Now is not the time to be a reality-TV snob. The reality of the TV business is that this genre is here to stay — and it may come in especially handy during the writers' strike. Like every form of TV, reality is capable of exhilarating highs: This fall, I'd include Dancing with the Stars (with its most appealing cast to date), Survivor (with its exotic China backdrop) and the recently returned Emmy champ The Amazing Race. Naturally, there are also innumerable lows (most celeb-reality). Here's a quick look at some recent contenders that have caught my interest — or disinterest, as the case may be.
Project Runway
Reality check: Finally, cable's hit design show is back, still the best and most flamboyantly entertaining of TV's skill-based competitions. The personalities pop as colorfully as the outrageous costumes they create. "Life is too short to have on a bad outfit," says one of the contestants, whic
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Uri Geller, Phenomenon
Last Wednesday night, NBC premiered Phenomenon, a series touted as a "live search for the next great mentalist." Based on a similar Israeli show featuring controversial mentalist Uri Geller, Phenomenon returns tonight with a two-hour Halloween special (8 pm/ET). TVGuide.com recently spoke with Geller, who is a judge in the American version, along with magician/illusionist Criss Angel and a rotating slate of celebrity guests. Considering he still attests to having supernatural powers, we were also more than a little curious about how he’s survived years of being lambasted by critics.
TVGuide.com: For people who don’t know, can you explain exactly what it means to be a mentalist?Uri Geller: My definition of a mentalist is someone who can play around with your mind psychologically. It’s different t
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Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies by Scott Garfield/ABC
I now have a new favorite TV character this season, and it’s of the four-legged variety. Of course I’m talking about Digby, the stalwart and silent and absolutely gorgeous canine companion of Pushing Daisies’ life-affirming hero, Ned. This golden retriever was the first dead object (run down on a highway) to be revived by Ned as a child, and their attachment was one of the first and most persistent nitpicky complaints I fielded from the show’s naysayers. "How could Ned and Digby not have touched at least once over the years?" they wondered. A little boy and a faithful dog, how is it possible they restrained themselves from the heavy petting that comes so naturally in youth? My answer (beyond the obvious explanation that Pushing Daisies is a fantasy and we should just sit back and respect the rules we’ve been presented): Digby understands what’s going on. He knows that to be touched by Ned is to be sent to doggie heaven. He doesn’t need to be told. ...
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Phenomenon contestant, Eran Raven by Hopper Stone/NBC Photo
Jeers to NBC for the inaccurately titled Phenomenon — they should've called it "Fiasco." It's hard to pick the most ridiculous moment from the show's premiere, in which four mentalists (or something) performed feats so underwhelming, even the live studio audience didn't know when to applaud. But if you put a gun to my head (and I was wishing someone had while I was watching it), I'd have to go with the "Russian Roulette" game, in which Eran (assisted by "celebrity" Carmen Electra) fired nail guns at his temple while paramedics — and his mother! — looked on, in case he killed himself on live TV. I felt like I was seeing Paddy Chayefsky's Network come to life, except I was the one who was mad as hell. And I'm not going to take it anymore. Anybody else with me, people?More Cheers & Jeers: Read and react to Bruce's opinions on Damages, Heroes, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Mad Men, then share your own raves and rants about other shows on the new Reader Cheers & Jeer...
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