Strollerderby : reality TV

Move Over Jon & Kate! TLC is Looking for Your Replacements

SunnyChanel — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:51:00 GMT

TLC wants more. More multiple births to ~~exploit~~ share with the their viewers - who apparently have a unquenchable thirst for families who aren’t just blessed with one baby but two, three, four or more. With Jon and Kate Plus Eight bringing in the big numbers, the producers at TLC have opted to troll the Internet for new families who are willing to risk their anonymity, children’s privacy and their marriages. And where do you go to look for a Cocker Spaniel puppy, a used futon, an ‘escort’ or a family about to have multiples? Craigslist of course.

TLC put up a post there which read :
Are you expecting multiples and want to share this extraordinary event with TLC??? TLC is now looking for NY, NJ, and CT families who are expecting twins, triplets, or more! We would capture the birth of the babies and witness their amazing first breath, first cry, and all the emotions that go along with such an incredible occasion. Then, TLC will be there as you leave the hospital and adjust to your first few days at home as a family. If interested, please reply to Joanna with the following information:

1) Due date
2) Delivery hospital
3) Doctor
4) If possible, please also include a recent photo

Thanks and TLC looks forward to hearing from you!

Yes, this isn’t really a casting call for an entire series but who knows, you too can destroy your marriage and any semblance of privacy if you give a really good labor. The ad has since been taken down, so for those of you who were ready to exploit your unborn children for fun and profit, well you may have lost your chance. But if you just happened to have been switched at birth…well you still can get your mug on TLC! This ad states : “If you were switched at birth, if your child was switched at birth…or if you even KNOW anyone who has been switched at birth, let us know!”

Would you ever let cameras into your home, birthing room, or around your kids? Oh, and were you switched at birth?!?

Jon & Kate Plus 8 Premiere Snags 9.8 Million Viewers

Brett Singer — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

So you know this Kate Gosselin we've been hearing so much about? Mother, reality show star, husband may or may not be cheating on her? Lots of backlash against her?

After all the sturm und drang that the Gosselins have generated in recent weeks, you might think that would hurt their ratings. But you would be wrong.

The season premiere of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" was watched by 9.8 million people. That's not only the largest audience for a cable show on Monday. It was the largest audience for ANY show that evening.

People, negativity sells. Big time.

Yes, it was Memorial Day. But "Jon & Kate" isn't even on a network. It's on cable. Which means that not everyone -- most people, but not everyone -- can see the show. To me, this was an astonishing feat.

I have a confession to make. I don't watch "Jon & Kate Plus 8." I don't watch any reality shows regularly, which isn't a judgment on those of you that do. It's just not my thing. (If they could make a reality show with superheroes in it, that I might watch.) But all of the tabloid news has been oddly fascinating to me. I read the People Magazine article. Someone left a copy of US Weekly in my house and I read the "Jon & Kate" article. (Well, I started it. But I'll finish it.) And I have to admit that I might just check out a few minutes of the show.

Did you watch the "JK8" premiere? Did the recent scandals surrounding the couple make you more interested in the show?

Source: Hartford Courant

Morning News - California Supreme Court Upholds Prop 8

Kate Gosselin - Mom or Monster?

Gosselins are Good for a Gander (big roundup of stories on Famecrawler)

Mom Arrested for Having 555 Pound Son

Morning News - Mike Tyson's Daughter Injured

UPDATE: Coming to TV Sets Soon – Octo-vision!

SunnyChanel — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:59:00 GMT

There was no question on the if it would happen, just a question of what and when. Apparently, Octomom’s quest for TV stardom are about to come to fruition. Rumors have been swirling around for quite a while that Nadya Suleman aka Octomom had been shopping around ideas for a reality TV show. Now a deal has supposedly been done.

According to Life and Style Magazine, Suleman stated: “Yes, it is official. I'm going to be doing a show, but it's not a reality show. What I'm doing with this TV show is basically creating documentaries about the lives of my children." And continued to say “It's going to be an ongoing thing, and it will follow them from now until they are 18. It's being done by Eyeworks; they're in the UK. It will air in the UK and then we'll see if the US is interested."

