Hi guys! Did I miss anything while I was gone? Just a bunch of baby animal videos and a salacious scandal on the set of a trashy reality dating show? Great!
So what, exactly, is going on over at Bachelor in Paradise, you guys?While I was gone, I was notified that one week into filming, Bachelor in Paradise had suspended production and sent all the dummies home after something happened on the first day of filming. The very first day of filming! According to news reports, it had to do with a sexual encounter of some sort between contestants Corinne and DeMario after they had been drinking, and a producer reported their concerns. Corinne and DeMario were immediately sent home, and then everyone else was sent home about a week later.
An investigation began, and Corinne and DeMario both lawyered up. According to The Hollywood Reporter, neither were aware that anything untoward had happened until they were asked about it by the production staff the next day, at which point Corinne released a statement saying that she had “little memory of that night” and that “something bad obviously took place,” and added that she is “a victim.” In response, DeMario said that his character was being “assassinated … with false claims and malicious allegations.”
While the investigation took place, former contestants pleaded with the studio and network to not cancel the series, and my pal Michael Garofola insisted that producers do not pour alcohol down the casts’ throats, contrary to what people might think. A reality TV producer that works in the dating genre spoke about how the sausage gets made in this very interesting interview and suggests that something bad must have happened for production to be shut down:
Since you’ve been in somewhat similar situations having been on many reality TV sets, what do you think could have gone wrong on “Bachelor In Paradise”?
My concern about this situation is that if the person was beyond a point of making her choices and was still being shot and being put into this scenario, it’s a very weird situation. When you talk about sexual assault, it’s almost always just two people alone and it becomes a he-said-she-said situation; this is the most unusual situation because not only is there a third party, but there are cameras that watched everything that happened and everything that led up to what happened. That, to me, is the smoking gun as to why a franchise worth hundreds of millions of dollars was shut down. There is videotaped evidence of the entire transgression, and they have the ability to go back and watch everything that happened and everything that led up to what happened. If it was totally fine, why would they have shut down the set?
Do you think this “Bachelor in Paradise” scandal will impact the reality TV industry as a whole?
There’s a multitude of unfortunate parts to this. First, if this girl was victimized, that’s just unconscionably bad. Second, this has put a severe blemish on the industry of unscripted television when most of us are respectful of boundaries and respectful about the contestants’ safety on the show. What’s sad about this is that this is going to be another log on the fire of people making assumptions about reality TV — now this one incident can cause a wild fire. I want the world to know that this is not standard; it’s abnormal. It’s just horrific. I really feel like from my instinct and my 25 years in this business that a show doesn’t get shut down for any instance happening on set. It just doesn’t happen. It’s a rarity. For the high-profile level of that show, something went down that they cannot back away from — I don’t know what that is, so who knows what’s going to happen from here.
However! After more than a week, Warner Brothers and their lawyers decided that no misconduct occurred and filming resumed. But it creates a whole host of issues for all reality series going forward: for instance, how much leeway do producers actually have? When do they need to step in when they think something might be wrong, versus letting the story play out — potentially harmlessly — and make for good TV? Where is that line?
That line is likely to be settled in court arbitration, as Corinne’s lawyer has put out a statement vowing to continue with their own investigation. (Neither she nor DeMario will be returning to the series for fairly obvious reasons.) But for now, this will not be the death knell for trash television, no matter how much you might wish it to be.
IN MUCH MORE IMPORTANT GAME OF THRONES NEWS
We have a fantastic new trailer, which I’m sure you’ve seen by now:
Here is a good shot-by-shot breakdown of the trailer. And here’s another breakdown that suggests we might be seeing Cleganebowl after all.
And here are a bunch of character posters that reveal the real enemy.
24 DAYS IS STILL TOO MANY DAYS.
In Other TV News
Apple TV is going to start making TV shows (probably) and people are super-excited. I am curious how this will impact Apple TV’s relationship with other streaming services, like Hulu and Netflix and Amazon Prime, which recently announced it will (finally) be available via Apple TV.
