Reality Show

In an odd yet understandable marketing strategy, the folks behind E!'s new reality show "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" have spent a lot of pre-premiere publicity time explaining what the show isn't. Which is to say, Clint Eastwood. The legendary actor and director will appear in but a few episodes and then only briefly. He will not, for instance, be slamming doors or engaging in filmed therapy sessions with his wife, Dina, around whom the show revolves (see title.) That doesn't mean the show is not about Clint Eastwood; it is. If the principal characters -- Dina, her 15-year-old daughter Morgan and 19-year old stepdaughter Francesca -- were not related to him, there would be Absolutely No Reason to watch this, which, by reality show standards, promises to be tame to the point of sedation.

UNDERRATED 'The Pitch' on AMC : Like a real-life "Mad Men" with far less interesting furnishings, this reality show captures the drama behind today's ad game and transcends the cliches while doing it. Sure, it's a little unsettling to consider the economics behind a show about creating commercials — one of which you actually watch by choice once the "winner" for the week's campaign is picked — but it's strangely worth it after seeing the...

The wait for tables is getting longer at Buck's, a popular breakfast spot for the tech elite and a weather vane for the Silicon Valley economy. Here, like everywhere else, Facebook is the talk of the town. "Charles Schwab was in the restaurant the other day, and I asked him to hook me up with some Facebook shares," said Jamis MacNiven, owner of Buck's, in the wealthy suburban enclave of Woodside. "He told me even he can't get Facebook shares. " The new tech boom officially gets underway Friday when Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq's opening bell remotely from the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, launching the largest initial public offering of stock in Silicon Valley history.

In an odd yet understandable marketing strategy, the folks behind E!'s new reality show "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" have spent a lot of pre-premiere publicity time explaining what the show isn't. Which is to say, Clint Eastwood. The legendary actor and director will appear in but a few episodes and then only briefly. He will not, for instance, be slamming doors or engaging in filmed therapy sessions with his wife, Dina, around whom the show revolves (see title.) That doesn't mean the show is not about Clint Eastwood; it is. If the principal characters -- Dina, her 15-year-old daughter Morgan and 19-year old stepdaughter Francesca -- were not related to him, there would be Absolutely No Reason to watch this, which, by reality show standards, promises to be tame to the point of sedation.

"Selling L.A. " reality show viewers may wonder if any of the featured homes actually sell. Although perhaps not in time for the closing credits, some houses under consideration for the show do find a buyer outside the roving eye of the camera. One home that agent Rebekah Schwartz was promoting to HGTV for its 15 minutes of fame was the Marina del Rey pad that former Laker Lamar Odom rented a few years back. Listed at $1.995 million in January, it closed early this month at $1.825 million.

Golnesa Gharachedaghi talks like a real soon-to-be housewife of Beverly Hills. The 30-year-old self-proclaimed Persian princess, who doesn't shy away from confrontation or dropping expletives, explains her simple tastes. "There are two things I don't like. I don't like ants, and I don't like ugly people. " Another time, the young woman who says she is eager to settle down offers a guiding principle of her active night life: "Looking good, and not repeating outfits, is imperative.

I may not be a fashionista, but I wear clothes as often as the next person — I'm wearing some right now as a matter of fact. And stung into curiosity by that withering monologue about the cerulean blue sweater in "The Devil Wears Prada," I am interested in how certain styles wind up dominating major commercial outlets like Macy's, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue. What I am not interested in is another reality program in which a carefully selected group of poignantly back-storied and teary-eyed "up 'n comers" attempt to leapfrog the traditional rigors of their craft to win a competition guaranteeing them a contract.

Hasselhoff as stage dad As he teased earlier this month when he quit "America's Got Talent," David Hasselhoff is in fact getting his own reality show. A&E has signed the former "Baywatch" and "Knight Rider" star to an as-yet-untitled series about his life as a stage dad. Apparently when he's not turning up in the tabloids and gossip news sites, the Hoff has been helping his daughters, Taylor-Ann, 19, and Haley, 17, pursue singing careers. The series will premiere later this year, A&E said.

Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin are shopping a reality show. ( TMZ ) The man who attempted to blackmail David Letterman is nominated for an Emmy. ( The Envelope ) A commission will discuss the ban on raves at the L.A. Coliseum. ( Los Angeles Times ) This summer concert season is brutal. ( Los Angeles Times ) Court rules "Crude" filmmaker must turn over some -- but not all -- of his footage to Chevron. ( Los Angeles Times ) Pink falls from harness during Germany show and is rushed to a hospital.

Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday approved an agreement to allow a television production company to develop a new reality show about the Sheriff's Department's use of technology. The agreement allows Wadell Media to develop an episodic show called "Tech Force USA" that will feature the department's use of high-tech gadgets in day-to-day law enforcement work. The show would appear on TruTV.

