Top Ten of 2009 - Reality Shows

#1 - So you think you can Dance Canada? came back with it’s second season, and it was miles above the American version. The audition process was great, the choreographers and dancers were breathless, and the quality of the show was fantastic. It must be the Canadian touch, but the show is much warmer and fuzzier than the US version, and at the same time we don’t seem to be afraid to push the envelope when it comes to getting the dancers down and dirty. Our ratings and standards are not quite the same as those down south and there was more than one guest who commented on being able to do stuff that would not pass the FCC in the States. Not only were our Judges impressed with the quality of dance, but we even had Mia Michael’s endorsement (and it appears, continuing support) and even a marriage proposal. For quality alone, this show is the benchmark for dance and I can hardly wait for the next season!

#2 – Survivor – is still the King of the Jungle and just had one of the best editions with super villain Russell and the rest of the gang in Samoa. The casting was great this time around and there was some really interesting game play from Russell, in fact he ran things from day 1 and managed to alienate and piss everyone off so that, even though he played one of the best games ever, he didn’t win due to the social component on the game. It’s all about how you play the game and who ends up on the Jury. I am really looking forward to the Heroes vs. Villains edition coming up next !

#3 - Dancing with the Stars – is still a force to be reckoned with and I absolutely love how it has brought dance back on the air waves. The professional dancers awe me with their technique and ability to teach, and the Stars are always a surprise. It is not always my favourite who wins (more often than naught it is another who gets that big old Mirror Ball trophy), but I love watching people try something new or showcase some hidden talent. The show has a pretty good balance, some great guest performances and one of the best hosts in reality television, Tom Bergeron, who has a quick wit, acid tongue and has gotten out some real zingers. It’s time to give this man and Emmy for his outstanding work.

#4 - The Amazing Race - is still as amazing as ever and the production team consistently chooses a good variety of teams covering a nice cross section of the population. They threw a couple of twists in this last edition, eliminating one team out of the gate and making it harder for teams to catch up if they survive a non Phil elimination round. The locales were stunning, the challenges interesting and there was so much drama this year. I think they went overboard with all of the Type A personalities, but there were many teams to route for, and it was interesting to see Teams eliminate themselves by error this time around. It is one of the reality staples here at Couch Potato Central and I look forward to each new edition.

#5 - Top Chef – The Masters edition got me hooked on competition cooking shows (again) and I was in awe watching such high calibre chefs doing the Quick Fire Challenges and putting together some very amazing food. Next was the Vegas competition, and I devoured the past season in Vegas with much gusto and hungrily looking forward to the next one. The mix of chefs was great, and per usual, Bravo made sure to have several gay contestants in their mix and added a ton of drama to the flavour. I think it goes with the territory that a lot of professional chefs are a tad intense. Bring it on, I am ready for more!

#6 - The Soup - is must see TV and my week is really not complete with out it. Joel McHale is hilarious, and delivers some of the most scathing commentaries on the subject matter of reality TV. Not only does it make my hit list every week, but it has more often than naught, shown me a show (usually one of those terrible Guilty Pleasures) that I have to check out. Did I already say how funny and sexy Joel is? If you like your humour dark and cutting, have an extreme dislike for Ryan Seacrest, and no fear to offend any one in the entertainment industry (and that includes Oprah, which is usually a death sentence for anyone), then I invite you to my weekly viewing party. It’s meaty.

#7 – America’s Best Dance Crew – I know that there is a ton of dance related reality shows on this list, but it is the stuff that I really enjoy and it has been such an enormous pleasure to have so much to watch on TV. There is a curious almost incestuous relationship between this show and So you think you can Dance? and Dancing with the Stars, as they all share common choreographers, dancers and even Judges at times, and you get to see some great performances. It’s all very great stuff, extremely original and unlike any of the other dance competitions on the air and well worth the watch. The Judging is hard to follow at times, but seeing the blood, sweat and tears that these crews put into their performances is astounding and some of the movements are out of this world.I am not sure how things will work out this year with Shane Sparks being in hot water at this time, but I am looking forward to the next season to see some slamming Crews bust a move or three.

