Summer Reality TV Binge

It's summer which means none (or very few) of my scripted shows are on and since I'm so addicted to TV that I can't NOT watch anything, I turn to reality TV. Below is just a list of the once I've been paying attention to the past few weeks.

So You Think You Can Dance - If it were up to me, Amazing Race would ALWAYS win Best Reality TV Competition at the Emmys, but I wouldn't hate seeing this show triumph a couple of times. Consistently great cast of supremely talented dancers, relatively inoffensive and smart judges, wonderful host, and often brilliant routines make this my favorite summer reality show. This year there's no All-Stars and there'll be a boy and a girl winner, but I'm okay with those small changes. For now, at least.

Currently rooting for: Too early to say, but Daniel is just so gosh darn adorable.

Glee Project - Everyone should watch this. Even Glee haters, which I'm closer to than Glee lover. My roommate turn me to this show this season and it's great fun. It's a bunch of kids in the longest audition process ever, but they get to sing songs, make videos, and create a little drama every week. The BEST thing about this show though is that even if your favorite is eliminated it's OKAY especially when you realize that the prize is to star on Glee. Run, run away.

Currently rooting for: Nellie because she's gorgeous and super talented (but she doesn't know it).

Masterchef - This is another show my roommate got me to watch. I never checked it out because Gordon Ramsay is such a grating personality, but I have to admit that this show is quite enjoyable mostly because of its great pacing, talented cooks with strong personalities, and judges that actually seem to know what they're talking about.

Currently rooting for: Christine because she has more talent than many of her sighted peers.

American Ninja Warrior - Apparently this has been happening for a few seasons now and also in Japan? Never heard of it until this year and it's pretty mindless TV. Basically it's a bunch of guys (and few gals) going through a tough obstacle course. My main reason of watching are the cute, most times shirtless, super athletic boys who participate. I don't ask for much with my TV summer viewing.

Currently rooting for: All of them to not break any bones.

Duets: I only really tuned into this singing competition show because Kelly Clarkson was one of the mentors and to be honest, it remained that way with my pretty much ffwd every non-Kelly Clarkson part of the show. This meant I only really formed a connection to Kelly's duet partners and was unable to get a feel of what the show was actually like. It didn't help that my favorite contestant left early and that's all she wrote.

Currently rooting for: Jason who is the last of Kelly's duet partners, but Jordan was my favorite from the beginning.

HGTV'S Design Star - I used to regularly watch this show a few seasons ago, but time got in the way. This season I've only seen three episodes tops and while I love the addition of David Bromstad as host/mentor nothing made me really want to catch up on the episodes I missed.

Currently rooting for: I don't even know who's still around nor can I remember any of their names. Oops.

Big Brother - Here's another show I used to watch all the time, but have since learned from my mistakes. I did end up checking the season premiere last night just to see the new twist (four previous houseguests will act as coaches to the new people) and apart from bringing back my favorite BB contestant ever in Janelle I'm almost positive I won't be watching this season. With that said, the producers picked good coaches and the cast (for now) seem okay. I give it 5 days until they all devolve to hell.

Currently rooting for: Someone in Janelle's team? I don't really care.

Don't fret though. I'm still watching scripted TV like True Blood, Weeds, Newsroom, and Bunheads. This Sunday is the premiere of Breaking Bad and Political Animals. Which reminds me... I really need to start thinking about the Emmy nominations which is happening soon, right?