Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner?

Last night on Survivor, during a poll of the remaining contestants, James was voted by fellow survivors as the one "who does the most for the tribe." Everybody voted for James as the hardest working member of the camp. Except for James.

A few questions later, it was asked: "Who are you least likely to invite to a family dinner?"

With a family member of each contestant watching, the contestants then agreed that the answer, again, was "James."

CBS then cut to James' brother who said, with a confused look: "What's up with that?"

Good question.

I wonder if Rev. Wright has an answer. Here is one answer, and a fine one.

Amazing TV, Not-So-Amazing TV

The Amazing Race finale on Sunday was ... amazing. A fitting cap to a strong season. And dare I say a wee bit touching, too?

A minor quibble: I wish the "old guy" and his grandson (Nicolas and Donald) would have won, but I don't think anybody can complain about the outcome. Though I should point out that a man in his late 60s really isn't that old. We've had plenty of U.S. Presidents and presidential candidates running the free world at this age, so maybe they shouldn't make as big of a deal about a 68-year-old running around the world. Though he was the oldest contestant ever to finish the race.

Survivor needs to sign this guy up for a season.

Considering how bad reality TV has become at times, especially the season premiere of American Idol earlier in the week, this is really an achievement that a show like The Amazing Race can still be fresh and fun and interesting. And touching.

After Ellen: An Amazing 10 Years

Four of the 14 remaining contestants on The Amazing Race "All Stars" edition are gay men. Having four gay men at a single time on any mainstream American reality TV show has to be a first of some sort.

Remember when there would be one token gay on these reality shows and that was it?

What is really amazing is the increasing frequency of gay people on television in the last decade.

Ten years ago next month, April of 1997, Ellen Degeneres came out of the closet in Time magazine and also on her show Ellen. Then her ratings tanked. And then she couldn't even get arrested after her show was canceled.

And now she has a top-rated syndicated show and is hosting the Oscars.

Despite the best efforts of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, there is growing acceptance in this world for people like Mary Cheney and Karl Rove's gay father.

And Joe, and Bill, and Oswald, and Danny, and Ellen.

This type of progress in such a short time is extraordinary.

They Think Lying is Fun

After blatantly lying to a midget at a key point in tonight's episode, and then later lying a second time about whether they had lied in the first place, reality TV "stars" Rob and Amber were elimated from The Amazing Race, finishing just behind America's favorite midget Charla and her cousin Mirna. Rombuh had finished first in the previous three legs of the All Stars editon of the show.

What can we, as humans, learn from all this? The important answer: Don't ever lie to a midget during a race around the world.

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Comedy That Doesn't Short-Change

Charla, the Armenian midget who has appeared for two seasons on The Amazing Race, including the current "All Stars" edition, makes a guest appearance as herself in Episode 5 of HBO's The Comeback.

In this episode Charla (a woman who, like Cher and Charro, has achieved a level of celebrity where she needs only one name) is the star of her own fictional reality series called "The Littlest Assistant" (Tagline: "Little Person, Big Dreams"), the concept of which is simple: each week she's a different person's "littlest assistant." Big dreams, indeed.

At one point during the episode, Charla, in a reality show contrivance (and as a way to cross-promote both The Littlest Assistant and The Comeback), has become the personal assistant for Valerie Cherish, the Lisa Kudrow character who is desperately trying to make a comeback after starring years ago in a sit-com that fell three episodes short of syndication.

Cherish is washed up, and she's hoping that her own reality TV show (along with her role in a new sit-com as a kind of ridiculous female Mr. Furley from Three's Company) will give her the same sort of fan base as today's new reality TV "stars."

About midway through the episode, Charla the assistant intentionally has the car run out of gas on the way to what is a very important lunch for Cherish. But Cherish, who will never be known just by her first name, isn't in on the plan. Charla knows it'd make "good TV."

The hijinx that ensue include Charla trying to cross an LA highway and running down the highway with a back-pack encouraging Valerie Cherish to catch up, just as she did with her cousin Mirna on The Amazing Race. Eventually, and as if they were on a race around the world, they chase down a public bus and Valerie is able to make her lunch meeting with an editor from TV Guide.

It's painfully funny. But it's also satire with a point.

Do most people know just how fake reality shows are? How producers script these shows and contrive situations all in the name of better TV?

It's not surprising that The Comeback was canceled after one season: This show may hit way too close to home for some in the TV industry. Think about it next time you watch Celebrity Fit Club. or that other show on VH1 whose name I can't remember, and for good reason.

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Here's my earlier mini-review of The Comeback.

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