#8 – Battle of the Blades had a great first season and was such a Canadian success story that it deserved a spot on the list. You can’t get much more Canadian than hockey, and pairing up hockey players with figure skaters made for some interesting (and dangerous) moments, and it was stunning to see these big hulking guys trying to be graceful on the ice in figure skates. I hope it will be back next season, and would love to see them expand the competition to include female hockey players teamed up with male figure skaters and make it more gender inclusive. It was very entertaining, a surprising success and a whole lot of fun. Gotta love that wholesome TV thing eh?

#9 - RuPaul’s Drag Race – How could you go wrong in getting the most fabulous Drag Queens and Female Impersonators on the same stage to compete for a crown? The humour was deadly, the competition fierce and all the drama! I could not ask for more out of a trashy reality show and was glued to the TV every episode. There is some huge talent out there, and it was great to see some of the greats get national exposure, and there is always the catch phrase “ Now you have to lip synch for your life” that I can not get out of my head. I can hardly wait for season 2 !

#10 – So you think you can Dance? pushed things a tad too far this year and after a great summer edition, tried too hard and came back right away with a Fall edition. The Judging panel changed, and it was Nigel, Mary and Adam who were there every week. There was the failed attempt (mercifully) of trying to get Paula Abdul on the panel and Mia Michaels left the American show. With all of that, an abbreviated season that finished off bizarrely, and a set change that does not justice to the series, it suddenly felt like it had no heart and out of place. What was once the bastion of dance on TV suddenly has become a bit of a circus and I hope it recovers. I only kept it on the list because of the quality of dance and some of the incredible dancers that participated this year and not for the rest of the production that has seemed to lost it’s focus. Here is hoping that the next season has some of the heart that the earlier seasons did.

Almost made the List: Dance your Ass off, The Sing Off

Brilliant yet cancelled: The Cho Show

Fallen from Grace: Kathy Griffin – My Life on the D List, Project Runway

Biggest Disappointment: The Fashion Show, Sheer Genius, I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here!

Summer Rant – Return to Greatness

After a very busy couple of weeks and some much needed time in the sun (it’s been a rare thing in this neck of the woods) things have been burning up the TV (LCD) screen with the new season of America’s Best Dance Crew (ABDC) and the second season of So you think you can Dance Canada?(SYTYCDC). Acronyms aside, some of the best dance that has been seen on TV is happening right now and it makes for some great viewing.

ABDC has a great mix of Crews, and while I was a tad upset that Artistry in Motion was eliminated. The girls were hot and who cares if they don’t have the supermodel type shapes that only a small amount of the population actually has but try to make it some unrealistic ideal. Girls with curves that know how to work it and move are damn hot, and these divas did not deserve to go after their kick ass Beyonce Challenge routine. I am very impressed that our gay gay gay Vogue Revolution (complete with a transsexual that was hotter than almost all of the other girls) is being accepted by the public and let loose. It’s time for Hip Hop and other genres to be more open to gay culture and let it assimilate it’s self into some of these reality competitions. Why not have same sex couples dancing with all the traditional couples? It just adds more flavour and makes the shows more interesting.It’s not like dance and music are not associated with gay culture and there have been tons of artists that have benefited from a gay choreographer or writer or dancer. Lil’ Momma seems very open to the gay thing and it’s nice to see, should I be reading between the lines on this one?

So you think you can Dance Canada? has been great with the auditions all over Canada in the past couple of weeks. Tonight will be the selection of the Top 20, and the regular competition and voting starts this week until we into Top Ten territory. The auditions were incredible, and once again had that particular Canadian flavour that is not found in the American version. A lot less exploitation of the bad dancers and the idiots that come out to make fools out of themselves, and hugs from the Judges as they congratulate some of the dancers that are selected to go on to the Final Selection in Toronto. I was happy to see that once again we have Mary, Mia and Lil’ C mixing in with our Canadian Panel. As always, I am humbled to see such incredible talent and it will be very hard to get down to that magical 20 from the dancers that remain. I hope to see some local talent there as a few of them were incredible at the auditions, in fact Mia offered to marry one, that is how astounding he was. Things will be getting even hotter this season it looks, but it seems that a few of the mainstays from last year are no where to be seen and it will be interesting to see which choreographers will be working their magic with our gang this season.

