You may not realize this but Discovery Channel has amazing reality tv programming. Most of the shows don’t seem like “reality” when watching them as they aren’t competitive in nature but they do fall into the reality realm. The newest one called The Alaska Experiment harkens back to the early Survivor days when the show mostly focused on the survival aspect of the contestants. In ‘Experiment’ four groups of people are placed in four separate remote locations of Alaska. They are forced to fend for themselves, gather their own food, cut their own fire wood and survive. The show has no competition but rather tests each of the groups by seeing how long they can live off of the rough and sometimes deadly Alaskan land. The groups live in their “homes” for at least three months and are monitored daily by the crew to ensure all of safe to remain in the experiment. The homes they live in range from a canvas tent to an abandoned cabin. Each team uses different strategies to survivor and the ‘experiment’ is watch very closely to ensure the teams have the most basic tools and supplies possible to live in Alaska. The first show I watched yesterday has truly got me hooked as I’ve been wanting that survival aspect of Survivor to return. The Alaska Experiment just might be the closest thing. New episodes air every Tuesday night at 10pm while reruns are run often. To find out when the show will air for you click here.
The learn more about Discovery Channel’s Alaska Experiment go here.
Tonight I honestly had no clue how the votes were going to go down. But they sure were exciting as nobody, except Adam and Ryan, expected it. It all began post-veto and we saw Natalie’s slow freak out. She basically begged the guys to keep her in and never really complained to Sheila. Adam and Ryan were in control of the votes and she knew that. Knowing that Natalie was going and wanting to cause some drama, both Adam and Ryan called a ‘house meeting’ where they basically put everything out in the open. They got Natalie to admit she’s been playing both sides, that she’s with them over the girls and most importantly, that she would put Sheila up on the block and evict her. That plays a HUGE role come eviction time and I’m sure sure regrets saying it now.
In the jury house the drama continues. Both Chelsia and Joshuah had a bad feeling that either James or Sharon would be joining them and both were right. We saw James walk through the jury door and only Matt was happy to see him. Although Chelsia was glad to see James, her emotions were about to change. He let her have it by telling her that it is her fault he was evicted. James blames her lash out at everyone, after she was evicted, for his eviction. She took it very hard and leapt up only to run to her room. She felt bad for causes the “only person she liked in the house” to be evicted but James quickly came her to her rescue. He told her he’s not sad he lost the money but happy to have “fallen for a girl on TV”. I swear James has to be bipolar after his “I hate you, I love you” stunt.
Back in the Big Brother house Julie got the houseguests talking. She opened things up with the “house meeting” and both Sharon and Sheila had their say. Sharon avoided the question as usual while Sheila let us know how she felt. She was mad that Natalie would side with the boys over her and still couldn’t get over the fact Natalie would put her up, even though she put Natalie up a few days prior. Julie then had a house meeting of her own by asking everyone if they would rather have someone who is more deserving or someone they could be in the final two. Everyone said ‘more deserving’ but of course they will considering they were sitting outside the Diary Room.
It then came down to the vote and like I said I had NO clue how this would go. I knew Natalie would be leaving I just didn’t know if Ryan and Adam would pull the tie stunt that they did. Ryan went in first and voted Natalie as expected. Adam then voted for Sharon, screwing Sheila over. Sheila then had to break the tie and decided to send Natalie home. She told her she had to because she stated twice that she would put Sheila up on the block if she won the final four HoH. I mean it was a legit reason for voting Natalie out so I don’t think Adam and Ryan’s plan to put the blood on Sheila’s hands really worked. Natalie seemed more upset about the two guys when talking to Julie so I have a feeling they will be in for a shock if one of them is sitting next to Sheila in the final two.
The HoH challenge was complete luck as all the questions were a guessing game. It was titled ‘Fact or Fiction’ and they had to either guess if an event in the house was true or false. Most were fiction since true and logical ideas would have been to easy. One question stumped a few of them being: “There is still a pre-existing relationship in the house”. When Julie said the question I realized she was talking about the guinea pigs but only Ryan got the question right. This tied him up with Sharon, who I kind of wanted to win, so they went on to a tie breaker. Ryan ended up pulling through with the tie breaker and claims his second HoH. But as we know HoH just means immunity this week as the veto is the most important thing. Nominations won’t really matter either as whoever holds the veto simply holds the vote as well. We will find out who wins this veto and who makes the final three next Tuesday with a special LIVE edition. Then the final two is crowned the next day so next week will be a very crazy and exciting week. Oh how I can’t wait!
It seems one reality show has gone a bit too far to push the “reality” out of reality tv. One a pilot reality show called “Pauper to Princess”, one producer Marc Brilleman was arrested for not allowing the contestants on the show, all women, to leave the house. Apparently the show is taking several woman and giving them a princess transformation somewhat like Charm School did. The event too place when four of the ladies wanted to leave the house for the weekend and were told they could not leave. Brilleman stood in front of the door and ended up locking it. The women couldn’t leave because of their contract, even though they were allowed to leave on previous weekends. One of the girls then escaped and called the police which led to Brilleman’s arrest. It’s kind of funny actually if you think about it and makes sense. We never really know if or how contestants on a show can leave on their free will to go as they please. The show hasn’t even been picked up by a network and I’m sure it now never will.
