Reality television programs

The new 10-episode reality show on Starz follows Anna Martemucci, a graduate of NYU film school, and Shane Dawson, who's been making YouTube videos for eight years. They compete for $250,000.

February sweeps ended Wednesday, so most broadcast networks are back to reruns and reality shows. TV critic David Bianculli says that one of the reality shows, NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant, is much better than the rest -- and makes him hungry for more.

Reality TV shows like Real Housewives and Jersey Shore have given actual reality TV a bad name. As proof, TV critic David Bianculli looks at Boston Med and Gasland -- two new 'reality' programs displaying actual intelligence.

The 48-year-old Scotswoman became an overnight star after her April 2009 performance on Britain's Got Talent, singing a chestnut of a ballad from Les Miserables. With five million copies of her first album sold since Nov. 23, critic Ken Tucker says, it's clear she's delivered what her fans wanted.

Critic-at-large John Powers explains why Gordon Ramsay, the profanity-prone star chef of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, is "the world's greatest TV chef."

Screenwriter Mike White and his father, gay rights activist Mel White, recently danced, ran and bobsledded around the globe as part of The Amazing Race. The duo talks about their relationship and reality-TV adventures.

Hopkins, which premieres tonight, is the sequel to a 2000 ABC documentary series that told intimate, very real stories about medical staff and patients at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University. Fresh Air's TV critic has a review.

Fresh Air's critic at large tells us why he loves the high-fashion challenge Project Runway, a reality-TV staple now in its fourth season on cable's Bravo channel. Among other things, it's one reality show that's about something more interesting than forcing its contestants to eat bugs.

Three new prime-time TV series premiere this week: scripted dramas on ABC and CBS, and a new quiz show on ABC. This week also brings the season finale of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and lots of other activity involving first-run weekly television shows. Our TV critic says that all this action is related -- and little of it is cause for celebration.

Bill Carter reports on the television industry for The New York Times and has written about TV for almost 30 years. His new book is called Desperate Networks and it has a mouthful of a subtitle: Starring Katie Couric, Les Moonves, Simon Cowell, Dan Rather, Jeff Zucker, Teri Hatcher, Conan O'Brien, Donald Trump and a Host of Other Movers and Shakers Who Changed the Face of Prime-Time TV.