More of our best of the decade coverage, which started earlier today. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about our favorite reality contestants and participants.

Whether we like it or not, the '00s introduced us to a new form of celebrity: the reality star. In previous decades, the closest we got to this were especially entrancing personalities from MTV's Real World. These people gained fame for acting like well-crafted exaggerations of their real selves.

Faster than you can say, "I didn't come here to make friends," networks picked up on the public's fascination with reality TV like Survivor and they pushed it to the popularity that it has reached today. Now, reality shows barely reflect what happens in normal people's lives but are generally more like high-concept game shows or extremely scripted improvs. But people keep watching, because the personalities are big and captivating.

Yup. Strategic footage editing does wonders. Here are some of our personal favorites from the genre, but feel free to comment with your own worthy additions!

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.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Some TV firsts: the one-in-25 million, three-way Jeopardy tie, and hardcore porn hosted by Tom Brokaw.
  
• Reality TV power-couple Rob and Amber were eliminated from The Amazing Race, but promise that their new project is going to blow our minds.
  
• Little House on the Prairie was cheesy enough without Melissa Gilbert and Patrick Swayze making it into a play.
  

The video's embedded below, or you can download the file directly (Quicktime required). You can also subscribe to this podcast via our feed.

He's baaaaaaack!

Sure we've heard about Michael Jackson's $3,500 per person meet and greet in Japan, but did you see the King of Pop receive an award at the World Music Awards broadcast, rocking a hairstyle very similar to my mothers and throwing his very expensive looking clothing into the audience?

No offense Mr. Jackson, but word on the street is that you're having a bit of money troubles. Don't you think you should go to your nearest Ebay reseller and have them make you a couple thousand? Is that just an amazing camera trick or are people still crying for you too? Does that still happen?

We really are the world. We are the children (shudder)...

In other interesting television moments...

CBS has unveiled the lineup for The Amazing Race 11, which will be an all-stars edition. On the list are, of course, love-to-hate-'em villains Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich, who came in second on season 7.

Fans have been wondering how the producers would pick the teams. In USA Today, executive producer Bertram Van Munster said, "They're not necessarily the winners, but character-wise, they're all-stars in our book."

And Van Munster promised this Race will be super-tough, with "curveball after curveball," since the teams have all been there, done that.

Also racing will be:

Reality show whores Amber and Rob Mariano are getting another reality show because it's better than having a day job. This time the newlyweds are going to the FOX Reality Channel for a docu-series, The Rob and Amber Project. Over ten, half-hour episodes, cameras will follow Rob as he moves to Las Vegas and attempts to launch a career as a professional gambler. Amber is just there to look hot, I guess.

If you wonder who on earth I'm talking about, Rob and Amber were both on Survivor and became a couple on Survivor: All-Stars, which Amber won. They placed second in The Amazing Race (the devilish side of me rooted for them) and they got married in a reality special last year. The Project premieres in January.