Beware of spoilers if you have not watched this week’s episode…

There was a little controversy at Camp Metcalf on Monday night regarding our primetime viewing.  It was more of a personal conflict, actually.  As you know, I love ‘The Bachelor.’  I’m also a pretty avid college sports fan.  Last night, ‘The Bachelor’ started at 8:00 but kickoff for the football national championship occurred at 8:37.

Decisions, decisions: Cam Newton or Brad Womack? War Eagle or 1st Impression Rose?

What did people do before Tivo?

Well, we watched the first half of ‘The Bachelor’ prior to starting the football game.  It was a bit of a tease to get sucked into the drama of ‘The Bachelor,’ only to turn it off before Train’s awkward performance and the rose ceremony.

During the first half, I quickly grew tired of Brad and Ashley skipping around the low-budget carnival, and Michelle whining about her birthday.  In case you didn’t catch it the first ten times, it was Michelle’s birthday.  Did anyone else think Michelle was quite intoxicated after she got the rose on her date?  I sure did.

Ashley & Brad frolicking at the carnival

The group date was just weird.  I don’t know who’s in charge of publicity for the American Red Cross, but those PSAs were bizarre.  No one looked good and the whole thing was awkward.  Also, Melissa, get control of yourself.  Later in the evening, at the ‘wrap party,’ there was plenty of pool time for the ladies to show off their bikini bodies, get drunk, and start yelling at each other.  (Nothing out of the norm for an early episode.)  Side note: Every time I see Brad get out of the pool/shower, I am still taken aback by his back tattoo.  I just can’t get used to it.  I really don’t think he had that body art in his first season, did he?

Once David and I turned ‘The Bachelor’ back on, I found it was harder to regain my Bachelor momentum.  In the last couple of years, the producers work really hard to make ALL of the episodes two hours.  That’s a lot of Bachelor, maybe even (I hate to admit this) too much.  I mean, having Ali and Roberto on the show to give their opinions on each of the ladies?  A bit of a stretch, if you ask me.

Melissa: too aggressive from the beginning

I give Brad major props for getting rid of crazy Melissa this week.  In past seasons, the ‘stir up trouble/dramatic’ girl would have stayed around for a few weeks.  Good riddance, Melissa!  Maybe you should start seeing a psychiatrist.  (I’m sure Brad could give you some recommendations.)

Final Thoughts on the episode:

-       If Madison didn’t have fangs, she might be ok.

Vampire Madison

-       Britt, the food writer from Washington, is an early favorite.  She needs more one on one time with Brad if she wants to make it past Week Three.

Britt, the "Cutie Foodie"

-       Michelle started off strong in Week 1, but I’m no longer on the Michelle train.  She’s manipulative and crazy.  Perfect for the show, but not for the new Brad.  He’s too sensitive and working too hard to break down his walls.

Michelle: Don't be fooled by her looks like Brad is

-       Emily, the widow, seems sweet and the other ladies like her.  Brad is oddly obsessed with her considering they haven’t had any conversations with substance.  I’m thinking next week she will tell Brad about hubby and daughter, Ricky.

Emily

-       At the rose ceremony, there were a handful of really cute bachelorettes that I felt like I’d never seen before, such as Lisa.  She’s a former college track and cross country runner, AND she’s from Kansas, which puts her at the top of my list.  Lisa, get in there, girl!

Stay tuned for next week’s episode: solo date with Emily, group date with more filming scenes/stage kissing/drama, and other excitement.  No more National Championship game to compete with, so Bachelor will get the full attention it deserves.

Before I head into discussions of soy sauce, vending machines, Buddhas, and all things Japanese, I must first mention last night’s premier of “The Bachelor.”  For a hot second, I thought about not watching this season, but let’s be honest, that was never a viable option.  I love this show and I can’t get enough of the caddy women, ridiculous commentary, Chris Harrison’s forward questions, and the cheesy fashion show.  Why so many sequins last night?

What do we have to look forward to this season?  So much, my friends, so much.

Bachelor Brad, Take Two

Our bachelor is Brad Womack.  Does that name sound familiar?  Well, it should.  Brad’s been “The Bachelor” before, in fact three years ago.  Southern, chiseled Brad is the only bachelor who has returned for a second go around as the show’s star.  On his first season, Brad left both finalists, Deanna and Ginny, high and dry at the final rose ceremony.  Audiences did not respond well to his decision, but isn’t the dual rejection better than the way most seasons end: Bachelor(ette) picks someone, only for the couple to have a nasty, tabloid-documented, break up weeks later.  If I were a contestant, I’d rather get turned down at the end of the show AND have my competition dumped too.

