The Reality Departed of 2007

Ah, I am finally getting up-to-date, thank you for all of your email messages and holiday wishes!

While I was busy discussing all of my favorite things last week, Entertainment Weekly published it's list of Best/Worst of 2007. Some of the items were deserved of being deemed "Best" while others were relegated to the Junk pile.

So....I started thinking about some of the "Disappointments" last year in the world of reality television. I know it is difficult to believe that there could possibly be reality TV show casualties, but alas there were some real ("Insert words here"), in 2007.

Allow me to refresh your memory with the following:

1. On the Lot (Fox). What happened with this show?! I have had many conversation about this show with numerous people. Although the show had all of the right American Idol type ingredients (3 credible judges, a host, amateur talent, and a public voting system), something just did not keep the interest. Even Mark Burnett does not even know what happened!

2. The Next Great American Band (Fox). Again, another AI scenario - One foreign judge with an accent, 80's Diva (Sheila E. this time), cutie pop rocker Johnny Rzeznick (Goo Goo Dolls) and some dude who was trying to be Ryan Seacrest = Snoozefest.

3. The Apprentice (NBC). Well, we know what happened here (Mass commercial product placement disguised as 'tasks').

Quite frankly, Don does not even know the names of the marketing executives who commandeer being written into the show (It's tough to believe that some nameless marketing execs at some corporation are "Good friends" of Trump). Even more, the 'tasks' always involve a plug for Trump's latest project (Golf course, casino, condo, shuttle, business suits, cuff links, steaks, water, et al). So far, the success of this new season will be subjective.

4. The Great American Dream Vote (ABC). This show seemed like a good idea - who does not want their dreams to come true? You mean, Donnie Osmond could not appeal to the masses? Or, maybe the problem was the show...Viewers commented that the said 'Dreams' of the contestants were the issue (Guy who wanted hair plugs to propose to his girlfriend). The dreams just were not big enough...

5. The Bachelor (ABC). Oooh, apparently many of you are still discussing the final episode in which Bachelor Brad did not pick either of the two remaining hopefuls - I still think he made the best choice by choosing to remain single...We do not want to see yet ANOTHER failed Bachelor.

Well, the good news is that despite a lousy track record for The Bachelor, ABC is already working on The Bachelor 12. My suggestion is that they consider bringing in a professional matchmaker or relationship counselor - but, that's a different show.

6. Hey Paula! (Bravo). Yes, this deserves yet another mention. Paula announced that she will not be returning for another season of her version of reality, claiming that it was too painful for her to watch - many would agree.

7. National Bingo Night. Come on, your grandparents probably played it - why would it not work on prime-time network television?

8. Armed & Famous (CBS). Celebrities as Police Officers....In Muncie, Indiana. This should could have gotten lively had the location been here in Tinseltown, but I digress. You proved a point that we cannot mix 'D-List' celebs as Police Officers in a small town on a national network - Got it!

9. Nashville (USA). Have I mentioned American Idol too many times within this post? You cannot use the same ingredients and expect to have something unique in every dish...Huh?

Finally, last place goes to not one, but two One-hit wonders:

10. Anchorwoman (Fox) and The Victoria Beckham Show (NBC). Anchorwoman (About a former something or other who moves across country to a small town to work at a TV station) - yanked after one episode.

As for the Victoria Beckham Show - a similar tale about another former something moving across country (Literally) to a small town (L.A.) to work on a reality show. Only her show was pared down from a full blown reality series, to an hour special.

I like Victoria Beckham fine, and am looking forward to the Spice Girls reunion. However, British Press was over embellishing that American Producers were 'Clamoring' or in this case 'Clamouring' and falling all over ourselves to sign Beckham to a deal....Not quite. Most people on this side of the pond do not even know of Victoria Beckham. This could easily go down as the most expensive $10 Million dollar one-off reality show deal in recent history.

Let's look forward to more reality show departures in 2008 - Just go easy on the ones that are mine!

Dream Over...

As of last Thursday friends at ABC had informally announced the cancellation (I believe the term was "Yanked") Great American Dream Vote from the prime-time schedule.

The reality game show, featuring Donny Osmond as host, was a show in which contestants would literally 'beg' for money and the audience would vote for their favorite - an idea that had a great premise and I had thought of a similar show last summer.

Here is a more exciting explanation according to the ABC site:

"From the producers of ABC's The Bachelor comes The Great American Dream Vote, a new show that gives anyone and everyone the chance to make his/her lifelong dream come true. In this fast-paced and exciting series, all you need is the ability to dream -- and to convince America to vote for you. Want to make magic and miracles in your life? Just tap into your fantasies -- from having your own chicken petting zoo to a Bassett Hound senior center, a dream wedding to saving the family business -- anything is possible. All you have to do is convince America to vote for you. "

What happened? This sounds like a great show? Maybe that's what went wrong, terribly wrong...

From what I had heard contestants were more or less focused on their own personal gain, rather than altruistic acts of kindness and sincerity. Not sure that made sense, but the point is asking for hair plugs to give you courage or buying an old dilapidated 200 room hotel on edge of town and turning it into a renown medical treament/homeless shelter for our fellow citizens in need - gee, which would have greater impact?

Maybe it was a casting issue. Maybe the dreams were not big enough. Either way, the show had only aired for 2 out of 5 episodes and garnered last place in the ratings on Wednesday's prime-time schedule, behind the show Friday Night Lights (NBC).

Incidentally, America's Next Top Model (CW) ala Tyra Banks/ Bankable Productions had also aired on the same night and clobbered the competition. Apparently, we don't want to hear from contestants about hair plugs, we would much rather watch model hopefuls vie for a $100,000 modeling contract...

Makes sense to me.