TVSquad

(S17E03) "I'm like an animal in the jungle. I want to prounce on someone." - Paloma

What is it with this season's castaways on Survivor adding in an extra "r" whenever they feel like it? Last week it was Michelle saying "frickle" instead of "fickle." Maybe it's some new fad or tied in with the internet folks who put an apostrophe whenever they end a word with an "s." So, we have this "r" thing going on, a man with a questionable British accent, and a blond Betty Boop, and one castaway is is beginning to look like Peter from Heroes as he gets scruffier. I think it's going to be a decent season. Read on past the jump for the review!

In the past some online venues have had to cut off the wagering as it became evident that spoilers were leaked by either the cast or the crew. In particular, I remember the winners of two Amazing Race seasons leaked. We're just starting the fall television season and those sites are already hopping. Now, I myself am not a wagering kind of woman. I never condone throwing away money. But I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the sites to see how the odds are running for players in my favorite reality shows.

Be warned -- there may be some spoilers past the jump, especially with pre-taped shows. Shows such as Dancing With the Stars are live and dependent on the audience votes so they're more popular opinion than any real spoilers.

I've been a Survivor fan since the first season of the show. Now, that was back before widespread broadband internet connections and the official show website mainly had the bios, recaps and some photos. But now it has content there, especially videos, which catch us up on all the things we miss in the 40-odd minutes we see weekly on the television.

In last week's double episode it looks like more show ended up on the editing floor than it did on the show. And I'm here to share some of that with you!

(S17E01) "Jacquie is awesome!" - Marcus to Charlie

Now, isn't that nice of Marcus, an eye-candy doctor, to say about me? Sigh. Alas, it wasn't about me. I'm not on Survivor Gabon and I don't even spell my name that way. It's a first time namesake on the show for me and she isn't too shabby. However, I can't say that about the entire cast. Tonight was the big two-hour premiere night in Earth's Last Eden. Will this season live up to the quality and excitement of last season? Will Jeff Probst show off his Emmy-winning style? Read on past the jump for my full review of the show.

Earlier this week we told you about the diaries that Survivor contestant Nicole Delma was selling on eBay. The listing was taken down suddenly and now we know why: CBS asked her to take it down (this has been confirmed by CBS).

The bidding for the diaries somehow, some way, got up to over $2000, then CBS called and asked Delma to stop the sale because it was in breach of the contract she signed. Delma thinks that CBS might have been a little antsy about certain parts of the diaries where Delma describes scenes of the hit reality show being staged and even scenes being re-shot. Of course, this news is nothing new, we've heard talk that certain scenes on Survivor (and other reality show) are re-staged or re-shot for the camera. The only comment CBS would release about the controversy is that they thinking the diaries are "boring" and that they asked her nicely to stop the auction.

Her solution? She's going to release a "novel," because there's nothing in her CBS contract that can stop her from releasing a work of fiction. That's actually kinda clever. I side with CBS on this though, if she did indeed sign a contract that stops her from revealing behind the scenes info.

Wouldn't it be great if a famous Survivor contestant like Richard Hatch or Tina Wesson or...um...one of the other people that won the top prize (Fantasia? Omarosa?) on the show kept a diary during the show and was now going to let fans of the show read it? You'd be able to see what the audition process was like, what it was like staying on the island for over a month, get some cool behind the scenes info about the show. Wouldn't that be great?

Well, that's not available, but until last night you could have read the diaries of Nicole Delma, a contestant from the 2003 "Pearl Island" season of the show. She didn't win the top prize, in fact, she was voted off in the very first episode. But still, those diaries must be really interesting!

Originally, the new season of Survivor had an announced premiere date of September 18. We can scratch that now. It's been changed to two back-to-back episodes on September 25. Don't tell me they're actually thinking ahead and realize that football or something else would preempt the season premiere. It's not like CBS to realize such things!

Jeff Probst will be the host, asking his Probsting questions at Tribal Council. Read on past the jump to check out the new castaways!

I was searching around for something interesting to write about tonight and came across a piece on Human Wrecking Balls, a new series premiering on G4 this fall.

According to the G4 Web site, the show features brothers Craig and Paul Pumphrey (combined weight: 550 lbs.), who demolish everything from boats and cars to houses and bars using Only Their Bare Hands. (Picture Tim the Tool Man doing his "Arr, arr, arr" here.)

"Guys seem to have an innate fascination with watching demolition," says Neal Tiles, President of G4. "Add to this the science behind it and the idea of two brothers doing all the demolition physically, and we think Human Wrecking Balls is an excellent addition to our programming line-up."

The Survivor producer is probably not the only person wondering that, but Burnett is getting a little more specific.