Although Suleman had previously stated that she wanted the media and public attention to go away, this won’t be any help in achieving that goal. She added that "The producers will come here to film six times a year. They'll come by and take some footage and then they'll go. They won't be invading my life or my children's lives. It will give me the opportunity to have incredible home movies that, believe me, I don't have the time to make myself. Having this documentary crew allows me to focus on raising my children and still have great movies of them."

The reason to do this is to have “incredible home movies?” Very doubtful, an incredible bank account balance is more like it.

Would you let a camera crew into your home and publically broadcast your life for all to see? And if so, would you do it for fame, fortune or for the family memories.

UPDATE: It turns out Octomom may have been counting her TV episodes before they were hatched. According to The Live Feed, the company Eyeworks, that Suleman cited, claims to have yet to seal a deal with her but has confirmed they are trying to work with her. A rep for the company said “At this time we are in active negotiations with Nadya and her attorney for an unscripted format following the life of Nadya and her children. Nadya's story is a very unique and exciting one that needs to be told in the right manner … We are confident that we are the right party to tell their story around the world."

Since no one in the states wants to touch such a series with a ten foot pole, they’re probably in a pretty good position for negotiation.

Source

Photo Source

UPDATE: Octomom Fires Angels in Waiting - The Drama Continues

Another Day, Another Dollar, Another Octomom Exclusive Interview

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Recently asked if she was planning to do a reality show, Octomom said, “Absolutely not! I have no interest in being famous. I’d love to vanish from the public eye as soon as I can.” Whom was she talking to about “vanishing from the public eye?” Life and Style magazine, which has Nadya Suleman on the cover of their current issue. Here’s a hint on how to avoid that pesky fame, Nadya: don’t give two-hour interviews to entertainment magazines.

Given the hypocrisy of her response about reality TV, I’m inclined to believe reports (from In Touch Weekly, which—surprise!—also has an “exclusive” interview with Suleman in an upcoming issue) that a reality TV show is already in the works for the Octomom and her populous clan.

On the pain of giving birth to ocuplets, Suleman told Life and Style, “With that many babies, it feels like your insides are being torn apart. The babies were ripping apart my organs.” Wow! She sure does have a flair for drama. I have no doubt that giving birth to eight babies at once induces a level of pain that I hope to never experience in my life, but her description sounds like it’s straight out of a gory sci-fi movie (or a particularly compelling segment of a reality TV show….). And judging from the endless images of Suleman gracing magazines, TV, and the Internet, it seems that all of her organs survived the birth.

Suleman was also eager to dispel rumors that she didn’t really, really want kids—since, you know, that’s what we’re all so concerned about. “People think I just woke up one day and decided to start a family,” she said. “I’ve been trying to have kids since I was 19 years-old!” And you think this makes it LESS insane that you have quite purposefully spawned 14 children by age 33? Judging from the cover of the magazine (which is all I have to go on, since there's no way I'm going to spend three bucks to read more of the interview than the online excerpt), Suleman is considering having even more children.

I’m starting to think that Nadya Suleman may be even crazier than she seems—crazy in a way that requires compassion and serious psychiatric treatment, not a media campaign, and definitely not a fertility clinic.

Photo: Life and Style

Expose Puts Another Spin on Jon and Kate Plus 8

JeanneSager — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:28:00 GMT

If you're a fan of the Jon and Kate Plus 8, you might be shocked by the venom reserved by some parents for spewing at the Gosselins. Then again, if you read last weekends Philly Mag, you might be joining them.

In case you haven't seen it, it's the "normal" TLC show, the story of a couple who underwent fertility treatments because the mom (Kate) suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome, which made getting pregnant the natural way impossible. The first time around, they came out with twins. The second, with sextuplets. Hence the "Plus 8" in the title.

Since a 2005 one-hour special garnered massive attention, the entire family and all their doings has been on TLC week in and week out on a regular series, showing life with multiples can be hectic but relatively normal. Relatively.

Frankly, I don't watch every week (I actually don't watch much TV myself), but I've seen more than my share of episodes in the off hours. My daughter got us into it - I was cuddling in bed with her one evening, flipping channels while she half dozed in the crook of my arm, and she noticed little kids on the screen. She asked me to "go back, I wanna see the kids who are cold." The Gosselins were out skiing - hence the cold. My occassional tune-ins since have been mostly out of curiousity - their younger kids aren't much older than my daughter, and it's fascinating to get a glimpse at how other kids her age act. Suffice it to say, I was never a Gosselin hater.

After reading the expose in Philly Mag, I'm still not as venomous as say Glamour's Christine Coppa . . . or the legion of commentors on either her blog or the Philly Mag piece. BUT I've certainly got my eyes open.

Open to how much "God" really does play a role in the Gosselin household - even as they attempt to differentiate themselves from their TLC counterparts, the Duggars, with a limit on the Christian speak. Check out their Website. God this. God that. There's nothing wrong with belief in God or even talking about God, but in all the episodes I've watched, I've never once seen Kate and Jon talk about religion. And apparently they make frequent visits to churches, where they allow the church to pass around the basket for a "free love offering." They also charge the churches big money to come out - not just airfare but first class airfare plus a hefty speaking fee. That's Christian?

I was also disturbed to see that the family put up a request list on the Web (akin to Nadya Suleman's already defunct donation Website) before they got the guarantee of a paycheck from TLC. Remember, they had fertility treatments - they knew what they were in for.

Some things plain old did not shock me. The Gosselin house is ranked eighth out of one hundred forty-nine cable shows for product placement these days. Jon got free hair plugs. Kate got a free tummy tuck. They get free toys, free trips to baseball games, free trips to Hawaii. It's all wrong, says Coppa and the parent commenters because it means the Gosselins are exploiting their kids. I tend to disagree. Most of us pay for these things (minus the plugs and tummy tuck), and the Gosselins get it for free. Jealous? Yeah - so are a lot of commentors it seems. Coppa too.

But as someone who has worked in journalism for the past decade, I know advertising is a necessary evil. The newspaper I work for wouldn't be published without it! And I wouldn't get a paycheck. The Gosselins "pay" by allowing cameras into their homes. The advertisers get a spot on a top-rated cable show. That's advertising folks - that's how it works. Rather than paying with funds, advertisers sometimes pay with product. And if they didn't pony up the product, when the kids played with a (Mom- and Dad-purchased) Wii, you can bet that would get cut off the show by the folks at TLC. It doesn't mean the kids wouldn't get these things, and frankly, the big companies should HAVE TO pay somehow - either with product or money. Would it be better if TLC reaped all the benefits instead of the family?

I also confess to not being all that upset that the family charges for autographed pictures. They're celebrities. Ever been to a meet and greet at a concert? Didn't you pay for that? How about the autographed tees and pictures at one of the merchandise kiosks? You paid for that too, didn't you? Although Coppa compares the Gosselins charging to her chance meeting with the OC's Mischa Barton - who posed for a picture and didn't charge, snapping your own pic with a celebrity is different from a signed celebrity photo. Those cost money to produce, and take time to actually sign. Personally, I wouldn't buy one - but if people are willing to pony up $20 for pictures of the Gosselins, that's their problem - not Jon and Kate's.

There's plenty more - some bad, some not-so-bad in the Philly Mag piece. It's extensive and well-researched, so I'd recommend reading it all the way through.

When you're done, come back and let us know - did it change your mind about the Gosselins?

Image: Discovery Store

Also on Babble:

God's Army

Five Minute Time Out: Kate Gosselin

Would You Toilet-Train Your Child On National TV?

Kate Tuttle — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:59:00 GMT

Apparently, some producers think someone will -- and more intriguingly, that people will actually want to watch it! According to an item in the Miami Herald, a casting director is looking for families who would be willing to have their potty-training exploits chronciled on television as part of a new reality show. I guess the ratings for Jon & Kate Plus Eight, which frequently follows the goings-on in the Gosselin family bathrooms, must have prompted some TV producers to think people could get hooked on watching the process close up and personal. Personally, living through it once already -- and with another child waiting in the wings for next year -- is far than enough "reality" in my potty-training life. And as for allowing cameras to enter and follow the process at my house, that would mean I'd have to chase dust bunnies out from under our changing table, and that is not on the agenda.

What do you think: Would you sign up your kid? Would you watch someone else's?

More by this author:

Biracial Twins -- Is One "Black" and One "White"?

