Photo Credit: Laspata DeCaro

Oxygen Media, most recently awarded a 2012 Gracie Award for Outstanding Reality Show for its series The Glee Project, today announced its latest foray into unscripted programming: The Face, a new reality competition series along the lines of America’s Next Top Model or Project Runway, will showcase the efforts of three teams of up-and-coming models competing for the chance to become the spokesperson for a nationally recognized brand. World-renowned supermodel and businesswoman Naomi Campbell will be one of three supermodel coaches, who will each scout and choose their teams from the ranks of young models striving all over the world, then mentor and guide them through a series of trials representing the steep ladder to success in the fashion industry.

The Face will be produced by Shine America, a producer and distributor of many well-known hit series such as The Biggest Loser, The Office and Ugly Betty. Oxygen has formerly been home to cycles of America’s Next Top Model and, in its stated purpose as “a leading force in engaging modern young women,” is undoubtedly a good home for this new series. As Eden Gaha, President of Shine America says, “We are pleased to bring The Face to Oxygen, which we believe is the perfect fit for this new competition series that will take viewers behind the scenes of the glamorous and fast-paced world of modeling. It’s an incredible opportunity for these young models to work with and learn from an industry icon such as Naomi Campbell and the chance to become ‘the face’ of a national brand will be an exciting and meaningful start to their career.”

The Face is reportedly part of a fifty percent increase in Oxygen’s original programming, and the presence of a star like Campbell should attract plenty of viewers. Fans of scandal and drama would do well to hope for some onscreen displays of her legendary temper, though it is doubtful she will actually assault anyone, as has so often been alleged in the past. At any rate, even without the possibility of such histrionics (and only time will tell), the series should provide plenty of entertainment for fashion junkies everywhere. As Campbell says, “With The Face the audience will get a real insider’s look at this exciting industry that has been so good to me. One lucky girl will become the face of a major brand.”

Okay, if it wasn’t enough that the producers of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” decided to go back to blue vs. black, Bob vs. Jillian, and two big teams instead of seven or eight little ones, they then decided to mess with the outcome. And for that, I call bullshit. We can all see the manipulation for ratings a mile away, and it’s reached epic proportions this season already. Here is how it went down last night…

Host Alison Sweeney started by giving her “so tonight, the game is going to change” speech that she gives three or four times every season. So it would be blue vs. black, but first the contestants would spin a giant roulette wheel. Under each dome was either a high calorie snack, cash, or a golden ticket that would allow one person to control the game by choosing the teams. Alison did not require everyone to play, but they all did with the exception of Abby. The first four went–Rudy, Rebecca, Allen and Danny, and each had a high calorie snack, including Rudy’s piece of cake that was (gulp) 1000 calories. Then it was Tracey’s turn, the person who collapsed in the first episode yet has managed to totally control the game to this point and make enemies everywhere. So guess what she got? The dang golden ticket. Come on people. Do you really think she spun that on her own? I think the producers stopped rolling tape, inserted golden tickets under every dome and told all the contestants to shut up. I mean, what were the chances? Something like 1 in 50? No freaking way do I believe that. But more on the evil producers in a bit.

So Tracey had control and that made Jillian and Bob laugh a bit too…yeah, they know it’s bullshit. Or Tracey is a witch, which I would definitely believe as well. So of course all of the teams wanted to stick together–Liz and Danny, Shay and Daniel, Rudy and Dina, Amanda and Rebecca. To be honest, it’s somewhat incestuous how much they seem to rely on each other and borders on creepy. And Amanda could not hide her crush on Bob, saying it would be awful if she had Jillian as her trainer while she looked longingly at Bob from across the room. Please.

So naturally Tracey chose her teammate Mo first, and then picked both Daniel and Shay for the black team, saying she respected them both and needed to do that because she believed they were destined to help each other. Then she totally turned on everyone else, breaking up the remaining teams. The blue team would be Tracey, Mo, Allen, Liz, Rudy and Rebecca; and the black team Daniel, Shay, Abby, Danny, Amanda and Dina. They were all pissed, but no one as much as Liz, who vowed she would play the game and then eliminate Tracey the first chance she got. And I thought she meant it, didn’t you? Especially when during the first workout Liz collapsed. Also, Amanda was worked so hard by Jillian that she puked. Awesome.

Bob then took his team on a grocery store trip and cooked them a nice picnic lunch featuring today’s sponsor, Jennie-O turkey! Then came the main challenge, in which the two teams would race through water and mud and rough terrain carrying one of their teammates on a platform. The winning team would receive videos from home. The blue team won, but Rebecca tried to give her prize to Dina and Dina appreciated it but did not accept. Then Liz invited Danny to watch her video but it was his video she put in! How touching.

Then came the weigh in, and the blue team went first, but not before Tracey started mouthing off about how everyone needed to get over the fact she had control. Bitch! She went first and lost 7 pounds. Seven. This woman has just started to be allowed to walk on a treadmill and she’s dropping weight like that the first few weeks? Again, I call bullshit. She’s taking pills or something. Anyway, Mo lost 6, Allen 7, Rudy 8, Rebecca 7 and Liz 8. So it was a good week for the blue team, losing 43 pounds, or 2.09%.

The black team went next, and Abby lost 5, Dina 6 and Amanda 6. Uh-oh. But then came the double digits. Danny lost 10, Daniel 11 and Shay a whopping 16 pounds. Good for them…they lost 54 pounds or 3.05%, almost a full percentage point more than the blue team. So the black team was all safe, as was Liz, who had the highest percentage of weight loss on her team, giving her immunity.

