Lame TV Shows

Well, I should have known it would happen. I made the mistake of watching the season finale of “The Amazing Race”, but it was neither Amazing nor really much of a race. The show, in case you were wise than me and did not waste your time on it, works like this: Twelve teams of two start out and go from place to place, pretty much around the world, and gradually teams are eliminated until the last few survivors make a run for the prize – a million dollars for first place. There is no word on whether any of the other teams get money, although being first reach each of the twelve “pit stops” gets a prize of some kind, usually trip-related (someone wanna explain to me why someone who has been running around the world for literally tens of thousands of miles, would want to go on another trip anytime soon?). That general plan could actually work, except that the guys running the show have thoroughly mucked it up.

As an example, Sunday’s finale should have been the best run of all, with lots of challenges and wholly dependant on the players’ skill and daring. Instead, CBS’ finale was as stupid as Dan Rather’s ‘fake but credible’ forged documents. First, the players had to make their way from Barcelona to Paris; that part was interesting, especially to see Team Bama move from third to first by going to Lyon Airport instead of De Gaulle. But from there the race was a waste. In short, it came down to getting seats on an overbooked plane. I am not a racist, but it does strike me as a wee bit odd that the white people were able to get on the plane with “no seats”, but not the team of two black women. Considering what was at stake, the “Amazing Race” people totally blew that decision and managed to make the race a matter of chance. It comes down to who gets the plane to New York, then which cab has the EZ-tag. For crying out loud, the show goes around the world, and it’s decided by neither skill nor character? That’s CBS’ idea of a winner?

Maybe next year “The Amazing Race” should just have the contestants use scratch-off cards. It would be just as dramatic, but faster and cheaper.

TV is doing that a lot these days. I love the CSI shows, but not so much when they decide they need to use sex to sizzle up the show, which seems to happen more and more. And I can’t stand Letterman or Leno anymore; they pander to their NY and LA crowds like the rest of America doesn’t exist. And the news? Now that Tony Snow has come to Washington, improving the quality of White House Press Briefings, even Fox News sucks for the most part, and the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, NBC) are a total loss. And CNN might as well be pulling paychecks from Ahmadinejad, and for all I know, they are.

Where are the good TV shows anymore?