On The 4th Day Of Christmas, CCD Gave To Me...

... the cast of TOWIE!!! For those not in the know about the British reality TV show game, TOWIE (The Only Way Is Essex) was Britain's answer to The Hills or the Jersey Shore. It featured young up and coming 20 year olds from Essex, and it has been a staple for the last few years. In the 2011 season the cast recorded a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas", and they did a sexy photo shoot to go with it. So even though this is a few years old, I only recently discovered this hotness and I have to share it with all of you... 4 Christmas hotties 4 days before Christmas! Check it out after the jump...

Killer Karaoke: Proof That People Will Really Do ANYTHING To Be On TV!!!

There are plenty of reality shows that show us just how low people will go to appear on TV. Big Brother lets people watch their every move while they are locked in a house for a month. On Survivor people literally sign up to be castaways on some island with no supplies like Robinson Crusoe. On Teen Mom 14-16 year olds show what it is like to be... well, teen moms. Frankly there are no depths people won't go to for some glimmer of TV fame. But Tru TV has come up with a truly degrading and terrible experience for these fame seekers... and they have added music!!!! Welcome to Killer Karaoke, hosted by Steve O himself. In this show contestants pick a song to sing a karaoke version of... but they must do so while completing crazy stunts like sticking their hands in a box filled with snakes, stepping into boxes full of creepy shit like rotten fish guts, and giant fat men rubbing their sweat all over a singer... yeah, it is pretty fucking awesome. These numnuts are completely making fools of themselves, and I love it. Watch a few clips after the jump, and tune into TruTV for more live episodes on a regular basis.

Kevin Smith Gets A Reality Show

Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash

Seems like AMC is going to continue their recent epic success, even though they are heading in a different direction. Known for quality original programing like Breaking Bad, Mad Men and The Walking Dead, it seems they are going in a different direction then usual. Kevin Smith has talked on Twitter and his website about a new reality show he is developing that centers around his comic book store, Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash. Dubbed a "Pawn Stars for Fanboys", the show will focus on the goings on inside the crazy comic book shop and will also feature the store purchasing interesting memorabilia from fanboys & girls. Wow, a reality show that I might actually want to watch.... Hmmmmm.

Interior Shots @ Secret Stash

I like the idea, and if they can have some cool stuff on display then I'm all for it. I have been to Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ... and all I can say is that the place is epic. It's a huge comic shop that also sells tons of Smith movie-related memorabilia. They have the original full size Bluntmobile from Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back right in the middle of the store, as well as a ton of other Smith movie props. One of the coolest things they sell is all the T-shirts that any of the characters in Smith's movies have worn. They have them all... thats where I got my 'Count Cockula' & Moby employee shirts from Clerks 2. Smith also drops off autographed material and mixes it in with the regular stuff for no additional charge. That is so cool. I got a Mallrats movie companion book that was autographed by Smith for LESS THEN COVER PRICE. What other star does cool shit like that? Not many.

The Hemp Knight & Chronic in The Bluntmobile!!!

The reality show will be shooting over this summer and may appear sometime in the Fall 2011/Winter2012 TV cycle, so stay tuned for more details. I for one definitely will be. So will you guys be tuning in for this? Tell us your thoughts about a comic book store based reality show in the comment section below.

"It's ok... I'm taking it back"---- Randall Graves

Reality Check- 'Survivor' Edition by Kate Jones

Reality Check- Watching 'Survivor Redemption Island'

     Anyone who has ever been around me, ever read what I have written, ever attempted to call me on a Thursday (now Wednesday) night knows that I love Survivor. More than Survivor, I love, love, LOVE “Boston” Rob Mariano. I know I have said it before. The reason I love Rob stems from the fact that one of the first full seasons of Survivor I watched was the “All-Star” season that Rob and his future wife, Amber, completely dominated. Also, I love the way he plays the game. I love that he is too smart to fall for Jeff Probst’s way of asking questions, always giving him an honest and effective “non-answer.” I love that he evolves with the game. I love that he is lovable, and still a villainous mastermind. He is playfully arrogant, but knows at any point, his time may come.

Your 'Survivor Redemption Island' cast

"Boston" Rob & Russell

     For all of these reasons, I was so happy to hear that he was going to be back on Survivor for the fourth time this season on Redemption Island. With him, the Survivor I hate the most, Russell Hantz. When they were split up onto tribes of newbies, Russell quickly made friends with two cute little girls, which has always been his game. The tribe noticed and threw a challenge to get him the hell out of there. Rob on the other hand went in helping the tribe. He was kind and they loved him. The few that didn’t were gone quick… Rob knows when it’s their time to go. He can see it in their faces and he can hear it in their voices when they are even THINKING to get him out of there. If Rob is the slightest bit afraid of someone, he will make sure to convince the rest of the tribe that THEY should be afraid of that person. It’s what happened with Matt in episode 2 and with Matt again after he came back from Redemption Island at merge.