So here we go, right? The blue team had to eliminate one player and that player would surely be Tracey. But wait…..Coach Mo stood up in front of everyone and while I understand his weird allegiance to Tracey, he stated that he should be the one going home because he had the lowest percentage of weight loss. As a coach, he felt this was the right way to play the game. Meanwhile, remember how Liz was seething? Rebecca seemed to also be seething for a bit, and then all of a sudden they started talking about how Coach Mo was right, and that if they kept Tracey around it would make their team stronger and put them in a better position to eliminate her later when she wasn’t expecting it? Uh, come again?

This is where Mrs. Mike and I nearly threw something through the TV. Would they really keep Tracey around after all that venom directed at her? If they did, this was clearly the producers talking and not the contestants. Sure enough, everyone voted for Coach Mo and he was sent home.

At this point, I would stop watching the show if I didn’t have an obligation to blog about it. That’s how pissed I am about the manipulation. More Tracey means more ratings, and that’s what this is all about. It’s no longer about weight loss and getting people healthy, at least not first and foremost. I can even live with a bit of gameplay, but last night was just too much. Producers, you had better earn back my respect somehow or I’m going to personally boycott your advertisers and tell everyone I know to do the same.

As for the contestants who went along with this, you will get yours. Don’t think Tracey won’t eliminate you, Liz and Rebecca, the first chance she gets. I have one word for you: Vicky. Because like Vicky, Tracey is all about the game and you know it. You just let the producers strong arm you.

Okay, I’ve said what I have to say. The good news? Coach Mo has lost 76 pounds, down from 355 to 279. Good for you, coach….keep up the good work!

I apologize to you readers for my fury here, but I’m curious if you’re as pissed off as Mrs. Mike and I are. Let me know in the space below and see you next week….

One of the top rated reality TV shows begins a new season tomorrow night as NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” resumes with its 8th season. The theme of this season is “second chances,” and features a former contestant getting another shot for the first time in the show’s history. That contestant is Daniel Wright, who competed in Season 7 and began, at 454 pounds, as the heaviest entrant to date, and he starts at a comparatively svelte 312 pounds.

There are others receiving “second chances” in life–a firefighter who has let his weight get away from him, a military mom who always put her family first, and a mom and wife who lost her husband and two kids in a horrible car crash.

As always, this show continues to push the envelope, and that is no more evident than in the first episode, as the 16 contestants are pushed to the limit on their first challenge. They also weigh in to find that there are several contestants over 400 pounds, including someone even heavier than Daniel’s 454 last season.

Trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels return, but will be training the contestants as a team instead of against each other, something that both trainers are happy about.

“I think that that’s been evident to America who see us struggle with that dynamic (having each trainer responsible for teams),” said Michaels on a conference call recently. “And so I personally never want to see it go back another way. I think the competition exists between the contestants and should not exist – should not involve the trainers whatsoever.”

And the theme of second chances speaks to the reality that several contestants from past seasons have ballooned back up to their previous weight.

“There’s no finish line,” said Harper. “There’s no like quick fix here. These guys have to like take responsibility of their lives and be able to learn what we give them and take the tools that Jillian and I give them to live a better life and realize that it’s hard.”

So how will it turn out this season? Will the trainers teaming up make a more positive impact on the players and keep the gameplay to a minimum? Tune in tomorrow for the season premiere, and each Tuesday at 8pm/7pm central on NBC, and tune in here for the weekly recap of each episode.

Since the advent of reality television took place in the mid-90s, I’ve been fascinated with what it’s done to the entertainment industry. I remember watching “The Real World: Seattle” as a young teenager and was transfixed by this fledgling genre blooming before my eyes. Looking back, I think I was most captivated by watching people older than myself placed in situations without a script. I probably thought this is what college was like. Granted, the early days of reality TV were much more true to life than the orchestrated trash America eats up these days. Nevertheless, regardless of what you’re doing, if you’re on TV long enough, you’re going to become recognized. But we’ve always treated this recognition differently. What defines “celebrity?” Are news anchors celebrities? Are food network hosts? Funny enough, I ended going to college at the same time as an individual from the cast of “Real World: Seattle.” A friend pointed this person out on campus and I was mildly interested. This was a reality star from a different era. The reality stars of today aren’t people from everyday life — we’ve turned them into celebrities.

But they are indeed now “stars” of the bustling media universe, with all the benefits — and baggage — that entails. And their celebrity viability has consequences for traditional performers, inasmuch as “The Bachelor’s” betrayals and Jon and Kate Gosselin’s marital woes regularly grace tabloids and magazine covers, with no line of demarcation between them and what we used to think of as “stars.”

Only now, because of the unquenchable demand for programming and recognizable “talent,” they aren’t being disposed of. Instead, they’re recycled, creating a permanent reality-TV class accustomed to living their lives on camera — the ever-ready-for-primetime players (and on a budget!).

Their ascension within celebrity circles can be easily chronicled simply by flipping through the pages of US Weekly and People. And while interest in these newly minted stars hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for actor gossip, the migration into spheres once reserved for performers should send shudders up the spine of anyone holding a SAG card.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant cleverly mocked the genre in season two of “Extras” and to me, that’s the most biting commentary I’ve seen on the topic. Still though, who are the people watching “Extras”? They’re an audience with taste — certainly a taste that is disintegrating in our society as reality programming increases each year. I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t watch any of the shows. That would be a bogus claim. Fact is, most of us do watch them. I get a kick out of “I Love New York” and “Rock of Love,” only it stops at the humor. The individuals on these shows are society’s most entertaining fools. Are they celebrities? Of course they are. But they are fools because they wanted to be.

To see more of the show that’s being described as “Like ‘The Osbournes’ but with dildos and lube,” follow this link!