Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for January 16 - January 22

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for January 16 - January 22. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

American Idol returns for season 11 still at the top of the Nielsen Ratings.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average(in millions)
1.	NFC Champs: Giants/49ers	Fox	57.6	--
2.	American Idol (Wed.)	Fox	21.9	21.9
3.	American Idol (Thu.)	Fox	18.0	18.0
4.	Big Bang Theory	CBS	15.8	15.4
5.	Person of Interest	CBS	14.4	13.2
6.	The Mentalist	CBS	14.2	14.0
7.	Betty White: 90th Birthday	NBC	13.9	--
8.	NCIS	CBS	13.2	20.3
9.	Criminal Minds	CBS	13.0	13.7
*	Two and a Half Men	CBS	13.0	17.6
11.	Off Their Rockers	NBC	12.3	--
12.	CSI	CBS	12.0	12.7
13.	Modern Family	ABC	11.9	14.2
14.	2 Broke Girls	CBS	11.4	13.0
*	Rob	CBS	11.4	12.4
16.	Mike & Molly	CBS	11.1	13.0
17.	Hawaii Five	CBS	10.7	13.0
18.	Alcatraz	Fox	10.1	10.1
*	How I Met Your Mother	CBS	10.1	11.0
20.	Castle	ABC	9.4	11.6
*	Grey's Anatomy	ABC	9.4	12.1
*	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	9.4	16.9

It's Official: If The Series Is Not Cancelled Due To Boring Ben Then Emily Maynard Is The Next Bachelorette

Ben Flajnik Doing a Nerd Imitation

I have heard it opined a time or two that much of the TV I watch is drivel. I prefer to characterize it as I am drawn to Train Wreck Bad Reality TV.

Likely the worst of the Train Wreck Bad Reality TV drivel that I watch is ABC's Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise.

The current edition, with boring Ben Flajnik being The Bachelor, is being particularly bad.

Ben's marriage proposal was rejected by previous Bachelorette Ashley. Ashley was as boring as Ben.

That is Ben Flajnik in the picture above. Ben seems to have a very limited vocabulary. He favors words like "amazing," "awesome" and "incredible' in various iterations. Sometimes all in one sentence, such as "You are so amazing, awesome and incredible."

It seems that the producers of The Bachelor cast for potential mates the same way Hell's Kitchen casts for cooks. The Bachelor seems to case about 20 psychotic nutcases, along with 3 or 4 women who might be suitable marriage material.

And then add a lot of alcohol to assure that the crazy gets unleashed.

Ben Trying to Scare a Girl to Death

Each iteration of this series now seems to include a stock figure, as in one boy or girl who is in it for all the wrong reasons, who treats it as a game show on which she, or he, is a contestant, with the Bachelor or Bachelorette the prize.

Currently this contestant is Courtney. I believe it is Courtney who talks Ben into going skinnydipping next week, in Puerto Rico, and after they are naked in the water tells him she is about to rock his world.

One thing I have noticed on this season of The Bachelor is when the girls go on a date with Ben they wear their bikinis under their outerwear.

Last week Ben took a group of girls skiing down a hill of manmade snow in San Francisco. Somehow the girls were prepared, with bikinis, when Ben ordered them to strip and ski.

This week Ben took the potential wives to Park City, Utah. There he had solo dates with a mousy blonde whose name I do not remember and a cute redhead named Jennifer.

Ben took Jennifer on yet one more of the sadistic try to scare a girl to death type dates. Was it last week Ben had Emily climb to the top of the Oakland Bay Bridge to terrify her? This week it was scared of heights Jennifer whom Ben made lower herself into a Utah crater, via a cable, with the cable snapping part way down, dropping the loving couple into a pool of water.

I forgot to mention, Jennifer came prepared to strip down to the always on bikini underwear.

Maybe it is just me, but if I ever went on a "date" with a person and they took me to climb up a bridge or climb into a hole I think I would quickly decide I am not interested in this nutjob.

But, it is not like Ben actually plans or executes these dates, even though that is the pretense. It's all part of the overly produced, overly scripted ridiculousness of this sometimes amusing example of Train Wreck TV.

Emily Maynard, the Next Bachelorette

And coming up.

If ABC does not cancel this franchise due to the big drop in ratings, "Emily Maynard will be looking for love on the next season of The Bachelorette.'

And you just know she won't find it.

Love that is.

Anymore than she did with Brad Womack.

Or he with her.

Lisa's SUR Opening on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills Was Disturbing

This week's next to last, season 2 episode, of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was an odd one.

Real odd.

Very contrived. Almost like it was scripted.

