It's that time of year again. The freaks are out and they are auditioning on American Idol. I know people have dreams and all but can't the majority of these people hear themselves sing? Aren't they kidding themselves when they all think they are going to Hollywood?

Of course the show only shows those who are really bad. That really makes the show I think. I only watch the show when the first auditions take place. Once they get down to the smaller groups and even to the few who make it that far, I stop watching. It isn't fun anymore. I think the two most successful winners so far have been Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson. What happened to Ruben? I saw Bo Bice on Access Hollywood this evening. He seems like he's got something going. I haven't heard anything about Fantasia either. I wonder who will come out on top this season. Time will tell. Maybe this season I'll watch to the end.

I am not poor. I am not sick. I have not lost a spouse. I have not lost a child. I do not have sick, abused or handicapped children. I am not homeless. My house did not burn down. I did not lose my job. I do not live in a ghetto. And I have not suffered an awful catastrophe.

I am betting the chances are pretty slim that Ty and his band of workmen and designers will come to my condo and renovate my kitchen and bathrooms.

So I’ve been watching a few episodes of The Biggest Loser on NBC and I’ve been doing some thinking. I’ve been wondering why Caroline Rhea hasn’t lost any weight. She’s been the hostess for the show for two seasons now and she hasn’t changed a bit. Why hasn’t she lost any weight? She’s around all these people losing weight and the trainers and all but none of it has rubbed off on her. I would think she’d take some of the advice and lose some weight. Has anyone else wondered why she hasn’t lost any weight while being the hostess? I know I need to lose some weight but I’m not the host of a weight loss show.

There is a shift happening in television. This season has seen the return of episodic TV. I think ABC has a lot to do with it. Yes, I know there has been lots of cop shows, crime shows, and CSI’s out there for awhile now but they aren’t the same as the crop of shows that I’ve come to enjoy this season. It started with Desperate Housewives and Lost at the beginning of the season. After the first episode of Desperate Housewives I was hooked. I watched the first episode of Lost but didn’t really care for it. I’ve been watching a LOT of reality TV in recent years and haven’t really followed any episodic TV. Maybe it’s always been there and I am only now getting hooked. Who knows. But I’ve been hooked on these shows all season. And now there is Grey’s Anatomy.

I don’t know if you’ve watched the first 3 episodes of this show but I am hooked. Actually, I was hooked after the first 3 minutes of the first episode when I got to see hunky Patrick Dempsey half naked. I happened to catch the first 3 minutes after Desperate Housewives and thought I should stay up to see this new show. I didn’t that first night. But on Saturday ABC reran the first two episodes and I taped them. I also taped last night’s episode. I just finished watching all three and I really like this show. Besides Dempsey, the cast is full of basically unknown actors. I think that’s a plus. Oh, but there is Sandra Oh who was in Sideways and several other shows but she’s not really a major celebrity. Anyway, I’ve never really enjoyed hospital drama shows (I’ve never watched ER or Chicago Hope, but I did watch St. Elsewhere) but for some reason I like following the interns as they learn their way and earn their stripes in the hospital. If you aren’t already a fan of Grey’s Anatomy, check it out on Sunday nights after Desperate Housewives. It’s a good show.

Didn't the Amazing Race just end a few weeks ago? Yes, it did. But last night they started another one. I've watched the Amazing Race since the beginning and this is the 7th race. I decided to watch this one too. There's a gay couple from West Hollywood. And a mother and son team and the son is gay. I'm always looking for the gay team members. The gay team is on the queeny side but at least we have a gay team on the show again. They look nothing like Richen and Chip though. I'll probably cheer for them and secondly I'll cheer for the mother and gay son team. This time around there's a team from another CBS reality show. Rob and Amber from Survivor are part of this season. They got a slow start on the first leg but made up some time and didn't get eliminated. I won't be cheering for them. I couldn't stand Rob on Survivor so I'm sure I won't like him on this show. I was kind of glad to see Ryan and Chuck get eliminated in the first round. They seemed like rednecks who wouldn't make it far anyway. I'll continue to watch the show and hope that the gay team or the mother and gay son team wins.