Reality Beat: Diverse Casting and New Competitions
Seth Wenig | AP
Docusoaps: Marie Kondo’s folding methods have become a viral sensation and it is no surprise she was nominated for an emmy with her Netflix show, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. Kondo is nominated for the category Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program and her show is up for the award of Outstanding Structured Reality Program. Kondo’s clutter reduction technique, also known as the KonMari method, is inspired by Japanese culture and known for helping people streamline their lives, As a result of her show premiering in January of 2019, the number of Google searches for the term “KonMari method” has skyrocketed and maintained heavy search traffic, showing how influential Kondo and her show are.
Netflix’s Queer Eye came back for a fourth season this week, bringing their diversity and makeover skills to the midwest. The season centers on gratitude and includes an exciting celebrity cameo from Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan. Queer Eye has been nominated for six Emmys including Outstanding Structured Reality Program, the award the show won last year.
Dance Moms returned to Lifetime in June with an entirely new cast, cutting ties with many of the original cast members from the first seven seasons. A notable cast addition is dancer Kamryn Smith, the only person of color dancer on teacher Abby Lee Miller’s team. Smith hails from Arizona and is 8 years old, making her the youngest dancer on the competitive team. On her first appearance on the show, Smith had a jazz solo inspired by Tina Turner called “Proud Kammy” and she won first place at the dance competition that the team attended. While Miller hinted that Smith’s time at the Abby Lee Dance studio will be brief, Smith is a fan favorite and many are hoping that she will return to the show.
Game Shows: Actor, writer, and comedian James Davis is hosting Netflix’s new game show Awake where contestants are required to stay awake for 24 hours before participating in games and challenges for the grand prize of 1 million dollars cash. The show premiered on June 14 with the first challenge requiring contestants to count quarters quickly and accurately for 24 hours. Awake is one of Netflix’s first game shows, following the success of the platform’s streaming offering of Jeopardy!.
Next month, Taye Diggs will host the CW’s new game show Hypnotize Me which makes contestants complete a series of everyday tasks while hypnotized by hypnotist Keith Barry. Hypnotize Me is part of the CW’s biggest release of original programming this summer and is trying to make a splash in a reality show unlike any other. The first episode will air on August 7, with contestants doing tasks such as sculpting and cooking while under a trance.
Basketball star Steph Curry has stepped into new territory, hosting ABC’s new game show Holey Moley which premiered in June. The 10 episode series shows 10 contestants navigating through a challenging mini golf course to win a gold putter, plaid jacket, and $25,000. Curry said in an interview with USA Today that the show is the manifestation of his childhood love for golf as well as his passion for entertainment and comedy; he also wants to be involved in the show both behind the scenes and on camera.
Competitive Series: Queer Eye’s fashion guru, Tan France, has teamed up with designer and model Alexa Chung to launch a new competitive fashion show entitled Next In Fashion. The show will be a ten part series that follows 18 experienced fashion designers; in using designers that have worked with highly visible brands and clients, the show diverges from Project Runway, the current major fashion competition show. The goal of Next In Fashion’s designers is to create looks for the general population and the winner will receive a cash prize as well as the opportunity to design a line for Net-a-Porter, a fashion retailer. France and Chung recently finished up filming the show which is set to launch in 2020.
On June 20, Family Food Fight premiered on ABC with executive producer and host Ayesha Curry, restaurateur and wife of Steph Curry. The competition show features four families competing in the kitchen for a $100,000 prize. Curry also serves as one of the judges, using her experience as a high profile celebrity to keep the show running smooth and drama-free, without the condescension and tension that is prevalent in other cooking competition shows. The show is targeted toward a family audience and showcases heirloom recipes and sentimental dishes from diverse families, exposing cuisines of the world to its American audience.
Naomi Campbell recently joined fashion icons Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum on their new competition show Making The Cut, an Amazon fashion series. Campbell is one of the judges on the show, added after Gunn and Klum began filming in Tokyo. Campbell is arguably the most successful black model of her generation and has a history of activism, fighting against racial prejudice and unfair treatment of minorities in the fashion industry.
Michaela Coel has joined the cast of the BBC’s remake of RuPaul’s Drag Race as one of the judges on the popular drag artist competition show. Coel is an actor on the widely popular Netflix show Black Mirror as well as the creator and starof Chewing Gum, a british comedy. RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. is scheduled to air this fall, after the original American version was nominated for 14 Emmys including Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program and Outstanding Co