Death by Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Is This Baby Obese? Aussie Mom Says No

Baby Nearly Starves to Death, Diluted Formula to Blame

A Real Housewife of Atlanta Spent 18k on 11-Year-Old's B-Day Party

SunnyChanel — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:42:00 GMT

Last night I was flipping channels, trying not to get immersed, yet again, in financial or election news. I found a very guilty pleasure-ish escape with last night’s episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta. One of the women profiled on the reality program is a buxom blonde bombshell who was described on Jezebel as “the white woman who actually looks like one of the Wayans brothers in White Chicks,” who threw a birthday party for her eleven year old daughter Brielle. How does she roll? She spent an estimated $18,000 on the celebration. How the hell did she do that? Well, she got a whole slew of Brielle’s friends and had an all day fiesta that went into a slumber party at the InterContinental, all arranged by a party planner. Not only did they take a Hummer limo to the hotel, had oodles of food, a stellar suite but the eleven-year-old birthday girl, yes eleven years old, received not just one but two Louise Vuitton bags from her mom. One, her mom mentioned she had given her a couple of days before, but this one was better.

Not surprisingly, her mom felt that the spoiled Brielle wasn’t as appreciative as she should be and pulled her aside to tell her she should be more happy and excited. But when 18k is spent on something as an eleven year old’s birthday, not even a big benchmark such as 16 or 18 or even 21, then her reality is just wack. At least Kim knows she spoils her daughter, saying that she herself wasn’t spoiled growing up and had to work for everything. On the upside, she does plan on getting her daughter involved with charity work to see how real kids live.

You can check out a clip of the show on Jezebel here.

The Duggar Family and Their 17 Children Come Into Your Living Room

SunnyChanel — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:29:00 GMT

I am in awe of families that have three or four children. But when the number of offspring hits the double digits? I so can’t even imagine. Enter the Duggar family to totally blow my mind with their 17 children (with another one on the way). This evening, on TLC –The Learning Channel home of other big family shows such as Jon and Kate Plus 8, the Duggar reality show premiers with twice as many as kids, and no doubt, twice as much chaos. The show will follow the day to day lives of this gigantic brood of Jim and Michelle Duggar and their seventeen kids Joseph, Joshua, Joy-Anna, Jason, James, etc. (my hands are getting tired just typing all their names, but you get the gist.)

And on the Today show, when promoting their program, they were asked if they would consider having more children after number 18, and they said that they would welcome more children and that each is a “gift from God”. Are they going for an even twenty or just until they run out of J names?

'Baby Borrowers': Not Going Anywhere Anytime Soon

Jen Chaney — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:01:00 GMT

Mike's post last week about NBC's new reality show, "The Baby Borrowers," got some commenters fired up. Apparently it also fired up the Nielsen ratings.

"Borrowers," which debuted last Wednesday at 9 p.m., attracted 7.9 million viewers, enough to put it in second place for its time slot. The show that beat it? Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance?" Hmmm. Maybe NBC should change the name of the show to "So You Think You Can Parent?" That might put it over the top.

I won't go into all the reasons this show seems completely absurd since Mike already did a fine job of covering that. Instead I'll just say this: I know it's summertime. I know all the truly solid TV series -- "Lost," "Friday Night Lights," "The Office" -- are on hiatus. But please, I beg you: Find something else to do after the kids go to sleep that doesn't involve watching reality television. Read a great novel. Build a diorama. Stare at the walls and ponder the reasons why someone thought it was necessary to turn Holly Hobbie into a vapid preteen.

Or, if you must watch TV, get a DVD of a decent show you may have missed and watch that instead. Remember: Only you can prevent high ratings for craptastic TV shows.

Image: NBC Via Variety

"30 Days" Not Long Enough to Change One Woman's Mind About Gay Parenting

Erin White — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:30:00 GMT

As an old writing teacher of mine used to say, just because something really happened doesn't mean it's a good story. This pretty much sums up my feelings about reality TV, and is at least half the reason that the "Same-Sex Parenting" installment of Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days show sat on my DVR for nearly a week before I could bring myself to watch it.

I was also afraid of how upset it would make me.

The show follows Kati, an Orange County Mormon and adoptive mother of two, as she travels across the U.S. to a farmhouse outside Ann Arbor, Michigan where she has agreed to spend 30 days living with Tom, Dennis, and their four adopted children.

