Like Burning Love and The Joe Schmo Show before it, Lifetime’s UnREAL is proving that send-ups of reality TV can have the same staying power as the shows they skewer. The network has renewed its freshman hit for a 10-episode second season, according to multiple sources. Entertainment Weekly reports that UnREAL’s first five episodes have averaged a viewership of 4.8 million (after all platforms are considered), and the show has garnered some of the best reviews in the history of Lifetime (The A.V. Club’s well-documented appreciation of Lifetime Original Movies notwithstanding). Sure, it’s hard to live up to the lofty standards set by Mother, May I Sleep With Danger, but Shiri Appleby’s journey to behind-the-scenes dating-show redemption (under the tutelage of a deliciously manipulative Constance Zimmer) makes for ideally entertaining summer viewing. Plus, Lifetime and the show’s studio share a parent company, so it’s in the entire organization’s best interest to order more editing-bay deceptions, poolside brawls, and surprisingly compelling depictions of legal skirmishes over intellectual property.
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