An Interesitng Trend In Reality Shows

A few months back, I wrote a post I never published about how I think the term "reality show" is thrown around a little bit too liberally. Most of the shows we watch that are dubbed as such are really just game shows. Amazing Race? Game show. Survivor? Same thing. Real World's a reality sow. So is anything Dr. Drew does. Anyway, that's not really the point of this post, but it is related. This whole trend of voting people off of shows and sending them home has been bothersome to me since Survivor hit so many years back and Road Rules felt the need to adopt a similar concept.

I understand that you need to get rid of people in competitions for money and even for dating shows, but any shows that purport to help people grow or learn should keep people around for long enough to "fix" them (yeah, I know that the odds of someone getting real help on a reality show probably isn't the best, and also that these competitions also usually involve some kind of financial prize. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be removed from such shows, but I don't think it should necessarily be a requirement. If Ray J likes all the girls on his show equally, let him keep them all. If all of the Next Iron Chefs really kill it, keep them around and see how they do next time. People will screw up. Sometimes several at a time. Just watch any Real World/Road Rules Challenge for the proof (the last episode of The Ruins saw four people head home, two who broke the rules, two who lost challenges).


So, I was happy to see three different reality shows that recently launched, all with the mission statement of helping people out in various ways, which are not falling prey to the same old boring format that every other reality show seems to subscribe to. First up, Bravo's Chef Academy. The whole idea of this show is for people to learn how to cook with this big time chef. They're not necessarily trying to be big time chefs, just to learn how to cook. Each week they're given a lesson and a test on that lesson and they either pass or fail. If you fail three times, you're out of the school. This format feels a lot more organic than the same-old, tacked on one you're used to whether you watch cooking competition shows or not. Plus, I like the main chef guy, he's fun and dude LOVES Columbo.


I also checked out a VH1 show called Tough Love. It's the show's second season and features a matchmaker taking a bunch of lonely women in and teaching them how to find a man. I'm sure the actual show synopsis is more concise and less offensive, but you get the idea. Anyway, since the point is to teach these women how to break out of their shells and learn how to attract the opposite sex, it would seem counter-intuitive to dump them once a week throughout the season. So far, they haven't said anything about eliminations and I didn't watch the previous season, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I could see him kicking out some of these broads who are clearly stuck in their ways and not listening to his advice (ladies, calling yourself by an alias and forgetting your dates name are surprisingly not-good when dating).


The third and most obvious non-elimination show is Dr. Drew's Sex Rehab on VH1. As you might expect, this shows features several people who may or may not be celebrities who are dealing with sexual addictions. While in the program, they must abstain while also going through the therapeutic process. But, if they don't, it's not like they're going to get kicked out, even though I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to punch a few of them in the face.

So, I'm hoping that this branching-off from the formula that's been brainlessly pounded into every reality/game show of the past 10 years. People give the genre a lot of crap and a lot of it is deserved, but hopefully we'll see some imagination put into this things that doesn't involve making people eat strange things.

[post does not go on]
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

Wow you guys. Just wow. What a crazy episode. The first episode had more craziness and people getting sent home for breaking the rules than the last two episodes combined! That was followed by a pretty terrifying, but one-sided challenge and then a surprisingly quick deliberation process only to be left with figurative blue balls thanks to a "To Be Continued" ending. Anyway, here's my live blog of the situation. As you can see, it was pretty intense. Hit the jump for all the goodness.

*Interesting, Dunbar doesn't want to drink. Good for him.

*Darrell would have a pretty big target on him if the Challengers could actually win.

*Woah, Susie just got KellyAnne naked. And now she's hugging Susie...and Darrell.

*"It looks like the best looking guys are are going to get rich." - Evan. That made me laugh HARD.

*Haha, I love when a drunk people try to tell other drunk people they need to relax and talk about things when they're sober. Well done Brad.

*Woah, KellyAnne is an UGLY crier.

*I'm hoping that the fight between Brad and Darrell that they showed in the preview takes place before the challenge, because it might mean that Darrell gets sent home, which would really throw things for a loop.

*Now Brad is getting upset and arguing with someone who is drunk while he's drunk which is what he was trying to stop in the first place.

*"It's not my birthday anymore." - KellyAnne. She said it really sad and dramatic-like.

*Oh god, Brad, stop just butting in on peoples' conversations.

*It's not a good sign when Johnny Bananas thinks you're being an ass.

*Woah, Brad is losing his shit. He pushed Derrick away, then kicked him, then a piece of junk on the floor.

*There it is, Darrell has had enough, knocks Brad down and punches him in the face. Will this be the end of him for the game? That would mean that Kenny, Evan or Derrick would have to go in, though that's what they said would be the case anyway.

*Woah, he laid into him like crazy. Darrell's gotta be gone now. I wonder where his money goes.

*Shit, he's bleeding a lot. Now he's breaking shit.

*Wow, they both got sent home.

*WOAH, his eye looks crazy. Darrell really messed him up. I can't even look at the TV.

*Kenny's stupid. ONE OF YOU WILL HAVE TO GO IN NOW.

*I wonder what would happen if Dunbar got sent home. What would they do without boys?

*Huh, a team of all girls would be interesting.

*Haha "You were the one playing 'just the tip with me.'" - Dunbar.

*Are we finally going to see Dunbar flip his gourde again? That might be too much for one episode. We haven't gotten to the challenge yet!

*Susie's right, she should be able to choose who she goes in against. I like that she's threatening to throw the last mission, but it's kind of backwards. She threatens to throw things ahead of time might blow up in her face.

*Haha, Dunbar's angels. I'd buy a T-shirt with that on it.

*Uh-oh, they're letting them out of the house. We haven't even gotten to the challenge yet and it's 10:31.

*Haha, Sarah likes Kenny. She deserves him, the pair a weirdos.

*Kenny just said "I don't want to kiss no girl! What is this, seventh grade?" Interesting...

*Interesting, Brad and Darrell's money goes into the final pot.

*Oh snap, now that the numbers are so low, they have to deliberate on which player is exempt from the ruins. This time it's Evan (because Johnny might still play some shady stuff) and Sarah because she just went in.

*This challenge is pretty scary. Trying to knock someone off a fence hanging really high off of a building. Kind of reminds me of that pulley challenge a few years back when Julie almost killed...Veronica? Or someone?

*Kenny was actually nice and didn't shake it against Kim.

*Johnny's like a monkey climbing across that thing.

