Talk Show the Game Show

You can't get much more "real" than those women on Real Housewives of Atlanta! These gals can get down and dirty if they choose or be ladies with style and talent at other times. Revolving around the personal and business lives of six metro Atlanta area housewives, the show has now been on for several years and is now considered the top rated show on Bravo television network. Watch as these ambitious ladies juggle their social, business, and personal home lives. The current season includes: NeNe Leakes is a singer who's expertise now lies in wig designing. She has been seen as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. Kim Zolciak, singer and record producer, Kim is also a Grammy Winner and busy new mom. Sheree Whitfield has been busy fighting to keep the 2.6 million dollar home she was ordered out of after her divorce from Bob Whitfield, an Atlanta Falcon football player. She claims to have no education or special skills to help her support her two children. Kandi Burruss who claims to have fortune and fame because she earned it. Herself a Grammy Award winner, Kandi is CEO and founder of Kandi Koated Entertainment, a record label, as well as her own internet show. Phaedra Parks states she is the ultimate southern belle and knows how to get what she wants! One of Georgia's Super Lawyers, Phaedra is an entertainment attorney and seen often on TV programs like Entertainment Tonight and Extra. Cynthia Bailey is a former high school homecoming queen and actress. She's been on episodes of The Cosby Show and New York Undercover. These ambitious ladies have intertwining lives and are highly competitive, making the show somewhere between a cat fight and a love in each episode.

The popular reality series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills began its second season with a rush to re-edit some of the scenes already shot after the August 15, 2011 suicide of Russell, the husband of Taylor Armstrong. Taylor had previously accused her husband of physically abusing her and she since became an advocate for domestic violence victims and works with the Los Angeles based 1736 Family Crisis Center. Taylor Armstrong has been recently quoted as saying "I have finally found my voice, and now not afraid to use it". In a quote from season one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, she sounded a bit selfish when she said "It may look like I have it all, but I want more!" Her husband, Russell, was a venture capitalist and they were both heavily involved in philanthropy. Other returning members include Lisa Vanderpump, married to Ken Todd for the past 29 years and is now turned 50 years old (making her oldest housewife on the program). Owners of 26 restaurants, Lisa and Ken have both appeared on other TV programs such as Baywatch Nights and Silk Stalkings. Born and raised in Albuquerque Adrienne Maloof-Nassif was the daughter of a Coors distributor and later married cosmetic surgeon Dr. Paul Nassif, now residing in Beverly Hills, California. Kim Richards and her sister Kyle Richards are aunts of Paris and Nicky Hilton through their sister Kathy and have had some experience in acting. They are both married and residing in Beverly Hills.

"Big Brother" numbers among those long-running (unreal) reality shows that keep rolling along on their own momentum long after the thrills have gone. Originally adapted from a popular Dutch series, "Big Brother" puts thirteen carefully chosen strangers in a house heavily wired with cameras and microphones, capturing every word, gesture, and nuance. The producers challenge their "guests" to complete a series of physical and mental "stunts," periodically polling their feelings about who among them should go home. The one guest who stays longest goes home with half-a-million American dollars. Although "Big Brother's" novelty has faded, even the most stony-hearted and cynical critics must accord the superannuated series its props: When an online streaming service attempted a similarly contrived "residential situation," capitalizing on the industry's newest, most sophisticated audio and video technology, it faded to black in less than a month. At the other end of the scale, when MTV adapted "Big Brother's" premise for use along the New Jersey coastline, it became a cultural phenomenon, and "Snooki" became a household word. Clearly, it's not the premise but the chemistry that determines the show's fate. Therefore, credit "Big Brother" with good chemistry and agree to roll along with the momentum.

Pawn Stars is an American reality television show that airs on the History Channel. It premiered in 2009 and has since become a popular program. The show takes place at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas and follows the daily operations of the family-owned business.

What happens if you hybridize The Amazing Race and Top Chef? There are two possible answers: "nothing good" and "Around The World in 80 Plates". And you know, both of them are true. But, please, don't get us wrong. It's not just another Bravo's disastrous TV show; it's just a cooking reality show, which is not about the cooking. How is it possible? With ease, here we have to lift the curtain off the series' plot. First of all, you have to imagine three clueless chefs walking down the streets of London, doing the classic "pub crawl" and pretending the "drunk Americans". It's pathetic scene, you know. But who are those unfortunate souls? Meet Keven Lee, or how he calls himself Cheven (mix of Chef and Kevin). He represents one of the endangered species of Hollywood private chefs. The next one is Chazz, his real name Chaz Brown from Voorhees, New Jersey, who is repeatedly semi-shocking us with his British accent, that's why it would be better if he kept silence all the show long. Our list would not be completed if we haven't mentioned the Tex-Mex half-naked chief Sai Pituk from Texas, who surprisingly said the she cooks Asian cuisine only. There are another nine contestants participating, that makes total twelve. The television show is divided into two parts. In the first part all of the participants are performing something like scavenger hunt in the uncommon environment of foreign culinary culture (you have to ideate the picture of dozen Americans wander the rows of Borough market; it's must be funny, isn't it?). In the second part of each episode the contestants have to cook (finally!) the local dishes which their tasted in the first part, and as a bisque, the winning team (those who won the "scavenger hunt") gets one secret ingredient, which will be in great help in the "cooking" part. That is most amusing part of the "Around The World in 80 Plates" because judges are the locals, and you should see their faces when they taste black pudding hash cooked by Americans.

The latest concept in reality television is Same Name which pairs up a "regular guy" with a celebrity who just happens to share the same first and last names. Of course a name like Betty White (at least five in the Boston area alone) is an easy one to match up but how does the well known comedienne compare with someone from the so called normal world? The idea could be interesting if the celeb trades places with the real person and spends some time in their shoes and vice versa. Can Floridian Justin Bieber (they found one in Jacksonville, Florida) sing? In the pilot episode we see a landscaper and electrician from Lake Jackson, Texas with the name of David Hasselhoff trade his life with THE David Hasselhoff, formerly of Baywatch and Knight Rider. Will the Hass electrocute himself? And is Mr. Hasselhoff from Texas better looking? Those who share names with celebrities seldom have anything else in common other than that name thing and it could be humorous observing how difficult it may be for the pampered set to actually work at real jobs.