A Look Back: The 2009 Reality TV Year In Review - December 2009
By Christopher Rocchio, 12/31/2009
With 2009 drawing to a close, it's time to take a look back at the year that was. The following is Reality TV World's 2009 Reality TV Year In Review, a 12-part, month-by-month review of some of the past year's reality TV headlines, highlights, lowlights, and milestones.
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Today we continue our 12-day countdown with the twelfth and final installment: December 2009.
- Simon Cowell and his business partner Sir Philip Green tell a British magazine they are considering launching an international The X Factor edition that would be set in Las Vegas and be available via global pay-per-view on the Internet.
- Potential The Real Housewives of D.C. cast members Michaele and Tareq Salahi deny crashing a White House state dinner in November but are eventually subpoenaed to testify in front of a Congressional committee in January. Bravo launches a consumer survey to receive feedback on the Salahis before pulling it.
- Former Tool Academy cast member Jaimee Grubbs becomes the first woman to publicly claim she had an affair with professional golfer Tiger Woods. A former Tool Academy castmate subsequently claims Grubbs openly discussed her relationship with Woods while filming the VH1 reality series.
- Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle's debut album debuts at No. 1 while American Idol eighth-season runner-up Adam Lambert sees his debut album drop at No. 3 in the same week.
- MTV renewsThe Hills for a sixth season that will include Audrina Patridge -- who previously insisted the fifth season would be her last.
- Kate Major and Michael Lohan are both deposed in TLC's breach of contract lawsuit against former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin, followed by his ex-girlfriend Hailey Glassman -- who calls him a monster.
- The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub drops a criminal complaint that she was assaulted by fellow cast members Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita but continues to push for charges against Laurita's 19-year-old daughter.
- A judge grants TLC a preliminary injunction preventing Jon Gosselin from continuing to violate his Jon & Kate Plus 8 contract by making unauthorized media appearances and endorsements. The ruling reportedly leaves Gosselin in "serious financial trouble."
- Australian authorities charge two ninth-season British I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestants with animal cruelty for killing a rat and eating it during an episode of the reality competition series.
- Cowell says a U.S.-based The X Factor edition would be set in Los Angeles not Las Vegas and a U.K. newspaper reports he may leave Idol after its 2011 edition and is finalizing a deal for an American The X Factor edition that would air on Fox and begin filming in Los Angeles in September 2011.
- CBS finally formally confirmsSurvivor's twentieth season -- which was filmed back-to-back with Survivor: Samoa in Samoa in Summer 2009 -- will be dubbed Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, feature 20 former castaways and premiere in February.
- Nota is crowned the winner of NBC's The Sing-Off a cappella reality singing competition.
- Simon Cowell's older brother Terry claims a press announcement that Simon is leaving Idol after its 2010 edition to launch an American version of The X Factor in 2011 is being prepared. Fox declines comment.
- Fox releasesAmerican Idol's entire ninth-season early broadcast schedule, revealing it is dropping some of the 2009 season's format changes and returning to the show's previous format which features 24 semifinalists, a gender-balanced gradual elimination process, and does not include a "Wild Card" semifinals round.
Premieres:Bad Girls Club, Season 4 (12/1); Steven Seagal Lawman (12/2); Launch My Line (12/2); Dog the Bounty Hunter, Season 6 (12/2); The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty (12/13); Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Season 4 (12/13); The Sing-Off (12/14); Bank of Hollywood (12/14); One Big Happy Family (12/29); The Imploders (12/30).