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Dec. 9: Former TODAY host Bryant Gumbel, made a surprise announcement yesterday that he was recently treated for lung cancer. Msnbc's Willie Geist reports.

Q: Whatever happened to the guy who hit Danny on "Real World" Austin? Did they use the tapes/pictures to catch the guy and press charges?    —Christine

A: Yes. In part because of the video footage of the incident, the man who is allegedly responsible for punching Danny and literally breaking his face was arrested and later indicted by a grand jury. He'll face trial sometime in the future, but has been released on bond in the meantime.

Ryan Richard Getman "is facing two felony counts of aggravated assault," according to The Austin Chronicle, which notes that "MTV producers supplied police with video of the incident and told them they believed the man was named 'Brian Getman,' and supplied an address. Investigators compared pictures of Getman to the images of the incident, and Getman was arrested and released on bond."

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The fight was broadcast as part of the first episode of the Austin season of "The Real World,"  during which cast member Danny Jamieson rushed into the middle of a street fight and fell. That's when a man punched him in the face, breaking his cheek and other bones in his face.

What did we learn from all of this? While it's probably not a good idea to get drunk and then throw yourself into the middle of a street fight, violently hitting someone in the presence of cameras is an even stupider idea. And that poor Danny is having one of the saddest seasons of any "Real World" cast member ever. In a tough-to-watch episode that aired recently, he was informed via telephone that his mother had died of a heart attack at age 45.    —A.D.

Q: For some unknown reason, I find myself watching "Laguna Beach." I just don't believe that the people on the show aren't actors. They all look too perfect and the scenes seem rehearsed. What gives?      —Jackie

A: "Laguna Beach" started its second season a few weeks ago, and even though the first season debuted a year ago, it's still ground-breaking reality television. That's because it's both shot and edited like a dramatic series. It looks, therefore, like a show populated by actors, but is actually a reality series, and the case members are actual high school students in Laguna Beach.

As with most reality series, hundreds of hours of footage are shot, and so only the best, most dramatic footage is used. The Web site Gawker reported last week that one way producers make sure the footage looks raw is by placing cameras far away, so they're not intrusive. Additionally, as is somewhat common, producers and cast members communicate about what's going on, in part to assure that cameras will be there to capture the best moments.    —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.

© 2009 msnbc.com Reprints


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