Los Angeles, CA: Groundbreaking channel Bravo TV is once again pioneering the fine art of reality TV with a new show set to debut this spring. Known for such masterpieces as Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, Top Chef All-Stars, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Beverly Hills, and New York, Bravo TV is certainly a leader in quality television; Project Bengay stands to be their greatest contribution to television yet. A spin-off of the already successful hit Project Runway, Project Bengay will follow the same basic premise except that the minimum age of contestants will be 55.

Pop culturalist and blogger Princeton Aarons applauds Bravo TV for their risk taking outlook. “It makes perfect sense. This is one of the last untapped communities in reality television. The show has a fresh perspective with an already pre-established fan base”.  Given the success of D-List celebrity Kathy Griffin's mother Maggie Griffin, this should come as no surprise. The elderly, and often drunk off of box wine, mother of the ginger comedian has become wildly successful after her appearance on the show. Dr. Parker Thomas, leading researcher at UCLA in TV/Film Studies, predicted this turn in focus to the elderly. “Audiences have become tired with the predictable patterns of drunken adults who sleep around and pregnant bratty teenagers. America is looking for an inside perspective into the golden years of America’s elders”.

Agnes Gladstone, one of the sixteen contestants, is a retired lawyer. After retirement, Gladstone pursued a number of hobbies – cross-stitching, Tae Bo, and archery – but ultimately fell in love with fashion design. “I was often disappointed by the selection at clothing stores. So I began making my own clothes and suddenly all of my girlfriends were asking for a chic comfortable outfit.

The show is rumored to have secured eccentric personality Joan Rivers as host; Rivers only commented that they were still in negotiations. Other suspected hosts for the show include Dame Judi Dench, Blonde, and Betty White. Some of the challenges for the 10 episode season include vintage versus retro, a modern funeral wear outfit, and a red carpet look for Helen Mirren. The show experienced minor setbacks early in the production process when contestants had difficulty remembering the challenges. Bravo's new television show "Project Bengay" is set to premiere March 16th at 6pm Eastern/5pm pacific.

The following is my attempt at fake news, much in the stylings of The Onion. The names, events, and places mentioned in this article are all fictional including Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more daily gossip articles!

This weekend has been absolutely crazy. A'DOLLed Fantasy held auditions for new spots within the company. We had a great turnout and we hired on some amazing new dancers to the company. They are all absolutely incredible and all bring different looks and talent to the table. Amidst all that, my icon and general role model, Miss Betty White, hosted one of the funniest Saturday Night Live episodes in a hell of a long time. It reminded me of the golden times of Saturday Night Live with Ana Gesteyer, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, and more. They brought back some of my favorite segments and sketches for the episode.

Meanwhile, the Utility Players put up the newest episode of their podcast AWKWARD MOMENTS. This episode focused on a discussion of reality TV in all of its splendor. I have a very intimate relationship with reality tv - I basically grew up on it. I started out with a regular dosage of game show reality tv with The Price is Right, The Weakest Link, Hollywood Squares, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Deal or no Deal, and more. I then quickly moved on to the reality tv sensation of Real World and Road Rules. Then of course, competition reality tv took over with Project Runway, Survivor, American Idol, Biggest Loser, and The Amazing Race. Finally, but certainly not least, the reality tv dating games are perhaps my favorite. I became an avid fan of Joe Millionaire, One Shot with Tila Tequila, the Bachelor, and the Bachelorette. My favorite one and probably the one that highlights the ridiculousness of reality tv was a dating game featured on the Bravo network called Boy Meets Boy. It was a gay reality tv dating show where this studly yet sensitive gay bachelor had 15 hot men to choose from. He even had the assistant of his fag hag best friend to aid him in choosing which bachelors to kick off. The caveat of this show - not all of the men on the show were straight. If bachelor ended up choosing a gay partner, then he and his partner would live happily ever after in gay bliss with $100,000. However, if a straight men was chosen as the bachelor's partner, the gay guy would get nothing and the straight men would walk away with $100,000. The bachelor and and the friend were unaware of this at the beginning and it was only revealed to them at the end.  I remember watching the show fascinated until the producers told the bachelor and the friend and the best friend freaked out. She broke down and thought that this was stupid and hurtful to do to another human being. I had that get real moment of "how far are we willing to go in order to entertain the masses?"

Do we enjoy watching reality tv because it is comforting to witness the lives of people who are worse off than we are? Does it provide solace? Do we tell ourselves, "as bad as my life is, at someone else has it worse than I do"?

There is no doubt that reality TV has molded and shaped our experiences and perception of pop culture. It will be interesting - and slightly scary - to see how reality television continues to evolve and works to shape entertainment.

Here is the podcast episode with the Utility Players sharing their own views and experiences with reality TV. Enjoy!!!!