Brad Womack: Heartbreaker

This season’s premier had the usual shower shots of Brad, montages of him working out (shirtless, of course), and a lot of soul searching commentary.  Apparently Brad has been in counseling for the past three years to deal with his “lady issues.”  ABC even interviewed Brad’s therapist on the show to tell us about how Brad is healing.  (I’m sure Brad’s shrink will launch a reality TV show on E later this year.)  Brad repeatedly tells Chris and us that he’s a changed man and he’s ready to commit.  And what could be a better way to finally resolve your commitment issues than by breaking the hearts of 24 other women on national television before proposing to the final one?

While Brad’s story is interesting and semi-believable, once the ladies arrive, the fun really begins.  Side note: Did anyone else notice that this season SBC isn’t showing the women’s ages on screen?  Fortunately, David found their ages (and number of tattoos) on ABC’s website so he filled us in on the women’s stats as we watched.  Any guesses on how old Brad is?  38.  Oldest bachelorette on this season? 32.  Interesting…

The Ladies

Some early notes on the women…

My initial favorite was Jill, 28, a former college volleyball player.  Normal, good conversationalist, attractive.  And, did I mention she was normal?  Brad didn’t have the sense to pick Jill, but instead he did give a rose to Madison, 25, who has two fangs and a totally bizarre obsession with vampires.  Good choice, Brad.

Emily, a 24-year old widow from Charlotte, seems to be one of Brad’s early favorites.  He told her over and over again how beautiful she looked.  I also have my money on Michelle, from Salt Lake City.  She’s pretty hot.  Ashley H., 26-year old dentist is going to be really annoying and competitive, but that’s what makes the show so good, right?

Other odd professions include ‘manscaper,’ mortician and an overly zealous Rockette.  So good.

Any other initial thoughts on the season?  Observations?  Early picks?

PS: Why did Seal sell his soul and perform ‘Kiss from a Rose’ on The Bachelor?  I thought his career was more successful than that.  I mean he is married to Heidi Klum.

David and I love watching sports.  All kinds of sports.  A good weekend involves some type of athletic competition and at least one “S.I.N.” (a “sports induced nap”).  I prefer college basketball; David would probably say his favorite is college football.  We have an ongoing debate in our family as to what the greatest month of sports is.  You know, the best combination of athletic events found in a one month period.  David’s favorite month of sports is April because you have the NCAA Final Four Tournament, the Masters, NBA playoffs, and the start of baseball.  I tend to go with January because you gt the tail end of the college bowl games, NFL playoffs, and you can find college basketball on your TV almost every night.  (And really, I just want lots of college basketball…March is a close 2^nd for me.)

The summer months tend to be a bit of a drag for me in the wide world of sports.  I really could care less about the NHL and baseball is such a long season.  Fortunately, Strasburg is now pitching for the Nationals and the World Cup will make this summer much more exciting.  In fact last Sunday I felt like it was football season again as I watched Germany handed it to Australia on my friend Chris’s flat screen, while David took a “S.I.N.” on the couch.  (Remember, we don’t have a TV this year so we mooch off of our friends.)  Weekends revolving around sports are the best.

Since Wilbon and Tony don’t have a ton to talk about on “PTI” in June, besides the ever-changing Big 10, my media focus moves to the reality TV genre.  I’ve decided that while January is the best sports month, June wins the award for the best month of reality TV in 2010.  Why?  Good question.

“The Bachelorette” is in full swing and Ali is finally down to just 10 men so I can actually tell the difference between each of them.  There’s not a whole lot of diversity in the group on first glance so you have to get to know them.  I now have my favorites and my least favorites.  I’ve chosen my predictions for Final 3: Chris L., Roberto and Frank.  You clearly know at this point who is crazy (can we say Kasey with a “K”?) but it’s not too far into the season that Ali has finally convinced the producers to get rid of the whackos.  (Well, the weatherman did leave this week.  It was time.)

I Heart Roberto.

“The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat II” aired its final episodes this month.  For those of you that didn’t watch (and I’m sure that includes most of you), the exiles were insane and the final challenge involved climbing a mountain with ice picks.  Lots of whining and F-bombs were also present in the final episode.  Not as much drama as usual though.

The final reason why June marks the greatest month for reality TV this year is the premier of “Top Chef: DC.”  Premiering tonight, I’m eager to see where they filmed, what they’re doing, and who are the next big stars in the culinary world.

What are your thoughts on the reality TV world?  Is it a dying genre or do people like me keep it in business?  Am I the only one still watching?

I have a little obsession with “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”  I think it’s because in college we made a big deal about “Bachelor” nights and viewed it religiously, season after season.  Watching episodes of this program was always ‘an event’ for us and of course, that’s what you do in college: use anything, even a TV show, to have an event.

