After appearing last month on the ABC reality television show 'Wife Swap,' "San Francisco resident Stephen Fowler was forced to resign from the boards of two nonprofits, allegedly received e-mailed death threats and stood on the sidelines as his wife, Renee Stephens, issued a public statement condemning his behavior and asking him to get 'professional help.'...Thanks to online TV and easy access to private information, Fowler's 15 minutes of fame have snowballed beyond his control." "What has generated such wrath is Fowler's condescending treatment of Gayla Long, a mother of four from rural Missouri....In wince-producing remarks, Fowler, who is British, wrote off middle America with such pronouncements as 'Your two languages seem to be bad English and redneck.'" Video highlights - 1, 2. [more inside]
posted by ericb on Feb 21, 2009 - 168 comments

The Near-Fame Experience: A fascinating interview with former contestants of Bravo reality television shows Project Runway and Top Chef, presenting the fickle nature of fame and how it can come at significant professional and personal cost, if at all.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Aug 24, 2007 - 26 comments

Survivor Sucks A nice little site which rips every reality show apart quite nicely, but my favorite is the "Off Topic" section where threads on any subject offer up some of the best trolling/flamebait and some very funny comments. More inside...
posted by Mack Twain on Apr 15, 2003 - 9 comments

MTV has best first quarter ever, thanks in part to The Osbournes. The extremely high, record-breaking ratings of The Osbournes have helped "MTV [score] its highest first-quarter ratings in its history among all its young viewer demographic categories," Mediaweek.com reports. (via Reality Blurred)
posted by ncurley on Mar 29, 2002 - 17 comments

As a sort-of follow up to yesterday's discussion of "whatever-happened-to-the-Big Brother (UK) Housemates", here's a funny little story about what Rudy Boesch is up to these days. We all (may) remember Rudy as the politically incorrect ex-Navy Seal from the first edition of Survivor (US), won by Richard Hatch. Nice to see fame hasn't changed him.
posted by msacheson on Jul 12, 2001 - 0 comments

Producer of 'Cops' gets DUI in Atlanta . . . Bad boy, bad boy, watcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
posted by radio_mookie on Apr 5, 2001 - 2 comments