The return of I Love Money

It finally happened - VH1 has finally decided to air the "lost" season 4 of their hit reality competition series I Love Money.

The premise of the show is pretty simple - take cast members from the previous VH1 "of Love" shows, fly em down to Mexico, and have them compete in different challenges for a chance at $250,000. Alliances are formed, people are backstabbed, at the end of every episode someone's check gets voided, last man/woman standing gets the money... it's a dirty, dirty game filled with tons of crazy drama! Think Survivor done VH1 style!

This season, the cast consists of Cheezy and 20 Pack from I Love New York 2 (20 Pack is considered "the veteran" this time around he was also on season 2 of I Love Money); Marcia, Mindy and Brittanya from Rock of Love Bus; Corn Fed from season 1 of Real Chance of Love; Blonde Baller, Hot Wings, Mamacita, and Sassy from Real Chance of Love 2; Feisty from For the Love of Ray J; 6 Gauge, Brooklyn and Chi Chi from Daisy of Love; and Alex, Garth, Francisco and The Punisher from Megan Wants a Millionaire.

Season 3 and 4 were filmed back to back in summer 2009, but were promptly deemed canceled after Ryan Jenkins (who was on both Megan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money 3) killed his model wife Jasmine Fiore in early August 2009, went missing as a manhunt formed for him, and was found dead almost a week later, having hung himself in his hotel room. Megan Wants a Millionaire was abruptly canceled after just 3 episodes, as Jenkins supposedly makes it to the final 3 at least, and it was rumored that he won I Love Money 3 after a report came out that right before his wife was found dead, he showed up at the VH1 offices, requesting an advance on his prize money (they hold the checks until after the season airs so that no one does crazy spending and it leaks out who the winner is).

Fans of the series were upset that the fate of I Love Money was now hanging, as they couldn't possibly air season 3 now, and supposedly some of the cast from season 3 was back in season 4, so there would be some continuity and drama that would need heavy editing.

In April, VH1 made a statement stating that both season 3 and 4 would not be airing at all, however news broke several weeks about that season 4 would premiering on September 16.

It is a bit strange though, as the first 2 seasons ran during VH1's prime viewing slots on either Sunday or Monday evenings, however this season is being aired at 11/10c pm on Thursday nights with reruns during the week well after midnight. Also, there has been NO advertising for the return of the show either, which is a bit shocking as fans of the channel have been asking for I Love Money and more of the "of Love" shows, as many don't like a lot of the reality shows that are currently being shown on VH1 - I Love Money has a huge following. It's like they're intentionally trying to make it so hardly anyone watches it, thus making the ratings suffer as an excuse to not make a 5th season... you can't even find anything about it on the official VH1 site, aside from when it airs on the TV schedule! As it is, being part of the VH1 VIPS, the only thing the moderators have been able to tell us regarding the show is confirming the premiere day and time, which they waited until 2 days before it premiered to do so (our discussion of the show returning had been going on for nearly 2 weeks).

So it looks like it's up to the fans to spread the word, since VH1 is not doing so.

For those that missed last night - there are some pretty funny moments as well as some drama filled ones (Marcia and Mamacita got into it quite a bit! And Blonde Baller has already proved you can't fully trust her as she's only looking out for her best interest). Next week looks awesome and drama filled too, as ChiChi and 20 Pack both learn that Brittanya hooked up with both them in the months prior! (They both consider her to be their "girl", although it looks like ChiChi catches her sleeping in 20 Pack's bed, all cozied up with him and calls her out that just 2 months ago she was doing the same with him... which throws 20 Pack for a loop as he thought they were kinda off and on for months!)

**edit** they have finally posted an entry on the VH1 blog regarding the return of the show, citing this to be the finale season - feel free to comment!

The Celebrity Apprentice 3

As previously mentioned, I usually only get hooked on the VH1 reality shows, and despite having a roommate and a few neighbors who were into the show when I was in college living in the dorms, I never really got into the Donald Trump Reality Show, but after the cast of Celebrity Apprentice 3 was announced, I was intrigued and wanted to check it out.

