The Amazing Race 16th Edition Starts Tonight With Oklahoma Cowboys

That is a pair of Oklahoma Cowboy brothers who will be racing tonight on the start of the 16th season of The Amazing Race.

Seems like we just ended The Amazing Race, in Las Vegas, at Wayne Newton's home. And now we are already back racing again.

I'm guessing I'll be watching, though The Amazing Race has not seemed as amazing to me, as it did when it first came on my TV screen.

We start the race in Los Angeles again. This seems to now be the default starting place. I hope we don't start with someone being eliminated, before they even get started, again, like last season. I didn't like that.

One big difference, for the start of the race, is this time the racers will not be running to cars and driving themselves to LAX. This time the racers must make their way to LAX via public transportation. That should be very interesting, depending on where the starting point is. Los Angeles can be very confusing. I hope they are banned from using taxis.

The first leg of the race has them taking off from LA to Chile.

In addition to the Oklahoma cowboys we have another beauty queen, though this time not Miss America, this time it is a Miss South Carolina Teen USA, whatever that is, named Caite Upton. A Big Brother winner, Jordan Lloyd is racing. I quit watching Big Brother after that creepy Boogie guy won the All-Stars Big Brother, when he should never have been on the show, because he was not an All-Star, unless by All-Star, you mean, Big Creep.

I have no idea if Jordan Lloyd is a boy or girl. I guess I'll find out in a few hours.

There is also a pair of undercover detectives from Rhode Island racing. Now, I know nothing about undercover detectives, but it would seem to me that going on a popular TV show is not a great way to keep your cover.

I hope the 11 teams and the 40,000 miles raced are fun this time.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for February 1 - 7

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for February 1 - 7. 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	Season-averange rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average
1.	-	Super Bowl	CBS	106.5	special event
2.	-	Super Bowl Post-game	CBS	75.5	special event
3.	1	Undercover Boss	CBS	38.7	38.7
4.	2	American Idol (Tues.)	Fox	24.7	28.4
5.	3	American Idol (Wed.	Fox	21.0	26.6
6.	4	NCIS	CBS	19.2	20.5
7.	14	Two and a Half Men	CBS	16.5	14.8
8.	7	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	16.4	16.8
9.	17	Big Bang Theory	CBS	15.5	14.3
10.	12	Criminal Minds	CBS	14.7	15.1
*	7	The Mentalist	CBS	14.7	16.6
12.	10	CSI	CBS	14.5	15.8
13.	19	CSI: NY	CBS	14.2	14.0
14.	21	CSI: Miami	CBS	13.4	13.6
*	19	House	Fox	13.4	14.0
16.	22	The Good Wife	CBS	12.8	13.4
17.	14	Grey's Anatomy	ABC	12.5	14.8
18.	29	Bones	Fox	12.4	11.2
19.	27	Lost	ABC	12.1	12.1
20.	29	The Bachelor	ABC	11.7	11.1

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love---Ali Leaves to Go Back to Work

I don't know how many Bachelor and Bachelorettes there have been during the run of the ABC The Bachelor train wreck. I have watched a few of them.

There has always been a sort of hokey fake aspect to this reality show. With Monday night's episode seeming the most scripted yet.

Is it now to be a standard plot twist on the Bachelor/Bachelorette? That one of the contenders gets an ultimatum to return to work?

On The Bachelorette it was Ed who left a, supposedly, devastated Jillian to return to work and then return to Jillian, who then picked Ed for the win, I mean wedding.

And last night we had Ali given a work ultimatum, after she brought Jake to her hometown. Back in Beverly Hills, Ali arrives to have a very badly written conversation with Jake about her terrible dilemma. If only he could let her know that she should stay, she would.

Jake begged her to stay, with no guarantees she would be his Mrs., Ali then left Jake's hotel room, walking alone down the hall, to collapse, sobbing, on the floor.

But, wait, coming up, on The Bachelor, Jake flies Vienna, Gia and Tenley to, I think, St. Lucia, where, surprise, he gets a phone call from Ali. I'm sure once she got back to work and her boss saw what a mess she was, he told her to fly to the Caribbean. Is that Ali arriving by helicopter, in the previews, where the voice over says it's the most dramatic conclusion to The Bachelor in the history of the world.

So, next week Jake and the girls are on a Caribbean island, where the notorious Fantasy Suites await. I hope Jake suffers no Ed-like malfunctions.

I can not help but wonder how it was Ali took time off from work without making certain that it was okay to be gone for 3 weeks in order to find a husband.

And, for some more confusion. Why did I think Ali lived in San Francisco? Was it because she called it her town, that she would show Jake around her town? Didn't they walk through her neighborhood? So, why am I reading, on a news website, that Ali returned to her job as an advertising account manager. In Williamstown, Massachusetts?

I hope Jake is up to handling Vienna in the Fantasy Suite. I'd be nervous if I were him.

Surviving Survivor: The Redemption of Heroes vs. Villains is Lost on Me

I watched Thursday's Surviving Survivor. It was interesting. I thought it was going to be an hour of whetting our appetites for next week's 2 hour start of Survivor Redemption: Heroes vs. Villains.

Surviving Survivor turned out to be sort of a look back at the 10 year history of Survivor, the impact the show has had on TV and a look at some of the past season's Survivors.

