• New 'American Idol'-like reality show searching for gay country music superstar

  July 29, 2003
  Rolling Stone reports that Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Larry Dvoskin is conducting the search for America's first openly gay country music star -- and he plans to air a reality TV series about it.

• New Zealand reality show seriously burns contestant

  July 29, 2003
  According to Stuff.co.nz, a new New Zealand realty show seriously burned one of the contestants during its filming. At the time, the contestant was repeating a stunt -- walking through a wall of fire -- that he had already performed successfully, because the producers wanted to "get a better shot" of it. During the second try, the man's shirt caught fire, and he required skin-graft surgery on his upper body at a hospital in Auckland, NZ. A friend who visited him in the hospital described him as "a really unhappy customer."

• U.S. Emmy Award nominations honor 'Amazing Race,' 'American Idol,' 'Survivor' and other reality shows

  July 17, 2003
  Reality TV may make famous TV producer David E. Kelley mad. But a lot of other people in Hollywood found a lot to like in the reality genre this year, resulting in five different reality shows (airing on four different networks -- CBS, Fox, MTV and E!) receiving a total of 12 Emmy nominations. (The Los Angeles Times provides a complete list of Emmy nominees, for those who want to look for themselves.)

• New reality show looking for celebrity groupie-types to tell their story

  July 17, 2003
  Have you spent the night with a rock, hip-hop, or pop star? If so, there's a production studio out there that wants to hear about it.

• TV producer David E. Kelley disses reality TV (again) ...then admits wife Michelle Pfeiffer watches it

  July 17, 2003
  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Boston Globe reports that David E. Kelley, creator of such past TV hits as L.A. Law, Picket Fences and Ally McBeal, took another shot at reality TV and the networks that air it during the recent Hollywood press tour. Said Kelley, whose ABC show The Practice was crushed in the ratings by Fox's Joe Millionaire and avoided cancellation only by dumping six of its top stars, "'Now, they put their trash on. . . . They celebrate the junk. As long as they can get high ratings, they will do it. Where once they were ashamed of it, now they'll throw a parade for themselves. And that's probably where my frustration has been growing.'' This isn't the first time Kelley has attacked reality television, in March he wrote an episode of The Practice in which a crazed woman abducted CBS President Les Moonves in an abssurd quest for a reality program of her own.

• Bravo announces new 'Ready, Set, Van Gogh!' “extreme arts” competitive reality show

  July 9, 2003
  Jeff Gaspin, President of Bravo, today unveiled a new reality series pilot for a show named “Ready, Set, Van Gogh!" as the cable channel seeks to achieve a new identity with original programming. “Our new pilots push the concept that we’re willing to be independent and experimental, to challenge and entertain our viewers,” said Gaspin. “We want to be the first stop for creative people who have an edgy concept or are ahead of the curve in TV programming.”

• Bravo announces new 'underExposed' film-based reality contest series

  July 9, 2003
  Jeff Gaspin, President of Bravo, today unveiled a new reality series pilot for a show named “underExposed” as the cable channel seeks to achieve a new identity with original programming. “Our new pilots push the concept that we’re willing to be independent and experimental, to challenge and entertain our viewers,” said Gaspin. “We want to be the first stop for creative people who have an edgy concept or are ahead of the curve in TV programming.”

• Ship for Irish 'Cabin Fever' reality TV show sinks, taking show down with it

  June 19, 2003
  Maybe reality TV doesn't mix well with large boats. The problems with Fox's Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage were well-documented. Now, the Hollywood Reporter has reported that the next seaboard attempt, an Irish boat-based reality TV show entitled Cabin Fever, sank this week when the boat hit submerged rocks and went under, with cast and crew escaping to nearby Tory Island off the Irish coast. According to the report, the 10 contestants on board have consulted with lawyers, apparently hoping to cash in from the accident since they won't be able to cash in on TV.

• Hot British reality show evaluates ... housework?

  June 18, 2003
  Many hit U.S. reality TV shows have their roots in the U.K., ranging from American Idol (a copy of the British smash Pop Idol) to The Mole. However, not every reality show can succeed in both countries. For example, Survivor, the idea of a U.K. production company, was never produced in the U.K. until after it became a U.S. hit, and it then flopped completely there. And its clone, I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, featuring D-list celebs, remains a U.K. phenomenon despite being a superdud in the U.S.

• ESPN planning 'Survivor'-like 'The Wild Rules' survivalist reality show

  June 10, 2003
  ESPN has announced that taping will begin June 13 for "The Wild Rules," an adventure race that will debut September 8, 2003 as part of ESPN's prime-time outdoors block. "The Wild Rules" will pit two six-member teams against each other and the forces of nature in a trek across British Columbia in which speed and outdoor survival skills will determine who among the 12 contestants takes home the $100,000 prize.

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