October 28, 2005

America's Next Muppet

The Muppets gang is planning a reality TV spoof, America's Next Muppet. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and more will star in the series as they hold auditions to find a talented Muppet to join their ranks. The show will likely also focus on the efforts of the main characters to pull the show together, much like the old school Muppet Show.

Watch for the short-run show to debut on ABC in the spring or summer of 2006. A successful run could pave the way for the return of a full-time Muppet TV show.

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May 19, 2005

Super Sized Reality TV: Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days

Morgan Spurlock, the man behind the anti-fast food documentary Super Size Me (and the new Don't Eat This Book), has a new reality show coming to FX—30 Days. The show puts people in strange circumstances for 30 days to see how they respond, much like the McDonald's fueled binge Spurlock went on for Super Size Me.

One episode features a "fundamentalist Christian" who lives as a Muslim for 30 days to experience prejudice in America since 9/11.

"One of my favorite episodes is ... what's it like to be a Muslim in America ... who is seen every day as a threat to our freedom simply because of their color, their race, their religion. [It's] something we deal with every day in America, and we hear about it with terrorism threats every day. ... He dresses as a Muslim, eats as a Muslim, he prays five time a day, he studies the Koran daily, he learns to speak Arabic, he works with an imam, a Muslim cleric, to learn the history of Islam, what are the five pillars, why are they important. And the transformation this guy goes through in 30 days is miraculous, it's incredible," says Spurlock

Other episodes include a conservative straight man living with a gay roommate, a mother turning to binge-drinking to teach her daughter a lesson, and Spurlock himself living on minimum wage (which sounds a lot like the reality TV version of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich).

Update: David Stacy, the fundamentalist Christian, and the Muslim Haque family share what it was like to be on the show.

More:
Super Size Me Sermons

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May 15, 2005

Extreme Makeover: Christian Edition

ABC's hit reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has been noted for its overwhelming acts of kindness. In the midst of such grace the Christian faith has been getting the spotlight. Several of the families featured have been Christians, and their faith has been witnessed on primetime TV as they thanked God, prayed, and in some cases took cast members to their church.

"We're making this show the only way I'd be comfortable making it—by finding great families we want to help, and then turning on the cameras and letting them be them," says Tom Forman, the show's creator and executive producer. "If they choose to pray, then they pray. Whatever their response is, it's what we put on TV."

(link via YS Update)

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May 12, 2005

The Monastery: Reality TV Meets God

A new reality TV show is turning to God. The Monastery is a BBC show where five men spend 40 days and 40 nights living in a Catholic monastery. The men must abide by the rules of monastic life in an effort to show whether or not St. Benedict's 1,500-year-old rules still have relevance.

The experiment apparently worked, and all five of the men appear to be leaving the show closer to a God who most of them didn't know coming in. One, a Cambridge student studying Buddhism, is reportedly now looking into becoming an Anglican priest.

Another became reunited with the faith he rejected as a child.

According to U.K.'s 'The Telegraph', in one scene, Tony Burke, the 29-year old pornography producer speaks emotionally into a video diary saying, "I didn't want this to happen... when I woke this morning, I didn't believe in this, but as I speak to you now, I do."

(link via Reality Blogs)

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