*It would make sense to knock the other person off because that adds a lot more time to the clock.

*Evan beats Dunbar.

*Derrick's shaking that stuff like crazy. I'm guessing it's just because Evan told him to jump and Derrick's their monkey.

*GAH, they keep playing that damn Gap holiday commercial!!!

*Hey, at least Sarah didn't fall. Good for her.

*Peace out Casey.

*But will Susie try and throw it? Doesn't look like it. Hell, she doesn't really need to throw it because Casey's time is probably longer than 15 minutes.

*Casey singing "I've Been Working On The Railroad" is really sad. At least she did it though.

*Man, the Challengers SUCK. They didn't beat a single Champions member in the race and then complain about Casey sucking.

*"Susie, god bless her amish looks." - Evan, haha.

*They should let Susie go against Casey this time, then figure out what happens in the next game. I guess it's kind of sort of nice that they let her go against Kim. But what about if she wins?

*Oh man, I want Kenny to go in SO BAD!!!

*Haha, Kenny should be on this Jersey Shore show. Em knows someone who knows him from hanging out on the Shore. Yech.

*I don't think they're going to get to the Ruins tonight. It's 10:52 right now. Are we even going to find out who's going in from the guys on this episode?

*"He's a grade A douchebag." - Susie regarding Johnny.

*Derrick wants Johnny to go in, so he does it. I hope he loses. Then one of the three muskadouches will have to go in.

*I just thought of something. They should come in and tell the wrong person they're going into the Ruins, just to throw them off their game. Can they do that?

*Haha, Susie's trying to get Kim to quit. Not gonna happen chickie.

*Oh snap it's raining! That will make for an awesome Ruins...next week.

*Ragdoll is the Ruins game. You've got to pull the rope out of the other player's hand. It should be even more interesting in the rain. I love rain games!

*Ahhh, even though I knew you were coming "To Be Continued" screen, I still hate you.
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

I was going to wait around for MTV to put up pics from tonight's episode of The Ruins, but I know you all are just dying to hear what I have to say. So, here's a live blog of the episode, which was interesting enough, but looks like the next one will be super crazy. Can't wait.

*Susie would totally bone Cohutta.

*Truth or Dare. They must be super bored. Nice cutaway to the see no evil monkey

*"Sounds like two animals wrestling, let's investigate." - Evan

*Oh man, Kim and Dunbar?! He was a violent psychopath on your season!

*Everyone wants Casey gone. The Challengers need to win so they can throw Casey in against Susie. Meanwhile, the Champions are telling Casey she's not going in because she's an asset to them. Whew, if that's not motivation I don't know what is. Also, if they win that could give Cohutta a rest as far as the Ruins go.

*Johanna says she'll go in and that she doesn't care anymore. Interesting.

*Hmm, interesting point Susie. The girls don't have anything to lose by going into the ruins.

*Derrick's proposition that between Evan, Kenny and Darrell going in, whoever volunteers gets a free pass to the final is an interesting one. Why do I feel like they're bullshitting and Darrell's screwed?

*Wow, rolling people down a hill in a tire. Very redneck.

*Cohutta refers to himself as "my hillbilly self" and knows that it won't be fun.

*Evan's kinda sorta but not really putting himself on the chopping block by being the tracker. In theory that's a make or break position.

*Wow, Susie is FREAKING OUT.

*Casey ROLL THAT SHIT UP THE HILL!

*Oh no, what if Sarah's hurt and has to go home? She seems okay now, but we'll see.

*Suzie's looking weak.

*Gah, the Champions won by 9.5 minutes. Friggin Casey.

*Darrell picks Cohutta, Johanna Sarah. They want Darrell to take Dunbar? That would be a tough one for him to win.

*Get ready for the eventual betrayal Darrell. Also, Sarah's gonna beat the shit out of Johanna.

*Johanna's "out of it" which means she's making excuses early on on why she's gonna lose. She said she didn't want to choose Casey because it would be embarrassing. More excuses.

*Woah, the Ruins sounds terrifying. I'm not cool with near drowning.

*Of course Johanna's out. Peace out loser.It's pretty cool how the glass shatters when you pull the lever. Doesn't seem safe, but it's cool.

*NOO, Cohutta lost!

*Woah, Susie gave him quite a kiss. (Not really, it was pretty tame).

*Yeah Brad, yell at Casey. Her A-game sucks.
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

One of these days I'm going to get a DVR. See, as it is, I don't think I can get one or full-on digital cable in our place because the wiring in the building is too old. A year ago we were told that Verizon Fios offered to come in and set everyone up for their services externally whether you wanted it or not for free. But they still haven't moved into our city yet from what I can tell. This is all a roundabout way to tell you that I didn't get to watch The Ruins all at once this week. I was busy being interviewed along with my TTT cohorts for next week's War Rocket Ajax podcast which was a lot of fun. Look for that next Monday (I'm sure I'll link to it). Luckily, they play The Ruins again right after playing it the first time, so I caught most of it, but not all. Which means I had to wait until now to write up a full review on the entire show. Did anyone care about that? Probably not. Anyway, since it took me so long to watch the whole episode, I'm just going to post my notes and call this a live blog after the jump. Hit it!

*Haha, Suzie says that if KellyAnne gets bounced it would be good for her, then Johanna corrects her "us." Sorry chica, she does not care about you.

*Dunbar might be proving that he's not a walking powder keg this season.

*Yes Johnny, everyone's gunning for you because you're an asshat. Also, those guys don't care about you, you're just there.

*Is it me or is all Kenny good for this season is adding color commentary during the interview process?

*Johnny of COURSE Evan's playing the game for himself and not you!

*Oh Veronica, don't talk about throwing the mission. But it's true that she will always get thrown in between Johanna and Suzie.

*Everyone's pretty dumb about setting up their strategy for the challenge. It makes the most sense to have the dudes tossing over and the girls catching.


*The challenge involves throwing and catching fruit and moving it. Huh.

*The over-the-head backwards throw seems to make the most sense.

*Those pointy fruits look scary.

*Once again, Kenny ain't really doing shit.

*Sorry children of Thailand who were hoping for some fresh fruit, an American TV show full of drunks needed them for a game. Yes, a game.

*Of course the Champions win. Blerg.

*The idea of taking on someone with the most money is a concept we haven't seen yet. I wonder if the money is posted somewhere that they can see.

*The Champions deliberation is annoying. Johnny Bananas tells Veronica she can't choose her own opponent because that's not how it's been done in the past.


