Watching It, Watching Me: Frat Boys and Rhodes Scholars Rule the World!

Out of the last three families in the race, I was definitely rooting for the Bransen family. They were the three chirpy blonde sisters (indistinguishable to me) and somewhat curmugdeonly father, Wally. Lighten up, Wally! Still, any arguments they had seemed few and far between. Actually, the families with the most friction didn't make it to the final three. The Bransens came in second, however, which means they didn't win a million bucks, but they do have a lifetime supply of BP gas to their names and that will probably far exceed a million bucks in these times. I'm just saying...

The third place finishers were the Weavers, who seemed to be the most controversial of the units, given that no one else liked them and vice versa. They never made an effort to be social with any of the other families and then couldn't understand why no one made an effort with them. They called themselves good Christians while they constantly belittled other contestants. I had to laugh every time they asked Jesus for help (which was a lot!). "Dear Jesus, please help us find our way to the next pit stop." As if Jesus doesn't have better things to do than help the Weaver family kick some ass. Nice. Still, I would be lying if I didn't say I felt for them a little. The father of the family died a couple of years before in a racing accident, and it is clear that he had always been the leader of the family. But Mrs. Weaver certainly steps up to the plate in this contest, holding her family together, giving them strength and direction, cheerleading their efforts. Many times the kids wanted to give up or felt they couldn't do a particular task, but Mama Weaver kept them going. I have to applaud them for their efforts and I have to believe that Jesus probably had nothing to do with it. Give yourself some credit, Weavers.

The family that did win, the Linzes, has to be the only group of frat(ish) boys I've ever rooted for. Certainly other fans of the show have felt they were just three burping, farting meatheads plus the "whatever you say bro" sister, but something about them was endearing to me. God, was it team spirit?

The biggest reality story of the week, however, had to be the season finale of The Apprentice, where nice guy Randal came out on top. After jumping around like a maniac for a few minutes, he then said NO WAY when given the opportunity to let runner-up Rebecca also get hired. I'm not saying Randal went from being a good guy to a bad guy. One can understand his gut desire to be The One and Only Apprentice, but would it have hurt him to let Rebecca get a job as well? They were interested in different projects and nothing would have changed the fact that Randal was The Donald's first choice. It was a pretty surprising moment--Rebecca was clearly stunned. Reading her lips, I think she said, "wow." This was after many poignant scenes throughout the episode of Randal and Rebecca gushing over each other's contributions and personalities. It was a great setup for a heartwarming moment that never happened. But I guess it's not personal, just business, you know.

I have to wonder why Rebecca would want the job, anyway. Having founded a successful non-profit as a teenager on her way to becoming a financial journalist and non-profit consultant at the age of 23, she's already had an outstanding career. Does she really want to side-track herself with New Jersey real estate? Perhaps it is for the best, Rebecca, that Randal totally screwed you.

The coming week in television brings us The Office and My Name is Earl's move to Thursdays on NBC. The Apprentice: Martha Stewart has its live finale on Wednesday night at 8pm central time. And because I haven't got enough else to watch, I might have to start watching How I Met Your Mother over at CBS. I haven't heard much about this show, but I'm liking the cast. Willow from Buffy! Nick from Freaks and Geeks! And Doogie Howser! How could it go wrong? But that will be next week.