Best and worst of summer reality TV

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Palin responds to Shatner's beat poetry
Dec. 13: Sarah Palin turns the tables on William Shatner when she recites beat poetry on "The Tonight Show," using words from Shatner's autobiography, "Until Now."

Funniest TV shows of the decade

Palin surprises 'Tonight Show'

Tiger remains silent, late-night doesn’t

Fey ready to see Baldwin naked

Q: As a hearing impaired person, I noticed that there are no disabled contestants in any of the reality TV shows. Why? —Michael

A: They have appeared on some shows.

Christy Smith, a deaf woman, was on the Amazon season of "Survivor." Chad Crittenden, who appeared on "Survivor Vanuatu," had one leg amputated just below the knee due to a rare cancer called Synovial Sarcoma. And the winner of the very first season of "Big Brother" was Eddie McGee, a wheelchair basketball star who'd lost his left leg to cancer.

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I'm betting readers can remember some other disabled contestants — if so, send us a note. —G.F.C.

Q: Will the Fox Reality network be creating any original reality shows? —DKMI

A: They will, but not many. Although FOX Reality began as a cable channel that mostly recycled old reality shows, including “American Idol,” it’s moving toward creating original programming. The network has aired series that were produced for other networks but were killed before airing or after airing just a few episodes, like CBS’ “The Will.”

FOX Reality already airs a daily original production called “Reality Remix” that sort of recaps the latest happenings on reality shows. While it’s hosted by former MTV VJ Kennedy, it’s not exactly as snarky or witty as “The Soup” or “Best Week Ever.”

Recently, the network announced that, this fall, it will produce and air an original reality series called “My Bare Lady.” As its title suggests, the three-hour series follows porn stars who try to get jobs as stage actors in London. FOX Reality is producing it along with UK production company Zig Zag Productions, which will air the show elsewhere in the world. —A.D.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is MSNBC.com's Television Editor. Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.