*Evan's plan is so obvious, why doesn't anyone see it? Oh snap, Veronica's in the room. That's awesome. Hopefully this will come back to bite Suzie and Johanna.

*So it's Veronica vs. KellyAnne and Syrus vs. Cohutta.

*Johnny worked his devil magic to get Syrus thrown in so him and Derrick wouldn't have to.

*Derrick is really coming off as a huge pussy throughout this season. I'm shocked that no one has tried to make a counter alliance. Maybe if Syrus comes back (which I don't think he will unless the challenge is purely strength based) it'll happen. As it is, the Champions team is so freakin shady.

*Suzie was saying she's allied herself with Evan, Kenny and Johanna. There's still enough people not in that alliance that could equal them. Really, I just want Derrick to show some sack and do something.

*Did anyone else find it odd that Cohutta and KellyAnne were talking to each other on a couch alone? Maybe Wes was on to something with the flirting thing.

*We shall see.

*This Ruins challenge is a lot crazier than the regular fruit-throwing challenge.

*I think Cohutta can do this. "I think if a man has a real good shimmy about him, he should do okay in this competition." Yeah, attaboy!

*Hmm, interesting point Evan. If Cohutta wins and has all this money, that might actually get someone like Kenny or Evan into the Ruins. I want to make a comic called Cohutta The Giant Killer.

*That didn't look like such a good start for Cohutta. Is this a one time thing or best of three? I should really pay better attention when they're explaining the rules.

*COME ON COHUTTA!!!

*HE DID IT!!! But, I'm bummed that Syrus couldn't go back and try to make some changes. Oh well.


*Sorry Veronica, I think KellyAnne is gonna wreck your shop. That means that stupid Johanna and Suzie will have to go in.

*That has to be exhausting over a period of time. KA's gotta be the strongest girl in this whole game.

*KA pulls off the V, sorry V.

*Well done Challengers.

*Now Evan's trying to be all badass saying he won't miss her. Bullshit homey.

*Now it's just Suzie and Johanna left. Haha, Suzie thinks she's gonna take some of the Challenger girls out. What happens if there's no more girls?


*Johnny thinks it's funny to fuck with Derrick? Bad idea. He leaps off his bed to attack Johnny!

*"Who brings feathers to Thailand? What are you a drag queen?" Evan RE: Johnny

*Is this gonna get Derrick sent home?


*Johnny is such an asshole. Haha, yeah, JB, being a loud asshole probably isn't the best strategy.

*Casey does need to go, you're right, next episode commercial!
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

Hey faithful readers, sorry I didn't post yesterday about The Ruins, I just barely got the Dexter Season 2 Halloween Scene up in time before heading to bed. I haven't scored a new job, so don't start too much fanfare, I've actually been babysitting the last couple days and it's going really well. Who would have thought watching a kid would be so tiring (moms and dads, that's who). Anyway, last night's The Ruins, wasn't quite as crazy as the previous week's (I wonder if they're doing it on purpose at this point), but a lot of stuff went on that could change the game from here on out. This is a fairly long one, so hit the jump for the details and some pictures (guess who just discovered that MTV puts images up after each episode on the Ruins mini site).

We started off with a recap and update as to how crazy the love quadrilateral is between Wes, Johanna, KellyAnne and Cohutta, which came to a pretty surprising head this episode. See Wes and Johanna were engaged and KellyAnne and Cohutta dated during Real World Sydney and after (I just realized thanks to Wikipedia that Dunbar was on that same season and you never see them talk). Now Wes and KellyAnne are dating and Wes thinks Cohutta's getting a little frisky around KA when he's drunk. The funny thing is that there's zero footage shown to support it, so either Wes is full of it or MTV didn't want to to back it up.


All of this might just seem like background info, but it all comes into play this episode because...well, I'll get to that in a minute. The main challenge was a weird one. First you had to pull the other team's people off of a giant pole and then once that was done, you built something out of cinder blocks. Like I said, weird. The Champions won it because Evan (who is apparently Canadian, I know this because they made a huge deal out of it this episode) held on to that pole while the others built the thing.

So, with the ability to choose who was going to go in, the Champions went in to deliberate. Before that, a bunch of the girls were talking and "decided" to send Veronica in against KellyAnne. Here's the reason that was stupid. I understand wanting to get rid of Veronica. One, the girls don't like here and two, if she's gone the means the money gets split between fewer people. However, it would be better for your team to send in someone who could actually take KellyAnne out instead of boosting her ego. See KA is strong and most of the girls on the Champions team are weak, the longer she's around the more likely the Challengers will win more missions which will take money out of your pockets. Duh.


During the deliberation, Wes volunteered to go in instead of Evan and Kenny who were also on the block (which is funny because those dudes have done nothing spectacular at all this season) and decided to take Cahutta on because he was sweet on his girl. Then it's up to the girls, but they haven't decided on the girls so TJ Lavin comes in and takes a vote. It splits right down the middle between Veronica vs. Kimberly and Veronica vs. KA. So, in an unprecedented move, TJ brought in the entire team to vote. The kicker was that they couldn't talk about it at all and the previous votes didn't count. Cyrus was the first person to talk and for whatever reason he chose Ibis vs. Kimberly! I guess you ladies should keep everyone in the loop on your crazy plans. After that, pretty much everyone went along with Cy and in a crazy twist, Ibis (who also hasn't done anything impressive the whole game) ended up going in against Kim.

The Ruins challenge involved unraveling a giant rope and jumping over a bunch of logs. In a crazy upset, Cohutta took out Wes, which brought about interview comments from Kenny about how he was glad to see Wes go. Here's the thing Kenny, with your resident whipping boy gone, that means you and your stupid cronies will be next in line and might actually prove you inflated sense of placement.


Then the ladies were up and Kimberly whupped Ibis's ass. Like hardcore. It was interesting. After Ibis got blindsided with getting thrown in, she was talking with a bunch of the girls about how when she comes back she's going to change things. Heh, nope. Also, it was interesting because they didn't show Kimberly responded to the news at all. Maybe because she went into the Ruins and killed it.