Lifetime has made my life complete with the long awaited return of Project Runway after a lengthy court battle over distribution rights and it’s surprising defection from Bravo. There is no other show that has the right balance of creativity and competition, and welcoming back Heidi, Tim, Michael and Nina back home was fantastic after a long hiatus. Too long, and Runway was back with a vengeance this week in a whole night event. Things started off with the fabulous All Star Challenge, reuniting a few of my favourite past designers and a feeling of familiarity that has been missing for aeons. Not only was one of my favourites there, Daniel, but he actually won (great work) this time around and it was nice to see how he has matured and evolved as a designer. These kinds of events are always hit and miss and of course, Santino the blathering idiot was there to make more bad clothes and flaunt his ego, and poor Chris had me in hysterics with his narcolepsy and how he was so shocked to even be there. Chris is too modest for his own good and I loved his avant-garde collection. Poor Kato is relegated to perpetual runner up, but her stuff is amazing and very well done. I think that Uli was the biggest surprise and I really liked her stuff. I was really disappointed with Jeffrey and was wondering why he was there, there were other designers I would have loved to have seen but maybe some of them were not interested in participating. Congratulations to Daniel once again! As cute as ever :)

This new season started off just like old times and this year it’s another messy bunch of designers that are usually easily identifiable due to a much hyped tick, phobia or other thing that stands out for each and every one of them. After the inaugural episode I have identified so far: Space Cadet (who got Aufed at the end of this episode), X-Meth Man, Retro Girl, Yugoslavian woman, the Feather Queen, Qristal with a Q (WTF?) and older Rasta Guy. More will come to me as things progress, but I liked the mix of designers and the change to LA for this round. Everything felt familiar enough, and I like the small addition of the extra 30 minutes with the models and their quest to be paired with the winning designer and get the magazine cover and some cash. Models of the Runway means that our designers will be fighting back and forth over some of the models, and those who can’t walk the walk will be out of the game sooner than later as none of the designers will want them. I still find some of the girls terribly thin in a not good way but the show might give some insight into how hard the competition is for these girls and how much they have to do and put up with to be there. I still wonder how much they get paid to do this.

Joan Rivers is still killing me with her new series How’d you get so rich? and her point blank questions to the people with the money. Joan gives an honest reaction and I have to agree with her when I see some old rich guy with a young wife and know that it involves her getting jewellery to bump uglies with the old guy. It ain’t love that’s one thing. It’s still fun to see how some of these people did make it big time and it can be inspirational to see how far some people have gone with hard work and a good idea. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they have good taste, but the cash to do what they want.

Top Chef Masters finished off with a delicious looking biography of our Chefs and a tough decision by the Judges to decide that Rick Bayless was the winner due to his incredible Mole sauce. I thought our French Chef, Hubert was going to take home the big prize, but Rick beat him and Michael by only a point or 2. I still think that Michael got shafted by Judge James Oseland (again) after making some incredible food and I think it is more a personality clash than anything else. The show was great and it had made me want to check out this season of Top Chef in Vegas and although it is not Masters, I have enjoyed the Challenges and seeing how great and imaginative the Chefs are. Hopefully they will repeat this experience as it is always fascinating to see how incredible some of these culinary masters are.

On the SyFy side of things, Eureka is as charming as ever and it’s nice to see Carter getting some action finally. The guy is too sexy to be wasted as single. Warehouse 13 is starting to grow on me and if they can continue crafting some interesting stories it will keep my interest.

The new Fall schedule will be starting soon and I am looking forward to some returning shows and getting back in to regular full seasons. I love some of my Summer fare but find the seasons too short, you start getting in to a series and before you know it it’s time for it end and be gone for another year.

Summer Rant – Hot Stuff

In the heat of summer nights, things have been burning up the screen with the past couple of episodes of So you think you can Dance? and the Final Four. I am still surprised that Janette was let go the other week and then Melissa last week as I thought both of them were some of the strongest dancers, but it’s hard not to like all of the dancers as all of them have been incredible this season. I have to agree with the Judges that this is the BEST season ever, the most talented and some of the most incredible choreography.

