Boxers and Ballerinas
This revealing documentary follows four young people — a boxer and ballerina in Miami and a boxer and ballerina in Havana — who share similar hopes and dreams, but face disparate challenges relating to their individual circumstances and geographical trajectory. Yordenis and Annia must deal with poverty and restricted travel in Communist Cuba, while Cuban Americans Sergio and Paula have no shortage of their own struggles to deal with.
The Sitter 
In this made-for-cable thriller, affluent California couple Carter (William R. Moses) and Meghan (Gail O’Grady) hire sweet teen Abby Reed (Mariana Klaveno) as a live-in nanny for their two children — only to discover that she’s harboring a dark secret. Shortly after her arrival, the neighbors begin to meet gruesome demises, arousing Meghan’s suspicions about Abby — but it may be too late. Jon Lindstrom also stars.
New G4 Reality Show ‘Hurl!’ Has America Woofing-Up Its Vittles [Vomit]
Having nowhere to go but down, this summer’s reality TV-infested schedule is getting back to basics, revisiting the kinds outrageous gross-out stunts spawned by early goat-scrotum-consumption adapter, Fear Factor. ABC’s Wipeout, currently previewed in promos running ad nauseam on that network, requires contestants to run a treacherous gauntlet filled with boulder-sized versions of the terrifying red dodgeballs of our youth. But G4 goes one better with their July entry into an already crowded people-doing-really -stupid-shit-on-TV field, with perhaps the greatest gag-reflex competition ever mounted: Hurl! From ABCNews.com:
Ten years ago, it would have been out of the question to base a TV show around vomit. Today, a little artful editing allows it to star in its own reality series.
“Vomit on-screen is covered by animated buckets with a one- to five-bucket rating system,” said Dale Roy Robinson, who developed and executive produces “Hurl!” with Tom Crehan. “Actually, the show has very little to do with vomit, and everything to do with competition and camaraderie. It’s like a college dare all grown up into its own TV show. It’s nothing different from what fraternity boys do.”
Crehan added, “It’s more wholesome and uplifting than any dating show you’d care to make.”
While we love the concept of a Purgevivor (we invite you now to peruse their site’s fabulous image gallery, which contains no actual puke, but some highly evocative images of an all-you-can-eat sushi bar on choppy seas that does everything but hold your hair back as you dive for the toilet), we hardly think its necessary for one great reality show genre to diminish another. On the contrary: We wish Crehan would see the potential of combining forces with The Bachelorette—a beautiful marriage of formats that’s almost guaranteed to feature the most shocking. hot tub. upchuck. orgy. ever.
Bonus link: 339 synonyms for throwing up! (Though “ralph” is curiously missing.) [c4ct.com]
- Has Reality TV Hit Rock Bottom? [ABCNews.com]
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