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this and I can't remember if it happened before or after the Ruins, but Johnny Bananas was getting loud again and pissing people off. Even Susie, who regular readers know I've been hating this season, said that Johnny was the bane of her existence. Things ended with him putting an X over his mouth and saying he wouldn't talk again. If the preview for the next episode is any indicator, not only is that total BS, but it looks like Johnny might be getting into a brawl or, more likely, getting tossed to the wolves after pissing too many people off. That would continue the crazy drama week, then less crazy drama week pattern. Can't wait.
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

Bang-A-Rang! Unlike last week's The Ruins, this week's offered up both good, interesting challenges and all the drama you can handle. And it was all lady drama, which is SO much hotter than dude drama. You know you're in for a quality episode when the main challenge is over and you've still got a half hour left.

We started off with all kinds of drama surrounding Tonya and Katie, though it looks like they were taken from different nights and just edited together for effect. I do have to agree with Katie that a Thailand plunger in the bed is pretty friggin gross (also, that it sounds like a ridiculously creepy sex move).

I've got to say that also I agree with Wes on how ridiculous it is that Evan, Kenny and Johnny Bananas all feel insulted and concerned after SPOILER Tonya gets sent home even though they were the ones pushing her buttons more than anyone. I wonder if those dudes are completely amoral or unable to see how asshole-ish they are. Only time will tell.

Also, I've hated Sarah since her season on the Real World and I wouldn't mind Katie kicking her ass. More on that in a bit.

I'm getting way ahead of myself though. The main challenge was interesting. People had to swim out and put a bridge together one piece (and person) at a time. The Challengers were doing really well until Casey screwed it up. The girl's afraid of heights AND water? Just trick her into punching someone so you can have a chance Challengers. Needless to say, the Champions won.

Like I said, the challenge was over at the halfway mark which meant something big was gonna happen. That something big? Tonya getting drunk (after talking to some of the other contestants and telling them that she drinks too much in what was actually a fairly touching scene) and trying to start some trouble with Veronica. Do you not realize that Veronica is the one that went up against a friggin' witch on Road Rules Semester At Sea? [This isn't the witch scene, but you get the idea]

Anyway, Tonya was so worked up that she smacked Veronica in the head and got sent home for it, which brought about the outpouring of fake emotion from the guys that I mentioned before. Is this the guys potentially turning a new leaf? Heh, don't be silly. Here's a few choice quotes from their interaction before the slap was thrown. Veronica: "You look crazy." Tonya: "You do! You're wet!" [This is after Tonya spilled Veronica's food all over the place.] Veronica: "Are you half my age?" Tonya: "Not now." [After Tonya said she's half Veronica's age...or something, it's hard to keep track of a drunken argument when you're only buzzed.]

The deliberations for who would go in went pretty smoothly. Since the Champions won they got to choose and both Darrell and Katie offered themselves up. Darrell wanted to go up against Danny, one of the four remaining guys from the Challengers team, while Katie at first chose the useless Casey, but the team wasn't having that. They made the argument that Casey was the reason that their team won that challenge and they should keep her around, so Katie went with Sarah. I'm sure there's a ton of unintended game theory in there (I REALLY wish I would have taken that class in college).

The girls were up first in the Ruins and I was torn. See, I hate Sarah and I like Katie (she's a firecracker), but I don't want to see the Challengers loose another player. In the end, Sarah pulled it off. Sorry Katie (she said this is her last challenge because she's engaged and wants to have kids, but we've heard that one before). Then it was up to the guys. Like with the girls, we got down to a tied match, but Darrell pulled out the V for the Champions. Bummer. Now the Challengers are left with three men. I'm guessing that means they will always be on the chopping block every time when it comes to the Ruins. The Challengers team looks so small and paltry afterwards.

But none of this compares to the post-Ruins footage they show. You've got a group of girls talking outside about how Evan and Kenny run the show and use the girls as fodder to get to the end. THEN you've got Kenny explaining how the girls are useless in an interview. But none of that compares to a shot where you hear Evan talking and see a bunk bed with sheets and blankets put up so you can't see who's talking. You assume Evan's discussing strategy in there with a girl, but then we cut to inside the fort and it's Evan and Kenny lying in bed together talking strategy. Hey, I'm not judging, but it makes sense. Really though, I'd like to see someone really challenge those two (and Johnny Bananas) either from their own team or in the Ruins. See, I think Wes is in this game to the end. He's stronger than those guys and there isn't anyone on the Challengers who could take him out of the competition, but Evan, Kenny and Johnny? I'm not so sure about them. Have they gone in at all? I don't think so, but I'm not 100% (anyone remember?).

The commercial for the next episode was an interesting one. They show members from opposite teams all over each other. But in groups. So there's a group of Champions all around KellyAnne for example. Em thinks that that's because the challenge next week will be to physically bring someone from the other team over to your team, perhaps permanently. And, as she also put it, how crazy would it be if the Challengers grabbed one of the "Trinity" of dudes? Pretty friggin crazy right? I'm hoping she's right. Cause otherwise, the Challengers are screwed. Big time.

[post does not go on]
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

After last week's episode tonight's episode feels a little boring. Don't get me wrong, I still look forward to Wednesday nights at 10PM more than a lot of other TV timeslots, but this episodes hardly had any fighting or drunken and disorderly conduct.

Did anyone else think the opening on the boat was strange? Did I miss someone explained how they got on the boat? Usually on these challenges they're stuck in fairly remote places and anytime they leave it's for a challenge. And when they do get a night or day off there's usually a quick explanation. I can't believe I'm actually wishing a reality show would spoon feed me information more than it already is. Anyway, they should have just chillaxed and let Paula climb that mast, it could have taken care of a lot of their problems.

I liked seeing Wes and Evan talking like actual adults for a little while. Of course, it didn't last, but what are you going to do? There's still some tension between Wes and his team. I have no idea whether I believe Wes's claims that he's going to give all his winnings to charity (assuming he wins and I think he will). But, hey, that's how the game is played.


I thought both of the challenges were pretty weird today. Walking on your teammates and pouring water in a bucket? I understand that there have been a lot of these games between the various challenges, Survivor and whatever other challenge shows are out there, but these seemed kinda weak. It was nice to see the Challengers actually pull off a W, but a huge disappointment that they lost both of their players in the Ruins (Brianna and Adam). The Challengers are looking super weak. I'd like to think that some of the games further down the line might actually favor a smaller team, but we'll see. I've hoped for upsets a lot in challenges past and have wound up disappointed.