Boy, is Kati ever nervous! How will the gays treat her? Will they take it personally when she tells them that she thinks their children would be better off living on the streets than with them? Will the lesbian mom she meets get defensive when Kati tells her she's truly sorry that she's been denied all contact with her child because she has no parental rights, but that she could have solved her own problem by not having a child in the first place?

Suffice it to say, Kati does not form lasting friendships with Tom and Dennis. She's angry and sad about this, and confused about why they can't just "agree to disagree." (Tom points out that actively working to dismantle his relationship and family isn't just disagreeing with him.)

While it would be easy to make Kati the villian in this story (and I think I will just go ahead and do that), I also hold Spurlock accountable for much of what is offensive about this show. While he gives airtime to Dawn Stefanowicz, author of Out From Under, and Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, the only gay or lesbian individual he speaks with directly is the head of Pacific Reproductive Services, a sperm bank in San Fransciso. And it's less of an interview and more of a Mr. Rogers-esque field trip during which Spurlock gets to make the obligatory straight man jokes about how great it would be to get paid for doing something he does anyway. So original! There is a whole boatload of research showing that children raised by gay and lesbian parents are happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. But not one data point made its way into this show.

By the end of the show everyone is in tears and Kati is on her way back to California, relieved that her deeply stressful and lonely 30 days as the only homophobe in the land are over. If this 30 Days experiment proves anything, it's that people's bigotry and prejudice can't be changed simply by getting to know a few good gays. Real change of heart requires something a little closer to home. Which is why I'm praying that one of Kati's sons turns out to be gay.

Moron Parents Abandon Kids for TV Fame

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:02:00 GMT

My first complaint about Baby Borrowers -- a new reality show in which five teenage couples care for the babies of a few morons who rented them out to NBC -- is that it's just bad television. If you're going to make a reality series about abandoned children, at least make it interesting.

Choose a grittier locale. Get a furry dog. A bald rich guy. A cute little orphan with red hair and maybe some catchy Broadway numbers about what a hard knock life it is but that somehow, tomorrow maybe, the sun will come out. Oh wait, that sounds familiar in some odd, distant way. But you get the picture. Baby Borrowers is not entertainment. It's dregs from the writer's strike -- brought forth during the summer TV doldrums to either sink or swim.

Let us hope it sinks.

Because my second complaint has to do with the aforementioned morons. But let me take a step back for those who haven't heard about NBC's latest reality show. Five teenage couples take care of an infant for three days, and then progress to caring for toddlers then teenagers and then old people. The idea is that this is some form of "birth control" -- showing these teens that raising children is actually hard work. And we get to watch their kooky antics ... joy. (Although did anyone actually hear these teenagers say they wanted to have a baby right away? Like, tomorrow? Like, they need a massive dose of reality check intervention to avoid making a mistake? Of course not.)

But there you go. That's the premise. Teenagers. Infants. NBC went from the West Wing to this. You're caught up.

So OK, back to the morons. Let's say for argument's sake you're dumb enough to give your infant to a TV network for three days. Let's even go a step further and say the cameras are rolling, you meet these teenagers who will be taking care of your infant and you think, "Well, they sure do look awfully young and immature, but what the hell? We're on TV, right?" and you hand over your baby. Then let's say one of those teenagers gets all pissy and lets your kid starve and is clearly frustrated. You wouldn't put up with that from a babysitter, but you're watching from a special "viewing home" nearby and somehow you decide to keep your baby in that situation ... why? Because you're a moron.

Would any sane parent let their infant get into that situation in the first place? The show says there are "shadow" nannies ready to step in at a moment's notice -- but that just seems like yet another glaring reason to avoid handing over your child. (Producer: "Look, they might be in danger - but we promise to step in with our secret cabal of shadow nannies." Ummmmm no thanks.)

The parents who pimped out of their children to a television network argue they're "helping" teenagers realize they're not ready to have kids. (Teenagers who never even say they're ready to have kids -- in fact, one couple says they just hope this "experiment" will save their "turbulent" relationship.)

"I was a teenage mother," says one moron, after dropping off her baby, "And I never got to be the person I could have been. But now I'm on national television and all I had to do was abandon my kid. Awesome!"

So I made up some of that last part. But still. The motive is clear -- some people will do anything to be on TV. Even put their kids at risk.

-- Mike at Cry It Out

Baby Borrowers: Bad Idea?

