Biggest Loser or Big Brother? Hmmm, it's hard to tell anymore

I must confess that I haven't watched "The Biggest Loser" for a couple of years prior to this season.  I guess I got tired of it for awhile and took a break, but I wanted to watch this season because contestant Gail is friends with my brother-in-law, and I thought it would be fun to watch somebody who knows somebody I know.  Make sense? 

Viewers who watch "Survivor" or "Big Brother" expect the contestants on those shows to be ruthless; we expect them to manipulate, lie, cheat and back stab to reach the grand prize, which is always a butt load of money, but we don't expect that from "The Biggest Loser".  We expect more from BL.  BL is special and inspiring.  We want to cry at the contestants' stories and cheer at their transformations.  We want them to succeed, and we, as viewers, don't care about the $250,000 grand prize.  We care about their journey, their weight loss, and most all we want them to be nice to each other.  This season has been a disappointment.  From our point of view, there is an evil instigator in the mix, and her name is Conda.  We watch the show shaking our heads in disbelief, because we cannot fathom why the other contestants seem to like her, but we tune in week after week.  Why?  I think it's because we want to see Conda eliminated.....we hope each week that this is it.  They will finally see through her and vote her out, and each week we are disappointed and angry.  Viewers are posting hateful comments on her facebook page, and Kim and Mark's pages too.  Viewers have vowed not to watch another episode until she's gone!  Viewers send e-mails and letters to NBC urging them to change their evil ways.  Will all these things work?  We probably won't know until next season when a new batch of contestants makes their way to the ranch to start the journey to health and fitness. 

So, lets re-cap the events of last night's episode, shall we?  There is a temptation with loads of good tasting, bad for you food, and the person who eats the most calories can change up the teams any way they want and remain anonymous.  How awesome is that?!!  One of the contestants can do something completely stupid or completely strategic, and nobody will know.....yeah, right.  There's no way that something that huge will stay a secret for long.  Only 5 people eat at the temptation, but one person eats a whopping 1800 calories, and that poor soul was Daphne.  Now, we all know why Daphne ate; her butt was on the line, and she knew it.  The mistake Daphne made was only switching two players; Conda and Conda's brother, Jeremy.  Busted!!  They all knew it was Daphne, and they started riding her hard about it, so hard in fact, that Emily felt a little sorry for her.  She denied any involvement and became an isolated woman....shunned like an Amish woman who buys a hair dryer.  Bob eventually convinces Daphne to fess up, but let's face it, it's too late.  Heck, the other contestants were already targeting her before she ate 1800 calories; coming clean was not going to make a difference, and it didn't.  The black team had a plan though; throw the weigh-in and get rid of Daphne.  The red team had good numbers, and then the black team got on the scale, and one by one we watched their dismal numbers pop up on the screen - 1 lb, 2 lbs, +1 lb.  It was painful to watch, their excuses were pathetic and the fact that none of them seemed surprised told us what we all already knew.  Poor Daphne was the last one to get on the scale, and we waited anxiously, hoping that she would be the biggest loser this week, but she gained 2lbs.  You could see the sighs of relief on the faces of her teammates.  A few them felt bad for sabotaging their own personal goals, but none of them seemed to feel sorry for Daphne.  Emily did make the comment that she would never allow Conda to get into her head again.  Thanks, Emily!  Now all the viewers know that it was Conda's bright idea to throw the weigh-in.  We've seen this happen before on BL, and we've never liked it when they do that.  Bob didn't seem all that surprised or upset about it.  Maybe Bob was tired of the drama, too, and thought that sending Daphne packing might put a stop to it.  In the elimination room, the drama continued.  We knew Daphne was going home, and in my opinion, she earned the right to speak her mind after it was all over, but Conda couldn't have that...she always has to have the last word.  Did she just say she was a role model to her daughter?  I think I heard a collective "HA" across America after that comment!  Chism actually tried to quiet Conda, while Cassandra (very disappointed in her behavior), jumped on Daphne.  Thank you Emily, Chris and Megan for staying silent.  That was the best thing you could do in that situation.  What's done is done.  Daphne went home to her family and friends and continues to lose weight. 

