Top Reality TV Stories of 2011

The first season of Bravo's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills highlighted the marital problems between housewife Taylor and her husband Russell Armstrong. Amid allegations of physical abuse, Taylor filed for divorce in July. A month later, Russell committed suicide.

Just before his death, Russell told People.com: "When you get a TV show involved and all the pressure, it just takes it to a whole new level. We were pushed to extremes."

In the wake of his death, friends and critics alike suggested that the ever present cameras of the reality TV show was complicit in his death. There was talk of Bravo pulling the show and the industry taking a good look at itself and the way it exploits damaged people for entertainment.

That way of thinking lasted a couple of weeks, just long enough for reality show producers, cast and viewers to feel it had been an appropriate mourning period, then everything went back to business as usual. Russell and Taylor's marriage continued to disintegrate on screen after the fact, other shows also continued to feature the emotionally crippled and viewers kept turning in to watch.

Those of us who cover reality TV are far from innocent in all of this, we get more readers when there's a controversy than when there are happy moments. Still, I'd rather happy moments see more happy moments in 2012.

Kim Kardashian, the 30-year-old princess of Reality TV's reigning royal family, the (Keeping up With the) Kardashians married 26-year-old New Jersey Nets ball player Kris Humphries in the most expensive wedding since Prince William wed Catherine Middleton.

The August 20th Kardashian-Humphries wedding reportedly cost $10 million, but media outlets supposedly paid the family $18 million (including People's $2.5 million bid for exclusive rights to wedding photos and E!'s whopping payment for Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event, a four-hour, two-part documentary that aired in October.

Two weeks later, just 72-days after the couple exchanged rings, Kim announced that she had filed for divorce, on grounds of irreconcilable differences.

Kris--who Kim later suggested must be gay because he once chose to watch Sports Center over having sex with her--was stunned by the filing, then responded by suing Kim for fraud and asking for an annulment.

The story is far from over. After the divorce announcement, public support the Kardashians waned as people drew attention to the financial wheeling and dealings of the family (not to mention the orchestrated element of their reality shows). The Kardashians didn't become The Kardashians solely on Kim's (well-endowed) backside. They are some smart cookies, and will likely come out the other side of the controversy smelling of roses and even richer than before.

This fall, E! news host and star of Style Network's Giuliana and Bill, Giuliana Rancic surprised everyone by going pubic about her struggle with breast cancer. The creator and executive producer of MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar, had previously been open about her efforts to conceive, but this was a new level of intimacy.

Thirty-six-year-old Giuliana discovered her breast cancer when she had her first mammogram. To encourage other women to also get mammograms, Giuliana courageously revealed her cancer and was open about having a double mastectomy a few months later.

Guiliana explained on Today, "I'll have scars, but I like scars. Scars are beautiful because they tell a story. I'll be able to say that I survived something major and it's made me stronger. I will be a better woman for it."

After the double mastectomy, Guiliana returned to work and her husband, Apprentice winner Bill Rancic reported the doctors felt there is "less than a one percent chance [the cancer] would reoccur."

The finale of 2011's America's Next Top Model All Stars season featured a shocking twist--one of the final three top models was suddenly and inexplicably disqualified from the competition.

That turn of events gave birth to endless rumors, an unsolved mystery and the as yet unanswered question: Why was Angelea Preston disqualified from Top Model?

One frequently cited rumor suggested Preston broke her contract by revealing details about the finale on Facebook, but Jeff Cohen, President of Model Management Group told Wetpaint, "She's a smart person. She would never post anything that would disqualify [her]."

Because Top Model acknowledged re-filming the final judges table, many believe Preston had been crowned as the America's Next Top Model All Star before she was eliminated and Lisa D'Amato was announced as the official winner.

The mystery continues.

Even before competitors took the stage on Dancing With the Stars, the thirteenth season had garnered more attention than previous seasons thanks to the casting of Cher's transgender son, Chaz Bono.

Some right-wing critics even accused DWTS producers of "having a gay agenda," to which executive producer Conrad Green replied (in The Hollywood Reporter), "Of the 120 celebrities we've put on the show, we've had, I think now, three transgender or gay contestants. If that's a homosexual agenda, we're not doing very well at it."

In the end, Bono gained such a loyal following (not to mention mom Cher's ovations and public defenses) that he stayed in the competition well past his dancing skill seemed to warrant. Doing so, he may well have altered viewers' perspectives about transgender people.

The Bachelorette Ashley Herbert was devastated when contestant Bentley Williams suddenly dropped out of the dating competition.

Despite everyone--viewers, producers and, reportedly, even Herbert herself--knowing Williams was only on the show to promote his business, Herbert fell in love with him and even called him "sincere." All the while Williams was, in his own words, "playing everyone."

In fact, Williams told Reality Blurred, he didn't even think Herbert was attractive. On the show, after he said goodbye to the other suitors (who seemed as surprised as their bachelorette), Williams said, “None of them have any idea that I don’t care about Ashley. I had the opportunity and I played everyone. It’s something that’s never been done before.”

It sure was. 2011 was the year a guy didn't just try to make The Bachelorette fall for him so he could win the prize but in order to destroy a lonely girl simply for the publicity. If that's progress, reality contestants might reach all new lows in 2012.

Real To Me: Girls And Reality TV, a 20ll Girl Scout Research Institute report, suggests that watching reality TV may turn young female viewers into mean girls.

Based on a national survey, the report finds that girls who regularly watch reality TV, "accept and expect a higher level of drama, aggression, and bullying in their own lives, and measure their worth primarily by their physical appearance."

But it wasn't all bad. The survey also found positive impacts: not only were girls who watched reality TV more confident than non-viewers, they were more likely to consider themselves mature, smart and funny.

And the study didn't answer other important questions, especially, "Does watching reality TV turn girls mean, or are mean girls more likely to watch certain reality TV shows?"

For months, reality viewers waited impatiently for the premiere of The X Factor, Simon Cowell's follow-up to his record-breaking singing competition American Idol. In addition to his Midas touch, Cowell brought along ex-Idol judge Paula Abdul and he all but guaranteed that X Factor would quickly outshine Idol as the most-watched TV show in America.

But, when the singing competition finally aired, it was far far from record-breaking. Instead, the X Factor premiere attracted only 12.1 million Americans--about half of those who tuned in for the previous season's American Idol.

Still, X Factor has been successful enough to return in 2012; and it garnered media attention for several moments, including Rachel Crow's surprising elimination.

A day before Gene Simmons Family Jewels Season Six premiered, the KISS rocker and his baby momma and longtime live-in lover Shannon Tweed appeared on Kathie Lee and Hoda to promote the A&E reality show. Instead, Tweed used the opportunity to slam Simmons and their relationship.

That certainly wasn't the end of it, as the couple has clearly weathered many a storm over the years. Indeed, Simmons not only made up, but finally asked Tweed to marry him. The two tied the knot in October.

In late 2011, America's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan announced he was leaving the variety competition to focus on his news talk show, Piers Morgan Tonight.

While that was surprising, the truly shocking revelation came later when NBC has announced they were replacing Morgan with controversial shock jock Howard Stern.

Justifying both Stern's exorbitant salary (reportedly $15 million) and moving the show from Los Angeles to New York to accommodate the talk radio host, NBC's reality chief, Paul Telegdy, insisted, "Howard Stern's larger-than-life personality will bring a thrilling new dynamic to America's Got Talent. He's a proven innovator and his track record in broadcasting is truly remarkable. Howard is very passionate about this show and is fully committed to its future success."

Hopefully that means Stern won't ask any of the contestants to strip for him.