I wonder if Cyrus really thinks the dudes on his team have his back. He was sitting there, saying how much Wes has screwed up, but Wes could have been one of his sole allies on that team. See, if Wes starts his own alliance with Cyrus and picks up anyone else who doesn't fall under the Johnny/Kenny/Evan and whoever girls are under their sweaty wings, Wes would have a strong unit. I mean, they can't really think that there's room for all of them right? It's Kenny and Johnny and Evan, those dudes would sell their grandmas out to win one of these things. I was hoping that Adam would have called Kenny in. I want to see him actually prove himself this time around and not just sit on Evan's shoulders the whole game.

On a completely different note, how crazy is it that Dunbar hasn't gotten into a fight yet? He had quite the temper on his last challenge and his season of Real World. Same with Veronica and Katie, those are two little firecrackers who haven't stirred up any trouble yet (though it looks like Katie goes off next week, should be fun). Thank goodness next week will feature what looks like a healthy dose of broom smacking and lady-shouting.

[post does not go on]
Oh, DO go on.

The Ruins Rundown

Holy crap you guys, what a crazy freaking episode. I can't believe how this went down.
SPOILERS AHOY!!!

How could the Champions think it's a good idea to throw Wes AND Ev in and get them mad? Wes tried to make amends this episode and they spit right in his face. Gah. If Wes and Ev had come back and were super pissed, they would have thrown the missions like mad. Later on when Wes is talking to Even it's nuts that he didn't think that Ev wouldn't get pissed that she has to go into the Ruins against her best friend on the challenge. Maybe he was lying or maybe he really is a dummy. I think he was lying though, because he's surprisingly devious.

The challenge itself was fairly interesting, though it didn't seem to be that hard. Swinging on a rope didn't offer up challenges to anyone but Shauvon. I think I could even do this. Maybe. I dunno, I'd try at least. With Shauvon gone the Challengers should have a better shot at winning. Later when she came in and was telling everyone what happened, it was pretty boring.

Oh man, there's so many things I want to talk about. Let's get my thoughts organized. Alright, here we go. After getting the news, watching Wes and Ev go off is pretty fantastic, especially the part where Wes kind of lunges at Johnny and Johnny flinches like you just showed a little girl a spider and THEN Johnny says that he'd kick Wes's ass. Amazing. Em hates Johnny more than anyone on this show and now I find myself hating Suzy which surprises the crap out of me. This is the "Timmy's In My Winny" girl! Gah!!! What have the challenges done to you Suzy?!

Real quick, Johnny said this "Any bridges that were burned before have been torched." I think he was talking about Wes who had actually tried to repair those bridges with everyone.

So, the Ruins challenge comes down to Wes vs. Nick and Ev vs. KellyAnne. And it's this crazy thing with ropes tied to each player's wrists and ankles. It looked like a fight between Spider-Man and Venom where they just got stuck. It even started raining, which was pretty epic. Nick didn't stand a chance, but I got really nervous when I saw Wes fall in the very first round. See, I was out of the room for a second and so I didn't know it was the best out of five. Seriously, my heart was racing.

The Ev/KellyAnne match-up was crazy. Ev was going pretty strong, wearing KA down. And then they show her standing there looking like a crazy from a horror movie just playing with KA. And then she throws it! Why not just jump down three times and be done with it instead of screwing with her like that? Even Kenny thought that was funky. You can tell this challenge is toying with my emotions because I'm hating Suzy and agreeing with Kenny. Yeesh.

So that pretty much wraps up my thoughts on the main episode. I'm sitting here and watching the post show or whatever they call it and there's a few other fun points. I love Wes's rant about Kenny being a former fat kid who got skinny and handsome. Reminds me of this dude I used to work with back home. Like he's the same person but not from Jersey. Speaking of Kenny, they showed a clip from the normal challenge where Kenny said something to Dunbar and Dunbar went after Kenny. You can tell there's a lot going on in an episode when they can't even fit all the fights into an episode.
Oh, DO go on.

Season Premiere: Real World/Road Rules: The Ruins

As long time readers know, I love me some Real World. I'm currently watching the season premiere of Real World/Road Rules: The Ruins. I freaking love these things. They're like an old school Avengers annual where the Avengers, the West Coast Avengers and any random characters show up to play softball or whatever.

The basic idea is that people who have won a challenge are on one team and newbies along with people who have come close, yet lost challenges are on the other. Before the day's challenge three men and three women are put up for elimination. Then after the daily challenge, the opposite team gets to choose from the six players who they want to go up against. If you beat someone, you take their money.

This season is plagued with all kinds of amazing love pentagons and other shapes the geometrical shapes I've never even heard of (or have been invented by science). The main villain so far is Wes, a dude I love because he completely goes against the alliances and demands to be treated fairly (mind you, he lied to everyone before the game and said he wasn't playing, so take that as you well). I just like seeing someone who has the muscle to back himself up, standing up against the ridiculous alliance formed by Kenny, Johnny Bananas and Evan. Ridiculous. And, even though s of right now there are 15 minutes left and it looks like Wes is going to get sent home by Chet, I'm still pretty sure Wes will win, which sucks because I like Chet. But you're no Wes my friend. These opinions are based solely on the idea that I've seen previews with Wes in them that I haven't yet seen in this episode. But MTV has done creative editing in the past. Also, why the heck would they think Chet could beat Wes? Oh well.

Also, I don't know much about muscles, but I feel like most of the dudes on this show have what I call show muscles. These are muscles sculpted in gyms or whatever. They're for TV. That's what Kenny has. Wes has real muscles. Muscles designed to hurt people. I know it won't go down like this because Kenny is (surprisingly) too smart to get in a fight and sent home, but I would love to see Wes lay some shit down on him. Just to see what it would be like. Nothing against Kenny, I'm just not real keen on him being this weird godfather like person along with Evan. Em had an idea that I fully support in which a lot of these Fresh Meat or Road Rules folks live in a Real World-style house to "prove" themselves a little more. Let's see it happen MTV!

I guess I should explain that Wes said straight up that he would throw his own team's mission. Oops, there he goes, Chet lost. Sorry bro. Anyway, Wes did his best to throw their first mission in, his team still won, he went in anyway and won and I can imagine he'll be doing the same over and over again.

Before the Ruins challenge at the end, it got really close to full out brawl between Wes and Darrell, a dude that no one really cares about, but is trying to suck up to the dude alliance. Good luck bro, you're out soon enough.


Now, we've got Diem against perennial hot mess Tanya. Personally I'm rooting for Diem because I've liked her since she premiered on Fresh Meat, but how crazy of an upset would it be of drunk ass Tonya pulls this off. We shall see. Hell even Tonya just said "Even Tonya can get that concept." Oh SNAP! Tonya won it! I can't say I'm happy, but whatever, upsets are few and far between in these things, even more rare is for a veteran to go home this early.