I'm hooked!

Just take a look at this cast though:

(From left to right)
Comedienne and Writer Carol Leifer, Sinbad, WWE Diva Maria Kanellis,
Rod Blagojevich, Sharon Osbourne, Olympic Sprinter Michael Johnson,
The Donald, Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone, Cyndi Lauper, WWE's Goldberg,
Baseball Player Darryl Strawberry, Bret Michaels, Victoria's Secret Model Selita Ebanks,
Summer Sanders, and Holly Robinson Peete

Why am I excited about this cast/season?

Several reasons!

I'm anxiously waiting for Sharon Osbourne to make some Rock of Love related remarks to Bret Michaels, as she was the "headmistress" of Rock of Love: Charm School, where she had the task of taming and weeding out Bret's "romantic" rejects from the first 2 seasons of Rock of Love.

Plus, you just know Sharon is a brutal force not to be reckoned with or underestimated - she's currently the breadmaker in her family and she still, year after year, forces Ozzy to perform and do Ozzfest when physically he shouldn't (the show I saw, he actually ran offstage in a panic for about 10 minutes while Sabbath went into an instrumental til he could get back onstage - he didn't look or sound good!). The woman's ruthless which is why I can see her going far and possibly winning.

Bret does have a bit of an advantage here though, at least when it comes to the cameras. Unlike a good handful of this cast, he's got plenty of experience when it comes to Reality TV and how they can edit things. He mentioned this in the 2nd episode, as he took a brief "time out" from his team, as he was getting frustrated with Sinbad's lack of leadership and refusal to tell him what he should be doing. He noticed the cameras following him around in a secluded area and immediately went back to group citing "Guys, gimme something to do - just tell me what I can be doing. I got these camera guys following me around now and it looks like I'm not doing anything and I don't want to be shown as a slacker! I did 3 seasons of Rock of Love, I know how they film and edit this stuff and I don't want to be portrayed like the slacker - please give me something to do!" Granted, it went in one ear and out the other and all Sinbad heard was "Rock of Love," but still, Bret did have a valid point and picked up on what was going on rather quickly!

I'm also excited to see some more stars from my childhood days!

I remember listening and singing along with Cyndi Lauper and her hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" in the 80s - my best friend growing up had it on their parent's karaoke machine and it was one of our favorites to sing along to! Plus Cyndi is just sooooo crazy and out there! It's amusing watching her as she's full of ideas, but can't seem to ever stay focused or on task - I can't wait to watch how she drives Sharon nuts this season! So far, just in the first 2 episodes, during both challenges Cyndi has broken out into one of her songs, getting the rest of the crowd to join in! She's definitely amusing! I'll hate to see her go, although I can't see her winning this thing - not with her competing against someone like Sharon Osbourne!

Who from my generation can forget the Sinbad kid/family friendly comedies of the 90s? I remember my dad taking me to see Houseguest and telling me that he was at the Pittsburgh Int'l Airport where they shot one of the early scenes and how he tried to stick around as an extra, but because he was traveling on business, he couldn't wait around as long as he would of had to.

I remember watching Summer Sanders host the Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out every weekday afternoon in the late 90s. I've since learned that she's an Olympic swimmer, however anyone from my age group and younger most likely knows her as the Figure It Out host.

I also used to watch Holly Robinson Peete every week on TGIF's show Hangin' With Mr. Cooper (Mark Curry) in the early-mid 90s, as she was one of the main female leads on the show.

Now as for Blago... of course I have to comment on him being on this show!

