December 9th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Dancing with the Stars – That ended pretty much like I thought it should.  I mean, there was a clear winner, and a clear bottom couple (hard to call anyone who goes on that show a loser, especially anyone to made the finals).  The middle felt right, too.  And those freestyles?  All of them were fun.  As I expected, there was lots of filler in the 3 hours, which is why I started late and fast forwarded.  But that Christmas number was fun, and it was nice to see some past winners pop up again.

Wipeout – I have questions.  Was that really a prince?  Was that really a blind date?  How did that come about?  And how about that second blind date?  Not to mention those mud runners.  Are they really winners, or were they amping them up since everyone gets a medal for finishing a mud run (plus special prizes for the winners).  Can’t believe how close the Wipeout Zone was.  As a mud runner, I’m a little disappointed that team didn’t win, but I hope the sisters have a great vacation (or two) with that money.

The Santa Clauses – I feel like the conflict with the Gnomes got wrapped up a little easily.  And this is coming in an episode where lots of conflicts got wrapped up easily.  But in this franchise, that’s pretty much what you’d expect.  Overall, I enjoyed the episode and the season as a whole.

The Challenge – With everyone ganging up on the two ladies, this episode was pretty predictable once we knew it was a women’s day.  I’m over the added drama between the challenges, however.  Maybe if I knew the people better, I’d care, but I don’t.

Quantum Leap – I know this isn’t the first time Ben’s done a leap from older history, but I wonder why they only do it occasionally.  Either really play that up or keep to the original rules.  Either way, a solid episode, but not up to their usual standards.  Although, while watching, I couldn’t help but see so much of our modern culture in the witch trials.  The mob mentality of the times, especially on the internet.  It’s more high tech, but human nature doesn’t change, sadly.

Survivor – All that drama and they wound up with an easy vote.  Okay, so Julie would have gone home if she hadn’t played the idol she had, but I do feel sorry for Emily.  She made it a lot longer than I thought she would.  I find it ironic that she went out right after Bruce considering how she went after him on the first day.

The Amazing Race – That cheering you heard?  That was me.  I’m so happy with the final three teams.  I’m not sure who I want to win because I like all of them.  Any of them would make me happy.  As to this leg, the memorization looked bad.  I was impressed with how well the teams did with the dancing challenge.  Yes, some did better than others, but I think I would have struggled with it more.  And the father/son team were smart to front load the father’s challenges so that if they got any that required hearing, like the dancing, the son was available to do it.

Lego Masters – That was a fun retrospective.  Made me laugh a few times, which the show usually does.  But I was ready for the season finale!  Especially since it looks like my local Fox station will be showing a football game next week.  I wonder when it will be on for me.