Everything's wrapping up.

Wow! The Reality shows are really wrapping things up.

The Ken and Barbie team of Meghan and Shayne won The Amazing Race. Sometimes, it just comes down to who you don't want to win. The teams ended up in Las Vegas and I have to say, the challenges were a little dull. First a faceforward rappel down the side of a casino, a bungee jump up and then counting chips? What happened to the recapping of the season challenge where they have to remember all the stops and challenges. Maybe the producers knew these teams were a little short of brain power. I was really hoping Brian and Erica would win but at least the gay brothers didn't so I'm okay with the ending. I loved Brian's mock shock reaction when Phil stated the obvious, "You are the 3rd team to arrive." No kidding. The other 2 teams were standing right there. Erica was competitive to the end and mad that she didn't win. I loved that too.

Michael Voltaggio won Top Chef. It was an interesting finale. They really changed things up. They brought back all of the past contestants and had the chefs draw knives to see the 2 they'd get. Yep, they didn't get to choose. Fate chose for them and poor Kevin got stuck with the heads of lettuce: Ash the non culinary school trained and Preeti the slow as molasses, unoriginal and unfamiliar with clams. It just proves, sometimes it's all about luck too. Meanwhile, Bryan Voltaggio got Jen and Ashley and Michael got Eli and Jesse. Wow! Did Jesse gain weight? Her hair turned brassy yellow too. I didn't recognize her until they said her name and she stepped forward. At least the Voltaggio brothers got one Sous Chef with a good palate. Kevin's sous chefs proved they didn't have good palates. So first they find they get a mystery box with pre-chosen ingredients and they have to make dessert. Come on guys. Have you never watched the show before? During the break, you'd think they'd memorize the recipe for at least one dessert. For god's sake, poach a stupid pear in strawberry soda if you have to. So they start cooking and they're all in the same kitchen. Wasn't that nice of the producers to make everyone and their sous chefs cram into one kitchen at the same time? Yeesh. Preeti proved she does know something about shellfish because she's slow as a snail when it comes to food prep. It's all Kevin can do to keep from cracking a whip and yelling, "yee-aw, mule!" You can see the frantic tension in his face. I kept saying, "Who's that fat blonde chick?" before realizing Jesse was on Michael's team. Eli wasn't his little troll self and was actually showing some real hustle. Then that expected twist was thrown in. The chef's mothers showed up. They saved money by having one mother for the Voltaggio brothers; those lucky producers. Padma and Tom showed up to announce the chefs had to make an appetizer that reflected their childhood food memory. I would suggest the chefs make something really good and lie until their pants burn off. The tasting panel turns out to be restauranteurs. Oh whatever. In other words, they have the money but think they know food. Most restauranteurs can't cook. Once again, I have to see Donatella Arpaia on tv again. I'm so sick to death of seeing her on tv; she of the bucktoothed trout pout. Anyway, all the dishes are served head to head and the comments are made. Sorry, but I fastforwarded through the comments made by the restauranteurs. What do they know? Give them enough wine and elephant poop would be a tasty dish as long as it's nicely served and has a good profit margin. Thank god Padma's preggers because there wasn't a bit of crudo, ceviche, raw eggs or tartar in sight. In the end, Kevin's team proved they were no help and Kevin came in 3rd after leading all season. Bryan proved his delicate palate and everyone deemed his food underseasoned. You'd think, if they've been saying that all season, he'd throw a handful of salt in the pot for once. Michael prevailed with innovative and tasty dishes and a great kitchen staff who helped him bang out his dishes. The judges pulled a Heidi Klum on Kevin with Padma saying, "Kevin...you are...not top chef." That was a little mean. It was great that Michael's real reason for wanting to win was just so his brother wouldn't. The really good ending was when the Voltaggio brother's mother came in. She had to congratulate one son and console the other. Big tears all around. It was such a great awwwww moment. Brian and Michael were both gracious. A great season came to an end. There were some really quality chefs and some duds who were brought on for their ethnic and sexual orientation diversity. All it did was make the minorities and gays look like really lame chefs. Heightening diversity isn't always a good thing. I'm looking forward to the next season already. Never can seem to get enough of this show.