Being an Illinois resident for most of my life, I can't say I'm thrilled he's on this show, but he has been amusing to say the least! EVERY chance he gets, he's off talking to people about how he "didn't do those things," he's "innocent of all charges," and he "did a great job leading the 5th largest state in our nation." I can't help but laugh every time he says one of those phrases or something along those lines (he says them so often is should be a drinking game!) - yeah he did such a *great* job that our state is currently poor, my city has nearly a 20% unemployment rate and my local school district is laying off teachers left and right right now because our *great state* owes the district $112 million dollars for the budget they never received! As it is, my aluma mater just recently got the funds Blago had promised them over 2 years ago to remodel the building and area where the shooting took place, and if I recall, it was a lot less than what he said they'd get for it.

All his talk actually got him trouble in the first episode though - as he was too busy telling his tale of innocence to anyone who would listen, he let Joan River's burger get cold and she wasn't too happy (Trump sent her to act as a secret shopper and check up on the teams during their challenges).

And in the second episode... random people on the streets of New York are coming up to him, recognizing him, and calling him a crook and telling him he should be in jail! Ha! Also, some girl mistook him for Donny Osmond, going on about how her name is Donna and she was named after him... he was just like "Uh, my name's Rod... who do you think I am?" It was hilarious!

It was also pretty funny, early in the first episode when he made some comment about liking the guys he's on a team with and how he feels they got each others backs and Sinbad was all "Yeah Rod, I'd have your back - I'd be all 'Rod, get off the phone! Quit talking on the phone, Rod! ROD - SERIOUSLY, USE A PAYPHONE!'" lol... it was pretty funny watching a comedian like Sinbad give him some grief about it too!

Honestly, the days he got arrested and kicked out of office it was literally like a state-wide holiday here in Illinois - everyone was thrilled to finally see him go!It was also pretty funny to see how fast they tore down and covered his name on the tollways - it was literally within days, they didn't let that stay any longer than possible!I don't even know how he got elected to a 2nd term - I know I sure didn't vote for him! I think one of the main reasons that anyone from Illinois is watching is just to see him get fired... again! I also find it hilarious and ironic that his charity is the Children's Cancer Center, as he was such a jerk in another "scandal" of his where he was withholding money that was supposed to go to the big Children's Memorial Hospital in our state.

So there's my thoughts so far on the show.

I'd suggest checking it out this Sunday night (9/8c on NBC) or catch up on the first 2 episodes online - it definitely seems like an interesting season with an amusing cast!

Obsessed with Celebreality

I've noticed a trend this week in the world of blogging and that seems to be the topic of Reality TV, so here is my contribution.

I remember when I was little all the fuss that was made over this show on MTV called The Real World, however at the time I was not allowed to watch MTV growing up. Occasionally I'd catch a glimpse of the the channel while at my best friend's house, as her brothers were older and would watch it. I remember thinking Road Rules was interesting after we watched the episode where they came through our town, and thought it was neat to follow people on a trip cross country, but didn't really understand all the drama.

My next encounter with Reality TV was in early high school. I was volunteering at my church's summer daycamp program and one of the other volunteers was talking about this show Big Brother, in which one of the contestants was from our town. I tried to watch it for an episode, just to see what it was all about, but I just didn't get it - random strangers stuck in a house... what's the appeal? By this point shows like Survivor and Fear Factor were pretty popular, but I didn't have an interest in those either as they seemed a big gross.

It wasn't until college did I get sucked in.

During my first year of college, Fox aired a show called Joe Millionaire. The premise was that this constructor worker named Evan would pose as a millionaire to try and find his love. It was a test for him to weed out which girls were there for the money and which were there for love. The cast was likable (I was rooting for eventual winner Zora when the show first started) and I thought the premise was pretty interesting.

After watching this one, I got sucked into watching American Idol, the 2nd season, as it was on after Joe Millionaire and living in the dorms, these were shows everyone on my floor would get together and watch.

The next year, I moved into a suite and had new roommates. During this year, Fox premiered a show called "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" where this woman was setup with this guy who matched the title of the show. If they could both convince their families they were getting married in a month and have them all attend they'd get like $50,000. The twist, that the girl didn't know, but the viewers did, was that her 'fiance' was really an actor, as were his family. He played the part awesomely, being the worst, most obnoxious date you'd never want to bring home to meet the parents! After this one, American Idol season 3 aired. We watched the auditions, but I just couldn't get into the rest of the season for some reason and haven't been an avid watcher since.

