Reality Summer

Okay, summer is officially here - in TV terms.

"Treasure Hunters," which seems to be the love child of "Amazing Race" and National Treasure, premiered last night on NBC; and "Big Brother," my one really guilty pleasure - the show that I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I watch but never miss anyway - premieres (sort of) on June 21st.

I love "Amazing Race." High drama and geography. How can you beat that? I enjoy watching underdog teams pull themselves up by their bootstraps and come from behind to win. I pray each week that teams with socially stunted and/or morally reprehensible players (read: Colin and Christie) are eliminated. And I love, love, love the scenery.

So when I heard that "Treasure Hunters" would be premiering this summer, I was intrigued. Combining the historical and puzzle-solving elements of National Treasure with a globe-trotting race is just too perfect. And, as on "Amazing Race," the players are teams from all factions of American life.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

On "Treasure Hunters," though, they are teams of three instead of two: and the players get to name their own teams. So I found it both ironic and hysterical that the self-proclaimed "Geniuses" disregarded the instructions given them when they boarded their bus with the Young Professionals and instructed their driver to take them to Mt. Roosevelt instead of Mt. Rushmore.

The Young Professionals figured out that they were at the wrong site and informed the Geniuses, and they were the last 2 teams to arrive at Mt. Rushmore. They split up and the Geniuses got to the final puzzle as the Wild Hanlons were making several pathetic attempts to open the combination box. Pat Hanlon, a business owner who was clearly in over his mullet, hid the last remaining box before the Geniuses showed up, and then offered an alliance if they would help him with the puzzle.

The Geniuses showed a clear lack of thought in agreeing and opened the Hanlons' box for them before they even found their own. How dumb was that? They eventually found the ninth box and became the final team to qualify for the next round. The Young Professionals showed up too late and were eliminated.

This year's edition of "Big Brother" is an All-Stars competition and, from a field of twenty previous players, viewers get to pick the twelve they most want to see back in the Big Brother house.

Call me boring, but I can't stand the players who cause the most uproar and controversy, and would cringe if the house was filled with the people I disliked the most. I know that the odds are pretty good that the house will be filled with more socially-deficient people than you can shake a stick at. I just don't have to like it.

Let me think about this... and I'll post who I'd like to see in the house.