flavoroflove

For some, watching relationship-based reality programming is not their idea of a pleasant night in. Why should they watch shows about finding and keeping love when it takes so long to find that right person in real life? Yet, since the mid-'60s, viewers have turned-in to watch others search for their soul mate. Or, at least their soul mate of the hour.

Of course, in the time of the Reality Revolution, the way love was found on television changed a bit. Rather than asking a simple set of questions to a set of bachelors or bachelorettes sitting behind a wall, men and women would compete for the love of a well-to-do bachelor or bachelorette, or a rapper/model, or a washed up 80s hair band star. They would even compete to see if their love could withstand an onslaught of temptation.

Sometimes they would find their one true love on these reality show. Other times they would be tossed away, their hearts broken, like a piece of paper. Along the way they would be love, sex, fights, sex, heartfelt moments, and sex. With reality programming being what it is, the viewers ate it all up.

VH1 is calling this the best interview ever; Flavor Flav of the network's hit franchise Flavor of Love talked to Complex Magazine.

And you won't believe what he said. Here's what you never wanted to know about the rapper-turned-reality-superstar:

1. He made another kid eat dog poop. It was revenge for the kid making Flav eat his own booger.

2. His favorite possession is a Coo-Coo clock from Switzerland. It has a little Flav that comes out and screams "Yeah Boy!" when the big hand strikes three.

Welcome to Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows: I Love Money, Charm School, New York Goes to Hollywood, and The Surreal Life. Basically, I'll discuss the skankalicious shows that make VH1 the network it is today.

There's been a lull in trashtastic programming lately. I'm stuck watching So You Think You Can Dance (some of the those Latin ballroom costumes are a little slutty) and Secret Diary of a Call Girl (scripted skankiness). I long for VH1 to start their summer of skanktacity. We got a little taste last night with the I Love Money casting special. Check out my review after the jump.

Welcome to Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows: I Love Money, Charm School, New York Goes to Hollywood, and The Surreal Life. Basically, I'll discuss the skankalicious shows that make VH1 the network it is today.

After the jump, get ready for I Love Money. I've got some previews for the show and a trip down memory lane paying tribute to I Love Money's cast members. This summer will not disappoint!

Lauren Conrad is like the Flavor Flav of MTV. That statement probably needs some explanation. Much like Flav's stardom has spawned spin-off after spin-off (with spin-offs of the spin-offs), LC is shining her light on fellow Hills cast members. First, I reported that Whitney Port is getting her own show and now...

The Hills co-star Brody Jenner is getting his own spin-off called Bromance. The show, brainchild of Ryan Seacrest's company (thanks Seacrest), is a competition where regular guys come to Hollywood for a chance to be in...get this...Brody's entourage. MTV Senior VP of Series Development Liz Gateley says, "Brody is the perfect fit for this concept; he is the type of guy everyone wants to hang out with."

But wait, there's more. In each episode's elimination ceremony, the guys will gather in a hot tub for the news. Furthermore, similar to Rock of Love and Flavor of Love, the guys will participate in various competitions (i.e. skydiving and dealing with the paparazzi), go on group dates, and be rewarded with alone time with Brody.

Welcome to Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows: Flavor of Love, I Love New York (or whatever show Tiffany Pollard is making next), The Surreal Life, Charm School, and Miss Rap Supreme.

After the jump, I have a list for you. I call it, "The 10 Most Fabulous Flavorettes and Rockettes." Not those Rockettes. Not the ones who kick really high and line-up in different formations and perform at Radio City. Bret's Rockettes! Okay, it's a bad name, but what else do I call them (especially when Flav refers to his skanks as "Flavorettes")?

VH1 released a superteaser for their new summer celebreality series I Love Money last Friday. From the looks of the video, I Love Money will be more of the trashiness and scandal we've come to expect from other VH1 shows like Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York and Charm School. The cast will be split into two teams (gold and green) and compete for a $250,000 prize a lá the Real World / Road Rules Gauntlet or Inferno shows. However, since this cast is less athletic and more skanky than the RW/RR folks, the actual challenges themselves look like they will be much more entertaining. And of course, you won't be tuning in just for the competitions. According to the superteaser, they'll be hook-ups, secret alliances, a spitting contest (perfect for Pumkin), and even some "true" love.

The superteaser is five minutes long! That's five minutes of skanky goodness for your enjoyment.