I thought the episode would start off with the girls still in Hawaii obsessing over Kim. Instead the episode began on the mainland.

Mainly focused on the opening of Lisa's SUR restaurant add-on.

Did I make it up in a bad dream last night, or did I actually see on this episode that SUR stands for Sexy Upscale Restaurant?

Lisa's staged SUR opening had so many drama elements piled up it was ridiculous.

There was an ex-girl friend of Adrienne's husband Paul. Not much drama came of that.

Then there was a waitress who Brandi learned had an affair with her ex, Eddie Cibrian, while Brandi was in the hospital birthing a baby. When Lisa learned that one of her waitresses had done Brandi wrong, Lisa sent the waitress home for the night. Not much drama came of that either.

Brandi seems so level-headed and funny. Eddie Cibrian must be a moron.

And then there was Adrienne's personal chef, Bernie, who shows up and is greeted by Lisa who then tells an assistant she doesn't know who that was. And then speculates that it might be Adrienne's cook. Bernie does not like Lisa, always referring to her as that "British lady across the street." Bernie did not provide any drama.

And then there was the uninvited arrival of Cedric, the Houseguest from Hell. Finally some of the scripting delivers some drama. Several were shocked to see Cedric there. Lisa asked Cedric to leave. Cedric did not seem to understand why Lisa would want him to leave.

Methinks the Bravo producers told Cedric they'd give him a thousand bucks if he showed up to make for some drama.

And then there was Taylor.

Taylor Armstrong.

Which is not her real name. A weird looking Oklahoma con-woman who, I think, drove her husband, Russell. to suicide.

Taylor shows up at Lisa's opening of SUR with her extremely creepy, likely ethics violating, supposed therapist. The therapist is all simplistic smarm, which Taylor pretends is helping her.

Arriving at Lisa's SUR opening, a night which should have been all about Lisa and  her opening, Taylor insists all the housewives gather together so Taylor can once again ruin a party with her personal pity party.

All the housewives pretended to care, except for Kim who locked herself in what must have been SUR's only bathroom, because soon there was a line wanting to use the facilities. Kim's gay Bull Mastiff boy friend, Ken, tried to get Kim out of the bathroom, to no avail.

Finally, after what seemed a couple of hours Kim emerged from the bathroom, acting happy like a crazed loony bird. Because that is what she is.

The scene of Kim telling her sister Kyle about her litany of woes with the gay Bull Mastiff boyfriend, including being 3 months late with ovulating, well, it was just too much.

How can Kim still be ovulating? Kim appears to be at least 60. Is that not well past the period when periods arrive and well into the age of menopause?

I think Kim's gay Bull Mastiff boyfriend, Ken, is a saint to put up with that nutcase. Just watching Kim get ready to go to Lisa's SUR opening was bizarre. Hauling so much stuff to a one night stay in a hotel? And then throwing it all over the place, on the floor?

What drugs is Kim on and why does she have such a problem keeping track of her stash, I watched and wondered?

And another thing. Is California Child Protective Services looking into removing Taylor's daughter, Kennedy, from Taylor's care?

NeNe Leakes Playing Synchronized Swim Coach Roz Washington on GLEE

Screen Cap of NeNe as Roz Washington on GLEE

A couple weeks ago when I learned that The Real Housewives of Atlanta's NeNe Leakes was going to be on GLEE, playing a swim coach, I thought it was just the work of some trouble causing troll trying to cause trouble on an Internet forum, making up something so ridiculous.

But, last night I saw and heard it with my own eyes and ears.

NeNe is on GLEE.

Not only was NeNe on GLEE, NeNe was quite good on GLEE. Very funny. Playing swim coach, Roz Washington.

NeNe's big scene was her reading the riot act to Sam Evans, newly on the William McKinley High Synchronized Swim Team, in his attempt to win a letter jacket so he can re-win the heart of Mercedes. I really don't understand a lot of the GLEE plot lines.

Anyway, NeNe, I mean, Roz Washington, berated Sam Evans (pasty white Chord Overstreet in real life) about having the biggest lips she's ever seen on a white boy. And crooked nipples. And empathized with Sam about how hard it must be to go through life with crooked nipples.

I have no idea what crooked nipples are.

Roz launched into having a dream. Very appropriate for the day after Martin Luther King Day. Roz insisted that Sam know she'd won the bronze medal for Individual Synchronized Swimming at the Beijing Olympics.

I can not picture NeNe in a swimming suit. I'm almost 100% we have not seen that on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

It may be amusing to watch and hear Roz Washington tangle with Sue Sylvester, a character who's character the writers of GLEE seem to alter with every episode.

