Boston Reality Roundup

Now that the new fall season of reality TV shows has started up, Bostonist feels at home again. After a summer of Rescue Me and Laguna Beach, we are ready to go back to the network stations and their new round of awful (yet enjoyable) reality TV shows. As usual, the city of Boston has spread their seed into the homes of America with a new cast of reality characters.

On Wednesday night, Martha Stewart's The Apprentice aired, with Boston's own Dawn, a 33-year-old public relations consultant and Emerson College writing instructor. She definitely stood out in this episode, making it to the elimination round in the conference room, where she was was spared by Martha this week. While Dawn seems like a pretty smart cookie with her degrees and work experience, she has decided to approach TV with no makeup, which won't win you brownie points on a Mark Burnett show. Joining up with the "creative" team called Matchstick, you'd think she would have done great work at the first task of writing a children's book (because she's a WRITER). But, well, let's just say that Bostonist thinks Dawn's days are numbered in the world of Martha.

On another Burnett production, Survivor:Guatemala, the eleventh season includes a local Boston gal with a career in law enforcement, just in case things get nuts in the wilderness. Like a storm on the horizon, our Massachusetts gem, Amy, quietly waits to strike. Let the bold ones speak out and be voted against. Amy will plot and plan off screen until the time comes. While this week she got almost no screen time, you know that Mark Burnett is saving all of her footage for later. Bostonist wishes our town's only Survivor contender this season the best of luck.

Although not a true reality TV show, the second season of The Office started last Tuesday with hilarious Steve Carell, now known as the "40-year-old Virgin" after the summer's movie of the same name. Carell grew up in Concord, MA, and now stars in the American spin-off of the BBC show, The Office. If you have ever found yourself working in a cubicled space, this show, which is filmed in a sort of "documentary-reality" style, is for you. Carell is also hosting this week's season opener of Saturday Night Live with musical guest Kanye West.

Stefan Hayden contributed to this story