on the series (including the home visit during the finale), I just assumed she was a single mom. Wonder how the merger of the WB and UPN into a new network called CW will affect your reality TV experience? The answer: not much. Analysts suggest that the new network will retain both America's Next Top Model and Beauty and the Geek. Read about the merger here. Speaking of Beauty and the Geek, the second season of this one-joke reality show began this January on the WB following a complete rerun of the original series. Called "Ashton Kutcher's social experiment" (although his only involvement is as executive producer,) Beauty and the Geek takes a house full of dimwitted beautiful women and pairs them up with a group of socially inept genius men. But unlike last season where the contestants were unaware of the actually "catch" until they met each other, this year the casting was done with the hopefuls fully aware of what they were getting into (so look for beauties who only pretended to be dimwitted and geeks who only pretended to be socially inept.) This year's casting was helped along by unforgettable geek (and, frankly, he must have some kind of mental disorder to behave the way he does) Richard Rubin and beauty Lauren Bergfeld from last season. Although not paired together during the show, Lauren seems to have taken quite a liking to Richard and if he hasn't "hit that" yet, that geek's never gonna get any. It should be noted that there have also been reports of a new season of Beauty and the Geek where the roles will be reversed (hunky men, socially inept women.) Find out more on the official web site here. Celebrity Fit Club is well into its third season on VH1. I won't spend my time going into too much detail as in-house reality recapper extraordinaire Caroline Roberts already does that for you (read her recap of the latest episode here), but I must point out that if this show wasn't proof enough that there's a need for a show called Celebrity Rehab Camp, then maybe Breaking Bonaduce or Being Bobby Brown will do it. America wants to see celebs go through rehab, and God knows there's plenty of celebs needing to go through rehab! Watching this show - and appearing on it - could both count towards community service. Find out more about Celebrity Fit Club on the official web site here. Last year's surprise ratings hit, Dancing with the Stars is back for another go 'round this winter. Caroline Roberts is also recapping this series (her latest episode recap is here). I'm finding it as enthralling as last season, with some pretty impressive dancing going on. My money right now is on Drew Lachey and Stacy Keibler going head to head in the finale (if they can muster enough popular support - dance-wise, they're exceptional!) I doubt the judges will agree with me, but I have to say that Lachey's paso doble done to the music of "Thriller" was perhaps the best dance of the series. But regardless of who wins, we're all winners now that Master P is gone. If I recall correctly, we were told that Master P had rehearsed a total of 20 hours so far this season while all the other contestants had practiced an average of 130 hours. He really looked like an old Saturday Night Live sketch with Phil Hartman doing his Frankenstein character. Find out more about Dancing with the Stars on the official web site here. Fox has its own not so successful version of Dancing with the Stars, except on ice. Skating with Celebrities is in its third week, and the pleasure here is in watching pseudo-celebs get the snot beaten out of them. After getting a big ratings boost following the first Thursday night showing of American Idol, Skating with Celebrities has moved to its regular spot on Monday nights. Learn more about the show here. And then, of course, there's American Idol. We're two weeks into the initial auditions with - I believe - only one more week to go before we move to Hollywood and the real competition begins. Recaps of the series will begin at The Trades once the show moves to Hollywood. Until then, enjoy the auditions. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with the "gag" and "gimmick" auditions which only serve to take up our time, the time of the judges, and the time of the good singers sitting out in the waiting room. How many times can we hear judge Simon Cowell call someone the worst singer he's ever heard? For that matter, how many times can they call someone "the best singer we've heard in all the auditions, ever?" By filling out time with bad singers, we miss the opportunity to hear more (or anything at all) from some of the good singers who are sent on to Hollywood and the next tier of auditions. The bad singers only serve now to showcase some elements of the show which haven't been discussed much. Musical montages of bad singers show them all singing the same song, suggesting that all contestants are obliged to sing one of a number of select songs, in addition to their prepared song. Knowing more of these show mechanics would probably make the show more interesting. But all that aside, I have to say that I'm already more please with this season's crop of contestants than last season's. I've heard at least two or three singers that have given me chills (while none from last season did the same.) Prospects are good, even if twins Terrell and Derrell Brittenum aren't going to Hollywood. Terrell and Derrell are charged with using another person's identity to buy a car. No word if the identities they used were each other's. The new address for the official American Idol web site is Idolonfox.com. And that's it for right now (as if that wasn't enough!) You'll hear from me again when there's something worth saying. |
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