It’s a shame that Kat’s stylist is so hit and miss this season as she seems to look fabulous one night and then like a mermaid threw up on her another night. Seriously, I  can not get over how fugly some of those frocks are – that green animosity from Thursday night has scarred me for life.

Things were very busy last week and I didn’t have time to rant, but I have to say a couple of things about last week’s 100 episode celebration. First, Ellen was hilarious as a guest Judge and brought some very funny moments to the show. The whole Katie Holmes fiasco is another story. Her so called “Performance of a life time” was all lip sync and no substance, I think her real performance of a life time is her “marriage” with Tom Cruise or whatever those Scientologists call mating ceremonies. Enough said.. yeesh!

I am not at all surprised that Brandon was chosen for the Final Four – he looks like a winner to me and seems to have won over even his most fervent critics. The guy is stunning to watch (and of course it really doesn’t hurt that he is modest and loves to dance almost completely naked) and has one of the most perfect physiques that you have ever seen. Pure talent through and through and he reminds me of Will (guest dancing on the Results show and sporting some new facial hair) from last season.Although a tad self indulgent, the performances of all of the Emmy nominated pieces were as stunning as ever. I bow in gratitude at Mia and Wade for blowing my mind with their outstanding work, but I am pretty sure that our local girl Stacey Tookey will be getting some nods for her great numbers this season. I can hardly wait until SYTYCD Canada starts on August 11th, just after this round of the American competition.

So we have Brandon, Jeanine, Evan, and Kayla as our Final Four, and while I am a tad surprised to see Evan there, I know it’s because of his cute puppy eyes and his glowing personality.Ade was a tough competitor but didn’t bring more than Brandon, who I am pretty sure will be the last guy standing and the ultimate winner this season, but the one surprise may be Kayla, who has been shining since Day 1 and is a very talented dancer. As much as I love Jeanine and admire her talent, I am still surprised that she was there to to the Final Four and it will be a huge surprise if she wins. I always thought that either Melissa or Janette would have been there at the end instead of her.

I was peeved that The Superstars skipped last week and I have to wait for the Finale, I have been getting used to my jock fix each week with Maks and when this ends will have to wait until the next season of Dancing with the Stars. Some things you can never get enough of.

There are things that I have been trying to see if I like ‘em and unfortunately as interesting as the concept of Hung was, the actually performance has been kind of limp and it will be Off the Watch List. New shows and concepts are always hit and miss and it’s a question of whether or not the actor can suck you in. I was not getting the big performance that I wanted, and that may be because the show was too hetero-centric and didn’t speak to me.

Kathy Griffin’s guest are being more interesting than her and not in an endearing kind of way. Her bomb at the Apollo was just ridiculous as she should really know the audience and limits before shooting off her mouth. Getting banned from everywhere is no way to build a career and the more the gays get neglected the more bitchy we get. There is the D List and then the STUPID List. I wish that Margaret Cho’s show had been picked up again but alas, that seems to be another victim of alternative programming. This has not been the best year for for gay characters or icons on TV.

Triple Sensation was incredible (and short unless you saw some of the extra episodes on Bold) and I am was happy to see Leah win the big prize. It was fascinating to see the performers work with all the big names and get such intensive training. The concept and execution of the show was great, the contestants all incredibly talented and I hope to see more. I was surprised that it was mostly girls at the end, but encouraged to see the talent in these young performers. It’s a shame that there are not enough opportunities for Performing Arts in Canada and that there is always the allure of Broadway to call our performers away.

Top Chef Masters has been astounding and has given me the appetite to pay more attention to the regular series, and makes me eager to see the Next Iron Chef series that will be rolling out on Food Network. It’s a shame that the Canadian version doesn’t air series the same time as the US one (some things I will never understand). I was thrilled to see our modest Chef Anita Lo pull out the win in round one and I am still surprised about how so over the top gay Opera’s personal Chef Art Smith is. Not that it’s a bad thing, it is actually nice to see one of those big old girlfriends from down South who is so out there that no one cares and is found charming instead of flaming.

