Reality Show

Bear Grylls, the hard-charging adventurer host of Discovery's "Man vs. Wild," has climbed Mt. Everest and crossed the North Atlantic in an inflatable boat, but he's now crossing into even more treacherous territory: network TV. NBC has given the green light to a reality show starring Grylls with the working title "Get Out Alive. " The competition show will feature teams of two attempting to survive in the wild. The network has ordered eight episodes of the series, which is set to debut in prime time next summer.

Get ready for a reality show version of "Big Love." TLC, the cable network behind hits "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and "19 Kids and Counting," is hoping to strike ratings gold again with "Sister Wives," a series about a polygamist family in Utah that will premiere in September. Much like the HBO drama "Big Love," which follows a polygamist and his three wives, "Sister Wives" is about Kody and his wives Meri, Janelle and Christine and their 13 kids. Unlike "Big Love's" Bill Henrickson, though, Kody is looking to add to his family by taking on a fourth wife, Robyn, who has three children of her own. For TLC, "Sister Wives" will likely generate a little controversy, but the network is no stranger to that.

OK, so disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has spilled his guts to Oprah Winfrey about doping and cheating. Now what? Don't be surprised if Armstrong pursues getting a reality show. And an Armstrong reality show would most likely air on Winfrey's struggling OWN network. It could be a win-win for both Armstrong and Winfrey. Think about it. Armstrong could be the latest in a line of former sports stars such as Michael Vick, Mike Tyson, Pete Rose and other troubled athletes who have used the arena of reality TV as a way to rehabilitate their images and show they are just like ordinary people with kids and pets.

When done right, reality show hosts blend into the background: They must move the episode along, point out the rules, emphasize high points while smoothing over the low points … and never think they're the stars of the show. Their prize at the end of the season? A possible Emmy nomination. Here are four likely contenders who let us know what it's like doing this kind of job. Tom Bergeron "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC) What's one quality a good host must have?

Mars One is not only a plan to send four astronauts (one of them could be you!) on a one-way trip to Mars -- but it's also a plan for a money-making, ratings-through-the-roof reality show. No, I'm not kidding. One of the men behind the effort to put a colony on Mars by 2023 spoke to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday about his dreams of going to Mars, how the Mars One team is looking for sponsors and investors for the project and how a "media spectacle" will help foot the bill.

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.

I disagree completely with Matthew Okada who asked, "What's so great about 'Seinfeld'?" (TV Times, May 22). I'll tell you what's so great about "Seinfeld": It's the best-written, most sophisticated and funniest show on TV, and in its random disjointedness it is the sitcom that is closest to real life. Richard Showstack, Newport Beach

The Writers Guild of America, West has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the producers of the reality TV show "America's Next Top Model." The complaint, filed Monday, alleges that the show's producers violated federal labor laws by eliminating the jobs of 12 writers in retaliation for their decision to go on strike in July. "This is illegal strike breaking, an insult to the Hollywood talent community and an embarrassment to this industry," said Patric M.

Los Angeles County supervisors have delayed a decision on whether the Sheriff's Department should participate in two proposed reality TV shows. The supervisors instead ordered county lawyers to research liability and privacy concerns. The department, which runs the nation's largest jail system, was seeking to enter into agreements with 44 Blue Productions Inc. and Scott Sternberg Productions Inc. for shows that would depict deputies at work and cadets hoping to make the cut.

The parents of teenage sailor Abby Sunderland ran into their own squall Monday, answering criticism that her father was working on a reality TV show deal as the 16-year-old set off on her round-the-world trip. Laurence Sunderland told reporters outside the family's Thousand Oaks home that he had been approached about a reality TV show months ago with Magnetic Entertainment, a Studio-city based production company. However, he said he cut ties with Magnetic a few weeks after Abby set off on her solo voyage due to a dispute with producers.