If the NeNe we have come to know on The Real Housewives of Atlanta shows up on the GLEE set, NeNe's acting career will be short lived. I don't think a violent temper tantrum with strangling moves will go over well on the GLEE set. NeNe's is bigger than anyone on GLEE, I think. The cast will be terrified if NeNe goes into her Godzilla mode.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TVShows for January 9 - January 15

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for January 9 - January 15. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average(in millions)
1.	AFC Playoffs: Broncos/Patriots	CBS	34.2	--
2.	NCIS	CBS	21.0	20.5
3.	Golden Globe Awards	NBC	16.9	--
4.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	16.6	17.2
5.	Big Bang Theory	CBS	16.1	15.4
6.	Person of Interest	CBS	14.9	13.1
7.	The Mentalist	CBS	13.6	14.0
8.	Rob	CBS	13.5	13.5
9.	Blue Bloods	CBS	12.1	12.1
*	Modern Family	ABC	12.1	14.0
11.	Undercover Boss	CBS	11.6	11.6
12.	Simpsons	Fox	11.5	8.0
13.	Unforgettable	CBS	11.2	13.1
14.	Grey's Anatomy	ABC	10.7	12.0
15.	CSI: NY	CBS	10.6	10.7
16.	NFC Playoffs: 49ers/Saints	Fox	10.1	--
17.	Castle	ABC	9.8	11.8
*	Once Upon A Time	ABC	9.8	11.9
19.	The Good Wife	CBS	9.4	11.9
*	The Middle	ABC	9.4	9.4

The Top Chef Texas Last Chance Kitchen Redemption Island Twist Does Not Work For Me

I am liking Top Chef Texas, but I am not liking the Redemption Island addition called Last Chance Kitchen.

For one thing, to watch Last Chance Kitchen you have to watch it online on the Bravo TV Last Chance Kitchen webpage.

The last Chef standing in Last Chance Kitchen gets to re-enter the competition. I do not know how that works.

Several episodes ago there was a Top Chef Texas episode where Padma told two Chefs to pack their knives and go.

Those two Chefs Padma sent packing were Dakota and Nyesha. The Chefs had been paired in teams of two, with it being Nyesha's misfortune to be paired with Dakota, who messed up whatever it was Dakota and Nyesha were cooking. Dakota accepted full blame for the error.

After being sent packing Dakota and Nyesha soon found out about the Last Chance Kitchen Redemption Island twist.

In a 3 way Last Chance match up it was Dakota vs. Nyesha vs. Whitney, cooking in a wok with cactus as the main ingredient.

Tom Colicchio is the sole judge in Last Chance Kitchen. He judged Nyesha's cactus dish the best, and thus began Nyesha's string of beating one Chef after another.

The following week Nyesha was up against Heather the Bully, with the challenge being using 3 techniques, Frying, Injecting and Foaming to make a dish.

Colicchio again liked Nyesha's dish best.

Next up was formerly fat Malibu Chris, who was sent packing by Padma due to bad barbecue at the brutal BBQ challenge. Chris and Nyesha had to make a dish from ingredients bought at a Gas Station.

Colicchio again liked Nyesha's dish best.

The latest Chef told to pack his knives and go was Ty-Lor, a victim of the brutal Restaurant Wars. When Ty-Lor faced Nyesha the challenge was to make a pastry dessert in 30 minutes. Each chef got to pick a sous chef from the already booted Chefs. Ty-Lor picked Malibu Chris, while Nyesha picked Ty-Lor's friend, Heather.

Colicchio again liked Nyesha's dish best.

Now, I'll get to why I don't like this Last Chance Kitchen Redemption Island twist.

This week Ty-Lor goes from the exhausting Restaurant Wars to being told to pack his knives and go, to finding he is still in it and has to do some more cooking.

Meanwhile Nyesha is not exhausted from Restaurant Wars, she just calmly relaxes and awaits her next opportunity to have Colicchio like her dish best.

The week before, when Padma sent Malibu Chris packing his knives and going, it was after a grueling, staying up all night, of BBQing, and then being out in the hot sun the next day, finishing the BBQing.

While Malibu Chris went sleep deprived and cooked in grueling heat, Nyesha just calmly relaxed and waited in air-conditioned comfort.

Clearly this gives a HUGE advantage to the Chef who is already on Redemption Island, waiting in Last Chance Kitchen. With each fallen Chef, Nyesha gets stronger, as she has more and more time to rest, while the still competing Chefs are put through all sorts of misery.

I can see where there will be some semblance of poetic justice if Nyesha keeps knocking off the incoming Chefs and gets back in the competition, after her earlier elimination, which seemed very unfair.