It appears that Vh1 Celebreality masterminds 51 Minds Entertainment have ridden Flavor Flav all the way to the promised land. Variety reports that the reality television production company, led by Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, has been purchased by Endemol USA (Big Brother, Deal Or No Deal) for $200 million plus. Cronin and Abrego, who are keenly aware that we're all nostalgic for conversations we had yesterday, are the brains behind has-been resurrection series The Surreal Life, and its seemingly endless chain of spinoffs (My Fair Brady, Strange Love, Flavor of Love — its subsequent spin-offs I Love New York and Charm School...). But what do they really have going for them? As Endemol president David Goldberg explains, a lot of it has to do with them not being named Ben Silverman or Mark Burnett:

John De Mol, the 47-year-old Dutch head of the Endemol production company, is to blame for the Ebola-like growth of reality TV programming. [Ed. note"Endemol" is very nearly an anagram for "Demerol," which seems oddly appropriate, given the numbing effects of both.] De Mol helped start the unfortunate trend with the creation of Big Brother and later Fear Factor.
Sex, money & videotape [ABC News via IWantMedia]