Season's End

As the season comes to an end for the big reality shows I watch, and as I sit here watching the end of this week's Dancing with the Stars, I feel that I have to talk about how all three of them are or were. If you have Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, or Amazing Race on your DVR and don't want to know what happens, stop reading now.

Of the three, only Amazing Race has actually come to an end.

I loved this season. And I especially loved that the final episode took place in SF.

The three final contestant couples included "the cowboys," two sweet guys who almost never took their hats off. They had an "oh my gorsh!" attitude about all the places they were seeing and they were fantastic at challenges. I especially liked the episode where they had to lasso a bull's head, which was a piece o'cake for them. They were forever cheerful and supportive of each other. I didn't like them much at the start of the race, but they quickly grew on me and by the end of the race, I think they were everybody's favorite.

Jordan and Dan are also brothers. Dan wasn't all that thrilled about doing the race, but it had been Jordan's dream for years to be in The Amazing Race (a fact that really worked to his advantage in the final show). How they took care of each other was wonderful to see. I especially liked when Dan calmed Jordan down when he was having problems making Chinese noodles. Like the cowboys, they genuinely liked each other and worked well together. I liked both of them and would have been happy if either they or the cowboys won.

Caite is best remembered as the beauty pageant contestant who lost her brain during the question and answer period when she talked about "the Iraq" and "suchas." She entered the race to prove she wasn't dumb (and certainly didn't prove it to my satisfaction). She and Bret made more dumb mistakes than any other team in any season I've watched, and she whined and complained more than any team in this season of the race. I just prayed they wouldn't come in first.

It was fun watching them race through the city, knowing where they were at all times--and amazed to watch them climb UP Coit Tower. It would have been fun to be there watching that!

In the end, Dan and Jordan took the $1 mil, and I was happy for them. Very touching their affection for each other. The cowboys came in second and took the loss with the good grace they have shown all throughout the race. Caite and Bret came in last and the most fun of the show was the continuing feud between them and the lesbian couple, who lost because of Caite and Bret and were not in the very least gracious about it!

Some day I want to see "The Making of the Amazing Race." I want to know where their body mics are, where the camera men are and how they seem to travel around the world from country to country without ever having to stop to exchange dollars to local currency or go through customs!

Dancing with the Stars is down to the last four contestants. In honesty, I wasn't going to watch this year. I didn't know the name of any of the contestants other than Buzz Aldrin (and I was pretty sure he wouldn't make it that far in the competition!) and Kate Goslin--and I have to admit I was curious tso see how she'd do. But I kind of got trapped into it and I really grew to like it as much as I have other seasons.

Sometimes one of the "good" people leaves too soon, but this season it seems as if they have whittled away the dead wood pretty accurately. It's going to be very difficult to decide among the remainder, though if Nicole Scherzinger (whose name I don't know from Eve, but I guess she sings with the Pussy Cat Dolls) doesn't win, I will be very surprised. I also like Erin Andrews (another "star" I've never heard of) and Evan Lysacek (whom I do remember seeing on the Olympics). Niecy Nash (never heard of her either) was fun, but she really wasn't at the same level as the others. And I know there are people who really like Chad Ochocinco but I think he, too, doesn't measure up to the other three. I'm rooting for Nicole, I guess.

Survivor will come to an end on Sunday. This, too, has been a fun season. Having teams of some of the best players has made it a bit more interesting, because they all have been through all this plotting and planning, some of them more than once.

Russell has proved once again he's a great player because he's just such a slimy creep, but as the show comes to a close, he's coming up against Parvati, who finally has his number and wasn't assigned to the "Villains" team for nothing. I still think that Russell is the kind of player who might have a chance of making it to the final 3 but probably would never be voted the winner. He just pits too many people against each other...and they do talk when they get on the jury! I think I would be happiest if Rupert were to win it all. He's the only one I don't dislike. All of my favorites have already been voted off.

...and I was the person who wasn't going to get hooked on reality shows...