Keeping Up with the Kardashians
"Keeping Up with the Kardashians" premiered on October 14, 2007 in the United States on the E! cable network at 10:30/9:30 pm ET/PT. The half-hour reality series continued to air every Sunday night in the same time slot, and the eight-episode first season of the show concluded on December 2. The subsequent season premiered the following year on March 9 in an earlier time slot at 10:00/9:00 pm with a repeated episode airing immediately afterwards. The season ended on May 26, 2008 with an episode "Junk in the Trunk", which featured the Kardashian siblings sharing the most memorable moments of the season. The third season commenced airing on March 8, 2009 and concluded with two back-to-back episodes which aired on May 25. The subsequent season premiered with a two-hour long episode entitled "The Wedding" on November 8, and ended on February 21, 2010; some of the episodes aired throughout the season were extended to a full hour.
Karaoke Television
The first show aired on February 20, 2001, from the Bellevue Hotel on Southern Foreshore. Six contestants (trimmed to five in later seasons) appeared and sang a selection played by the karaoke director (originally Richard Villanueva, later replaced by a team featuring former champion Louis Maskall). The best performer was selected by a group of judges and advanced to the semifinal round; in all ten semifinalists were selected. In the semi-finals, the contestants again sang a song of their own choosing and the top two advanced to the final round. In the final, each contestant sings two songs and composite scores are totaled for a grand champion. In the 2005 and 2006 seasons the semi-final round included a "lightning round" in which the contestants selected a song they had not rehearsed and sang a portion of it to the judges. Small prizes were regularly donated and awarded to all participants; typically, the weekly winner received souvenirs and a cash prize from Channel 5. The grand prizes have changed from season to season; a karaoke machine was awarded in 2005, while in 2006 the main prize was a bedroom set.