I wish I had been writing all along about season 13 of "The Biggest Loser".  It's been an interesting yet disappointing season.  Far from the inspirational show we've come to expect.  There's nobody left to cheer for, and I may not watch again until the finale, just to see Conda, Mark and Kim get booed, which I think is a certainty.  I am still rooting for Daphne or Adrien to win the at home $100,000 prize.  Hopefully, next season the contestants will recognize that they are there to lose weight and change their lives and not for the money.  That's what I'm hoping anyway!

The Reality Shows are Finally Back!

Finally after months of waiting, two of my favorite reality TV shows have finally started the winter season; "Survivor-One World" and "The Amazing Race".  For a couch potato like me, the wait for new seasons of my favorite shows to start is excruciating, so needless to say, last week was a good one!

So, "Survivor" has decided to pit women against men this season.  It seems to me that they tried this in a previous season, and it didn't work out too well for the women.  I hate to say it, but it seems like the men are probably going to wipe the floor with these women in these very physical challenges.  The difference this season is that both tribes are living on the same camp, hence the "One World" reference in the title.  It's an interesting concept, and the drama has already begun with the girls doing some bargaining in order to get the boys to start a fire for them.  The girls went so far as to steal an ember in the middle of the night while the boys were sleeping....it's a shame for the girls that their little midnight escapade didn't work out for them.  In the end, the guys won by default because Kourtney, who obviously can't follow simple instructions, broke her wrist in the very first challenge and was taken out of the game.  I really didn't mind seeing Kourtney go.  She was kind of annoying, although I would never wish a broken bone on anybody.  What struck me as funny about this challenge was how shocked the girls were that the boys went ahead and took the default victory rather than finishing the challenge,  Isn't the point of the challenges to win and keep your tribe safe from tribal council?  Yeah, get over it girls...it is what it is, and you were probably going to lose anyway.  My predictions for this season; the girls are going to be on losing streak until, in true Survivor fashion, they mix up the tribes.  Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for the girls, but I'm not holding my breath. 

So Brendan and Rachel from "Big Brother" are on this season of "The Amazing Race".  How fabulous is that?  I wasn't a fan on them on their first season, but I have to admit that I was a huge Rachel fan on her second season.  That woman is a machine!  If there's an endurance challenge, and Rachel's determined to win, she'll win.  It's that simple.  I'm excited to see them on the race.  They will definitely have some battles along the way, but Brendan and Rachel arguments are pretty entertaining. 

The teams traveled to Argentina this week and the race turned things upside down by having the person not participating in the road block skydiving from 10,000 feet.  That would be my worst nightmare!  I would much rather be the person driving around searching for my teammate than the one jumping out of a plane.  The golfing sisters got off to a bad start when one of them (I can't remember which one) got her car stuck in the sand and had to flag down some guys to tow her car out.  I think that must have been an omen for them or something.  Phil could see them wandering around aimlessly, but the girls didn't see him.  It was pretty tragic, actually.  They were eliminated as a result, and apparently, were the first team in Amazing Race history to do something that stupid.  The guidos got to remain in the race as a result, which I guess is a good thing.  I wasn't a fan of the golf playing sisters, anyway, so I wasn't sad to see them go. 

It's hard to predict what's going to happen on "The Amazing Race".  One bad taxi driver or wrong directions can put a strong team in last place, and one last place finish cause a team to be eliminated.  I do see Brendan and Rachel and Rachel and Dave doing very well in the race.  I like the clowns (they're so sweet), but I have a feeling that they won't last long.  I also like the KY guys.  Come on, it's hard not to like those "aw shucks", down home country boys.  Will they win the race though?  I doubt it, but it should be fun to watch. 

Two of my favorite shows back on TV!!  I'm a happy camper.