I'm Back...

That's right, after nearly a two year hiatus, the reality addict is back. I miss writing about tv, and since reality tv keeps moving further and further away from reality, I have a lot to say. I'm hoping to be back to full speed soon, posting about the summer shows and sharing some insights into the alternate universe of reality television.

A quick note to those of you who have read my blog before and are surprised (hopefully pleasantly) to see me back. My focus is going to shift a bit over the coming months. I'll be moving away from recaps and moving towards more commentary, insight, and more of the things you don't see on every other television blog. For those who are looking for a good recap of any of your favorites, the guys over at ew.com do it better that anyone else. Someday, maybe they will pay me to watch tv (a girl can dream, right?). But until then I will leave the recaps to the pros. Another thing that I love over at ew.com - many of the shows hosts are blogging. Some are better than others (I'm looking at you Julie Chen...), but they're all worth a read.

(a completely unrelated side note...I just looked at the labels I have used over the past 360+ posts, and there are 4 or 5 shows that I didn't even remember watching...yikes...)

So, with that, here we go. I think...

End of the Blog...

Yes, that's right. As you could probably tell from the overall lack of posts the past few months, I've over committed myself, and something has to go. Sadly, since this is the writing that I don't get paid for, it has to be this blog. It's a shame - I've really enjoyed writing it, and hearing from so many of you. I'll still be watching a healthy dose of reality tv - just because I'm not blogging about it doesn't mean I'm not still an addict! And hopefully as things in my schedule clear up (or when someone FINALLY starts paying me to blog about tv!) I can come back to it. Thanks so much for reading these past few years.

--Mara

Dancing Shocker

I don't even know what to say about the results on Dancing With the Stars. I'm flabbergasted. It should have been Mark or Wayne going home. But somehow, Mark escaped the bottom two, and Wayne moved on. And we had to say goodbye to Albert (a hottie and a good dancer). What an absolute bummer.

Another Blue Team Loss

Another interesting and a bit controversial episode of The Biggest Loser. And I'm really torn about all of it.

First up was the temptation challenge. I hated it. Ok, it wasn't the challenge itself I hated - I actually kind of liked the fact that it was the trainers who had to decide to eat cupcakes or not. What I hated was the message the trainers sent to their teams. First, we all know that it would not have had any impact on the weigh-in for the trainers to eat a cupcake. So why they couldn't take that calorie hit for their team is a little puzzling. I also didn't like the message the trainers sent by not eating, especially Bob (who apparently loves cupcakes). Sure, it's important to stick to your diet and not give in to temptation. But isn't it also important to show that you can have a little treat now and then and still be a healthy person? I wish that that was the message the trainers chose to send to their teams.

The challenge was also an interesting sort of situation. I really question the reward. First, does anyone really think that the immunity prize was determined before the challenge itself? It seemed like the producers left themselves open to do what they wanted by not revealing the prize until the weigh-in. Contestants weigh in before the weigh in we see on tv...the big scale, actually, is just a prop. They weigh in on a real scale, but aren't told the results (the results, however, are video-taped, and the producers know...that's how they decide what order to weigh them in at). So they knew just how much the red team lost the weigh in by before they revealed the immunity. I wonder that if the red team was closer if the prize would have been different. And, of course, there's the the challenge itself. Why on earth did Bob let his team not really participate? He's got to be frustrated with his team and himself.

So, with the immunity, the red team stayed and the blue team lost again. And no surprise, Patty was the next to go. I think she lasted an extra week because of the immunity anyways. Can't wait to see what the new twist is...

Dates Start on the Bachelor

Brad started the group dates on The Bachelor this week, and even though I still am enjoying it, the show seems to have jumped the shark. Enough of these girls have seen enough of the seasons that they are very savvy about how it works and how to get themselves enough roses to get past the group dates. Interesting.

After all the hype about someone getting hurt, it turned out to be not as big of a deal as we thought. Poor Michele fell down the stairs, and ended up being eliminated because of it. This, I think, is where Brad gets some points from me. Last season the bachelor kept the hurt girl on for weeks as she played the sympathy card over and over and over. Brad? Cut her immediately. Sure, they may not have clicked anyways (for all we know, she was the last one to get a rose initially, and he was planning on cutting her all along), but out she goes.

