Reality Blurred

The Contender season one and two cast member and boxer Jeff "Hell Raza" Fraza was killed early Saturday morning when he was hit by a commuter train in Haverhill, Mass. He was 34. His former girlfriend and mother of his son, Sylvia Pastrana, told the Boston Herald, "I was just told that he was walking the tracks, heading back home, and he's done that many times before." She said "he was fine and he was... keep reading »

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NBC's The Voice returns for its second season after the Super Bowl this Sunday, and the big test for the show is whether it can sustain both the interest that sweet timeslot will provide and overcome the general fatigue from music talent competitions that both X Factor and American Idol have contributed to by, well, sucking. American Idol continues to lose viewers, dropping significantly compared to both last year and last week on Wednesday night,... keep reading »

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Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney yesterday, a brave, unexpected choice, considering how Romney just easily won Florida. The endorsement has already inspired an ad comparing Trump and Romney's firings. Upon his endorsement, Trump said that people love to follow him, including viewers of The Apprentice, but in fact, the opposite is true. "I bring a lot of people with me. If you look at my Twitter, if you look at my anything, if you look... keep reading »

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Bravo has renewed Top Chef for a 10th season, despite the pretty disappointing season that's currently airing. The 10th season is currently casting and will tape in May for broadcast later this year. In quasi-related food reality TV news, Fox's Gordon Ramsay vehicle Kitchen Nightmares has been renewed for a fifth season. As to Bravo's show, it's hard to believe that just a year ago one of its best seasons ever, Top Chef All-Stars, was... keep reading »

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Emily Maynard says she's frightened of what will happen when she films The Bachelorette, and also feels like a hypocrite for saying she'd never do it, but she's also convinced the format can work, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Emily told People, "It really hasn't hit me, what I've signed on to do. I'm scared to death." I presume she means signing on to a show where the producers are understandably more concerned... keep reading »

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A Jersey Shore spin-off starring Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Jenni "JWoww" Farley is supposed to start filming this month, but Hoboken, New Jersey, has denied 495 Productions a filming permit, protecting the rest of the country by at least delaying their return to the attention of cameras. City of Hoboken's film commission denied the permit Monday, calling the production "an attractive nuisance" and noting that a "proposed 24-hour filming permit would violate" a rule against... keep reading »

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One of the Fear Factor contestants who drank donkey semen and urine during a stunt says she has been threatened by NBC for talking about it. The network pulled the episode Monday and has not yet rescheduled it. Twins Brynne and Claire Odioso talked about drinking the semen on Tampa Bay's Cowhead Show, revealing that one drank semen while the other drank urine. Claire called the taste of semen "so bitter" with a "hint of... keep reading »

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Fired The Real Housewives of New York City cast member Jill Zarin has responded to a gossip report that she was asked to return to the show. She confirms that she was asked to cameo, but says she's too busy with other projects, such as her appearance on Iron Chef America's top-five moments countdown. Radar reported that "axed cast member Jill Zarin received a call from a show insider recently asking her if she would... keep reading »

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Discovery's game show Cash Cab, which takes place in an actual cab and is hosted by the cab's driver and comedian Ben Bailey, is now in syndication, airing five nights a week (check your local listings). To mark that occasion, the show has offered three lucky reality blurred readers prizes: a $50 Visa cash card and the Cash Cab board game to the winner, and, for two runners-up, the board game alone. To enter, you... keep reading »

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Discovery's debut Friday of Bering Sea Gold, the new reality series from Thom Beers that follows people searching for gold in Alaska waters, was the network's most-watched series debut ever. An average of 3.66 million people watched, according to the network, and it set records for the network among households, adults 18 to 49, and adults and men ages 25 to 54. The series' popularity indicates, on some level, that we still have a fascination... keep reading »

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Former Bravo president and current NBC executive Lauren Zalaznick is undoubtedly very smart and responsible for much of what I love on television. She also made a ridiculous argument that suggest she has very different relationships to her shows than viewers do. "I reject easy slams like 'train wreck' and 'guilty pleasure. It's just not a good enough description of why people actually watch what we do," she said while delivering the opening keynote of... keep reading »

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And the firings continue: Paula Abdul is also out of The X Factor, as her friend Simon Cowell let her go along with Nicole Scherzinger (who left to work on her music, right) and fired host Steve Jones. That leaves just Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid to have fake fights with each other. Deadline reported Paula's exit, saying "none of the three left on their own accord and that it was cleaning house day at... keep reading »

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Useless X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger is also off the show, along with departing host Steve Jones. This isn't a surprise, considering everyone knew she was a terrible judge long before the show even started--except Fox and Simon Cowell, apparently. She was erratic and weird, and even refused to judge. In an attempt to spin this like she hasn't been fired, Nicole's people told E! Online that Nicole "wants to focus on her music career"... keep reading »

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In an unsurprising move, Steve Jones has been fired as host of Fox's The X Factor, and thus won't be back to host the second season. "I wont be hosting next seasons XFactor which is a shame but I cant complain as I've had a great time. Good luck to everyone on the show," he wrote on Twitter a few minutes ago. Although he is affable and charming in real life, he wasn't the best... keep reading »

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Survivor cast member Rupert Boneham, who's running for governor in Indiana as a libertarian, released a video over the weekend detailing his support for marriage equality for gay and lesbian people, and vowing to fight legislation that does otherwise. In the video, below, Rupert talks about his 14-year marriage and says, "we've had our hardships, we've had our trials, but nothing like the LGBT community has to go through," and adds, "What does it say... keep reading »

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The finale episode of the newly resurrected Fear Factor has been pulled off the schedule by NBC, apparently because it features contestants drinking donkey semen. The episode has not been rescheduled, though a different, two-hour special will air Feb. 12. The pulled episode's title was "Hee Haw! Hee Haw!", but its official description said only that "teams also put themselves to the test eating the unimaginable in one stunt." Apparently, that's too gross for a... keep reading »

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Shark Tank is unquestionably one of the best broadcast reality TV shows on today, and on Friday night, it got even better by wading into both emotional and newsworthy territory during its final segment. Mark Cuban's addition to the show has made it consistently must-watch television. The final presentation of the episode was Sparta, North Carolina, resident Donny McCall, who invented the Invis-A-Rack, which transforms a pickup truck into one with a rack in 30... keep reading »

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Bravo's exploitation of the bloody, real-life trainwreck that was The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills continues with a three-part reunion that starts airing tonight. The producers' and network's inept and offensive editing left me with blind rage toward this season, even though I find other editions of the franchise, particularly New York, to be thoroughly entertaining. I recognize that some people were riveted by RHOBH, though I don't understand that. Today, The Daily Beast's Kate... keep reading »

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Mob Wives star Angela Raiola, aka "Big Ang," was once a cocaine dealer who was indicted and convicted for selling cocaine in New York nine years ago. The Smoking Gun reports that she "was one of 15 defendants indicted--and later convicted--for their roles in the narcotics operation, which distributed crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and marijuana in Brooklyn and Manhattan," adding that "Federal agents described Raiola as an associate of the drug ring's leader." Indictment records... keep reading »

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Former So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Alex Da Silva was sentenced today to 10 years in prison after being convicted of raping a dance student and assaulting another with the intent to rape her. L.A. Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy told him in court that he "does not respect women" and "believes he is entitled to do whatever he wants when he wants," ">according to E! News, which notes that he received the... keep reading »

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