Mandel was nominated for his hosting gig on Deal or No Deal in the "Best Reality Host" category. Now, I'm just as surprised as you are to see that DOND is considered a reality show and not a game show (I think it's the amount of time they focus on the contestants and the family members on stage and the tears and the personal stories that tip some primetime game shows into the reality realm). Burnett doesn't think it's fair that you have someone like Jeff Probst, who hosts an unscripted (?) show like Survivor put up against people who host talent shows and game shows.

Indeed she will, but she'll have some help. In a change born of trying to keep current with the state of television today, the Emmys will be hosted by the five nominees in the Reality TV Host category. Klum will share hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest, Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel, and (the man that should win it all) Tom Bergeron.

It's a great idea. The standard formula of these shows is something just asking to be shaken up. Klum is probably the biggest question mark here, for the simple fact that she has Tim Gunn to handle much of the unscripted action. I'll be curious to see how she handles the role, and I'm confident that the rest of the nominees will be just fine. The linked article also has a great stat. The average audience of the five nominated shows has been as high as 70 million. Jiminy. The broadcast takes place Sept. 21st, on ABC.

Everybody who watches reality shows, especially reality competition shows, does it: you wonder how well you would fare if put in the same situation. I really don't have the talent to be on a Project Runway-type show, or the ability to eat gross crap that you need to make it on Survivor, but I think I could hang on The Amazing Race for a while. I don't think I'd win or anything, because I would definitely be the one who constantly has meltdowns over obstinate camels and whatnot, but I don't think I'd be eliminated first, either. I can't cook much more than pasta, but I'm also pretty sure that if I were on Hell's Kitchen, at the very least, I wouldn't make Gordon Ramsay vomit like Matt did.

AOL asked a bunch of celebrities what reality shows they would tackle if given the chance. While most of the answers sounded more like desperate pleas for a job, others were annoying and some were just kind of hilariously misguided. Check out some of the answers after the jump.

The summer of 2000 started out to be a typical one for television: repeats, theatrical movies edited for television, repeats, shows that needed to be burned off because they were so bad, and repeats. It was a formula that hadn't really changed for the Big Three networks in several years. And, it was one that viewers had gotten used to as they mourned the last episode of their favorite series and waited with eagerness for the new season to begin in September.

Then, something happened. CBS decided to air a 'game show' about a group of strangers stranded on a tropical island. Survivor began at the end of May and continued into the end of August. Along the way it gained more and more fans and produced more and more publicity for both the show and the network. By the last episode, on August 23rd, Survivor had become a huge success as well as one of the highest rated original shows ever to air in the summer.

Little did CBS know that this summer replacement show would begin the Reality Revolution and change the landscape of network television forever more.

Executive television producer Mark Burnett is being sued by his former business partner Conrad Riggs for $70 million. Burnett, a British television producer, is best known for kick-starting the reality television genre in the United States. He's been on the producer and creator train for shows such as Survivor, The Apprentice, Rock Star, The Contender, Martha Stewart Apprentice, Pirate Master, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, On the Lot (with Steven Speilberg), and more.

So, why is he being sued for the big bucks? Read on past the jump.

I've noticed that one of the more overused phrases on reality shows is "I'm not here to make friends." It's that moment in the competition where some controversy/confrontation comes up and the player that everyone seems to dislike the most explains to them that they're "there to win the game" and "not here to make friends." Of course, the fact that many of these people probably can't make friends even in real life probably doesn't even cross their minds.

Now someone has taken a bunch of those "I'm not here to make friends" moments and created a YouTube montage. You'll see contestants from shows like Survivor, The Apprentice, The Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model, The White Rapper Show (whatever that is), Project Runway, Forever Eden, Hell's Kitchen, and other shows. One player even says "I ain't here to make no friends," which is at least a twist on the phrase.

It has gotten to the point where they really have to outlaw this phrase from all reality shows, though I think the phrase would make for an awesome t-shirt.

Are you anxiously awaiting news of who was in that SUV that exploded? Still fraught with worry over how Gibbs is going to get his team back together? Or maybe you are just excited that Survivor is finally going to be beamed into your living room in glorious HD. Well, you can start making plans for your fall scheduling now. The eye network has released the schedule of premieres for their new and returning shows.

I'm a little concerned about two things on the schedule. First, The New Adventures Of Old Christine and Project Gary lead into Criminal Minds on Wednesday nights. That's an odd pairing, and I don't think bodes well for either of the comedies. And second, The Unit gets shuffled off to Sunday at 10? NCIS and The Unit have done remarkably well paired up on Tuesdays. Good for The Mentalist, not so much for The Unit. The whole thing kicks off with Survivor on September 18th. The rest of the schedule is after the jump.