Amy Kuras — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:03:00 GMT

More than a few commenters on my "pregnancy pact" post suggested that the teens in questions watch "The Baby Borrowers" – a reality show debuting tomorrow night on NBC in which five teenage couples care for, in turn, an infant, toddler, teen and older person.

Does this sound like a ginormous trainwreck to anyone else? – and not the VH1-type celeb-reality type trainwreck that's so bad it's almost funny, but an actual horrendously bad idea?

First, the idea is to let these teenage couple test out if their relationship can withstand the rigors of parenthood. Hello. I don’t need to have watched a minute of the show to tell you no they can't – and if they can, so what? Of all the people I have known through my whole long life, exactly two stayed with their high school sweethearts, and of those two, one broke up and got back together approximately eleventy thousand times throughout college and their early twenties.

Second, what kind of parents turn over any age of kids, but especially helpless babies, to teenage strangers? Apparently the babies' parents and trained childcare experts could watch every minute, but I do not care. I try to never judge other parents without knowing their whole story, but exactly how publicity whore-ish do you have to be to let a couple of unknown teens care for your baby for three whole days (and nights?)

And what if some of these kids decide that yes, they should totally have a baby with their partner. At 18. Before they've finished college or experienced much of anything. Great idea, reality TV!

I keep seeing promos for shows that cause me to turn to my husband and say "Okay, now reality TV is out of ideas. Bottom of the barrel, reached." But this is the first time I've seen the potential for great harm to vulnerable people — teens and babies alike.

Worst yet? I'll probably watch, if only in the hopes I'll get proved wrong.

Tracy Ullman does Dina Lohan

Brett Singer — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Does an IMPRESSION of Dina Lohan. Get your minds out of the gutter, people.

"OK, when Lindsay's heart stopped at Bungalow 8, that was my fault." Funny, nasty, not safe for work.

Make sure to stay with this video until the end where Tracy/Dina turns to a fellow mom and says, "Don't patronize me Lynn... at least my daughter never shaved her head."

Found at LA Times blogs, clip is from Tracy Ullman's State of the Union on Showtime

Live blogging two crappy parenting shows

Dina Lohan bans Lindsay from reality show; other kids, no problem

J Lo is Celeb Mom of the Year, Dina Lohan an also-ran

Whoopi Calls Out Denise Richards

Denise Richards: Charlie Sheen Can Keep His Damn Sperm

Charlie to Denise - I Hope You Get Cancer & Die

Dina Lohan vs. Michael Lohan: Tastes Great! Less Filling!

Dina Lohan - Kids Home Alone & House Fire Breaks Out

The Real (Nekkid) Housewife of New York City

Adrienne Martini — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:30:00 GMT

I have no shame when it comes to reality TV. The ones that draw me in I will fiercely defend against all cultural snobs who rail on about how they degrade society. For what it's worth, I think said snobs are a bigger drain than any amount of reality TV -- but that's another fight.

Which is why I can unabashedly admit my love for The Real Housewives of New York City. The Orange County ladies left me cold -- I only made it through one half of one episode -- but their East Coast avatars were hypnotic.

Especially Alex, the more pretentious than thou mom of two who takes great pride in her pre-schooler's fluency in Latin and French. Alex is an opera lover. She and her husband Simon are very, very cultured. More cultured than you, certainly.

Which is why I'm just amused as all get out that she's also posed for some nudie pixs that have made their way online, as all things seem to do. I think it's swell that a mom is comfortable enough with her body to expose it to the world. But this Real Housewife, who appears to make social climbing an extreme sport, would be one of the last you'd expect to strip it all off. I can't help but wonder what the Countess would think of it all.

Photo credit: bravotv.com

Southern Belles Struggle to Objectify Themselves

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:36:00 GMT

Thanks to the Internet, I have no reason to buy a TV. All the fun stuff that makes me embarrassed to be a member of the human race winds up on Jezebel.com eventually. Most recently, Jezebel brought my attention to an eye-opening MTV “documentary” about Southern Belles. Following the lives of three young women who see themselves as valiantly struggling to uphold a dying tradition, we learn that tried-and-true Southern gals never ask boys on dates, but are old maids if they’re not married by the time they’re 24.

