More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about a major category that came of age in the aughts: Reality shows.

While I would never call myself a reality TV junkie, it really bugs me when people make blanket statements like, "I hate reality TV," or, "Reality TV is the bane of my existence." The genre has grown so much in the past decade that it has become just like scripted television, in that there's good and there's bad. Even though we're splitting this up into two lists, "Reality," and "Trashy Reality," you won't see a single show that starts with, "Who Wants to Marry" on either list.

This list is dedicated not to the guilty pleasures, but to the shows that you wouldn't be embarrassed for your neighbors to know you watch: the classy reality, if you will. So without further ado, here is TV Squad's list of the best reality shows of the decade.

I could have sworn that I was trying to find a Halloween costume yesterday, but while I was digging I should have found my aluminum pole instead. It's Festivus again and I'm letting my wishes commence.

I know my tastes skew towards reality TV, but I've gotten some obscure wishes this year on how to improve my television experience.

• No more football overrunning The Amazing Race. If we know that an NFL game is stretched into three hours, why can't they start a half hour early and if they end on time have 30 minutes of post-show analysis and interviews? They could even dedicate 30 minutes to pre-game analysis. If you're investing three hours, you are willing to invest four.

(S15E12) And, so it ends. Yep, the season finale of The Amazing Race tends to sneak up pretty quickly on us, doesn't it? Each season, the adrenalin rush builds up, builds up, then comes crashing down in one fell swoop back in the United States after a warp speed cruise through foreign cultures and faraway lands. I like to think of this show as a thinking man's (or woman's) reality show. Not only do I get to mock or enjoy the contestants, I learn about people and places. Oh, and I learned not to blow the finale results on the main page before the jump. Read on.

(S15E11) Next week is the big season finale of The Amazing Race. But this week the last four teams have to battle it out for the prized final three slots racing for the finish line. So, you would think this is the time to put on the big boy (or girl) pants, step up to the plate, give it your all, and a thousand other corny trite sayings. Alas, one team tonight has a huge fail. Of all the legs to fall apart and go kerflooey, this one so near the finale is cruel indeed. Too bad, so sad.

(S15E10) I mentioned last week that the remaining teams on The Amazing Race are really feeling the pressure as they're getting closer to the win. Well, there were no fisticuffs, no elbowing, but there was an underhanded incident ... or two or three.

Unlike Survivor, this show doesn't depend on sneakiness or scheming. In the end, it's how well they run the race around the world, how well they read the clues, and how well they complete the tasks. While getting along with the other teams is always a good thing, there's no popularity vote at the finish line. But they are competing. Sometimes some sneakiness just sneaks on in.

(S15E09) Things got a bit down and dirty tonight on The Amazing Race. I'm talking more ways than one. As the promos for the episode showed, we had muddy bogs and a quasi-skirmish between two teams tonight. There are five teams left in the race at this time. Two of the teams are definitely vying for the alpha male rating on the show. And I'm not talking Brian and Ericka! Any previous alliances are gone in the wind as the teams try to get to the precious final three. Take no prisoners.

(S15E08) This week we revisited one of the toughest roadblocks ever on The Amazing Race. Back in season six, the same farm with the same roadblock did in one team. Kristy and Lena spent eight hours searching for a clue they never did find. Phil Keoghan came out to them after dark in the field and called an end to their search. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time the show has repeated a roadblock. And what a doozy to choose! While looking for a clue in a haystack is easier than looking for a needle, there are so many haystacks -- how would our five remaining teams fare? Read on.

(S15E07) Poor Ericka. In tonight's episode of The Amazing Race, she didn't look quite like Miss America. Stress will do that to you. It seems each week a team or two make what might be a fatal error in the game. Oh, not something that could kill them -- just one which could lead to being Philiminated. This leg wasn't only tough on Brian and Ericka. One of the Globetrotters had to don a dress. Thankfully, it seemed to be specially tailored to fit him.

(S15E06) One of the many things I learned tonight on The Amazing Race is that Dubai is probably hotter than anyplace I really want to visit. Every team was sweating; every team was complaining. At least those teams who didn't have a clue about where the Persian Gulf is or whether it's a country in and of itself will remember it now. If nothing else but for the heat. Oh. And the way cool six-story water slide into shark infested waters. At least one team will really remember that water slide.

(S15E05) Once again in the NYC viewing area, The Amazing Race suffered a huge delay in airing due to football. Tonight, it started an hour and fifteen minutes late. And, after all of that, the Jets lost! It's a miracle this show keeps receiving Emmy awards when the CBS Sunday night schedule is so fickle due to every sport under the sun or inside a stadium. Speaking of sports ... who are the Brinkley Tigers on Flight Time's t-shirt? They can't be Christie Brinkley's ex-husbands, can they?

(S15E04) You'll have to bear with me tonight. You see, I'm cranky. Yes, I'm cranky about tonight's episode of The Amazing Race. Perhaps I'd be a bit less cranky had the show started anywhere near on time. No, it's a Sunday show and here in the NYC viewing area, any sport played during the day can run over and delay the entire Sunday evening primetime line-up. On a night like tonight, delayed 45 minutes, it wreaks havoc with other shows I'd like to watch and my review writing time. But that's not the only reason I'm cranky.

(S15E03) Gee, it doesn't seem like we're already three episodes into The Amazing Race. But last week's two-hour season premiere with its two Philiminations, counted as two episodes. I'm still getting to know the teams. I think, so far, this season has more teams that I'd really like to see stick around for a while. There is only one team who really annoys me. With my luck, they'll be around for a good long while. I want them to implode. Nah, I'm not talking about Zev and Justin.

(S15E01) In this single two-hour season premiere, we were reminded why The Amazing Race keeps snapping up those Emmy Awards for the best reality show on television. We're talking quality teams -- no Jerry Springer fans here! We're talking the adrenalin rush that viewers get just sitting on couches watching the show. We're talking a glimpse into other lands, cultures, and people we might never get the chance to experience in our own lives. We're talking simply amazing.

Survivor host Jeff Probst won Best Reality Host last night, but the big news was when he told reporters that The Amazing Race has already won for Best Reality Competition Show seven times and should take itself out of the running!

So, is this just sour grapes or does Probst have a point? Maybe Probst should go on The Amazing Race and Phil Keoghan should go on Survivor and see who can last the longest.

Romance on reality TV is rarely as real as the producers want us to think. However, at least one romance seems to be the real thing: Rob and Amber from Survivor.

They met on Survivor, thrived on The Amazing Race, flopped on their own show, but have remained a happily married couple four years after they wed. Now the game really begins for these two reality TV vets. Rob and Amber Mariano are the proud parents of newborn Lucia Rose.

Little Lucia was born July 4 in Pensacola, and chances are she's going to be raised as a Red Sox fan. Considering how difficult Survivor and The Amazing Race are, and how well Rob and Amber did on both shows, raising a kid should be a piece of cake.