Reality Show

Elimination Night A Novel Anonymous New Harvest: 304 pp., $25 If the anonymous author of "Elimination Night," set behind the scenes of a singing-competition TV show very much - perhaps exactly - like "American Idol," is difficult to identify, the same cannot be said of most of the novel's characters. There's "erect-nippled" British judge Nigel Crowther, a.k.a. "Mr. Horrible," a pop producer who made a name for himself on "Project Icon" with his sneering, metaphorical insults.

Are you working for the man? "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary thinks your career plan is "all crap. " "The path today is becoming an entrepreneur," the outspoken venture capitalist told reporters Thursday at the TV press tour in Pasadena. "That's what made this country great in the first place and will make it great again," he added. O'Leary scoffed at workers who plod at companies in an effort to work their way up: "That's all crap," he said. What isn't crap? Recent ratings for "Shark Tank," the reality show in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch ideas to O'Leary and other potential investors.

The day after the rejection of several players into the Baseball Hall of Fame , Pete Rose -- not surprisingly -- had plenty to say. Rose, the major league's all-time leader in hits who has been banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame for betting on games, said he was not surprised that the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America declined to select a player for baseball's highest honor. The snubs were being attributed to the game's steroid era. "I knew last week that it was going to happen," said Rose about the snubbing of several top players, including Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens . "They're all friends of mine.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Jan. 6-12, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SERIES Betty White 's Off Their Rockers: Korean pop sensation PSY and Kim Kardashian are featured as the hidden camera show returns with new episodes (8 and 8:30 p.m. NBC). New Girl: "The Newsroom's" Olivia Munn continues her guest stint on a new episode of the sitcom (9 p.m. Fox). American Experience: The fight to end slavery in this country is revisited in the new three-part docudrama "The Abolitionists" (9 p.m. KOCE)

Monica Martino had filmed tornadoes in the Midwest, ship collisions in the Antarctic and crab fishermen in Alaska's Bering Sea. But those experiences didn't prepare her for a terrifying nighttime boat ride in the Amazon jungle. In February, the 41-year-old co-executive producer was thrown into a murky river after getting footage for "Bamazon," a series for the History cable channel about out-of-work Alabama construction workers mining for gold in the rain forest of Guyana. Martino says the captain was blind in one eye and piloting too fast without a proper light.

One look at the setting - a barn dressed with livestock, bales of hay and picnic tables - and it's immediately obvious that this is no ordinary funeral. The casket's shaped like an oversized grill used for smoking meat, and pallbearers are wearing crisp white aprons and chef's hats. Live pigs squeal and run amok, while a tabletop fountain spits out barbecue sauce instead of chocolate, perfect for dipping freshly cooked ribs. This is the eternal send-off, after all, of Willie "Wolf" McCoy, the man whose soulful voice is immediately recognizable to millions of people.

WASHINGTON -- Although states are usually eager for Hollywood to come calling, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is asking MTV to cancel a TV show that he says "plays to ugly, inaccurate stereotypes” of his state. "Buckwild" has been compared to an Appalachian version of "Jersey Shore. " The show, according to MTV, follows a group of nine "young, carefree and adventurous friends" living in West Virginia who find “unique ways to create their own fun. From transforming a dump truck into a pool party to building a human sling shot, they live their lives loud and proud without restrictions.

Yuuup! "Storage Wars" star Dave Hester is suing A&E, claiming its hit reality show is a fake. Hester - whose aggressive bidding call "yuuup!" has become a catch-phrase emblazoned on T-shirts -- filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, claiming that he was fired after he complained that producers were planting exotic and expensive items to pump up drama on the show. "Storage Wars," which premiered in 2010, features Hester and other bidders competing over abandoned storage lockers in public auctions.

The Mexican American banda singer Jenni Rivera was a major star in the Spanish-speaking world. She was poised to become a multicultural star too. Already the star of the popular bilingual cable reality show "I Love Jenni," she had recently filmed her first English-language feature movie and was on deck to produce - and star in - a pilot for an ABC television series loosely based on her life. The Long Beach-born pop singer also had introduced her own makeup line, and a perfume, Jenni by Jenni Rivera, sold at Sears, and had partnered with NuMe on a line of expensive blow dryers and flat irons.

Here's the thing about appearing on reality television: No matter how hard you try to put it behind you, it will always come back later -- especially if the show is a tragically corny MTV game show. Back in 2008 MTV apparently thought it would be a great idea to pit wannabe rappers against one another for the ridiculously titled game show, “Bustas.”  The competition, hosted by West Coast rapper Kurupt (whatever happened to him?), featured mildly offensive contests such as “Guess the Rapper By His Grill” and “Is This a Real Rolex?