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The
WB Announces Two New Reality Shows That May Sound Familiar to
ABC Executives
 
The WB is
joining the rush to pick up a reality show for the new season,
greenlighting a 13-episode mideseason order for Popstars.
The series
will follow the manufacturing of an all-girl pop band. Which is
a concept strikingly familiar to fans of ABC's Making The Band,
which follows the manufacturing of an all-boy pop band. And given
that shows modest success (the network ended up pulling the show
during the May sweeps), it's certainly a gutsy call by the WB.
Popstar
originated in New Zealand and is a top-rated series in Australia.
In fact, Bardot(pictured below), the band created on the Australia
version, topped the local album charts soon after the release
of their debut CD.
As in the
other versions of the show, the Americanized Popstars will
select five young women and document their lives as they work
their way toward their first concert.
The WB is
also collaborating with producer Henry Winkler on a reality series
tentatively titled Reality Check which goes behind the
scenes of a young-skewing newsmagazine. Which is once again strikingly
similiar to a series announced by ABC last month. In that planned
shows--which would debut in midseason--cameras would follow around
a New York City-based staff of twentysomethings who attempt to
launch an online magazine.
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