Good To The Last Drop

Despite what the Emmy Award voters tell you, that "The Amazing Race" was the best reality show for the first eight years an Emmy was given for Best Reality Show, and that "Top Chef" is the current "Best Reality Show", we all know the truth: "Survivor" always was, and still is, the best reality show on television. We mean, come on, Top Chef? Get real. As Jack Black said yesterday on "The View": "You can't even taste the food". Meaning that for a reality show to really be the best, the audience at home has to be able to get involved, to be able to judge the qualities of the winners and the losers. What are we supposed to do when watching "Top Chef", stare at food we can't touch, smell or taste and say "Yum, that hash souffle is better than that one!"? Please.
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Anyway, "Survivor" crowned its latest winner on Sunday night, and despite a slow start to this season, the show ended up being one of the most satisfying "Survivor's" ever. Meaning that the guy that everyone wanted to win, Jud "Fabio" Birza, won, and the villain, Sash, was dispatched without a single vote. The final episodes were real nail-biters, Fabio was emerging as a fan favorite, but he was outside all the standing alliances, and all the other Survivors made it clear that Fabio was the next one to go. The only way that Fabio could make it to the finals was if he won three straight "immunity challenges", a rare, almost impossible feat on "Survivor". But to the delight of everyone, Fabio did it, and in the final vote, he defeated Chase by one vote for the win and the million dollars. We really thought that Sash, the clear villain, might win, as Survivors in the past have voted for the guy who schemes the hardest, but in this case, Sash ended the show without a single vote. Ahhh, life is good sometimes, right?
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"Survivor" is continuing on, and in the next season, which begins in February, the show has a new twist. After being voted off, a contestant can win his/her way back into the competition. Interesting. But how much longer can "Survivor" last? We don't know. A lot will depend on how much longer Host Jeff Probst stays with the show. The two-time Emmy winner for Reality Show Host really is that good, and we can't imagine "Survivor" without him, just as "American Idol" won't be as good without Simon Cowell. But for now, we've still got both "Survivor" and Jeff Probst, and we can't wait for February.
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