I also learned, from 24-year-old Leigh Ann’s failure of a romantic life, a few tips to avoid ending up a crazy cat lady, which is Leigh Ann’s professed greatest fear in life. For starters, do not say things on the first date like, “I’ll probably never get engaged at the rate I’m going.” And do not have five or six cats that you dress up in neon bonnets. I've got nothing against crazy cat ladies or kitties in drag—I'm just saying, if being a crazy cat lady is your biggest fear in life, acting like a crazy cat lady might not be the best way to go.

MTV did seek out one rogue Belle, who is not planning to get married till she’s way over the hill. She put it best: “I, like, want to get married after I’m 30—what every other girl would consider their worst nightmare!”

Oh, and in case you were wondering who started that annoying hole in the ozone, it was 18-year-old Raini, who has teased her hair “365 days a year” ever since she was a little girl—because that is the only surefire way to one up all of your girlfriends so that you can land a husband before they do! As you can see from the clips on mtv.com, the proper teasing procedure requires at least half an aerosol bottle of hairspray. I felt light-headed just watching it. Enjoy!

Photo: mtv.com

Supernanny Kid Sets House on Fire

Karen Murphy — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:19:00 GMT

Yep. When I need parenting advice I go straight to TV. Don't you? After all, everything is so...real on TV. And always has a happy ending that fits within 30 minutes or 60 minutes. Isn't life just like that?

Apparently Paul and Susan Young thought it was. They appeared on "Supernanny" in 2005, hoping that Supernanny Jo Frost would help them figure out how to handle their five boys. All under 11 (yikes). And she did! For 60 minutes of television, that is. So did it work long-term? Did it help?

Not if setting fire to the house is any indication. By a three-year-old.

What gets me here is that either these people were idiots or they were desperate. Either way, the fact that a three-year-old had the time, the opportunity, and the wherewithal, to set fire to the house and then while the mother was was attempting to put the original fire out (in the kitchen), set fire to the living room drapes, is astounding to me. The mom and the three-year-old were alone in the house at the time. Sure, MY three-year old gets into an awful lot of things but I know enough to watch him like a hawk and to keep things like knives and matches well out of his reach. I know accidents happen, but somehow the fact that these people went on a reality show to begin with tells me there's something a little off about their parenting skills.

In other words, I guess we all like to watch the trainwrecks we see on TV but none of us want to be one.

New CBS Kid's Reality Show: "Lord of the Flies" in Action?

Karen Murphy — Mon, 21 May 2007 13:06:00 GMT

Everyone who made it past the eighth grade in my town was forced to read William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the story of planewrecked and stranded English schoolboys who eschew British niceties when attempting to govern themselves and instead turn to savagery and murder. The formula for upcoming CBS reality show Kid Nation, on the other hand, is forty kids ages eight to fifteen stranded alone in a ghost town for forty days, tasked with creating a workable society, and all without modern conveniences.

Though kids on the show won't be voted off, some will be nominated to be part of the "Upper Class", and occasional winners, or Gold Star Kids (a designation worth $20,000) will be declared by the town council every few days. It's hard to say whether the backbiting and intrigue of other reality shows (Survivor) will be a part of Kid Nation, but early reports indicate that it may actually show some depth while portraying kids earnestly attempting to work together and create something worthwhile. Which means that maybe I can use it as a tool to help my kids let go of their constant fighting. It's worth a try.

"Fat Kids Can't Hunt": New Brit Reality-TV

Karen Murphy — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:36:00 GMT

I don't know whether to be extremely amused or simply appalled by this new reality TV show set to air in Britain: fat kids are being sent to Australia where they will have to hunt for their food in the bush with Australian Aborigines. It's true! Yes, ten obese British teens will be living with Aboriginal families and will be required to hunt and eat worms and grubs, or go hungry. Grubs on the barbie: an exquisite, crunchy, nutritious taste sensation!

Like a train wreck, this sounds like another "can't look away" scenario. I'm thinking it makes light of the Aborigines, however, so I hope they get plenty of opportunity to poke good fun at the kids, and maybe the whole thing will end up well. This show follows the similar "Fat Men Can't Hunt" which sent fat British men to live with tribes in the Kalihari desert in Namibia.

Damn! I wish they had this show in the U.S., because I would totally watch it! Would you? Is it any more improbable than American TV? I don't think so; these kids might learn something.

Strollerderby : reality TV

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