All in all this was a pretty great challenge premiere. You've got drama, weird love hexagons, betrayal and upsets. I love that the dudes on Wes's team think that he'll buckle. Not likely dudes. He'll continue to take people out from the other team, but that only helps him you guys. After two or three victories, the other team will NEVER choose Wes to go up against their players. That means, Johnny Bananas, Evan and Kenny will get tossed into the Ruins. Man, I never even took game theory, but this stuff is obvious to me. Can't wait for the season!!!
Oh, DO go on.

Seaon Premieres: Real World Cancun, Warehouse 13

Seems like it was just yesterday I was posting about all the season finales I was watching, but here we are, in the summer and there's actually a good deal of new shows Em and I have been checking out. So, yeah, I'm watching more than just Wipeout (the couples episode of which was on last night and was, of course, awesome).

So, in a strange twist of fate I never did a Gauntlet 2 season finale post so I'll talk about it briefly. I liked the season as a whole, but I was disappointed in the the nearly zero gauntlet upsets. Every time someone called the big dog into the gauntlet, they lost and went home. Yawn. It still had the requisite amount of drama and familiar faces (as did the reunion episode).

Speaking of drama and reality show challenges, there's a new season of Real World which started about three weeks ago. As many have noted, it seems like MTV tried to genetically engineer this season to be more bombastic, unlike the previous season which, on the surface, also seemed engineered for craziness. This year our 8 Real Worlders are staying in a hotel resort in Cancun. They even have a job, making sure kids on spring break don't get too messed up. If they screw up they get sent home. Should make for good TV.

On the good TV front, in the very first episode two of the housemates meet non-RW girls at a club. One dude is with a younger girl and the other dude is completely making out with this older woman (definitely not a cougar or MILF). Eventually the younger girl turns to the guy she's making out with and tells her that the older woman is her mom. Awesome.

I'm not completely sure if I like the cast or not. As usual I'm having trouble telling the girls apart and I'm still learning everyone's names, but it's weird watching these kids who are all younger than me (for years I wanted to be on the show, still do really). But weirder still is how clickey they are and how often those clicks change. One minute they all love each other, then it's boys vs. girls and then everyone vs. one girl. It's very high school, but I guess that's what you get.

The funniest part for me, though, is how these seasons start to repeat themselves. You've got the girl with a boyfriend who claims they'll be together forever, though the dude who knows here that's also on the show says she was a huge slut before she met him (a nice little wrinkle), you've got the girl who doesn't "deal" with "rudeness" or whatever, the dudes who are very clearly only looking to get laid, etc. As usual, you can catch up on all the episodes so far on MTV's Real World site.

Another show we watched actually premiered this week on, ugh, SyFy called Warehouse 13. It's your basic "agents relocated after experiencing supernatural" kind of story. You've got two secret service agents who get recruited to work at a giant place called Warehouse 13 that houses all the weird sci-fi type stuff the government doesn't want us to know about (or is too dangerous for us to know about). It's a combination of CreatureTech (look for a review of the graphic novel by the guy who created Earthworm Jim soon), B.P.R.D. and Fringe but with a more lighthearted feel (though, of course, everyone has their dark secrets).

The pilot was way too long at two hours and really REALLY dragged, but I think the show has potential and we'll probably keep checking it out as long as it's not opposite something else we like. I can get past the slightly tired plots (so far reminiscent of Buffy et al) because I like the characters for the most part and, I'll admit it, there's only so many reality shows I can watch in a season, though I do miss The Real Housewives of New Jersey (shame). You can watch the whole thing on Hulu or right here if you'd like:



Oh, speaking of Bravo shows, I watched about 6 minutes of that NYC Prep show and wanted to blow up that part of the city just to get rid of those awful, awful wastes of space. Yuck. I spent an hour afterwards playing F.E.A.R. 2 to diminish my criminal impulses.

Oh, DO go on.

Trade Post: Pedro & Me

Written last night:

Hey guys, I'm guessing that if you're one of my friends from home or college or someone who stumbled upon this site thanks to a Google search and stuck around for whatever reason who doesn't read comics, you probably skip over a lot of the comic-related posts. I highly encourage you to check this one out about Judd Winick's graphic novel Pedro & Me (2000) because, like The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, it's a book that I think anyone can get something out of, even if you're not used to comics

My buddy Ben picked up Pedro & Me recently and passed it to me when he was done with it. It sat for about a week until last when I passed by, picked it up and read it in one sitting. Man, this is a powerful book. Judd was on the third season of Real World with Pedro. Judd was a cartoonist and Pedro had been living with AIDS for years, giving talks about it and taking the opportunity to show the world what a gay man with AIDS really looks like. Judd and Pedro became close friends, so close that Judd was there when Pedro passed away from complications due to AIDS. He would go on to write and draw a memoir of his friendship with Pedro, Pedro & Me.

Regular readers know how much of a fan of the Real World I am, so it might come as something of a surprise that it's taken me 9 years to read this book. I'm also a big, big fan of Judd's comic book writing (he's written Batman, Green Lantern, Outsiders and Green Arrow, plus way more). I don't have a real reason why I hadn't read Pedro & Me until now, but I'm really glad I finally did.

Judd tells his story with such simplicity that I think anyone can really enjoy it. It starts off as the story of two boys growing up separately and then turns into the story of their meeting and subsequent friendship until it morphs into a story of death and living life after. Yes it's sad, but it's also happy, like life, and has a beating heart at the center of it that practically pulses through the pages.

I don't want to get too much into the details because that's the whole point of reading the story, which I really want you to do. As I mentioned, Judd has gone on to work on a ton of mainstream comics and he tends to include characters living with AIDS, gay characters and other true-to-life situations that other writers might shy away from. I've heard people give him flack for it, but I'm guessing those people haven't read Pedro & Me, because after reading it you can really fell how changed Judd was and how he still wants to get the word out about gay rights, HIV and AIDS and I commend him for it.

Oh, DO go on.

TV Time 4/20-4/26

You guys know I love TV, so I figured I'd write about it in one big post (unless something really knocks my socks off). So here's a quick rundown of what I watched this week on the idiot box.

MONDAY
8:00-9:00PM
Unfortunately both Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother were re-runs last week. Still had fun watching these episodes again, though.

