My Most Memorable Reality-TV Moments of 2011

(Andy at Reality Blurred read a comment I made on Facebook and asked for people's thoughts on the best and worst of reality TV in 2011.  I wrote what is below but lost my links when I tried to post it as a comment, so I'm posting it here and putting a link over there.) 

I know I watch some different shows than many RB commentors, and I know some are going to cringe at what I think were some reality-TV highlights this year.  For me, a high point was America's Next Top Model All-Stars (and the cringing has started).  For those of us who are fans, it was a great season mainly because just about everyone on the show was good, and the show focused mostly on their work as models and not as much on in-house drama.  The finale was a shock to many because something looked off, and that's because it was.  Whatever happened, Lisa D'Amato won, which is what I find fascinating because she appeared previously on the third season of Celebrity Rehab and was number ten on the Top Ten Villains on Reality TV (back in 2008).  She brought drama, not talent.  But I was proven wrong.  She was never drunk and never talked to any shrubbery. Instead, she won challenges and photo shoots.  She looked serious and driven.  I had never seen this Lisa before, and I admit she impressed me. 

As another highlight, I loved the fact that Dustin won Top Shot 3, mainly because he had no military or law enforcement background.  Top Shot 2 (which also aired in 2011) featured George, who may be a nice guy deep inside but acted like a child on the show, demeaning anyone who was not a marine.  And if you wanted some drama, there was always MTV and The Challenge: Rivals and the fight between Paula and Laurel, which brought Paula's history with eating disorders center stage again.

Why *What Note to Wear* is Starting to Bug Me

On Sundays, I love to have a marathon of something running on TV in the background. America's Next Top Model was running every weekend for a while there. And Travel Channel often shows Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern. For the last couple of weekends, I've caught episodes of What Not to Wear.

I really used to love the show. But I was getting annoyed these past couple of weekends. Maybe it's just the episodes I've been watching or the mood I've been in. But I started to feel bad for these people who get ambushed on national television for dressing badly. Yes, they end up with $5000 of new clothes, which is the part we focus on. But they do get ambushed. Last week, there was the episode I've seen before of the woman who starts crying and runs to hide when they ambush her, and that got me thinking about this.

Sometimes, the motivation of friends is their belief that the chosen person needs to start believing in themselves, believing that they deserve better. But sometimes, the motivation is that they think their friends are something of a joke. On one episode, a husband said, "I want a wife I can show off." And no one called him on it.

Stacy's and Clinton's comments don't help. I know they are going for laughs, but some of the things they say do seem to be at the expense of the person they are supposed to be helping.

Like I said, it might be the mood I've been in or episodes I've seen. The makeovers are always amazing, and some people really do undergo a positive, welcome transformation. But here and there...eek.