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"RuPaul's Drag Race" is coming back March 2 with a judging panel consisting of veterans RuPaul and Michelle Visage and newcomers Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews. Exciting! Personally I will miss Santino Rice's snarly angst, but he's had a good run. More exciting: The announced guest judges this season are pretty thrilling. Kathy Griffin is back along with Olivia Newton-John, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, and John Waters. Pretty damn smashing. But before season seven gets under way, let's make sure to proclaim which celebrities Still need to join RuPaul and criticize the fabulous dames of his runway.  1. Tim Gunn Here's my problem with Tim Gunn on "Project Runway": I truly believe he is holding back. He comes from a distinguished academic background and taught at Parsons for years. He knows biting, incisive criticism. Not that he goes easy on "Project Runway" contestants, but he could certainly be grimmer and more subversive.

Reality TV judging: It’s important. I can only commit to a TV talent show if I believe there are tough, fair-minded judges keeping the circus under control. Since we’re headlong into enticing seasons of The Voice and American Idol, the time is right to reflect upon the best judges in reality TV history – the ones who boast authority, smarts, sass, and fearsomeness. Oh, and some evil too!

10. Nina Garcia, Project Runway

The glamorous Marie Claire editrix has no time for fashion with a less-than-editorial edge, and she’s regularly the most intimidating part of a panel that also includes the fire-breathing Michael Kors and the perpetually aloof Heidi Klum. When she’s not dispensing displeasure at the drop of an accessory, she’s sighing with the kind of amazing contempt that warranted Meryl Streep an Oscar nom in The Devil Wears Prada.

Best Quote: While critiquing Santino Rice’s horrendous,...

With basketball aerial feats, dog tricks, singers and swordplay, it almost feels like the circus has rolled into town. That's not the case at all, though. This is "Canada's Got Talent," a new reality series premiering on March 4, 2012. Based on "America's Got Talent" (of course), people from all over Canada showcase their unique abilities in front of a live studio audience and either move on to the next round, or get buzzed and booted, until a winner is crowned.

Today, initial auditions are taking place at The Metro Toronto Convention Centre, before the judges jet off to Calgary later in the week. The Huffington Post TV Canada was on-hand to discover 10 things viewers should know before tuning in to "Canada's Got Talent."

Expect the Unexpected

Sitting through the audition process is reminiscent of an "The Ed Sullivan Show": almost anything goes. Indeed, there are hardly any restrictions on who performs,...

Photo by: Mike Ruiz/Bravo

Bravo’s design series The Fashion Show returns tonight in arevamped, practically unrecognizable form. Host and judge Kelly Rowland hasbeen replaced by supermodel Iman. There will be 12 designers competing insteadof 15. And, most importantly the competitors will be split into two fashionhouses and will stage a complete runway extravaganza each week.

The one anchoring factor is the return of Isaac Mizrahi.

In a recent conference call interview, Isaac and Iman talkedabout the new format, the latest cast of characters, and how their larger thanlife personalities will factor into the show.

TheFashion Show Ultimate Collection premieres tonight at 10:00 Pm Pst/ 9:00 Pm Central on Bravo.

Q: This is the first time a show has split the designersinto two fashion houses. How does that change the dynamic of the show?

Iman: I mean the show itself is called The Fashion Show. Soultimately, it’s very more...

Toronto – "Jersey Shore" fans may see on-screen tantrums, hissy fits and even fisticuffs.

But MTV Canada insists Snooki and her housemates are just dishing with "unscripted forms of conversation."

So the Canadian broadcaster of "Jersey Shore" recently told the country's TV watchdog after being questioned whether the U.S. reality series and its abrasive cast conforms to MTV Canada's original all-talk programming format (Hr, Sept. 30).

Kevin Goldstein, vp of regulatory affairs for CTVglobemedia, the parent of MTV Canada, in an Aug. 27 letter to the Crtc said the MTV series "documents the private discussions of a group of young New Jersey residents as they navigate issues affecting their lives, including, but not limited to, dating, careers and parties."

