Readers pick reality TV honors, dishonors

Before we get to your questions, we wanted to share some of your e-mails about last week's 2006 Reality TV Awards.

There's an endless number of deserving (and oh-so-undeserving) shows and contestants out there, and we just didn't have time to crown them all. Here are just some of your thoughts. "The Amazing Race" was a popular nominee, in almost every category you could think of.

TRUE LOVE?
“How can you not include as a runner-up for a 'What the heck was THAT?' moment, the moment in 'Survivor' when Billy announced he had found the love of his life in Candice. The double-take reaction of Jeff Probst was priceless.”    --Deb, Wisconsin

UNAN1MOUSLY AWFUL
“Who created the show 'Unan1mous' and how could they ever think we would believe these were real people and not actors cast in a role? Or was it supposed to be a big joke on the viewers? Why didn’t it win your Worst Reality Show Award?  --Patty, Wisconsin

MOO
“Grossest scene: Eating cow lips on 'Amazing Race.' Why?..teeth and hair in my food?? And the contestants had to eat so much ,especially while Kim was vomiting. I could barely watch!”    --Marsha

'MOLE' SHOULD COME OUT OF HIDING
“Most missed show: 'The Mole'!  Even though Anderson Cooper is rather busy, another intelligent host could bring back this great show.  We all loved playing along.  Note:  we are missing the Real Mole, not the celebrity goofball version.”    --Rebecca

FORGET COOPERATION
“Dumbest Rule: The Intersection on 'Amazing Race' where two teams had to work together…LAME!”    --Sarah

HIPPIE HIPPIE SHAKE
“My Most Memorable Episode of the 'Amazing Race' is last season when the hippies (who won) were on.  They had to drive down this dark  road and it was pitch dark.  They said “here comes another car, let’s hide”  Well, it was two guys (preppies, I think) and when the hippies jumped out at them, it scared them.  It was the funniest episode I have ever seen.  It was really the most memorable episode.”    --Sherry

SHE'S A RICH GIRL
“Biggest prima donna -- Erica on 'The Bachelor.'”    --Kathi

Now on to the Q&A. As always, send in your questions about reality TV shows. Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, MSNBC.com's Television Editor, and Andy Dehnart, creator of Reality Blurred, will try to answer them. Before you send in your question, check our archives — you may be able to get your answer right away.

Q: On ‘Survivor: Cook Islands,’ in the final vote, who voted for Yul and who voted for Ozzy?    --Bridget

A: Even though “Survivor” ended in December, we still get this question, so thought we’d tackle it. CBS has the voting history up on the show’s official site, though it didn’t list it right away.

Yul received votes from Sundra, Adam, Jonathan, Candice, and Brad, while Parvati, Nate, Jenny, and Rebecca voted for Ozzy. And, well, no one voted for Becky.    —G.F.C.

Q: E! entertainment had a reality show that involved children of famous people out on a cattle drive. What was the name of it and are they planning to do another one?    —Cami, Ohio

A: That was “Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive.” It starred 10 children of celebrities, from Robert Blake’s son Noah to Anthony Quinn’s son Alex, and from George Foreman’s kid George III to Mark Gastineau’s daughter Brittny. They drove cattle for a few weeks, slept in tents, and had to adjust to the lack of cell phone reception, among other things. It was the ultimate fish-out-of-water series.

The show’s breakout star was arguably Fabian Basabe, a sort of male Paris Hilton who, besides acting vacuous and obnoxious, was lazy and arrogant, and created drama by making ridiculous demands. He’d say things such as, “I don’t work, and a lot of people just don’t understand that.” His connection to fame came from his father, who was identified as an Ecuadorian tycoon.

(Incidentally, as Women’s Wear Daily reported in December, instead, his father is a “[Florida] hotel owner with two failed restaurants who’s been in and out of court in Florida for his apparent inability to pay bills on time.”)

Anyway, despite its popularity, there are no plans to resurrect the series right now.

There are, however, plenty of other shows that are vehicles for celebrities to make asses out of themselves and try new things; on Wednesday, CBS is debuting “Armed and Famous,” which features celebrities like Erik Estrada working as actual police officers in Indiana.    —A.D.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is MSNBC.com's Television Editor. Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.

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