10:00PM
Castle is really growing on me. It's the one procedural in our weekly line-up, but damnitall of Nathan Fillion isn't super-charming. His partner is even growing on me (she kind of scared me the first few episodes). What started out as a show we'd watch because nothing else is on has turned into a new weekly favorite.

TUESDAY
9:00PM
I'm really glad Fringe is back. I actually missed it while it was on hiatus, plus, it's really the only thing we watch on Tuesdays. This episode was interesting enough on its own, but also offered a deeper level of mystery and connection that will hopefully explode with craziness as the first season wraps.

10:00-10:20PM
I caught about 20 minutes of The Unusuals. I really liked what I saw, but wanted to watch Josie and the Pussycats without falling asleep, so it lost out. I'm still rooting for the show's success.

WEDNESDAY
9:00PM-10:00PM
As all the Losties know, there wasn't a new episode last week, but a clip show. This one looked at the Oceanic 6 and showed all the flashforwards and flashbacks in chronological order. It wasn't necessary to watch, but it reminded me of a few things I had forgotten. I'm still not clear on the time frame of Locke visiting Jack, Locke getting killed, Jack flying around with a scruffy beard and Jack running into Ben at Locke's showing. It seems like there's too much time there for all these events to happen in a realistic fashion. I'm not saying they don't have everything figured out, it's just nagging at me a bit. I'm sure there's an explanation.

10:00PM-11:00PM
The Duel 2 continues to offer up a level of conspiracy that is always hilarious. I'd really love someone who has studied game theory to either analyze the show or, better yet, make it onto the show. I myself did not take the game theory class my college offered (too much math and science for this English major), but it sounded fascinating when friends would talk about it. Without getting into spoilers, the guy duel was pretty intense. Unfortunately, the guy we were rooting for didn't win, and thus the status quo continues.

THURSDAY
8:00-8:30PM
I don't talk about My Name Is Earl a lot, but it's a consistently good show that I enjoy every week. I'm impressed that they've been able to keep such a solid show going with what seemed like an easily exhausted premise, but I'm always happy to see Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly (anyone else remember Poison Ivy 3?), Nadine Velazquez (Catalina) and Eddie Steeples (Crabman)every week.

8:30-9:00PM
Last week's Parks and Recreation was the best episode yet. But that's not really saying much. To be completely honest, we're only still watching this show because it's between two other shows we like and I'm pretty sure nothing else is on. I wish they would keep the cast, scrap this concept and just start over because watching Poehler act like a Michael Scott clone for 22 minutes is just painful.

9:00-9:30PM
We finally get a resolution to the doomed-from-the-start Michael Scott Paper Company and it was a lot more fist pumping than I thought it would be. That being said, I was totally worried that Michael would screw things up in the meeting.

9:30-10:00PM
30 Rock is awesome. As much as I love the plots and larger jokes, it's really the smaller jokes that get me. Like when Kenneth is passing out and says something like "My name is Dick Whitman." Awesome. Or a few weeks back after seeing the world through Kenneth's eyes and then seeing the real Liz walk-running like a Muppet. I am a bit worried that Tracey and Jenna are turning into cartoon characters instead of actual real characters. Oh, I'm also sad to see Salma Hayek leaving the show, both because she was really funny and hot.

10:00-11:00PM
I totally meant to watch all of Harper's Island last week. After all, it's essentially a show about a slasher killing wedding guests off one by one on an island. I was all into last week's episode (the second of the season I believe), but I fell asleep in the last 10 minutes and completely missed the ending. Luckily, this week, I didn't fall asleep. I'm not sure yet how I feel about Harper's Island. I've given up watching my favorite Girl Next Door Bridget on her new bikini-filled show Bridget's Sexiest Beaches to check it out. I did have a hard time keeping track of the characters (lots have the same hair color and look too similar). But I think I'll stick with it for now.


FRIDAY
8:00-10:30PM
After sloshing through the first 20 minutes of The Spirit (more on that later), we gave up and watched some Cartoon Network. Saw a Batman: Brave and the Bold episode that focused on the Blue Beetle legacy (even showing Dan Garret, the Golden Age BB!). As always, it was a rad episode. Then I checked out an episode of the Clone Wars CGI show that was kinda cool and made me want to check the show out on DVD. After that The Soup was awesome.

Later that Night...
We watched the end of the Red Sox/Yankees game. Being from New England, Em is, of course, a Red Sox fan and hates the Yankees. Being something of a Tiger's fan and initially not being all that happy about moving to New York, I hated most NY sports teams (and still do, really). So, even though I don't particularly like the Sox, I like watching the Yankees lose. And lose they did. In overtime. This reminded me of college when Em would come over and we'd watch from inning 8 or 9 on of the Sox World Series. Now, that's baseball.

SATURDAY
While hanging out in Nyack we kept an eye on the game. Didn't see the end, but the Sox took it.

SUNDAY
8:00-9:00PM
Em and I have become pretty big fans of the Amazing Race. We stumbled upon it when The Simpsons was in reruns last season, but this is the first season we've watching, mostly, from beginning to the soon-to-be end. Better than every reality show game except Real World/Road Rules.

More Baseball
Em fell asleep watching the game, but I was in it till the end. A dude freaking stole home! I've never seen that before. It was awesome. See for yourself:

The Yankees play the Tigers next, so hopefully I can see them get beat up on Detroit style (but without guns and knives).
Oh, DO go on.

SO Excited

You guys, I am SUPER excited about tonight's TV line-up. Even Tyra's America's Next Top Model, a show I despise more than any other on television, can't diminish my excitement for Lost and the season premiere of Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Duel 2!

As you know, Lost is my favorite show on TV right now. So, my already high anticipation for any and all new things Lost was heightened to crazy levels after last week's episode which will not only (hopefully) reveal how Ben got all messed up before trying to get back to the island and what happened to Penny and Desmond, BUT it also looks like we'll get a look inside the Smoke Monster's temple! The commercial made it look like freakin' Indiana Ben and the Temple of Doom!

So, in addition to what will hopefully be the best episode of Lost ever, I've also got the Duel which will hopefully make up for what turned out to be the worst season finale in Real World history (and I know, I've seen them all). So, it'll be nice to see some familiar faces beating the crap out of each other for money and acting like hooligans.
Oh, DO go on.

