I’m Not Here to Make Friends

I’m Not Here to Make Friends : A Reality Show Podcast

A weekly podcast hosted by Allison Nowacki and Bryan J Polk about what’s going on in the world of reality shows. We laugh at, disect and discuss several shows each week as well as answer messages from our listeners.

Allison Nowacki (host/executive producer/creator)

Born the poor daughter of wealthy parents on the mean streets of the Chicago suburbs her love of television came early in life with such shows as David The Gnome, Thundercats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also, not to be forgotten, live shows like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Friends, Moonlight and most importantly Veronica Mars. She attended Bradley University in Peoria, IL as a communications major concentrating in television and also theatre. While working at a local television station she met Bryan Polk and things would never be the same (if that is a good or bad thing is yet to be seen). The relationship Allison has with reality television is sordid and very much love/hate. In an interview Allison was quoted as saying “It’s like NASCAR, I dont like it but I watch hoping to see a crash”. Her father’s love of Big Brother brought her over to the dark side. Soon the floodgates opened and reality television became a staple in her household. Some of Allison’s favorite reality shows include Top Chef (BRAVO), Big Brother (CBS), Solitary (Fox Reality Channel), Wifeswap (ABC) and Hell’s Kitchen (FOX). She currently works in television technology in Los Angeles, CA haunting many local bars and is quite the beer connoisseur.

Bryan J. Polk (host/executive producer)

Out of the wilderness of the rural Midwest comes Bryan J. Polk, a boy who began life as he was destined to live it… going in several directions at once. While he grew up with only a small black and white television that only received 4 channels, he would still wind up glued to the glowing screen before him. He developed a love a television that has yet to be broken. Several years later on in life he ended up moving to sunny Los Angeles with Allison Nowacki and it was decided to put their mutual love of television to good use and start a podcast. While Top Chef (BRAVO) is one of the few reality shows that Bryan looks forward to, he has grown to also love Big Brother (CBS) and Kitchen Nightmares (FOX). When Bryan isn’t watching reality television or talking about it he’s either taking a nap, or mixing a fine martini.

Danielle Turchiano (writer/talent booker/producer)

Danielle Turchiano is a Los Angeles-based freelance Writer/Producer. She has worked on over a dozen independent film and television projects and self-published her first novel, “Stars in their Eyes,” in November 2007. She is a self-proclaimed pop culture addict who contributes to various entertaiment news sites in addition to this blog. Her love of television started at an extremely early age, and despite growing up with only the seven-channel options of rabbit ears, she managed to learn enough life lessons to write a book of autobiographical essays entitled “My Life, Made Possible By Pop Culture” which is currently looking for a publisher. Though her early years consisted mainly of “Saved by the Bell,” “California Dreams,” and “Friends,” she has since expanded her television interests to the point where a friend in college once told her she watches “so much reality TV that it makes [his] eyes bleed.” Until she gets her own television show, or her book becomes #1 on the Best Seller list, she may consider that her crowning achievement.

Nicholas Thurkettle (Website Reviewer)

Nicholas graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Theatre Performance and Music, and since then has sold luggage, driven limousines, taken many road trips, dated a pistol-packing stripper, competed on two game shows, spent five years in feature film development, taught an award-winning screenwriting class, worked on dozens of plays and short films, blogged over 1,000,000 words, and once in a great while managed to finish a script. His screenplay Queen Lara was purchased by Room 9 Entertainment (Thank You For Smoking), and he optioned 7 Red to producer Branon Coluccio (The Condemned); his play Hotel Chicago was staged as a reading at the Ruby Theatre in Hollywood, and he works regularly with the acclaimed LA theater company Sacred Fools as a writer and director. He is still in deep denial about whether his obsession with Dancing With the Stars makes him a reality show fan, and counters it on Monday nights by also never missing an episode of 24.