The next year I was in college, VH1 got the rights to The Surreal Life, where a bunch of has-been celebrities live in a house together. This one was followed up by The Surreal Life: Fame Games where has-been celebrities from the previous seasons have to compete in all these games that test their "fame status." I forgot which season it was (one of the last though) where you had Vanilla Ice, Mini-Me, Ron Jeremy, Adrienne Curry, Christopher Knight, Jane from the Go-Go's, Flavor Flav and Bridgette Nielson. This season lead to a few VH1 spin-offs, My Fair Brady, which followed the growing relationship between Curry and Knight, and Strange Love, where Flavor Flav sets off to Europe to reconnect with Nielson after their brief affair on the show.

While I couldn't get into Strange Love due to Flavor Flav (I think he's annoying), this was actually where the birth of VH1's Celebreality programming began.

When Strange Love finished, VH1 gave Flavor Flav his own dating reality game show, Flavor of Love, and then, after getting rejected by Flav on the first 2 seasons, contestant Tiffany "New York" Pollard got her own dating show "I Love New York." Now I didn't watch New York's show as I didn't watch Flavor Flav's, so I had no clue who she was or why she had her own show. Flavor of Love also had another spin-off, "Charm School" where girls from the first 2 seasons were sent to a Charm School run by actress Mo'nique to fix their "bad" behavior.

Due to the success of Flavor Flav's shows, VH1 decided to use the same formula, but try it with has-been 80s rockstar Bret Michaels in the show "Rock of Love" which appealed to even more viewers, including myself. I liked it for the drama, the premise and I thought Bret Michaels was kinda hot for an old guy, my husband liked it for the girls.

From here on, VH1 produced other reality shows that we watched, such as Scott Biao is 45 and Single/46 and Pregnant, and The Pick-Up Artist which transformed shy, geeky guys into ladies men.

After season 2 of Rock of Love, VH1 produced the mega-show spin-off I Love Money, which included contestants from both seasons of Rock of Love, Flavor of Love and I Love New York who were competing in challenges to win a large sum of money down in Mexico. It was like Survivor meets crazy VH1 reality drama whores. The alliances got ugly and people played dirty. It was drama at its finest!

After the first season of I Love Money, we were giving Rock of Love Charm School with girls from both seasons being trained to be ladies under the watch of Headmistress Sharon Osbourne. We also got the I Love Money/I Love New York spin-off Real Chance of Love, with brothers Real and Chance looking for their loves.

Then came the next installment of Rock of Love, titled Rock of Love Bus, where instead of Bret living in a house with the ladies, he took them with him on a cross-country tour to see if they could handle life on the road.

During this time, VH1 also aired 2 new original reality series: a match making show called "Tough Love" where famous matchmakers Steve Ward and his mom Joann worked with 9 girls to teach them the error of their dating ways and to snag a winner of a man and Tool Academy, where bad boyfriends were taught the error of their ways and went through couples counseling with their upset and hurt girlfriends.

We were then given I Love Money 2, which upped the ante as a good portion of the cast had seen the first season and knew how to play and a few contestants from the first season were given a 2nd chance to play the game. We also had a another new show, For the Love of Ray J, which followed singer Brandy's little brother Ray J (most known for his sextape with Kim Kardashian) finding his love a la reality game show.

Next up was Rock of Love spin-off Daisy of Love, where annoying season 2 contestant Daisy tries to find herself a rocker dude with the help of Ricky Rachtman whom she never listened to his advice.

We also got Charm School 3 with Ricki Lake, which was a bit different from previous seasons because it combined girls from both Rock of Love Bus and Real Chance of Love - girls from mostly entirely different lifestyles! Yes, there was a some racial drama! Real Chance of Love season 2 also aired during this time.

