Reality Hit List, July 14: All Good Things Must Come to an End

She didn’t choose him back, though, and really, why on earth would she have? What sane person would throw away a million dollars for someone they weren’t even sure they were in love with? I don’t think Erin choosing the money showed that she was a golddigger at all; I think it just showed that she was being intelligent and realistic.

Now, here’s where a lot of people, including fellow RNO writers I was chatting with during the finale, cried, “Oh, you idiot!” Erin gave up her million dollars to become the star of For Love Or Money 2, in which she’ll have her own fifteen guys to choose from who might be after her or her money. If they choose her, she wins two million; if they choose the money, she gets nothing. Again, I could understand why she’d want to do this. For one thing, it’s “found” money. Even if she winds up losing it, she’s no worse off than she was when she started the show. Also, let’s be real: she gets a shot at two million dollars, fifteen guys handpicked for her, and she gets to be the star of her own TV show. How many people would turn that down? Besides, she probably found out that the initial million was an annuity and that she wouldn’t exactly be living high on the hog anyway.

I have to hand it to the producers: this, for once, actually was a shocking twist. Plus, by segueing directly into the sequel and making the protagonist someone we’ve grown to care about, it ensures the audience will follow. (Before this, I was wondering myself if the girl they found for the second version would be someone I would like or care about at all.) And there are a lot of things that should be different about this edition. For one thing, Erin is in on the secret right from the beginning… the twist is the guys won’t know she knows. Also, the focus should be a lot more on the protagonist and we’ll most likely root for the guy to choose her so she can win it all. That’s one thing I realized about For Love Or Money in hindsight: Rob may have been the star of the show, but really, it was all about the women. He got very little focus and to me, at least, we weren’t really made to feel like we should sympathize with him. When he walked out that gate after being rejected, it was as the ultimate cipher.

Meanwhile, on The Amazing Race, this is the second week in a row I’ve had to say goodbye to one of my favorite teams. Tian & Jaree had a lot of problems with each other and one of the most explosive rifts ever on the show just two episodes ago, but I really admired the way they were able to pull it together and forge onward with a new and improved attitude: that’s hard enough to do in real life under normal circumstances, let alone in the middle of a stressful competition! Unfortunately, the best attitude in the world doesn’t mean anything if you hit the mat last, and thus we’re down to the final five teams. I’ll definitely miss them.

Now that they’re gone, who am I rooting for? Go Reichen & Chip and… umm… well… yeah. I like Chuck but I really don’t like Millie, I still have no clue who David & Jeff even are, I’ve never really warmed to the Clowns, and honestly, I’ve kept on liking Kelly & Jon longer than most people, if message boards and talking to friends and readers are any indication, but I kind of soured on them this week with their relentless antagonism of Millie. It was just really immature and kindergarten - and if I find myself feeling sorry for someone who I don’t even like , you know you’ve crossed the line! So if Reichen & Chip continue the pattern and go this week, this is going to be one joyless Final Four for me.

I told you last week that this column may change and thus, I did a lot of thinking this week and taking stock of my present situation. I can’t watch Paradise Hotel anymore due to the competition from For Love Or Money and the eviction night of Big Brother 4. I think I’ll enjoy For Love Or Money 2, but I’m not certain. The Amazing Race has hit that point in the season where it’s still interesting to watch, but hard to come up with new things to say (toward the end of the first edition of “Reality High Test Results,” I felt like I was standing on my head to come up with new ways to say, “Shut up, Flo. Shut up, Ian.”), and I’m only invested in one-and-a-half remaining teams (I’m willing to like Kelly & Jon again if this turns out to have just been an exceptionally unflattering episode and they improve). I’m covering Big Brother 4, so I talk about my views on it there. I’m the now the Assistant Editor of this website, which means I’m doing a lot of behind-the-scenes things here that can be time-consuming that I wasn’t doing when I started this column. Finally, I just started a possibly open-ended temp assignment this week.

For all these reasons, I’ve come to the conclusion that this column is going to shift from a weekly to an “as needed” basis. Basically, if I have something I really want to write about, I will, and I think it’ll be that much more enjoyable because it’ll be things I’m truly fired up about and I won’t feel like I’m forcing it. But something had to give, and after taking stock of all the areas of my life and the current state of the shows, this column was the most expendable. If you like my writing - and I appreciate all of you who have written to tell me you do - I’ll still be doing a Big Brother recap each week (and possibly a second show in a few weeks), and like I said, I’ll still be writing this and other opinion pieces on occasion, just not regularly for the near future. So with that, goodbye to “Reality Hit List” for now, but not forever.

With that, I’m off to the fire sale at lovepaigejones.com. Official classic thongs, gourmet quick chopper aprons, and camisoles 75% off! OK, so no. There’s no sale. But wouldn’t that have been hysterical?

Brian James is an actor/writer/singer in New York City and the Assistant Editor of RealityNewsOnline. An avid reality show, Passions, early Ryan’s Hope, retro music, and Internet discussion board junkie, he can be found holding up "Will Snark For Food" signs in subway stations as he continues to search for that elusive "day job." Brian would like to stress that his writings are based solely on what he sees in each episode of each show, and realizes that there may sometimes be more to the story and that people may behave quite differently under normal circumstances. Comments and cybertomatoes accepted at BrianJamesRNO@earthlink.net.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find out about some other popular shows at our Amazing Race 4 page and our Fame page; and don't miss The Reality TV Hall of Shame. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot!