• Britney Spears planning her own reality show

  April 14, 2004
  Given the reality television success of lesser pop singers like Jessica Simpson, it was probably only a matter of time -- according to reports, Britney Spears, the queen of the pop princesses herself, is in talks with various networks about starring in her own reality series.

• Ewan McGregor to star in round-the-world motorcycle ride show for Bravo

  March 8, 2004
  Bravo has announced that actors and friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman will star in and co-produce Long Way Round, a new reality series chronicling the duo's four-month long transcontinental motorcycle journey. The six-episode series will air later this year.

• Pan-Arab 'Big Brother' production stopped due to Islamist protests in Bahrain

  March 1, 2004
  One week was all the longer that "Western lifestyles" and Islamist values could co-exist in the progressive Arab country of Bahrain. "Western lifestyles" as reflected in the worldwide reality-TV phenomenon Big Brother, that is.

• Showtime orders pilot for "Black Eye For The Uncool Guy"-type series

  February 16, 2004
  Showtime cable channel, whose previous forays into reality television have included last fall's Freshman Diaries and the adult entertainment industry centered Family Business, has announced that it has ordered a pilot for Make It Cool, a new Queer Eye For The Straight Guy-like reality series in which a group of "hip African-Americans" will help horrifically "uncool" people of all races overcome their "uncoolness."

• UPN to air 'Awful Pretty', a 'Top Model'-like cross-dressing reality show contest

  February 3, 2004
  Just when you thought FOX had set the reality TV bar about as low as it could go with such upcoming shows as The Littlest Groom and Playing It Straight, along comes UPN to demonstrate that the bar can go even lower.

• Executive turmoil threatens future of reality TV powerhouse Endemol

  December 30, 2003
  Endemol, the Anglo-Dutch reality TV giant best known for its shows Big Brother and Fear Factor -- but which is also the largest independent producer of TV shows in the U.K. -- is on the verge of disintegration after open warfare broke out between the corporation's owner and the creative team.

• Are networks really cutting back on reality shows?

  November 10, 2003
  Despite the strong performance of reality TV shows during the 2002-03 season, the sic U.S. television networks resolved to cut reality shows from their 2003-04 schedule when they sold commercial time for the season. So how well are those promises holding up?

• Rod Stewart gets new MTV reality show, 'Rod: Live and Uncensored'

  November 10, 2003
  The Sydney Morning Herald reports that aging rock star Rod Stewart, who has the #2 album in the U.S. right now, has been signed by MTV for a reality series. The show, tentatively titled Rod: Live and Uncensored, will focus on Rod's personal and home life, similar to MTV's The Osbournes.

• 'Survivor' producer Mark Burnett launches new scripted show, based on himself

  October 30, 2003
  Without Mark Burnett, reality TV as we know it today might not exist. We may soon learn whether his own life is as interesting as his reality shows.

• Indiana U. telecommunications course focuses on reality TV

  October 21, 2003
  According to the Indiana Daily Student and WTHR-TV 13 in Indianapolis, a new telecommunications seminar for freshmen at Indiana University takes college students inside reality TV, for better or worse.

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