Last week on Paradise Hotel Tanya left the game, leaving Mikey without his girlfriend and the originals (OGs) in a state of weakness. That drama continued first thing tonight as everyone realized Tanya was gone. Mikey was hit the hardest as Myrna, his new roommate who was the same girl who sent Tanya home, locked him out of his own room. She said she was scared of what he might do or say, but that’s her own fault. The rest of the OGs weren’t happy with the decision of Tanya going either. All said that Myrna was now enemy number one and wanted her out first chance they got.
The next day a new arrival stepped foot into Paradise…. kind of. Zack, who was on the first season of Paradise Hotel, is the new arrival for season 2 and is also the last person entering the game. If you’ve seen the first season you know that Zack is very explosive. He was kicked out for saying he would beat up another guy on the show. Zack also fell in love on the first season. He was on the “Tanya” end of things with Amy as a new guy sent him packing as Myrna sent Tanya packing. I never expected to see anyone from the first season turn up again, besides Toni maybe, and Zack returning will surely stir up the pot.
With the game completely split down the middle it’s obvious that Zack will decide which group moves on to the “grand prize”. He seemed to gravitate more towards the originals, maybe because he was once one himself. He seemed to click well with Mike after reading Tanya’s letter. She let him know how close her and Mike was and it seems like Zack came in with perfect timing. Both he and Mike felt similar feelings on Paradise Hotel so they will obviously have a bond. The question is will that bond turn into some sort of alliance, we shall wait and see.
Since we are getting close to the end the people at Paradise let the guests out on a little trip. The guys were sent on a deep sea fishing trip while the girls got almost everything waxed. Now I can see how fishing is fun but how is waxing a reward? Maybe it’s a girl thing. On the guy’s trip they all let Zack know about the girls. Myrna was the one brought up the most and the OGs continued to work on Zack that she’s one to watch out for.
While the guests were lounging at the pool some interesting things happened. The OGs basically swarmed around Zack, not allowing any of the newbies to talk to him. This could be a plan of attack but it doesn’t seem that way. Zack could easily go and talk to the others himself but he just doesn’t seem to want to. It was then announced that the originals and newbies would split up and each have a separate dinner. I’m not sure if the show wanted Zack to finally have some time with the other group or if it was all planned out before hand. It was interesting to see Myrna put on the spot for once and told she’s very “valley girlish”. Zack told her to not put any makeup on or get dressed up for dinner but she didn’t care to listen. It then turned into a semi-fight so I assume anything between the two was quickly squashed.
After dinner everyone regathered for a good old game of “truth or dare”. That game can never lead to any good and it actually seemed to hurt the OGs a ton. Lauren was asked to pick the person she found most attractive and kiss them. Her and James have been close the entire season but she decided to pick Zack. James didn’t like this too much and retaliated by doing the same to Myrna. Lauren didn’t seem to care, which angered James more. It also set Zack up for a switch to the newbies as he realized he would never be safe with the OGs. It is smart what he’s thinking as Lauren and Krista would never select him over Mikey, James or Ryan. At the very end we saw the start of something new as Zack woke Chris up to tell him that he wants a final four deal with himself, Chris, Stephanie and TD. Should be an interesting next episode as it seems the Paradise Hotel casino is back up. If I remember correctly, that caused some drama last time around so who knows what it will bring this time.
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a very interesting clip on YouTube that explains how reality editors can manipulate storylines to basically fit anything they want to show. On this clip from a BBC show they simulate a reality show and then show you how, through editing techniques, any story possible can be created out of the hours of material they have.
I’ve decided to open up a message board on site to allow everyone a very open place to discuss their opinions and speculations about reality tv! I hope it will be a very busy place with many people contributing and hopefully we can have it grow to be a fun place to socialize with other reality fans. So make sure to check out the forums today and who knows your post may be featured on the main page one day! Make sure to stop by and atleast say hello!
Tonight I honestly had no clue how the votes were going to go down. But they sure were exciting as nobody, except Adam and Ryan, expected it. It all began post-veto and we saw Natalie’s slow freak out. She basically begged the guys to keep her in and never really complained to Sheila. Adam and Ryan were in control of the votes and she knew that. Knowing that Natalie was going and wanting to cause some drama, both Adam and Ryan called a ‘house meeting’ where they basically put everything out in the open. They got Natalie to admit she’s been playing both sides, that she’s with them over the girls and most importantly, that she would put Sheila up on the block and evict her. That plays a HUGE role come eviction time and I’m sure sure regrets saying it now.
Last week on Paradise Hotel Tanya left the game, leaving Mikey without his girlfriend and the originals (OGs) in a state of weakness. That drama continued first thing tonight as everyone realized Tanya was gone. Mikey was hit the hardest as Myrna, his new roommate who was the same girl who sent Tanya home, locked him out of his own room. She said she was scared of what he might do or say, but that’s her own fault. The rest of the OGs weren’t happy with the decision of Tanya going either. All said that Myrna was now enemy number one and wanted her out first chance they got.
