Almost Falling Off the Wagon

Hello Blog Guests,

I have been extremely delinquent with my blog postings, thinking it was OK to ignore my true passions in life and try new things. As Homer Simpson once said, "Trying if the first steps towards failure." I failed epically at trying something new. Since my last blog post I attempted to write about job searching, cooking and life after school. Well now that I found a job and have lost most of my post-secondary habits, I can tell you that my cooking skills are improving greatly but nothing has changed in my obsession with reality television! I am still a junkie and addicted to it. I'm addicted so much I have to know what happens on The Glass House, and that show is a blatant knock-off of Big Brother, and no one comes between me and my 'man'! But I can't help but watch (and vote and cheer for Erika and Jeffrey).

Since the announcement in May that Big Brother Canada is actually happening, I have been focusing all my spare time into strategizing to get into the house! It would accomplish a dream I thought was insurmountable but is now possible, so on February 13, 2013 watch for me to enter the Big Brother Canada house. I would like to suppress my knowledge of reality television shows but I will get too excited and want to show how much of a superfan I am, so the next six months are dedicated to getting in shape for the show and learning to keep my eyes open and my mouth shut (thanks BB3 Danielle for those inspirational words).

There's too much to catch up on and I should do some work today. Always expect the unexpected Blog Guests.

Season's come and go, so do old favourites.

I have been waiting to blog about Big Brother for weeks, waiting to see how the show progressed. This season's big twist were the houseguests competing in duos and the return of favourite pairs. "Double Trouble" is continuing to be a battle between "The Veterans" and "The Newbies", and was, thankfully, much more exciting than last summer's season with Enzo a.k.a. "The Meow-Meow". I am rooting for the Vets, especially Jordan.

With the end of Big Brother we start to see the beginning of the new Fall shows and return of old favourites. Survivor will be back with Redemption Island and two old favourites, Ozzy Lusth and Coach Wade. I find that to be an odd combination as neither played together before, and they played very different from each other: "Ozzy is a tough competitor and, arguably, the best performer in challenges; Coach likes to think he's the best competitor" says Jeff Probst. That is a fair account.

Some old favourites from Survivor are competing on The Amazing Race: Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca, winners of Survivor: Africa and Survivor: Amazon. I can only hope we have a nicer but still tough Rob and Amber duo on our hands as the two race to win, but mainly I'm happy to see that Ethan is doing better after battling cancer. This makes the fourth team to have people from another reality show competing: Alison, and Jeff and Jordan from Big Brother; Rob and Amber from Survivor.

America's Next Top Model is finally catching up with the other reality television shows with an all-stars version. All-stars versions are a great way to catch up with old favourites, but could all these returning players be a sign that the major networks are trying to get old audiences to come back by featuring some of the most popular players?

As one of reality televisions most loyal and dedicated fans, I want CBS, NBC, ABC (I only saw a few episodes of Bachelor Pad, and was not impressed, but did catch up on what made Melissa crazy) and CW to keep casting new people and focus on the new strategies, rather than see Russell Hantz try to win for another time.

I'll be sure to blog more now that the new shows are out, but does anyone have any suggestions on what shows to watch this fall?

Finales

What May has to offer in terms of reality television are the accumulating events that us watchers have been waiting for since the start of 2011-- Finales. The past two weeks have been filled with finales of my favourite shows, and I've been both pleased and disappointed in the results.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

If you have not seen the Survivor, Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice or Dancing with the Stars finales, don't read!

Survivor: Redemption Island-- With the last four Murlonio, or Omepete standing, it was time to bring RI to an end. Matt, Mike, Grant and Andrea squared off in a final duel that would land one of them back in the game. I was surprised when Andrea outlasted the three men to gain a spot back in the game, but the twist of RI provided pointless as Andrea was just voted out after she got back (like her buddy Matt). The final three turned out to be Phillip, Natalie and Rob. For me it was a clear choice and I'm glad it was for the jury as well, Rob Mariano finally won a season of Survivor and we will hopefully not have to see him again (although I really enjoy him).