As I’m getting older, I find myself holding onto things that make me feel like I’m still in college and this nostalgia for my youth tends to manifest itself in the form of television shows that I like to watch.  While sadly the “OC” ended a long time ago, fortunately for me, MTV keeps airing new seasons of “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” and ABC continues to set single folks up on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”  Yes, it’s shameful, I know.  (I must admit, I’ve given up on “The Real World” as its trashiness factor is too high, even for me, but how can I resist T.J. Lavin’s awkwardness and my washed up old favorites, like Paula and Wes on ‘The Challenge?’)

Ali: The next 'bachelorette'

Can these shows be defined as quality television?  Absolutely not.  Do I identify with the people? No.  Is there anything valuable to learn?  Not unless you count “don’t ever go on a reality TV show” as a lesson.

But I continue to watch them.  I still enjoy making an event of watching “The Bachelor,” even in my old age.  When we lived in Virginia, we watched each week with my brother and his wife, Rob and Alden,  but now they live in Japan, I’m in Georgia, and I don’t own a TV.  Thankfully, I’ve been fortunate enough to find a group of friends that also enjoys spending two hours on a Monday night watching what my mom refers to as ‘trash TV.’  I moved here in the fall just in time to watch last season’s ‘Bachelor’ starring Jake.  Those of you that watched (and I don’t think there are that many of us) will probably agree that it was terrible.  Jake lacked personality and can really only be described as a goober.  Also, minimal drama always leads to disappointment.  I could have told the show’s producers that Jake would be a less-than-mediocre bachelor after his super-cheesy, and even pathetic, role on Gillian’s season on ‘The Bachelorette’ but no one asked my opinion.  Even Vienna couldn’t save the season.

But I don’t let one season get me down.  I’ll be there, ready for the premiere this Monday night.  (It won’t be nearly as awesome/wonderful/amazing as the ‘Lost’ finale the night before, but more on that later.)  Since the producers of “The Bachelor” have adopted the trend of using a reject from a previous season for future seasons, next week Ali will be the new bachelorette.  Now Ali isn’t technically a reject since she chose to leave Jake’s season because of her job, even though she said, “I’m smitten with the boy.”  (Lame!)  Now Ali’s back and I guess her boss gave her the ok this time.

In honor of next week’s premiere of the new ‘Bachelorette,’ David and I hosted our viewing group for dinner this week.  We thought it would be fun to cook dinner and go through each of the 25 men that we’ll meet next week on the premiere.  Why not give even more time to the show than I already do?  You can go to ABC’s website to check out the bachelors yourself.  A word of warning: this group of men includes very little ethnic diversity, unless you count Canada.  Of course we thoroughly enjoyed analyzing each contestant and reading the comments that others had posted.

So now to the food…For our dinner party, I enlisted David to make one of my favorite grill meals: Grilled Salmon from Martha Stewart’s Cooking School. I hesitate to order salmon in a restaurant now because this version of salmon is so good and David cooks it perfectly.  It’s so simple, fresh and beautiful.  I love the presentation.  An added bonus of this dish: We share a communal grill with all of the residents in our apartment building so the bed of oranges and lemons keeps the salmon safe from gluten contamination from the grill.  Perfect for a warm summer night and great for entertaining.

Grilled Side of Salmon (Serves 8 easily)

Ingredients:

• Sunflower oil or other neutral-tasting oil
• 4 lemons, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
• 2 oranges, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
• 1 small bunch of basil
• 1 bunch of oregano (use whatever herbs are in season…lemon thyme would be great too)
• 2 piece wild salmon, (2 ½ – 3 lbs.)

Heat the grill to medium.  Once it’s hot, scrub with grill brush and lightly sweep with olive oil.

Arrange the lemons and orange slices on the grate, then add the the basil and oregano, making a bed for the fish.  Lay the salmon skin side down on the herbs and season with salt and pepper.  Cook salmon 20 to 30 minutes.

Use two large spatulas to transfer the salmon and bed of fruit and herbs to a large platter.  Serve hot or at room temperature.  (I prefer my salmon hot.)

As a side dish, I served quinoa with sweet onions and roasted carrots.  I used regular quinoa and red quinoa, as well as both orange and red carrots.  Mary Stuart and Victoria made a delicious salad with greens, blueberries, beets, and even beet greens.

And of course, blondies for dessert.

So think of me next Monday night as I spend two hours watching Ali meet Chris H., Chris L., Chris N. (yes, there are three Chrises, not including host, Chris Harrison) and the 22 other bachelors.  There’s sure to be a plethora of cheesy lines, awkward moments, and maybe the most dramatic rose ceremony ever.  I’ll be loving every minute of it.