last week's reality TV

So to recap last week in the world of Shay's reality TV.

American Idol: Idol Gives Back. It's a good cause, and I believe they're pretty sincere about it, but it was a boring week of TV. The performances were underwhelming because the contestants were clearly on the edge of exhaustion. The IGB performance night was boring and filled with a lot of lame jokes. (When the highlight of the show is Teri Hatcher singing, you know you're in trouble.) The only exciting thing that happened was the apparently shocking ouster of Michael Johns. Who seems to be a nice guy and is a decent singer (certainly better than several who remain in the competition), but never really caught on with fans.

Hell's Kitchen managed to put out some entrees this week. Best of the Worst Corey nominated two strong competitors (whom she also happened to dislike, neither of whom deserved in any way to be eliminated) for elimination, and was completely upfront about her reasons. She appeared to earn some respect from the formidable Mr. Ramsay for being so ballsy, but he chose to eliminate the truly weakest link (Sharon, who seemed never to have been in a restaurant kitchen before) instead. Well-played, I thought, on Corey's part and on his, although Corey's gamble may have cost her some good-will that she might need later, as it seems to be a slightly more team-oriented show than some.

Top Chef had yet another team challenge. Now, I get that the logistics are complicated with that many chefs, but man, they just haven't had the chance to really shine on their own yet, and I can imagine that is leading to some serious frustrations. Only one team seemed to really do a good job, largely due to the frustrations expressed by one cheftestant and her refusal to just go along with an idea she didn't like for the sake of harmony. (Ironically, the losing team had the same situation, one chef holding out for what she felt was a better idea, although that didn't lead to the losing.) There will, apparently, be a lot of hard feelings because Zoi was booted, especially because her partner remains on the show, but frankly her track record and attitude have made it plain that while she might be a good chef, she doesn't belong on this show.

And another week begins tonight, with Mariah Carey night on American Idol. Not a huge fan of Ms. Carey, and I think the performers are going to overdo or underdo all the songs, so I'm not too excited.

Books off my desk today:

James Ellroy, Destination: Morgue! I think I may have mentioned this one before, so briefly, it was repetitive and not that interesting. I vastly prefer his novels to his essays, and the novella in this one contained most of the things I don't like about his fiction.

The Diaries of Sally and Pamela Brown and Hyde Leslie. Diaries of two sisters living on a farm in Vermont in the 1830s, and a hired man on the same farm in 1887. Fascinating glimpses into their lives. I picked it up on a whim and am glad I did.