Some thoughts on the other girls...McCarten (and what kind of name is McCarten?) made the bold move to kiss Brad - she's got to be at home loving Brad saying to the camera about how it wasn't very good. Lovely. Solisa is a "Christian", but apparently the type of Christian that does body shots and streaks. Apparently she is also the type of Christian that Brad likes. And what is the deal with Jenni bringing her modeling portfolio? I have two theories, neither of which is that she's just using the show to get exposure - I mean, who would she be showing it to? First, she might be telling the truth that she just wanted to share it because it means a lot to her. But I think it's even more likely that it was something she had before the show started, and the producers encouraged her to bring it. Yes, I'm suggesting a Bachelor-conspiracy-theory. Those pesky producers - they knew exactly what would happen when the other girls found it. Well played.

No loss with the girls that went home...still too early to have favorites or to know if Brad is making good choices.

Second Week of Dancing

The second week of dancing on Dancing With the Stars was last night, and it was a good week again.

Sabrina was amazing again this week. She is pouring so much of herself into her dancing - she has to be considered a favorite to win. Also amazing was Helio - he looks like he's having so much fun when he dances, and it translated into his score. I also really liked Mel - her score should have been higher, especially after seeing some of the other dancers.

The middle of the pack all danced well. I like Albert, and even though he wasn't as good as last week, dedicating his performance to his grandfather was really touching. Jennie was good too, even with the fall at the end (and why didn't anyone run out there with an ice pack for her?). Cameron and Jane were also pretty good.

Then there's Marie. She was ok, but not nearly as good as her scores show. I don't know why everyone is so enamored with her. Floyd was also ok - better than last week, but still not great.

And then there's the bottom two. Wayne and Mark were just awful. At least Wayne has age as an excuse. His quick step was painful to watch - really more of a slow step. And Mark? I am such a Mark Cuban fan, but the man has no sense of rhythm whatsoever. Did you see him trying to clap along with the music in the opening introductions? Not good. His dance was another one that was painful to watch. The worst part was that even though it was horrible, he thought he was amazing. Got to love a healthy ego.

I'm fairly confident that Mark & Wayne will be the bottom two tonight, with Mark going home. I think that Wayne just has more fans than Mark. But they should both go home after that!

Wrestler is Down and Out

Another good episode of Survivor: China this week. Sorry for how disjointed this is, but some thoughts...

LOVED the reward challenge. Why have no other survivors ever thought to pull off clothing during a wrestling challenge? There have been other challenges where that strategy would have worked wonders. And how embarrassing is it to be a professional wrestler and not smoke your competition in a wrestling challenge? Sort of like river-guide Kelly losing the rowing challenge in season 1 to Gervase (who had never been on the water).

Not sure about the kidnapping twist. I did, though, love how Jaime played the idol clue. Very smart to seek out the weakest player to give it to (and the player that she probably figures would flip to her side, then, in a merge situation). And Leslie, Leslie, Leslie. Why would you share the clue with Todd? How dumb are you? Oh wait, you're the same person who is not religious even though you have a personal relationship with Jesus and are lost in China because you don't have your bible.

Loving both Todd and Amanda so far. They are smart players, and are playing a great game. And bringing Aaron into their alliance was great too. Considering how their tribe is steamrolling in the challenges, I think they have to be the favorites right now for the final three.

Glad to see Ashley go, though I agree with her that Dave will be next to join her in the losers lounge. Way to go.

Kid Nation...

...yes, I watched again. I don't know why. There's something intriguing about it. Very strange.

What is the deal with the weather where the kids are? I know it was filmed over the summer (so that the kids weren't missing school) and that it was filmed in New Mexico (where, apparently, they have the least stringent child labor laws in the United States). So why is it so cold that the water is freezing? And why did they give the kids a pump that would freeze? That just seems cruel.

So nobody left, nobody froze to death, and our beauty-queen Taylor continues to play the "I'm the littlest and I'm a beauty queen" card. Great television all around.