We have a Star Trek: Discovery date: September 24th, and it will debut on CBS before moving to CBS All Access.
All those episodes of Doubt that never aired on CBS will air this summer.
Hulu has the first three seasons of Younger now.
If you want to watch the series finale for The Leftovers again, get to YouTube right now.
In Development
- ZOMGBBQDOCTORMANHATTAN DAMON LINDELOF’S NEXT PROJECT IS GOING TO BE THE WATCHMEN FOR HBO. Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
- Whitney has been telling The CW THIS ENTIRE TIME that they should be doing this, so I am happy to report that they are finally working on a Supernatural spinoff based on Sheriff Jody called Wayward Sisters. WAS THAT SO HARD, YOU GUYS?
- The team that gave us Sherlock is working on a Dracula drama.
- The Wonder Woman screenwriter has signed a deal with Shondaland and ABC for a multi-generational drama.
- Fox picked up a Atlanta’s Most Wanted, a police drama starring rapper T.I.
- Oh, lord, someone is making a series based on Tom Arnold’s life called The Interventionist.
- Pablo Picasso is going to be your next Genius.
- SpongeBob will be back with a Halloween special.
- A Downton Abbey movie is officially in the works.
- The Science Channel is going to broadcast the August 21st solar eclipse live.
- From before I left:
Renewals
- CBS renewed its entire daytime lineup, but only through 2018.
Cancellations
- 24: Legacy has been cancelled — but don’t count 24 out just yet.
Casting News
- Kim Raver is going to return to Grey’s Anatomy next season which apparently is HUGE NEWS for Grey’s fans.
- Colton Haynes is joining American Horror Story in the most obvious casting ever.
- Here is your Big Brother cast.
- Riley Keough is joining that Al Pacino Joe Paterno project.
- Aisha Tyler is leaving The Talk.
- Eddie Shin (Westworld), Jolie Jenkins (Body of Proof) and Emery Kelly (Best Friends Whenever) have been cast in Netflix’s comedy Alexa & Katie.
- Daniel Henney is joining Criminal Minds next season.
- Arlen Escarpeta (The Magicians) is joining the Sean Bean drama The Oath.
- Roberta Urbina and Kate McGuinness are joining Snowpiercer.
- From before I left: Quantico has lost 6 of its series regulars, Gaius Charles (John), Brooklyn Sudano (Asha), Monique Gabriela Curnen (Vlasik), Michael Irby (Scott), Jose Pablo Cantillo (Dave) and James Landry Hébert (Rem), in a major shakeup. It also changed showrunners.
R.I.P.
- From while I was gone: Adam West passed away, and L.A. honored him with a wonderful tribute.
WATCH THIS
The Mist: This new series is based on the Stephen King short story and doesn’t look half bad! 9 p.m., Spike TV
The Gong Show: Mike Meyers isn’t fooling anybody. Series premiere. 9 p.m., ABC
Boy Band: This is some sort of reality competition to create a boy band, now with 100% less Lou Pearlman. 7 p.m., ABC
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Ray Romano, Ruth Negga, Camilla Cabello Late Night with Seth Meyers: Ice Cube, Kumail Nanjiani, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Daru Jones The Late Late Show with James Corden: Dominic Cooper, Laura Haddock Jimmy Kimmel Live: Anthony Hopkins, Chris Hardwick, Queen with Adam Lambert Conan: Will Ferrell, Ha Ha Tonka The Daily Show: Jerrod Carmichael Watch What Happens Live: Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie
| THURS | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Boy Band (new) |
The Gong Show (new) |
| CBS | The Big Bang Theory (repeat) |
Superior Donuts (repeat) |
Mom (repeat) |
Life in Pieces (repeat) |
MacGyver (repeat) |
| CW | Supernatural (repeat) |
Supernatural (repeat) |
News/Local |
| FOX | Beat Shazam (new) |
Love Connection (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Hollywood Game Night (new) |
The Wall (new) |
The Night Shift (new) |
Welcome back!