'Survivor' Phillip

     As Boston Rob’s tribe again turned on Matt, voting him out immediately after he returned from Redemption Island, and tricking the other team into using their immunity idol, the opposite tribe, the ones who got rid of Hantz in episode three, said “ohh, that poor kid”. When one of them said, “what happened” David, a slimy but smart player said… “Genius is what that was.” And it was. Matt could beat Rob.

Rob just couldn’t have that.

      This is a pretty good season. Besides Rob, we have former Federal Agent (?) Phillip, who says some pretty crazily awesome things and walks around in pink briefs. Ralph is a redneck who happens to have the most insanely cool body hair ever. There are two former NFL players, one young (Grant) and one older (Steve). There’s that slimey lawyer guy, David, and a firefighter lady, Julie, and the normal parade of cute 20 something females who are on the show to lose that 3 lbs. they gained in their big toes when they graduated college. There is a Marine who keeps trying to make big moves, but I think his time is limited… unless he can convince Grant to make a big move. Grant has been pretty loyal to Rob, but if Grant turns, then he has a good shot of taking this whole thing. This of course depends on being able to get rid of Matt on Redemption Island… who is a wiz at all things challenges.

'Survivor' Andrea

     I don’t know what could possibly happen with the rest of this season. I don’t know if Rob will win. There’s only so long they can keep him around, I suppose. I will enjoy it while it lasts. IF he can’t win, I am rooting for Grant, or Matt (if he can make it back to the game). If I had to choose a female, it would be Andrea, who is playing this game VERY smart and pulling her weight around the camp.

     But, I will now and always cheer for the guy that can convince a bunch of people that the word Murlonio means, from the sea…united, when it is actually just the name of one of his wife’s stuffed animals. Kind of mean, but still so adorable.

Link to Kate Jones' previous installment of 'Reality Check'

Introducing: Reality Check by Kate Jones

A few years ago I could care less about keeping up with much television. I picked a few shows that I thought were worth keeping up with, like Alias and Lost, but I cared more about being social (code- I was going out and getting drunk with my friends). Then in 2005, I met my future husband Rich, which awoke a sweeping desire to stay home more often. Still, we didn’t watch anything consistently (except Lost- don’t worry, Goldblum!) until the heavenly day when we moved into our own apartment and got…DVR! With this handy device, Rich and I slowly started watching anything that piqued our interest. We would watch Survivor when we were home and it was on, so now we taped Survivor. Same with Amazing Race and the Biggest Loser. Our summer belongs to Big Brother. When we’re bored, we watch MTV and VH1 Reality. It has come to a point where this stuff ALMOST outweighs the comedy and drama that we have always loved.

All of that being said, we watch reality television solely for entertainment. It is intriguing to watch groups of people, most who have never met each other, in various situations that show what they will do with money or fame on the line. The lying, the cheating, the stealing, the hiding, the fighting, the physical strain, the plastic surgery… these people will do almost anything!

Now, I’m going to be talking about a few different kinds of reality television. First- Network Reality Television. This is usually the least trashy and most inspiring kind of reality show. These are competitions like my personal favorites, The Amazing Race, Survivor and The Biggest Loser, as well as America’s Next Top Model, Hell’s Kitchen, American Idol, and sometimes The Bachelor, Bachelorette and those Dance and Talent shows. Actually, most Bravo Reality shows are also in this category.

The second type of show revolves around families of one way or another. “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”, “The Girls Next Door” and any show like that from E! Also, anything having to do with exploiting your tiny, beautiful children, in true Jon & Kate fashion, will be covered in this category.

The third type is the most fascinatingly, simultaneously funny yet trashy mess that is known as MTV & VH1 Reality programming. No matter what I do, I can’t tear my eyes away from the “Love” shows and “Tool Academy.” It is all a horrible and awesome mess. Words can’t even describe the way that I feel about “Jersey Shore.” I can’t tell if I hate these people or if I am in some strange way totally infatuated with them. Also in this category is any show that happens to be on Fox Reality Channel. Have you ever seen “Battle of the Bods?” Arrogant and delusional women lead to a funny half hour.

Whether you share my love of this so called reality or not, I hope that you enjoy my future ramblings. I'll be checking in weekly to discuss the shows I love, and would love to hear you comments about Reality TV. Also, please click the Follow button on the right and become followers on C-C-D and Twitter.  Happy Viewing!!!!!!