Slow Week for Reality Shows

Not much has happened in the last week or so. On Survivor we had another medical elimination. Has Survivor gotten more dangerous in the last few years? I don't understand why they would allow some one's injury to become life threatening. When a cast member gets a puncture wound it seems to me to be reasonable to treat it with disinfectant or whatever rather than let it become infected to the point that the guy could lose his leg. But what do I know?

The sad part was that Joe's medical emergency killed what could have been a very interesting tribal council. We shall see if tonight proves better.

Over at The Amazing Race the season continues to have a rather sick sense of humor as it come to challenges. The detour was hilarious and disgusting at the same time. Who dreams up these things? Either spend time trying to fit dentures into people's mouths or go on a taxi ride with transvestites. As a cast member you had to have a great sense of adventure and humor. Everyone acquitted themselves well here.

But we did see what was the second longest time penalty ever given on TAR. A four hour one given to our brothers team (the height challenged stunt men) for bartering personal possessions for payment of a taxi ride. Guess you can't to that. It sort of makes sense although I'm not sure exactly when this rule went into effect, I'm guessing around the time they eliminated the non-elimination leg penalty of taking all your possessions away from you. We also had another new one to me, you can't check in at the pit stop without your travel documents. That seems fair and reasonable. Did the contestants know that?

By the way do you know the longest time penalty ever given? I believe it's from season 1 when they gave team Quido a half day penalty for not taking the proper train. There might be a close runner-up for the four hour penalty when Rob & Amber were given a multi-hour penalty for refusing to continue doing a road block. (Eating some disgusting food).

I have to mention The Celebrity Apprentice, although briefly. I continue to watch because I'm a huge fan of Annie Duke, a professional poker player that has always been a class act as far as I'm concerned. There seems to be a battle between her and Joan Rivers, and to some degree Rivers' daughter Melissa. Rivers has crossed the line from being a competitor as well as mother-hen to her daughter to a truly nasty old lady. She has taken what seemed as a very slight misunderstanding with Duke and turned it into something that is out of control. What's interesting is that Joan Rivers has gone out of her way to say very, very demeaning remarks about Annie Duke's character. While Duke hasn't returned the fire at least on camera, Rivers and her daughter continue the onslaught. I wonder how all concerned will feel after this airs.

Rivers probably doesn't care and when she said that poker players are inherently liars and dishonest I found that very offensive. Cross me off as a fan of hers.