Reality TV is a breeding ground for crazy, entertaining people doing insane watercooler-worthy things, but who do we consider the best of the best, the most entertaining of the entertaining?

It's not easy to narrow down a list to 11 of the most entertaining reality TV stars -- because of sheer volume these days, but also fear of retaliation from the tougher personalities who didn't make the cut. Some of those 'Housewives' are brutal, y'all.

But we did it. And we think we got it right. Take a look at our picks for Most Entertaining Reality TV Stars of 2011 -- along with our video playlist of proof, in case you need more convincing -- and nominate your own favorites in the comments.

It's not everyday that NeNe Leakes appears on TV in a reflective mood, getting along well with a group of women. But Wednesday on 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star dropped the fiestiness that's become her reality TV trademark, and had an honest discussion about some of the perils of the 'Housewives' genre.

Aisha Tyler had a few questions about the constantly combative, drama-drenched nature of the show. "Doesn't it get exhausting, fighting all the time?" she asked. "Very exhausting, it's very negative, I'm so tired," Leakes replied. "It's very entertaining though, don't ya think?" Tyler asked the logical follow-up question. "It's entertaining, but do you ever feel like, 'I don't want to do this anymore?'" Leakes exhaled and thought for a moment, and then admitted, "Sometimes, yeah."

According to Kim and Sheree, NeNe's time on 'The Celebrity Apprentice' has really changed her, and not necessarily for the better. Kim pointed out on 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' (Sun., 9PM ET on Bravo) that NeNe's been going off on some of her co-stars from that show. Stars that Kim thinks of as A-Listers, like LaToya Jackson, Star Jones and Dionne Warwick.

Sheree said that NeNe is now butting heads with virtually everyone she knows, and worries that she's letting her new-found notoriety, thanks to Donald Trump, go to her head.

"She really needs to humble herself, because as fast as you go up, you can come down," Sheree said. "Just like on a stripper pole."

Just when you might be in danger of pining for the table-flippers of New Jersey, we got to welcome back the wig-pullers from Georgia. Last night's Season 4 premiere of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' (Sun., 10PM ET on BRAVO) got off to an explosive start as NeNe Leakes got into a verbal battle with Sheree Whitfield over past money issues.

Believing that NeNe's been double-dealing behind her back, Sheree called Tyrone, who'd promoted one of their joint events. Putting him on speakerphone Sheree asked him for his version of what went down in Philly. Which, of course, NeNe disputed.

And that's when it all kicked off. NeNe claimed to be so rich already that she didn't need to shortchange her fellow 'Housewife': "While you were running your mouth off to him I was running to the bank. To deposit a check. A Donald Trump check." Take that, sweetie!

When it comes to gross, time-wasting late-night TV games, 'Watch What Happens Live' (Thursdays and Sundays, 11PM on Bravo) is the clear-cut intergalactic champion. On Thursday's edition, host Andy Cohen and his guests Susie Essman and Jeff Lewis celebrated 'Pit-stille Day' by looking at pictures of a woman's hairy armpit and guessing to whom it belonged.

For the first armpit, Cohen gave them the choice of Beyonce, Rihanna, or NeNe Leakes. "You know, I don't want to say what that looks like," said Essman. Cohen was thinking the same thing. Essman and Lewis both guessed wrong, as it turned out to be Beyonce. For a particularly unattractive patch, they were given the choices of Julia Roberts, Amy Winehouse, or Courtney Love. Surprisingly, it was Roberts.

Essman wound up the champion, and received a $1,000 gift certificate for hair removal as a prize. Lewis was happy he didn't win. "I would never have used that," he said. Cohen said he had heard otherwise. Oh, the dalliances of the Hollywood hirsute.

NeNe Leakes has been busy lately: quitting 'The Celebrity Apprentice,' getting a divorce, and undergoing liposuction. She took a few minutes to talk about it all on 'Wendy Williams Show' (weekdays, syndicated), offering as complete of an update on her life as one could want from a talk show.

Williams said she was upset with Leakes for quitting 'The Apprentice,' but Leakes was unapologetic. "I make my own decisions in life," she said. "Nobody tells me what to do." She also said that soon-to-be-former husband Gregg Leakes will get nothing from her in the divorce. Leakes added that she has enjoyed liposuction, but is afraid of Botox (Williams told her not to worry).

Williams also brought up the rumors that Leakes will soon have her own TV show. While Leakes said she doesn't yet know what the show would be about, let's assume we just saw a snapshot of it.

On 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' (weekdays, syndicated), NeNe Leakes continued to bash 'Celebrity Apprentice' co-star Star Jones, referring to her as a "backstabber" and questioning the methods she used to play the game.