My Top 5 TV Shows Right Now

2009-03-13
8:35:13 pm

When the new season began I said a few words about the shows I'd been watching. Well, now the season's been on it's merry way for a while now and I figured I'd lay out my top five shows right now. They're in no particular order except #1, but they're rocking my world right now.

5. How I Met Your Mother

4. Big Bang Theory

3. 30 Rock

2. Real World

1. LOST

Unfortunately, HIMYM and BBT weren't new for a while, which has been a huge bummer as we don't really watch anything else on Mondays. I still really enjoy both shows and can't wait to see where the further new episodes take me. After watching the first season of 30 Rock all the way through I gained an all new appreciation for 30 Rock and they haven't been disappointing this year (though it is interesting to see how the dynamics have shifted by now). I don't think I laugh harder at anything more than 30 Rock. The Real World: Brooklyn has been surprising this year. I think the producers thought that, by combining a transgender woman, a gay guy, a Mormon, a girl who used to date girls but now dates guys, an Iraq War veteran, a girl who's kinda engaged, a body builder and a hip hop dancer they'd have LOADS of conflict. Instead, we're treated to the most thought provoking, yet still fun season since Las Vegas (SO MANY pranks!). And finally, Lost. I freaking love this show. I've actually found that Lost gives me something to really look forward to (my new catchphrase of late has been "Life is better with Lost"). I was close to devastated when I walked into work Wednesday morning and Justin told me it wasn't new this week. If you're not watching you should be and if you don't like it, you're crazy.

Oh, DO go on.

What I'm Thankful For: The Real World

2008-11-13
4:46:23 am

My name is TJ and I am, in fact, a Real World-aholic. It feels good to admit it in public, but, to be honest, I have no problem talking about my problem. I've been a fan of the Real World for a long time now, which doesn't necessarily vindicate me, but it might explain some things. 1996's season in Miami really sticks out in my memory. I would have been 13 or 14 at the time. The funny thing is that, in the early 90s, my parents sat me down and told me they didn't want me watching MTV because of shows like Beavis and Butthead and rap videos objectifying women.

I followed that rule for a while, but eventually started watching MTV after school and whenever I'd stay up late. The funny thing is that I never liked B&B and I really didn't like rap at the time (and I'm still playing catch up today). But the show that really caught my attention was The Real World. I have a basic knowledge of the seasons before Miami (I've probably seen most of them in reruns by now), but Miami was the first one that really grabbed my attention, partly because of theaforementioned inclusion of Wilstorm Editor Sarah Becker. But the whole cast really intrigued me. These were the kinds of people I didn't experience in my everyday life and it was really cool to see them all together and trying to start a business (which, if memory serves, never took off).

Real Worlds Boston and Seattle were also pretty big deals at the time and probably the last seasons where they didn't stunt cast as much as they do today. I remember talking to my friend Shannon on the phone in high school for hours and one of the big topics of conversation was always the Real World. She was the first person I talked on the phone with for more then two minutes. I don't know why that's important, but it's fun.

After that things started getting crazy with all the drama of Hawaii, then New Orleans and heading back to New York for the tenth anniversary. That was one of the first things in pop culture that actually made me feel old because I actually remembered ten years of something on TV. Of course now I know it to be just the first of many events to make me feel old.

I don't remember much about Chicago by name except for the fact that two guys I would go on to know in college, Jeff and Pat got their way onto the show, though I didn't know them when the episode aired and haven't seen it since. As I've heard the story, they found out where the show was while they were filming and actually set up a lemonade stand outside the house. Eventually they got noticed by the housemates and made their way onto the show! My friends tell me that you can actually see them in the background of an episode that I would love to see.

After Chicago was the game changing Las Vegas which I remember watching every week in Jacob's room in college. It's weird how such a debaucherous show could bring people together (he was in my wedding party). By this time I wasn't talking to Shannon about every episode anymore, but Jacob filled that space pretty well. You know a season's gonna be crazy when there's practically a threesome on the first episode. Jacob (who was a year older) and I would watch the next few seasons together until he graduated.

After that things definitely get fuzzy and I have to refer to the Wikipedia page just to remember who was in what cast, but I was also equally enamored with the Real World/Road Rules Challenges which would pit casts from the two shows against each other in games of a physical nature. I was also a Road Rules fan until they decided to take a Survivor approach and kick people off. "Why become more like the show that's trying to steal your original concept?" I thought. Anyway, I appreciated how they'd schedule Real World seasons to follow Road Rules and vice versa and then once Road Rules tanked for whatever reason they'd fill in with the various challenges.

After college I spent a few months at home where I worked most mornings at Barry's Bagel Place at Westgate and most nights at the Chad/Chad/Toth house (I really miss that place) watching whatever was on MTV (I regret to say that that included The Hills along with the less embarassing Real World and Challenges.

Luckily, when I moved out here to New York I found a kindred Real World spirit in Rickey, who shared my love of how ridiculous the show had become. You see, back when I was a kid I actually wanted to be on the show and now I've reached the peak age at which I could make it onto the show (a realization that struck me a lot harder than it should have). In three months I'll be too old. Depressing. But after a while, that desire to be one of them transformed into an amazement at how self obsessed some people can be as well as a kind of character study. Sure the inclusion of camera will change how people act, but Real World definitely offers the budding writer (which I still consider myself, until I hit the top of that age limit as well) a great look at some truly interesting characters. But, let's be clear, I don't want to sound all literary and whatnot, I do like watching people get drunk and make bad decisions. It's the same part of me that liked watching Jerry Springer when I was younger.

Anyway, Rickey and I stayed pretty well caught up, though I did fall of the wagon for a season until he told me how awesome it was and I caught up with episodes online (I wish every season was available online, I'd watch the crap out of that). Since then I've been watching every season and challenge as they come out.

What I like about the challenges is that you get to see these characters that you got pretty close to in previous seasons. To me they're real people but also just characters on a TV show and seeing them all together on another show is like seeing a cool comic book team-up where you get to see a group of characters you never thought you'd get to see again.

Like I said above, I do have a problem and I accept that. I've known for a while that my love for the Real World and it's bastard offspring is somewhat unnatural, but it really hit home yesterday when I realized that there wouldn't be any new shows this weekend as The Island (the latest challenged) aired it's last episode two weeks ago and it's reunion show last week. I guess I've just got to wait until the new season hits which features a cast in Brooklyn. How crazy is it that I've been living this close to a Real World house and not set up a lemonade stand yet? Hmm, maybe there's still time. What do you say Rickey? Interested?

Oh, DO go on.