Not exactly what the TVGuide.com description for "Jersey Shore" usually says, but CTVglobmedia insists the reality series encourages young Canadians to take to social media sites and MTV's show page to talk about the series.

Toronto -- MTV Canada has received a slap upside the head from the country's TV watchdog over "Jersey Shore," a Canadian cable ratings juggernaut.

 

Seems the Crtc, which polices the Canadian airwaves, wants to know what The Situation, Snooki, JWoww, Pauly D, Sammi and Hungadunga, not to mention other U.S.-originated MTV shows, have to do with MTV Canada's original programming mandate to operate an all-talk format.

 

"After a review of your broadcast schedule, it would appear that several of your programs are not consistent with your nature of service, such as 'Jersey Shore,' 'Cribs,' 'Downtown Girls' and 'Teen Mom,' " the regulator told MTV Canada-parent CTVglobemedia in an July 27, 2010 letter that requested clarification of the channel's programming strategies.

What may also have caught the Crtc's eye is "Jersey Shore" is a ratings phenomenon on Canadian TV, and this summer closed in on "The Hills" as...

Bravo will announce later today that model and Project Runway Canada host Iman will co-host season two of The Fashion Show, I've learned from someone close to the production who asked not to be identified for fear of Bravo's wrath. The second season, which has new producers, is currently casting. Iman will host along with Isaac Mizrahi, and has previous appeared on Project Runway and Top Model. Here's her intro to season two of Canada's...

Toronto -- Canadian broadcaster Global Television will draw on its past and present reality TV series to launch an all-reality Canadian cable channel.

The 24/7 Global Reality Channel will launch July 1 with episodes of homegrown and foreign reality series, including from the "Survivor," "Big Brother" and "The Apprentice" franchises.

The Canadian digital channel will also include re-runs of "Project Runway Canada," "X-Weighted," "Fear Factor," "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" and "Deal Or No Deal Canada."

Global Television has fought a three-corner fight for Canadian eyeballs with its reality series going up against primetime hits like "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" on rival CTV and Rogers Media with "The Bachelor," and its spinoff "The Bachelorette."

Now Global is the first broadcaster to package its reality series into a dedicated cable channel as U.S. scripted series make a ratings comeback in Canadian primetime.

Toronto -- Talk about TV that taps into the zeitgeist.

"Battle of the Blades," a new reality competition series that has hockey heroes mastering graceful ice dance routines with figure skating champs, has become a ratings winner for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Think Canada, and ice naturally comes to mind. And the CBC has scored as hockey-mad Canadians watch retired NHL greats get schooled in leading and lifting -- and hopefully not dropping -- former Olympic female figure skaters.

No knock on Kristy Swanson and Bruce Jenner, but "Battle of the Blades" exec producer John Brunton insists the CBC series is no "Skating With Celebrities," the 2006 Fox on-ice take of ABC's hit "Dancing With the Stars" series.

Brunton said the Canadian ice dance competition series enlisted athletes who know how to stay steady on their skates.

"When Canadians watch figure skating, they want to see a high level of quality,...

Toronto -- Toronto-based Insight Production Co. and FremantleMedia Enterprises, already first-look partners, took their relationship a step further Monday, unveiling a development financing deal to co-fund scripted and unscripted projects.

Insight founder and CEO John Brunton said that he and FremantleMedia will pool development money, with a focus on co-venture opportunities for both scripted and non-scripted content.

He added that Insight and FremantleMedia intend to partner with international broadcasters and producers, including U.S. players, to get projects the script funding.

Projects already underway at Insight and FremantleMedia include a new version of the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" TV franchise that will be unveiled at Mipcom later this week.

The project will be done in partnership with Ripley Entertainment, a division of the Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group, and shopped in the U.S. market by the William Morris Agency.

Meanwhile, Insight will continue to have first option for Canada on new FremantleMedia formats,...