RW/RR Challenge: The Ruins ended with the usual last final challenge. I don't know what happened. At first the 2 girls were far ahead of the Champs. I loved seeing the guys with the weak stomachs at the eating part. They truly had horrible stuff to eat but those 2 challenger girls were great and mowed right through it. Then they took forever in the mud crawl. I don't know why. It seems these girls have spent plenty of time down on their knees. The champs caught up and passed them on the balance and relay part which I found really quite shocking. What happened? Where the champs really shined were the puzzles which just goes to show; 5 heads are better than 2. I think all the blood rushing to her head while she was being carried fireman style helped Susie figure out the puzzles. So the champs won about $80,000 at the most. Big whoop in this economy. You know that by the time Uncle Sam takes his bite, there won't be that much left and those kids look like they've rang up their credit cards already. I have to say, a couple of the guys look like real schlubs who would probably be living with their parents anyway. Oh well, on to the next season. Hopefully they'll have the teams more even and they'll figure out a way to not have one team handicapped by the other all of the time.

A new show is Launch My Line. I love this show. They take professionals who think they might know something about fashion, pair them with a designer (taylor or seamstress) and put them through challenges similar to Project Runway. The pros are diverse and interesting from dj's to architects. You can almost get a hint of their fashion sense by what they're wearing. Some of the clothes the pros are wearing are too scary to be out in the daylight. Oh well. It's obvious these designers are Project Runway rejects. They're either way over the top dramatic, stupid or duller than dishwater. I'll be surprised if that Greek guy doesn't get stabbed by a pair of fabric shears before the season is done. Dan and Dean (of D Squared) are the hosts and one of those twins looks like he's way underfed. Last week, Dan Garaty the choreographer was booted. If you're going to use tails, they can't be at the waist. Then it just looks like you outgrew your jacket and split it. This week the architect made the ugliest bathing suit since the 1920's and was booted.

On Chef Academy, the contestants made bread. So far, nobody has been eliminated but chef Frenchie let then know they had to have 3 strikes. Being the 3rd challenge, I was hoping to see someone go. This week, they made bread. Tracey had to quit smoking and she was grumpy about it so she made her bread phallic shaped just to watch the chef put it in his mouth. How hilarious is that? Since the French are quite familiar with phallic shapes, he recognized it right away and had his assistant taste it. The really funny part was, Tracey made one bread in the shape of cigarettes and the chef did put one of those in his mouth. Joke was on him. I didn't say the French were smart. Tracy's Croque en Bouche cake was gooey, sugary and messy. We all know that's the best way to have it and of course, she won. I love it when a normal person wins over those snooty culinary trained people. Thank the gods Suzanne got another strike. Maybe they'll boot her middleage trophy wife bleached blonde liposucked ass off the show. Ugh, so tired of her. Gotta love the bro love between Kyle and Kup. Go Tracey, see you next week.

On Survivor, they had 2 immunity challenges. You know what that means; 2 eliminations. OMG, these survivors are sooooo stupid. Russel is playing them all like violins. The Galus are resigned to being kicked off. Dave did look surprised but when the 2nd time his name showed up, you could tell he knew his time was up. Monica stirred up the pot by letting all the dirty laundry air before she was voted out. Brett figured out, in order to get any tv attention, he had to win a challenge. They showed a lot of footage of Russel looking nervous, but it was all a bunch of hooey. Those Foa Foa are tight and they're using Shambo brilliantly. I notice we don't see a lot of working around the camp. Everyone seems equally lazy lay-abouts this season but I'm thinking, it's just the editing. The producers have proved, this show has nothing to do with physical survival and everything to do with social survival. Personally, I'm sick to death of all the yackity yack. This season has had so many contestants we couldn't keep anyone straight until we got down to the last 8 and it made the season so long, it's gotten tedious. I really do wish they'd kill the person voted out but then, they wouldn't have a jury. Oh well. How about a really good twist like the person voted out gets their head totally shaved? I keep wondering what kind of vermin might be living in Dave's beard.

I have to comment on the series finale of Monk. It's so sad to see this fantastic show go. They really wrapped it up nicely with Adrian recovering from the poison, solving Trudy's murder and finding her daughter that she didn't know was alive. They also wrapped up the lives of the other characters too. It was wonderfully done and maybe we won't miss it so much. At least we can still enjoy it in re-runs.

Well, see you next week all. Until then, keep enjoying the shows.