Three of our reality shows are running right now - Top Chef, Project Runway, and The Amazing Race. (Okay, Lou only tolerates PR, but he bet on the winner, giving him a vested interest.) At the beginning of the season for each show, we bet on who would be the eventual winner - prize to be determined if and when we win. (I've won twice, both times for The Amazing Race, earning myself a mother's ring and a pair of black leather boots. Lou's won once, I think also for TAR, and I'm not sure what he bought. I should follow up on that.)
Top Chef Las Vegas has had a fairly smooth season, all things considered. The talent pool was divided into two tiers - the really talented chefs who are likely to win, and the less talented chefs who are not going to make it to the finale. Personal issues have been kept to a minimum (other than the growing disdain for Robin, this season's "why is she still here?" victim), and it has largely been all about the food. This is a show that has actually changed the way we approach and talk about food in our house. We're not adventurous enough to consider ourselves "foodies", but I think we appreciate the effort that goes into fine cuisine more. Our picks for this season: Kevin (Lou) and Bryan Voltaggio (Shay), both of whom seem destined to go far and certainly have the capability to win. I give Kevin the edge at this point ... but you never can tell.
Project Runway has had some trouble finding its feet in Los Angeles and on Lifetime. I think the cast this season was a bit of a mismatch, and while I agree that the final three were somewhat inevitable, I don't think any of them is particularly outstanding. Personal issues have clearly simmered under the surface, as the four women remaining in the finale couldn't even speak to each other by the last day of the last challenge. The lack of the usual judges has hurt the show, as well, I think - each challenge may need to stand on its own, but I think it's necessary to have someone other than Heidi have some idea of the continuity of each designer's PR journey. I think the final three will show some interesting work, though, so I look forward to the finale. Our picks this season: Christopher (Lou) and Gordana (Shay), both of whom were eliminated in the antepenultimate episode, in 5th and 4th places, respectively. Not a bad showing.
The Amazing Race has had a very good season. The constant bunching every time there's a plane ride involved has been annoying, but it has cut down on the post-plane ride bunching when things aren't open when the racers arrive, so it's a wash. All the teams that were uber-annoying were eliminated early, and the remaining teams are largely pretty good racers. Plus, the Detours have been more complicated and there have been fewer times when one Detour looked insanely hard and the other one looked so easy that they all chose it. Our picks this season: Sam and Dan (Lou) and Flight Time and Big Easy (Shay), both of whom are strong teams and have every chance of making the finale. We both had Meghan and Cheyne as our second choice, so we'll get half-credit each if they win. Since those three teams could easily make up the final three, it should be a good finale for someone in our house!
And of course, we're a scant two months away from the season premiere of the next season of American Idol, which was a sagging franchise until last year, when a young man named Adam Lambert took the stage and reminded us what it was good for. Hoping for a similar talent next season! (And kind of looking forward to Ellen replacing Paula.)
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