Like Ethan Zohn. I did not know he was fighting Hodgkin's Disease.

The bit between Russell Hantz and Richard Hatch was mildly funny, with Russell insisting, as always, that he's the best Survivor ever. I assume this was filmed after the conclusion of Heroes vs. Villains, which I assume Russell does not win.

I did not like seeing samples of how badly bug bit some of the Survivors get. I had no idea it was that bad.

Cirie is one of my favorites. The girl is looking real good. Colby, I did not recognize, at first. Til he talked. Coach appears to have chunked up a bit.

I am not a fan of all-star type shows, be it Big Brother, The Amazing Race or Survivor. For some of these people, like Colby and Boston Rob, this is their 3rd time on Survivor. You have all those thousands upon thousands of fans applying to be on the show. It just does not seem right.

Already knowing the characters makes it less interesting. When Survivor did Fans vs. Favorites at least half of the characters were interesting because we'd not met them before. When Yau Man walked out, you already knew he was smart and likable. But did I want to see him on Survivor again? No.

I wiill admit, it may be interesting to see how Russell works his schtick among all these veterans. It will be amusing if the producers drop the Hidden Immunity Idol, while we get to watch Russell frantically searching for an idol that is not there.

I may be watching. I've not decided yet.

The Bachelor: Vienna Takes Iraq Injured Marine Ex-Husband's Life Savings For Breast Implants

There is this guy who calls himself Reality Steve. To the great vexation of Reality Show Producers, Reality Steve somehow manages to get all sorts of inside info about Reality TV shows, like The Bachelor. Which he then writes about on his Reality Steve website. You'll find references to Reality Steve almost anywhere you are on the Internet where viewers are discussing a Reality TV show.

I believe it is Reality Steve who first laid out the scenario where Vienna Giarardi is the last one standing with Jake Pavelka.

Reality Steve has heard a lot of good bad stuff about Vienna. What he can confirm, he prints. What takes too much legwork to confirm, he waits for the tabloids to find the dirt and do the confirming. Then he elaborates.

For a few weeks now, Reality Steve has known about the little bombshell US Weekly dropped in this week's issue.

That being that when Vienna was a 23 year old unemployed, ex-Hooters girl, with an ex-husband, Josh Riley, a Marine stationed in Iraq, to whom she'd been married 10 months, Vienna drained the last $5,000 from her ex's bank account.

What did she take the money for? Breast implants.

Vienna's ex-mother-in-law, Gale, had this to say, "She took every bit of money. I know that boob job was the first thing she had done."

When Marine Riley returned stateside, after his tour of duty was ended, due to being injured in an explosion in Iraq, according to his mother, Riley found that "Vienna had locked his belongings in storage and would not tell us where they were."

Josh Riley now says, "Marrying her was a mistake." He had no comment when asked if he had any words of wisdom for Jake Pavelka.

2010 Grammy Awards With Wild Pink, Blackeyed Peas, Beyonce Soldiers, Sooty Lady Gaga & Off-Key Taylor Swift

I had not watched the Grammy Award Show in a long long time. I remember it as a bit boring, as in stodgy. Maybe I've not watched the Grammy Awards in this century.

Because what I watched on Sunday was definitely not boring or stodgy. It was the fastest paced 3 hour awards show I've ever seen.

I don't remember the awards part. It was the live performing that was of the likes I have never seen in such quantity on this type show.

You had the opening with Lady Gaga, who I confess to not really getting, though I find her entertaining. Her slick opening, that had her jumping into a fire and coming out covered in soot, piano dueling with an equally sooty Elton John, looking like something out of a Batman movie, well, I liked it.

I confess to not understanding the Beyonce love. Beautiful woman, but I don't understand the popularity of her songs. I must confess, I am tone deaf. The Beyonce performance with an army of soldiers was fun to watch, even if I did not get it.

The next to come, that sort of stunned me, was Pink. She comes out, attired in a white robe-like dress, singing a song I did not know. She walked slowly towards the audience. And then took off the robe to reveal, well, a lot of revealing. I am fairly certain I have a fairly accurate idea of exactly what Pink's lovely derriere looks like. Pink climbed aboard a cloth sling, and with dancers above her, proceeded to be lifted high above the audience, then Pink was lowered into water, then lifted again, as she continued to sing, and spin, spraying water, I assume, on to the audience.

Pink's performance was very Cirque du Soleil. And was very well received.

The Blacked Eyed Peas, with Fergie, was the next over the top production. I liked this one a lot. I watched it twice.

Taylor Swift, with Stevie Nicks, I liked a lot, too, though I've been told Taylor was singing off key, which, due to the blessings of being tone deaf, I was not aware of.

Throughout the show there was a running thing where viewers were told they could vote on what song they wanted Bon Jovi to sing. I thought this to be a dumb, but, I guess, harmless, gimmick. I forgot what song it was the viewers picked, but I enjoyed the 3 Bon Jovi songs.

The Michael Jackson tribute seemed a bit odd to me. Maybe it was because I did not have 3-D glasses. MJ's kids, Prince and Paris, speaking, was a bit surreal. Cute kids. And I liked the Michael Jackson song that was the soundtrack for the 3-D video.

The Grammys were the top rated show of the week. Does that make the Grammys the top-rated awards show? I don't think the Academy Awards Show is #1. But I may be remembering wrong.