Shannen Doherty returns to prime time in her new WeTV reality show, "Shannen Says," which follows the former "Beverly Hills 90210" star as she plans her recent Malibu nuptials to photographer Kurt Iswarienko with the help of celeb wedding planner David Tutera. How did your show come about? The idea for the show came about when my husband and I went to Mexico for Valentine's Day one year and we were discussing working together and how much we were enthralled and enamored with Anthony Bourdain and his show,"No Reservations," and also "Deadliest Catch.

Hunting for buried treasure - whether it's in the ground, in an abandoned storage locker or at the bottom of the ocean - seems to be a primal urge. But when does digging up your backyard cross the line into sullying the study of history and culture? According to some archaeologists, two cable TV reality shows have done just that. National Geographic's "Diggers" and Spike TV's "American Digger" follow the exploits of the archaeological equivalent of bounty hunters who, with property owners' permission, dig and occasionally blast their way to underground artifacts, which they hope to sell to collectors for profit.

There is little new or notable to say about "Ball Boys," a retail-based reality series that premieres Saturday afternoon on ABC, that hasn't already been said about the earlier retail-based reality series whose shape it apes. (Indeed, it comes from the people who brought you "Pawn Stars," the holy elder of the form.) And I will say it all in the next paragraph. First, it brings a basic-cable genre to a major broadcast network, albeit to a weekend afternoon (in the old neighborhood of that network's "Wide World of Sports")

I may not be a fashionista, but I wear clothes as often as the next person — I'm wearing some right now as a matter of fact. And stung into curiosity by that withering monologue about the cerulean blue sweater in "The Devil Wears Prada," I am interested in how certain styles wind up dominating major commercial outlets like Macy's, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue. What I am not interested in is another reality program in which a carefully selected group of poignantly back-storied and teary-eyed "up 'n comers" attempt to leapfrog the traditional rigors of their craft to win a competition guaranteeing them a contract.

Fashion reality shows have had a big payoff for some participants, catapulting them to full-fledged stardom in the world of style. Christian Siriano was a design student who had apprenticed with industry bigs Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood before he won "Project Runway's" Season 4. Since then, his independent label has become a powerhouse, showing in New York each season, appearing in fashion magazines around the world and dressing stars...

That's entertainment Re " Beverly Hills reality of 'Shahs' is worlds away from Iran ," March 8 While negative associations should rightfully concern well-behaved Persian Americans, those whose value system is defined by disliking ants and ugly people - perhaps we should be glad the young woman's list is this short - are deplorable, irrespective of their ethnic or cultural background. Congratulations to the producers of"Shahs of Sunset"for further expansion of a successful formula by giving an audience what it claims not to want and will likely watch anyway.

There is no joy in Juddville, which is not surprising because country music icons Naomi and Wynonna Judd are rolling out a reality show on OWN where fun is, apparently, just one more form of denial. When Oprah Winfrey announced she was starting her own network, she pledged that it would be a mean-free zone, a shelter from the snark, self-immolation and schadenfreude she believes is ravaging the television landscape. And so far, she has delivered. That does not mean OWN is a happy place.

San Fernando, a two-square-mile city of tree-lined streets, bungalows and mom-and-pop shops in the northeast San Fernando Valley, is a typical small town, a place where everybody knows everyone. Perhaps too well. Two weeks ago, Mayor Mario Hernandez shocked the community when he announced at a City Council meeting that he was having an affair with a colleague, Councilwoman Maribel de la Torre. The mayor's wife was in the audience at the time. PHOTOS: Political scandals and gaffes of 2011 The revelation is the latest in a series of scandals at City Hall in recent months that have become a major distraction at a time when the predominantly Latino, working class town of 25,000 is grappling with a large budget deficit and major cuts in municipal services.

"When the revolution happened" are the first words we hear in "Shahs of Sunset," a new Bravo reality series about the Persian Americans of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills — six of them anyway, and their glimpsed families and supporting-cast friends. The revolution referred to is the one that took place in Iran in 1979, which helped create the sizable diaspora whose local chapter, sometimes called Tehrangeles, comprises the largest Iranian community outside of Iran. The novelty of the setting aside, we have been here before.

Golnesa Gharachedaghi talks like a real soon-to-be housewife of Beverly Hills. The 30-year-old self-proclaimed Persian princess, who doesn't shy away from confrontation or dropping expletives, explains her simple tastes. "There are two things I don't like. I don't like ants, and I don't like ugly people. " Another time, the young woman who says she is eager to settle down offers a guiding principle of her active night life: "Looking good, and not repeating outfits, is imperative.