With all the hype about Star Search and DB’s cousin, I completely forgot ABC’s new tandem of shows (among others) in my other article on Reality TV. Those would be The Bachelorette and Celebrity Mole: Hawaii. I watched the original Bachelor show, and I was not a big fan of the jerk dude (you can call him Adam if you like) or Trista for that matter. ABC knows that blonde cheerleader equals ratings though, so they turned her runner-up tears into “hey I get to choose now” power. It has worked pretty well, although I love the fact that Jeff gets hyped as a pro football player, and is featured in an episode changing a tire on the way to an NFL game. Let me guess, pro means Arena or Europe, right? My childhood neighbor never played major college football and still made it to WLAF (what is now NFL Europe) so just call yourself a Businessman and get on with it. She cut him anyway, while keeping the freak known as Russell who fell in love with her from his couch while watching The Bachelor I. At any rate, it has been pretty entertaining so far, and my favorite Bachelorette from season one is coming to the house this week to help Trista whittle down the field. Should be interesting.

I was a big fan of The Mole, especially the first season. I was really disappointed that they dumbed it down for season two, and even more disappointed when they dropped the second season, then waited six months to air it. This time around, Ahmad Rashad is leading the troops, instead of Anderson Cooper who is the best reality host other than Jeff Probst. He isn’t bad though, just different. Also, the field is cut in half, and for those of you are are mathematically challenged (or have never seen the show) that means 7 contestants instead of 14. As the title indicates, they are celebrities, or at least they have been on television or in print. Someone please tell me who Kim Coles is, because I don’t have a clue. She went out in round 1 anyway. There was a time when I thought Kathy Griffin was the most annoying person on earth, but she is absolutely hilarious on the show. If you caught the AMA’s (side note, how does Eminem win in two styles of music?) you also heard her gay snap at annoying American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, classic live television. I’m already convinced Corbin Bernsen is either the Mole or playing the heck out of the game. To this point I’ve enjoyed it, and the challenges have been a lot more creative than Survivor, that’s for sure.

In Fox’s Man vs. Beast the highlight for me had to be when sprinter Sean Crawford took on a zebra and got dusted, twice. You see the first time, fresh off dusting a clueless giraffe, he claimed the zebra got a head start. Well, he did, but he still had no chance to catch him. In Crawford’s defense, the dude ran a 10.86 on a dirt track in chilly temperatures. For those of you who know nothing about track and field, that is a smoking fast time. Given better weather and a standard running surface, it would have been a dead heat. I had to laugh at the female orangutan yanking the 363 pound sumo wrestler into the mud. I know the little people agreed to pull the airplane, competing against an elephant, but that was pure Fox trash if you catch my drift. The Japanese eater (whose name I can’t recall and isn’t on the site) is a marvel, and was overmatched against the bear. All in all, I liked it because I tape everything and scan through commercials and nonsense.

MTV has stepped up with another Real World vs. Road Rules and in the first episode out of the gate fireworks flew. I loved it when David from RW Los Angeles starting his chip on the shoulder routine, getting in the face of RW San Francisco’s Puck. Now understand something, I worked in the financial district in San Francisco while Puck’s season was airing, and got all the inside scoop on bike messenger Puck. At that time he was an outcast even among his own according to those “in the know”. Now, he has come around considerably based on what I have seen. Still, David wanted a fight and got one. Bottom line is that David’s incessant claims that Puck beats his wife drew a saliva reaction to David’s face. Poor David soon found out that crying to producer Jonathan Murray would only temporarily get Puck kicked off. The other members of the show rallied behind Puck, and eventually David took himself out before being voted out. I think this one has some potential, since already Julie of New Orleans has been ousted by cast mate Melissa for “shady business dealings” which come to find out amounted to Julie being willing to take less money for a similar speaking gig. Get over it Melissa. I’ve watched The Osbournes, but haven’t been impressed, and Real World Las Vegas is the same old garbage recycled.