First Dancer Goes Home

First, let me apologize for the delay in posts. It's time for post-season baseball, and with the run-up to the playoffs (and the playoffs starting Wednesday), I'm watching nearly everything on tivo a few days late. But really, the best reality tv out there is watching the Red Sox. Really.

So on to Dancing With the Stars. I loved the results show. Not because of Dolly Parton; It's hard for me to say anything bad about her after I learned about the amazing foundation she set up to bring books to kids. But I loved Savion Glover's performance, and am excited that they seem to be setting us up to bring in a new professional dancer each week. So exciting. And while I was bummed that Mark Cuban was in the bottom two (vote for him people!!), no big surprise that Josie was the first to go. She wasn't very good, though I think that with some more time she could have gotten better. But who knows.

Blue Team Down One

It had to happen - for the first time I can remember, the numbers on the scale on The Biggest Loser were "normal." No 15 pound weeks...just lots of 2s and 3s...the type of weight-loss a normal person would have in a week. And for some reason, I'm happy. I've always really liked the show, partly because they are showing that you can (and should) lose weight through diet and exercise instead of gimmicks and surgery. But it was always a little disheartening that they expected so much in such a short period of time. Now, we may see huge numbers again next week. But I'm not sure. There has been talk that there was so much criticism last season about contestants taking extreme measures to win (namely dehydration and not eating) that they might be monitoring them closer this season. I have also read that there are several players with health conditions that are not being shared on-screen. But I am a fan of healthy numbers all around.

The episode itself was good. I loved the challenges. Any challenge like the reward challenge where it is more mental than physical rocks. And Patty messed up the strategy - such good tv to watch. I also found it interesting that she would have been the biggest loser on her team regardless of the 3-pound pass. Makes you think that having those extra calories (which sped up her metabolism) might have been a good thing after all. I also loved the second challenge, where they raced against kids. How funny was it to see a kindergartener dash by them? Classic.

Lots of people online are upset that Jerry was voted off. But not me. I think it was a good move. He clearly had the ability to lose the rest of the weight at home. He got hurt, and couldn't compete in the challenge (and would likely be unable to work out as hard for awhile). And he showed the ability to pull a huge number. Get rid of him while you have the chance. Yes, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. But this guilt that he "chose" them? Come on...as it turned out, everyone got chosen. So he put a blue shirt on you...it's still a game, and it's a game you want to win.

Dancing With the Stars

It took two nights, but the premiere of Dancing With the Stars was well worth it. It's a good group this season - I'm even more excited now than I was while I was waiting for the show to start. And how fun is it that Drew is filling in for Samantha...every time Tom looks over at him, you definitely get the idea that he's wondering just how long he will be stuck without her.

The girls danced the first night, and, for the most part, the level of dancing was much better than in previous seasons. My early favorites are Sabrina (the Cheetah girl, whatever that is), Mel B (Scary Spice) and Jennie. All three delivered solid dances (I think that Jennie's scores were lower because she went first), and I think they'll be around for awhile. The middle of the pack for the girls were Marie and Jane. They were good, but I think they are getting a bit of a handicap because of their ages (I just didn't think they were nearly as good as their scores reflected). And, sadly, at the bottom was Josie. I loved how her partner said she was "deceptively unfit." How do you think the models are so thin? They don't eat and have no muscles! Dancing takes a lot of physical strength, and I like that people are starting to realize that. She's definitely at danger to go home this week.

The men had a big act to follow, and they were equally entertaining. I think that it's harder to separate the men, since so many of them were really fun to watch, even if they didn't have the best technique. I think that the top men would be Helio, Albert, and Cameron. I also love Mark, but that has a lot more to do with the fact that I'm a big fan of Mark Cuban than anything else (he runs the Mavs the way I would if I owned a sports team). He wasn't bad, and I think the longer he's in the competition, the better he will get. Floyd was also a mid-range dancer - very entertaining, but not so great with the dancing (he really needed to stand up straight!). And even though Wayne is a great entertainer, he's definitely not a great dancer. He has a legion of fans, so he might be sticking around just based on viewers votes.

Should be an interesting results show...