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Andy Dehnart

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As seen in: reality blurred, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Quora, Substack, The Daily Beast, Flipboard, Vulture, Pacific Standard and
Covers:  reality TV, documentary series, nonfiction entertainment, media, pop culture, television, books related to reality TV/documentary
Doesn't Cover: celebrity gossip
Writer, TV critic, teacher, improviser
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Andy Dehnart’s Journalist Portfolio

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Forget the pounds. 'The Biggest Loser' tries to shed critics of its weight-loss plan

Forget the pounds. 'The Biggest Loser' tries to shed critics of its weight-loss plan

Los Angeles Times — In early 2016, after 12 years and 17 seasons on NBC, the weight-loss reality show "The Biggest Loser" quietly aired its final episode. The competition had long faced criticism over subjects including its structure and methodology, the risks of extreme weight loss and the lengths to which contestants would go to slim down to win the $250,000 prize.
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How Could Survivor Have Screwed Up This Badly?

How Could Survivor Have Screwed Up This Badly?

Vulture — "Two hours of riveting Survivor." That's how host and showrunner Jeff Probst teased two early November episodes, which included a clear, unambiguous illustration of sexual harassment and its fallout. Probst's expectation that the audience would find repeated unwanted touching, gaslighting, and the literal silencing of a victim to be "riveting" is just part of the tsunami of real-life horror that's swept over Survivor in its 39th season.
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Saving Critical Thinking, One Joke at a Time

Saving Critical Thinking, One Joke at a Time

Pacific Standard — Before Adam Conover ever got his own television show, he got a cake. It was decorated with his face: photorealistic frosting that captured his vertically styled bloom of blond hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and light stubble. It also had a URL, and next to the cake was a laptop open to the site Opinionated Things Adam Says.
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Do Reality Competitions Need Big-Name Hosts?

Do Reality Competitions Need Big-Name Hosts?

Vulture — Project Runway is losing its stars, but will it matter if the format is strong enough? The histories of shows like America's Top Model and The Great British Bake-Off provide a couple of case studies as to what could happen next.
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Can Food Network Survive in the Age of Netflix Cooking Shows?

Can Food Network Survive in the Age of Netflix Cooking Shows?

Grub Street — On food TV, It’s Netflix versus Food Network.
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'Bachelor in Paradise' producer discusses talks with cast about alcohol and consent

'Bachelor in Paradise' producer discusses talks with cast about alcohol and consent

Los Angeles Times — But there was an alcohol limit imposed during production, though it isn't a permanent rule. "It's trial and error. I'm not sure - I can't say it's really the right one," Hilton said, adding that in the future, "we may actually decide to have them drink more or less."
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Review: The Keepers and S-Town are not about murders. They're about survivors. - reality blurred

Review: The Keepers and S-Town are not about murders. They're about survivors. - reality blurred

realityblurred.com — Both Netflix's documentary reality series The Keepers and the Serial Productions podcast Shit-Town, or S-Town, have each been this year's two next-big-true-crime sensations. They are beautifully crafted, haunting works of nonfiction art, each illustrating the best of their respective mediums. They're also not true crime stories.
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Forget 100 days — we’ve been watching this Trump for years

Forget 100 days — we’ve been watching this Trump for years

The Washington Post — Watching “The Apprentice” episode after episode, season after season, revealed a different Trump — a version that presaged much of what we’ve seen during his first 100 days in office with acute, unnerving accuracy.
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Fact-checking a scene from CBS' Hunted

Fact-checking a scene from CBS' Hunted

reality blurred — How does CBS’ Hunted work? How do the hunters get access to private information? CBS wouldn’t grant an interview, so I dug into one scene to find out.
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After facing some big challenges, Marc Summers is back for the 30th anniversary of 'Double Dare'

After facing some big challenges, Marc Summers is back for the 30th anniversary of 'Double Dare'

Los Angeles Times — Marc Summers stood in front of a giant prop nose filled with goo. He was explaining to '90s Nickelodeon star Lori Beth Denberg ("All That") how to root around the nostrils to retrieve a neon orange flag from inside. Fans of "Double Dare" recognized the iconic, gross-but-funny obstacle from the enduringly popular Nickelodeon game show.
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Why there is less reality TV on television this fall

Why there is less reality TV on television this fall

Los Angeles Times — If viewers are looking for "The Amazing Race" this fall, they can stop. Although the 29th season of the globetrotting series was filmed this summer, it is not on CBS' fall schedule for the first time in 12 years. The critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning show is the latest victim of the erosion of reality television this fall on broadcast networks.
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'Married at First Sight,' Now in a Lasting Relationship

'Married at First Sight,' Now in a Lasting Relationship

Pacific Standard — Shortly after marrying a complete stranger in a small hotel conference room, Jamie Otis excused herself, walked to an empty hallway, and slid down the wall. She pulled her wedding veil across her face and cried, still holding a bouquet of yellow and white flowers.
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Will Shark Week Get Back to Reality This Year?

Will Shark Week Get Back to Reality This Year?

Vulture — Can a former Disney executive undo the damage to a cable network's reputation caused by an extinct shark? That's the promise of new leadership at the Discovery Channel, which for the past two years has substituted fiction for fact during Shark Week and hurt both itself and the public in the process. Discovery Channel president Rich Ross knows that Shark Week is an institution for the network he was hired to run last fall. "People love being part of it," he told me, because it "had a sense of timelessness that is pretty rare in the world of entertainment" and is "a great celebratory manifestation of what the network stood for, stands for, what is most loved about it."
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How Survivor challenges are constructed

How Survivor challenges are constructed

NPR — In the nine years and 19 - yes, 19 - seasons has been on air, "challenges" have become a hallmark of the Emmy Award-winning CBS show. Survivor: Samoa debuts on Thursday with dramatic backdrops of thundering waterfalls, lush rain forests, and wide, sandy beaches. Survivor challenges can be giant obstacle courses, violent brawls, complex puzzles or blindfolded mazes. Though the contests may look relatively simple, they are the product of months of careful planning. "These are games that look kind of basic," says Survivor host Jeff Probst. "They're made from wood, and there's some paint on them ...
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Survivor Spy Exposed

Survivor Spy Exposed

Daily Beast — In 2009, Survivor’s producer filed a secret lawsuit to discover who had been leaking spoilers about the show. As part of this investigation, I talk to the man who was sued, who reveals that his source was one of the show’s most famous cast members.
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The Curse of Reality TV

The Curse of Reality TV

Playboy — For this feature story, I went behind the scenes of A&E’s Hoarders and spent a weekend with a former Survivor cast member to learn how the production of reality TV impacts its real-life subjects, from the mentally ill to those who just want to be liked.
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Reality on the High Seas

Reality on the High Seas

Playboy — The environmental activist group Sea Shepherd took two boats to the Faroe Islands last summer, trying to stop whaling while crews from Animal Planet’s series Whale Wars documented their actions. The Faroese, fans of Whale Wars, were horrified that they were now its villains. This piece, reported from the Steve Irwin, tells the story of the intersection of activism, tradition, and television.
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