Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Goodbye Fall Season!

Hi Folks - yeah, yeah, yeah. :) I know it's been a while. But it's nice to see that people still find my blog and take the time to write me. It's for you folks that I am back to post. I have been a busy bee, working on some projects in my offline life, trying to make some extra money to fund my dream move to San Diego. I really want to get out there by mid-2006 and am determined to make it happen. As much as I love New York City, I am ready for some sun and a laid-back atmosphere. And I can always move back to NYC, if I want to. Sadly, B will not be moving with me. He's staying in NYC. I have a feeling this is not the end of us but ultimately, he and I have to do what makes ourselves happy. If it is meant to be, it will work out. Plus, I have Jeff Probst and Phil Keoghan to comfort me in San Diego. :)

Well, the fall season was definitely an awesome one in reality TV land. Here's my rundown and two cents on the shows that aired....

Survivor

I don't know if it was the Mayan ruins or the extra bickering and sneakiness but Survivor was awesome, as usual. Even though I had to endure whiny Stephenie all season! Let me not go there. She had this sense of entitlement all season that drove me nuts. Don't get me wrong - I think she was a strong player but she didn't play well this time around and only made it to the final two because everyone knew they could win against her! I thought Gary Hogeboom was awesome. When he found the "secret" immunity idol, I was floored. I also thought Lydia was awesome. People can say all they want about her flying under the radar but I have to disagree. Repeatedly, she came thisclose to being voted out and ended up staying to the final four. Good for her! Cindy was an idiot for not giving up the car. Seriously, did she think she was going to be safe after doing that? Also, had she given up the car and won the million, she would have won a car anyway! Rafe was a great player...total mastermind. He came off as this docile, quiet gay mormon but he was also Stephenie's puppet master. It was great! I look forward to the next season and maybe Mark Burnett will let Gary come back for another season? Well, a girl can dream, can't she?

The Apprentice:

I can only comment on The Donald's show since Martha's show was so boring that I fell asleep after watching the first 10 minutes of it. In my opinion, this was the best season of the Apprentice. Not only did 2 great candidates make it to the end, but Donald really took us for a loop with his multiple firings. Who knew? We learned that if you cry in the boardroom, the Donald will perceive you as not being tough enough to work in NYC (Felisha), if you think you can't work with women (Melissa), you will piss Carolyn off (not good!), if you cannot be managed (Clay), you will piss George off, and if you just keep rambling on and on (Markus) you will drive the Donald crazy. Also, we had the most evilest villian since Omarosa......Alla. And where Omarosa was kind of a psycho, Alla was just plain nasty. She is just not a nice person. And to comment on the finale since it was the talk of the reality TV town, I was surprised Randall didn't OK Donald hiring Rebecca as well. It seems totally out of character for him and a bit selfish in the end. But I think Rebecca will have the last laugh as I last heard she was being offered many job offers including one from Yahoo!. You go, girl!

Amazing Race: The Family Edition (aka Amazing Race meets Family Dysfunction at its worst)

After watching this installment of Amazing Race, I have to ask myself, does God have a vested interest in reality TV? I mean, every time the Weaver family needed help with directions or doing a task, they prayed to God and *poof*, miraculously they found their way or finished the task quickly. They came close to getting eliminated many times but they prayed and *poof* they were saved. Even in one episode, where they got lost and then stopped at a McDonald's to eat since they thought it was over...they got to the mat and Phil tells them that it's a non-elimination round and they're still in the race. I was floored. I think they were as well, standing there with milkshakes and burgers in hand, mouths open. I was starting to think they were going to win but in the end, they came in third and even lost in the extra competition to win a new car. If you're scratching your head over that and asking "What extra comp?", go to http://www.cbs.com/gmc/ and check it out. It seems that after the Linz family won and the other 2 families made it to the mat, Phil announced that the families that came in 2nd and 3rd place (the Bransens and the Weavers) would be competing in one more task where the prize was a new GMC Yukon XL. It was doing some map/icon thing which required the families to run back and forth in the woods to look for game pieces. Poor Wally (the Dad in the Bransen family), he looked exhausted. But in the end, the Bransens won. YAY! And the Weavers will go back to Florida, praying to God, being nasty to people and wondering why no one liked them on Amazing Race. These people need to get a clue!

This was an interesting concept for Amazing Race but without the extensive world traveling, it was just okay but not as captivating as previous seasons. I'm ready to see teams of 2 again. I hear that a new season will premiere in February 2006.

America's Next Top Model

Nik was robbed. I am still shocked that Nicole won. And I think I may be the only viewer around who loves Bre. There were some crazy girls this season: from Jayla (who talked about everyone and made weird evil faces in the confessional/diary room to express her disdain for the other girls) to Lisa (who was just plain out there) to Kim (who I think is the person who really took Bre's cereal bar in London). The most psycho of all was Cassandra. It's just hair, girlfriend. It does grow back. I like that there were more minorities this time around with more interesting looks. My favorite, of course, was Diane. You know, I have to support a fellow plus-size Latina! She was eliminated too early but her spirit got broken too easily. I hope she is successful in whatever she does.

I love Twiggy - she was a breath of fresh air after having to deal with Janice Dickerson, who I thought brought nothing to the show at all. Supposedly, this show is going the route of Survivor and Amazing Race and airing another season in the Spring.

Other shows worthy of a mention...

Biggest Loser: This show really warmed my heart and actually inspired me to get healthy. Suzy, who came in 3rd, really got me because she reminded me of myself. This is a great show that will inspire you to be best you can be and show you that anything is possible. As the theme song "Proud" by Heather Small goes, "What have you done today to make you feel proud?"

Run's House: MTV was losing me there for a minute with all the crappy reality shows they have been airing but when I saw this show, I was back on the MTV train. This is a something like the Osbournes but Reverend Run (from the rap group Run-DMC) doesn't cuss and you can actually understand what he is saying. Also, his family is a little more subdued but not perfect. My favorite is Diggy, Run's 9-yr son who aspires to be a rapper like his daddy.

FOX reality channel reruns: FOX reality network is the best channel to come out since the Food Network. I thought I had hit the lottery and gone to heaven when they began airing Paradise Hotel reruns but now they have begun airing reruns of Forever Eden which was canceled midway through the season. FOX is airing all 24 episodes! They also aired all the episodes of Lost, the show that was on ABC which featured 3 teams of 2 being dropped off in an unknown location and having to race to the Statue of Liberty. They also have been showing reruns of For Love or Money and Joe Millionaire. I don't know if this channel is available on every cable network - I have Direct TV so check it out on channel 250, if you have Direct TV.

Well, folks, we only have to get through the next month and then hopefully, our shows will be back! In the meantime, I will be watching Project Runway on the Bravo channel and Lost on ABC when it returns on Jan 11. 24 will be back in January as well. Yeah! Prison Break won't be back until March (yeah, you should have seen my face when I first heard that news). *sigh* But I am sure I will survive. Have a great day! :)