Welcome to Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows: Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York (or whatever show Tiffany Pollard is making next), The Surreal Life, and Miss Rap Supreme.

After the jump, check out my tribute to Flavor Flav, my thoughts on Miss Rap Supreme and The Bad Girls Club, and other skankalicious goings on. (By the way, I won't be talking about Heather Chadwell. I just thought you guys deserved a treat.)

Happy Super Skank Wednesday!

Flavor Flav's search for the right woman will end in Paris next week. Sniffle. Hold on while I wipe the single tear from my eye. After three seasons of Flavor of Love, VH1 has announced that next Monday's show will be Flav's last chance at finding love... well, his last chance on a reality dating show where VH1 casts a bunch of skanks for him to choose from. I'm already planning a Super Skank Wednesday tribute to the glorious Flavor of Love, the show that started it all. (Don't ask me to define what exactly it started. Just know that whatever was started, was started by Flavor of Love.)

The season and series finale of Flavor of Love will air on Monday, May 19th at 9:00 p.m. ET / PT. In the words of Flav (a man never at loss for something pithy to say), the finale is sure to be "dramatical."
I put a clip from the finale after the jump for you enjoyment.

Okay, you can commence the happy dance! Contestants from your favorite skanky shows on VH1 coming together for an all-star competition called I Love Money. What will they be competing for? I think you can figure that one out. The show will feature your favorite personalities from Rock of Love, Flavor Of Love, and I Love New York. It's produced by Mark Cronin and Cris Abrego (my personal heroes) who have produced, well, just about every successful show on VH1.

So, I was going to do a list about the most villainous women of reality TV but then I thought...wouldn't a list of bad-ass women be way more interesting? Being bad is overrated (almost as overrated as being good). But being bad-ass, now that's a tricky balancing act, one that is way more intriguing.

This list therefore is dedicated to the women of reality TV that make being bad look oh so good. And no, Omarosa Stallworth-whatever is NOT on the list. I'll explain why after the jump.

Here are seven people who used their reality TV notoriety to their advantage. They have found success in other TV genres, film, or entrepreneurial pursuits. Some just found more fame in the genre that put them on thee map.

7. Colleen Haskell (Survivor): Colleen was in the first season of Survivor (Borneo) and while she didn't outwit, outplay and outlast the other cast members, she did make a good run of her fifteen minutes. She finished sixth in her season but was such a genuine and fair player that when her torch was extinguished Richard Hatch called her a "wonderful person." Using her American-apple-pie-pretty-girl-next-door appearance and attitude, she parlayed her reality TV fame into more roles in both television and film. She did a Blistex commercial and had a guest spot on That 70's Show. Most notably, however, she starred alongside Rob Schneider in The Animal (2001). Pretty good for a Catholic school girl from a small town in Maryland.

VH1 doesn't seem to get as much of the 'they don't play music anymore' criticism as MTV, but I think they are following a very similar track. And that direction is what brought about Flavor of Love. I was surprised to learn that the premiere for season two of the Bachelor spoof drew 3 million viewers. Not only that, but the audience for the season one finale was nearly 6 million. That is the highest rated show in VH1's history.

The NY Times has an interesting article about Flavor Flav and the show. The opinions range from the show being another reality goof to a slap in the face to all people of color. I've always fallen in the spoof camp, putting Flavor of Love in the same category as The Joe Schmo Show. I think Joe Schmo was a better concept. I tuned into Flavor of Love a couple times out of curiosity, but it seemed like the same joke over and over.

The first Flavor of Love was the epitome of trashy TV. Not only is Flav a tremendously annoying person (sir, what happened to your "Fear of a Black Planet" days?), but all of the female contestants looked like they just stepped off the set of Maury or Jerry Springer. I found myself becoming more and more disgusted every week, and yet... I kept tuning in. Yeah, you're good, VH1. You're real good.

I guess enough innocent souls were, like I, sucked into that filthy world of cat fights and cheap weaves because Flavor of Love 2 is ready to start on August 6th. And, no matter how hard I fight it, I know I'll be tuning in. Sigh. See all of Season Two's "lucky" ladies here.

Oh, that reminds me: A few weeks ago, I saw Pumpkin on Family Feud (her family's answers sucked) and then on MTV's dating show Next (she didn't win). She has exquisite taste in television.