Weekend Rant – Dance Fever

This summer has been absolutely fantastic so far with the competition on So you think you can Dance? This series seems to get better with each round, and the quality of dance (and dancers) just keeps getting better and better. I can only imagine the difficulties that our Judges are having deciding which guy and girl have to leave each week as we cull the herd down to the Top Ten as all of the dancers are very talented. At least the voting seems more proportionate to the talent and not based more on the cuteness factor of the contestants as so far there have been a couple of the really cute guys eliminated which was almost surprising considering the screaming going on in the audience at the broadcasts, and that was just Mary Murphy.

This week was extraordinary with an incredible number by Mia Michaels, that Randi & Evan did an amazing job with and Evan is really starting to grow on me. There is something damn sexy about those droopy eyes he has and he gets into character and inhabits each dance. Janette & Brandon did an amazing and very surprising Rock/Hip Hop number that showed how much talent Brandon has. The guy is not getting credit for his ability and I hope that Mia and ‘lil C have noticed his progression. I am still rooting for Kupono & Kayla and was happy with their new partnership. I was even happier when they didn’t have to Dance for their Lives and changed partners once again.

Once we got around to Elimination, I was happy that Jonathon was gone (too much gymnastics and mugging to the camera) and sorry that Asuka had to leave, but one of the girls had to go and she was the most limited. The next few weeks will be tough ones… there is some amazing talent.

I was more than pleasantly surprised with the first hour of Triple Sensation and seeing the first 6 Finalists for Toronto chosen for the Master Class part of the competition and the ultimate prize of the Middlefield Scholarship for the Performing Arts worth $150,000. I was astounding to see the performance ability in these young performers (they are between the ages of 16 and 26) and their stage presence. The judging panel is pretty high brow with Marvin Hamlisch as part of the crew (that’s a big name in musical theatre) and while it is much different than any of the American style competition shows, it was a fascinating watch and I plan on following it’s progress over the next few weeks.

Kathy Griffin has been becoming a tad more predictable with this season of My Life on the D List and her so called A List friends and their get together as part of Kathy’s grooming for the A List. It seems that all of these guests find Kathy abrasive and useless, so I am trying to figure out if Kathy wants to be the new Rodney Dangerfield and get no respect, or is she really trying to improve her image but resisting change. This season does have more of her mom (thankfully) and less of Team Griffin (which is not a bad idea) and tons of guest stars who add a different vibe. Paula Dee was funny (and it was a hoot to see Michael McDonald again) but the guests are overshadowing the star and that is not the smartest thing. It does seem that Kathy is learning more about schmoozing with the public and that is a good thing. It’s still not as fun as before… me thinks that Kathy is wearing out her welcome and I don’t expect to see an Emmy win this year.

The Fashion Show is boring me to pieces and I am only watching to see how it finishes off. I could not believe the whole Halston fiasco and Reco’s tears of shame, it was all stupid and pretty much like the other episode where the magical Honduran elf didn’t know what the whole Mean Girls thing. I still don’t think that Sumo Barbie will win either, and really hope that Daniella will win, she seems to have some of the best fashion sense so far and isn’t this whole show supposed to be about ready to wear? Some of the designs don’t look that user friendly to me… buh bye darling, I can hardly wait until Project Runway is back.

Top Chef Masters is a great competition, and the episodes are a great mix of nerves and ego as our Masters battle each other. I was laughing my ass off at our French Chef Ludo Lefebvre getting bleeped every 10 seconds for his time management issues. It would have been funnier for us if he as cursing in French and it getting past the American censors, but Ludo, like many French people, thinks that the F word can be used as an accent piece in conversation when it should only be used sparingly, like a rare spice. If the show was in French it would not have been edited for content, it’s just too funny.

Things finally ended with the I’m a Celebrity Get me out here ! experience and while I was surprised that Sanjaya was not in the Final 2, I was not surprised that Lou won as he played very well and seems to be a nice guy. I don’t think it will do much for his acting career but he seemed to be in it for his kids and the charity that he was playing for and not there to stroke his ego or be an idiot. The Reunion aspect of the show show was hilarious as you can feel the disdain between Janice and everyone else and there were tons of snippy comments being bantered back and forth.Heidi and Spencer are still the 2 biggest knobs that I have seen on the tube in aeons and hope that the San Andreas Fault opens up and swallows the Hills real soon. That would be poetic justice wouldn’t it?