According to Leakes, she and Jones had started forming a relationship outside of the show. But, she saw a very different side of Jones once cameras began to roll. "I felt like we were establishing a relationship outside of 'Celebrity Apprentice,'" said Leakes. "And then, when we got on the show and I saw how backstabbing she was, it was very disappointing to me."

After weeks of battling with Star Jones, NeNe Leakes controversially walked out of 'The Celebrity Apprentice' Sunday night. Now, with celebrities and others lobbing the racist label at Donald Trump, NeNe's friends say that quitting the show in the shocking -- and low-rated -- episode, was a smart, principled move.

"Everything will ultimately work out for NeNe," said a friend of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' star. "In the long run she was much better off to quit and walk away than get a job with Donald Trump."

It should be noted that each celebrity is playing to raise money for their charity rather than get a job within Trump's organization. It should also be noted that the 'Celebrity Apprentice' we're seeing on Sundays was taped months ago, before The Donald's now-floundering bid for the White House and string of attacks on President Obama that many believe reek of racism.

According to NeNe Leakes, she left 'The Celebrity Apprentice' because of Donald Trump's decision to switch her to the men's team as a way to end fighting between she and Star Jones. On 'Access Hollywood Live' (weekdays, syndicated), Leakes said she felt "disrespected" by Trump and that this decision was her breaking point.

"The final straw for me was when Mr. Trump decided to switch me, take me out of my comfort zone to accommodate Star. I felt he was disrespecting me," said Leakes.

On 'The Wendy Williams Show' (weekdays, syndicated), Wendy Williams slammed NeNe Leakes for her decision to quit 'The Celebrity Apprentice.' Williams said she was "disappointed" in Leakes' decision to abruptly leave the show and felt she should have toughed it out until the end.

"All of us are disappointed in you," said Williams. "Like, why did you quit? And I don't want to hear there's stuff going on in your personal life. We all have crap going on in our personal lives. You needed to have ridden that show out."

It was a wild night on 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 8PM ET on NBC). In a three-hour episode, there were two Boardrooms and two firings to get through. LaToya Jackson had just returned to the competition last week, becoming the first contestant in the history of the franchise to ever be invited back.

She vowed to prove that she could be more impressive on the men's team, and so Trump placed her there. But before the show could even get to that point, Donald Trump decided to address the constant fighting between NeNe Leakes and Star Jones.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

So he split them up. Trump shifted NeNe over to the men's team and flipped Meat Loaf over to the women's side. Now Team Backbone had both Jackson and Leakes, and both teams were co-ed.

It was a long night of 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 8PM ET on NBC). It looks like they basically smashed two episodes together into three hours, complete with two challenges for the teams and two Boardroom eliminations.

But, before they even got into any of it, Trump mixed up the teams to separate NeNe Leakes and Star Jones. Team Backbone, which had just picked up LaToya Jackson last week, got Leakes, while Team A.S.A.P. picked up Meat Loaf.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

Unfortunately, the new team roster on A.S.A.P. did little to stop the constant bickering. Only now, instead of NeNe and Star going at each other, it was Meat Loaf and Star.

On 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' (weekdays, syndicated), Star Jones spoke out on her ongoing catfight with 'Celebrity Apprentice' co-star NeNe Leakes. Jones said she did her best to stay calm as Leakes repeatedly lashed out at her during Sunday's episode of the reality show.

"I was thinking, 'I need to keep calm.' Because, not for nothing Ellen, but when you're confronted in the wild with an uncaged animal, you're supposed to retreat," Jones said.

This week on 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 9PM ET on NBC), while one contestant left the show, another came back, as a delayed replacement for Jose Canseco, who quit. This week featured a lot of fighting between Star Jones and NeNe Leakes, but then again that's not really anything new.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

At the challenge, teams had to produce a show to promote Farouk Systems hair care products, emphasizing their safety and that they are made in America. Lil Jon was project leader for the men, who brought in eliminated contestant Niki Taylor to help them out by being gorgeous and having gorgeous hair, and she did just that.

This is far from the first time I've written these words, but I'm going to write them again: 'The Apprentice' is a sham of a competition, and it's because Donald Trump is the only one who determines who stays and who goes.

It's not like other competition shows, where a panel of judges have to come to some sort of consensus, or a voting show where the person who gets the fewest phoned-in, online and text votes goes home. No, the sorta-kinda-almost 2012 presidential candidate is the lone arbiter of whom gets fired, and he has often used weird rationales to fire someone who didn't necessarily deserve it, especially on the celebrity edition of the show (just ask Khloe Kardashian).

Trump used one of those rationales last night to fire La Toya Jackson. It was almost predictable. Even though Star Jones fumbled badly as the losing team's leader in last night's task, there was no way in hell she was ever going home. Why? Because Trump knows a good player when he sees one.