The Remote Island

Browse by Tags

(RSS)

Jeff Probst Is Tired Of "Survivors"

It turns out that after 18 seasons of Survivor, host Jeff Probst is ready for a change. Of course, we suspect he may have just been sticking around long enough to find a wife, but that's another story...

Click through for news of JP's new hosting gig after the jump...

TV Orgy Tonight!

Er, we mean an orgy of TV, not an orgy on TV. But a huge number of new episodes and season premieres will be happening this evening. Here's what's in store for you, your couch and your TiVo:

Reality-Show Hosts To Head Up the Emmys

Now, this is weird: The emcees for this year's Emmy Awards ceremony will be the five nominees from the new "Best Reality Show Host" category. That means Tom Bergeron of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, Heidi Klum of Bravo's Project Runway, Howie Mandel of NBC's Deal or No Deal, Jeff Probst of CBS' Survivor, and Ryan Seacrest of Fox's American Idol. Um... yay for them?

Not that these folks can't be funny (except for Klum. . . and Probst. . . and, okay, Bergeron). In fact, Seacrest was a decent enough host by himself last year. But what ever happened to finding an actual big star or two for what should be an important event? Unless the Emmys are saying that reality hosts are the stars now, and scripted programming can just go suck it. (Journalist Nikki Finke's blog Deadline Hollywood Daily points out that this could also represent "Big Media giving the finger" to the Screen Actors Guild.)

Anyway, these five are all pros, and we should at least give 'em a chance. But as soon as they do some skit about how the winners are chosen by Paula Abdul based on how well they sew their own dresses, we're out.

Photo: NBC

Previously:
What Did We Think of the Emmy Nominations?

Posted Jul 28 2008, 11:35 AM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments

Filed under: reality TV, Survivor, Jeff Probst, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Heidi Klum, Project Runway, Emmy Awards, Deal Or No Deal, Tom Bergeron, Ryan Seacrest, Howie Mandel

Video Weekend: Top 7 Reality-Show Contestants Who Weren't There To Make Friends

Last week, we showed you the hilarious video above -- a montage of dozens of reality-show contestants all delivering the same message, that they're not there to "make friends."

But which ones really meant it? Here's our video guide to the Top 7 most antisocial, exploitive and downright devious reality-show contestants ever.

Trouble In Paradise As "Survivor" Runs Into Production Trouble, Hippos

Survivor has run into a lot of problems in its 16 seasons (yeah, 16): tropical storms, cast defections, this guy. But as far as we know, this is the first year they've had any trouble with wild hippos.

Host Jeff Probst told the Associated Press, "We have a danger problem with animals that we're trying to figure out how to handle. We don't want the animals around for safety reasons, but we'd love to have a hippo sneak in every so often. I just got a call from our executive producer that we've got hippo tracks at base camp."

In addition to the hippos running around all willy-nilly (wippo-nippo?), they've also had "month-long shipping delays, a missing cargo hold containing $100,000 worth of food, a fallen crane, and [missing] housing for the crew" -- the last problem meaning, perhaps appropriately, that it's not just the contestants who'll be braving the elements this year.

"We're going to be fine on the show," Probst said, "but the crew housing is not there. We're going to be in tents."

Posted Jun 06 2008, 02:01 PM by Bryan Christian with | with no comments

Filed under: hippos, Survivor, Jeff Probst

about the blogger

Bloggers

Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

Contributors

Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

Nicole Ankowski has lived in Ohio, Oakland, and on the high plains of South Dakota, but is now proud to call Brooklyn home. She wrote for alternative weekly papers in the first two states, and tried to learn Lakota in the last. (The vowels can be tricky.) She just earned her MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Beeswax literary journal. She is unable to resist good writing or bad TV.

Send tips to remoteisland@nerve.com