• Writers' union seeks to infiltrate, organize reality TV

  August 13, 2003
  Does 'unscripted TV' really mean that no writers are used? The Writers Guild of America doesn't think so, and it wants a cut from the boom in unscripted TV. According to the Hollywood Reporter, nonfiction shows -- including reality TV shows -- have traditionally been nonunion, even if writers are used. But the WGA, the union which represents Hollywood's powerful writers, is attempting to change that.

• 'Reality summer' continues on U.S. networks as several shows draw high ratings

  August 12, 2003
  Back in the spring, the U.S. networks talked about dumping reality shows; only six shows were scheduled on the four main networks and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel referred to them as "shit". How quickly things change.

• 'Survivor' producer Mark Burnett inks two-year deal to develop scripted series for The WB

  August 12, 2003
  Right now, Mark Burnett is the unchallenged "king" of high-quality U.S. reality TV production, based on his success with Eco-Challenge, Survivor, and the current The Restaurant. However, his first venture into scripted programming failed to even make the schedule at The WB, one of the weakest of the six U.S. broadcast networks. But, in true Eco-Challenge fashion, Burnett is ready to "try, try again."

• Reality TV World celebrates third anniversary

  August 9, 2003
  Reality TV World is celebrating our third anniversary today. Like mainstream network reality programming itself, the premiere season of CBS "Survivor" was responsible for our genesis. Six seasons later, here we are.

• The Golf Channel to air 'The Big Break' reality amateur golf competition show

  August 6, 2003
  Inside VC Golf is reporting that The Golf Channel, a premium cable television channel, will be broadcasting a new reality competition show called "The Big Break" this fall.

• 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.

MORE MISCELLANEOUS REALITY TV NEWS