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Andy Dehnart

writer, TV critic, teacher

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writing

Andy Dehnart > writing

My writing life ranges from my daily reviews and reality TV news analysis on reality blurred to long-form magazine journalism.

Explore what I’ve written, starting with these highlights:

An L.A. chef tries to preserve a dying Italian tradition

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times

Chef Evan Funke travels to Italy to learn how to make rare shapes of pasta by hand, a tradition that’s dying. I interviewed him and the producers of this new Quibi documentary show.

Reality on the High Seas

Photo Credit: Playboy

Sea Shepherd activists went to the Faroe Islands to try to stop whaling, a tradition that goes back centuries. Aboard their ship was an Animal Planet film crew.

This piece won the Society for Professional Journalists’ Sunshine State Award for magazine feature reporting.

Double Dare's Marc Summers' new role: vulnerability on stage

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times

I traveled to Indiana to profile one of the stars of 1990s television: Double Dare host Marc Summers. He was performing in an autobiographical play that told stories from his life I wasn't aware of, a performance that I wrote was "both biography and a triumph of vulnerability, a very public rejection of the fear of being stigmatized after sharing his OCD diagnosis."

How Could Survivor Have Screwed Up This Badly?

Photo Credit: Vulture

In this essay in Vulture, I explored Survivor’s clear, unambiguous illustration of sexual harassment, and the show's many failures in its handling and presentation of real-life events.

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

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times

The Biggest Loser returned, promising that it had changed. I investigated whether or not its formula and format was still causing harm to its participants and the public.

'Survivor: Samoa' Rises To New Season Of Challenges

Photo Credit: NPR

On location in Samoa, I explored for All Things Considered about what it takes to create a reality TV challenge.

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

Photo Credit: Grub Street

I reported on Food Network, which has evolved into a home for reality TV competitions and personalities, not instructional cooking—and whether Netflix's food shows represent an existential threat.

Did The Real World change, or did I?

Photo Credit: Vulture

In my review of The Real World: Atlanta, a rebooted version of the show produced for Facebook, I looked at the show's history, from seminal unscripted TV show to drunken mess.

For my other writing, explore one of these categories:

essays and TV reviews
reporting and journalism
long-form journalism
all publications

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Andy Dehnart, photographed by Kellie Warren, March 2019

Hi! I'm Andy, a writer and teacher who obsessively and critically covers reality TV and unscripted entertainment, focusing on how it’s made and what it means. Learn more about me.

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RSS recent writing on reality blurred

  • Survivor 42’s ‘impressive’ winner: as satisfying and joyful as the season itself
  • Why Survivor 42 was so much better than Survivor 41
  • Real World turns 30: Here are 19 wild descriptions of it from 1992
  • A Survivor 42 player became ‘a real competitor in this game, not a goat to be herded’
  • Amazing Race and Survivor will be paired together for the first time ever this fall
  • How The G Word with Adam Conover improves on Adam Ruins Everything
  • The Quest on Disney+: questions, answered about this new season
  • Reality TV news of note and must-reads: May 2022
  • Please die, Survivor’s Do or Die, for threatening great strategy with a dumb game of chance
  • Disney+’s The Quest: so impressive and immersive the real-life players get lost

what I’ve been doing

  • Three podcasts, two stories, one wild year December 30, 2021
  • Thank you again, SPJ Florida! August 8, 2021
  • Me and my writing, in your inbox October 24, 2019
  • I asked CBS executives about their reality shows’ problems with race. Here’s what happened. August 16, 2019
  • An anniversary, and three recommendations, plus a way to really stay up to date July 15, 2019

“It’s good to be curious about many things.”

—Mister Rogers

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RSS recent reality blurred stories

  • Survivor 42’s ‘impressive’ winner: as satisfying and joyful as the season itself
  • Why Survivor 42 was so much better than Survivor 41
  • Real World turns 30: Here are 19 wild descriptions of it from 1992
  • A Survivor 42 player became ‘a real competitor in this game, not a goat to be herded’
  • Amazing Race and Survivor will be paired together for the first time ever this fall

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