After Daisy's show, we were given another Rock of Love/I Love Money/Rock of Love Charm School spin-off with contestant Megan (who also won a season of Beauty and the Geek) who interviewed in Charm School that her goal in life was to become a trophy wife. In her show, men who have a net worth of at least $1 million compete for this unashamed gold digger's heart. She is aided by fellow friend and contestant Brandi whom she was on I Love Money and Charm School with, as well as her friend Cecil from Beauty and the Geek. This show had potential to be great, as some of these men were just outrageous, hot or creepy, but unfortunately after the first few episodes aired it got put on indefinite hiatus, as it was reported contestant Ryan was wanted for murder of his new wife (he was found, hung after a week long manhunt for him). Ryan was also involved in I Love Money 3, which has since been canceled and because of that, I Love Money 4, which was filmed right after I Love Money 3 is now stuck in limbo, as some of the cast from 3 was on 4 and make mention of things that occurred during 3.

In light of the sudden absence of Megan's show, VH1 filled the time slot with Tool Academy 2 and I Love Antonio, which follows former soap star and model Anthony Saboto, Jr. find a lady, with the help of his mom. Neither of these interested me though, so I quit watching for a bit.

What drew me back in?

Frank the Entertainer, from I Love New York and both seasons of I Love Money finally got his own show. While I've only seen clips of him on I Love New York, I found him to be pretty hilarious and entertaining on both seasons of I Love Money. The running joke with him, is that he's like 30 and still lives in his parents basement. So in this show, they give him a small family sized house and him and his parents have to live with all these girls in the tiny house while he chooses one to try and have a future with. This one also led me to watch Tough Love 2, which aired after it.

VH1 has also aired For the Love of Ray J 2 and is getting ready to air Tool Academy 3. Other past shows I failed to mention were Hulk Knows Best, which follows his family around a la MTV's The Osbournes, and the spin off, Brooke Knows Best which follows Hulk's daughter Brooke as she moves into her own place in Miami, gets her music career back on track and shows her dealing with the divorce of her parents and her brother being sent to jail.

There was also 2 more New York spin-offs, New York goes to Hollywood and New York goes to Work - where at first we see her try to get back into her acting career, and then we saw her try various odd jobs where if she did a good job, she got paid, otherwise she got nothing. They also tried a show called "The Cho Show" following Margret Cho, but that one didn't really "take off." There's been others I haven't watched which feature hip hop and R&B artists, such as Fantasia and Salt n Pepa, as well as football star TO, but I never really got into those...

Another series VH1 created was Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and its spin-off Sober House and Sex Rehab. This one is a bit different from the others as it takes a more serious tone and takes place in a rehab center. Celebrities who struggle with hardcore addictions with drugs, alcohol, and eventually sex, are put in a group therapy setting with Dr. Drew and the rehab's staff. In Sober House, some of the cast from the first 2 seasons chose to move into a Sober Living environment after their time in rehab.Some have relapses, others take this time to rebuild their life without drugs or alcohol.

While I have enjoyed my VH1 reality shows the last 3 years (that's right, these have all been since 2007, it is getting a bit ridiculous with all the spin-offs of a spin-off. I will admit, it is hard to watch a "normal" reality dating show on say ABC or CBS after watching the ones on VH1, just due to the fact the VH1 ones have so much more drama!

I also can't stand all these "fake" reality shows - scripted dramas if you will - such as The Hills. Yes, I realize that a lot of these shows on VH1 are a bit scripted, but they don't feel as fake as shows like The Hills, which is partly why I can stomach Keeping Up with the Kardashians from time to time - the cast likable and entertaining (my favorites on the Kardashians being Bruce Jenner, the laidback dad stuck in this whirlwind chaos that surrounds him, and Khloe, who seems to be the most down to earth of the 3 eldest sisters).

This flood of reality TV programming will fade eventually, but we'll always remember the shows we watched the most!