Amazing Race-- the show aired differently with four teams racing instead of the tradition three for a finale. Zev and Justin were out fourth in Brazil after falling behind during a road block where Zev had to perform in a street parade, and then switching detours at the last minute. The race to the finish line in Florida proved hard for Gary and Mallory as they struggled once again with a bad cab drive (this is how they landed a spot on this season, having had trouble in Omen with a cab driver the year before). It was a close race between the Globetrotters, and Jen and Kiesha, but I was glad to see the sisters make it to the finish line first. This makes them the second all-girl team to win the Amazing Race.

Biggest Loser-- first I must say every looked amazing when I watched the show last night. Glad to see they took the advice seriously and we didn't see too many people gain more weight back. I was pleased to see Jay be eliminated and Irene make it to the three, but it came down to the sisters, Olivia and Hannah. What a great place for sibling rivalry, on a scale to see who lost the most weight. I can just hear them say "no you're fatter" back and forth, but they both lost well over 100 pounds. Congrats to Olivia the opera singer for winning in the end! Dear Biggest Loser producers, give the white team another chance--that was a rip-off move for bringing them back just to send them away.

Celebrity Apprentice-- this was a disappointment for me. Trump, you need to write down who YOU want to win before the show starts so that you're not swayed to appease the audiences. Marlee Matlin lost to John Rich after running a successful event and advertising campaign, and John Rich, who is a musician, announced Def Leppard 15 minutes too early and had many other mistakes. I don't like how swayed this "captain of industry" can be. This finale, as well as the other Apprentice finales, are my least favourite to watch because Trump is an idiot.

Dancing with the Stars-- again, another disappointment but overall I think Kirstie won in life. Hines and Kym won the Mirror Ball Trophy after it came down to them versus Kirstie and Maks. I think Kirstie made the biggest transformation physically and emotionally, but the audience loved Hines. As my wonderful partner has pointed out, Maks is one of several pros who have not won the Mirror Ball Trophy but consistently makes it to the end. That man deserves more than a trophy though.

I will not be watching American Idol but good luck to the final two, Lauren and Scotty. Like Linda, my money's on Scotty to win. I say that because then Lauren will have the successful career.

With every finale there's always the promise to more premieres. So You Think You Can Dance, Big Brother 13, and many other shows will be coming this summer. I'll be sure to keep up with them, and keep you up too.

Canada needs more reality TV

When I was 10 I wanted to be on the Canadian show "Uh-Oh", which (for those who don't remember) was a children's game show in which contestants spun a wheel, answered questions, played fun games, and got slime poured on them--how cool is that?!

When I was 13 I wanted to be on Survivor; at 14 I wanted to be on Big Brother; at 16 I wanted to be on The Amazing Race--do you see a pattern here? With the growth of reality television shows I want to be part of the phenomena as a contestant. It was not my 15 minutes or a guest spot on The King of Queens that pulled me into the trend, but it was the games themselves that have always intrigued me.

When I was 19 I wanted to learn to dance to be on So You Think You Can Dance or learn to cook and become a great chef to be on Top Chef. Now that these shows are offered in Canada, my talents are not honed in enough to be able to compete, but that's alright by me. I still want the chance to prove myself on one of the above shows but the producers of those shows own North American rights to the adventure shows, but only produce American content. In my eyes that's not fair, and somewhat discriminatory. Since Survivor's start in 2000 Canada has been watching carefully as the contestants outwit, outplay and outlast each other for the 13 week program, and the show always ranks in the top 10 each week. Last year's edition of Heroes vs. Villains saw the show ranking higher than the first round of the NHL playoffs-- doesn't that say something?

When Wipeout Canada was auditioning for its northern edition, I immediately applied and searched for fun things that could get me on the show. Sadly I did not make it but am excited to be watching the series, besides how tacky it is with the product placement and over-theatrics of the contestants. Top Chef Canada premieres tonight and I'll be watching the series, after each food so I don't get too hungry. But if these shows are making it to Canada it's time Mark Burnett gets off his high horse, stops picking contestants that no one likes (Fiji is all I'll say) and get some Canadians on there. Why not a Canada vs. United States battle? It'll show true patriotism on both teams and get great ratings between the two countries.