alliances

(S20E08) This season should have been a slam-dunk for some of the more savvy castaways on 'Survivor.' Instead, we're seeing convoluted alliances and bad decisions. Some folks only thinking about their own end game without realizing they actually have to remain standing into the merge. First it was the heroes tribe in a losing streak, then a few challenges back, it all flipped and the villains did the very same thing, voting out Boston Rob and Tyson.

Why? Because they're getting rid of the strong players when they should be thinking about keeping their original tribes strong at this point. Will they continue the pattern until skeletal Courtney remains the sole 'Survivor'? Oh my. That would be such a waste of a season.

(S11E20) After the recent excitement in the Big Brother 11 house, I'm spoiled. I want every episode to be a Chima meltdown. I want the producer's voice to come over the intercoms of the house and yell at bad hamsters. I want brouhahas and perhaps even fisticuffs. No, I don't anyone to get hurt -- I just want my excitement fix from the episodes. What did I get tonight?

(S18E09) No, the biggest fraud isn't JT. I think we all know the biggest fraud on Survivor this season. He's the castaway we'd probably vote "Most Annoying." If we examine recent current events, we can see that many fraudsters are getting their just desserts. Will we be lucky enough to get Coach gone from our TV screens?

(S04E05) "If you with us, you with us." -- Chris Partlow.

In the opener (and does any other show have such consistently clever opening scenes?) the kids are shown being kids. The four boys, who have been forced by circumstances to grow up fast, are still capable of more than half-believing in zombies like the ones they see in horror movies. Late one night they tell each other scary stories. But they're imaginings aren't that far off the mark, when they credit Marlo's enforcer Chris with making zombies. Another kind of zombie -- an addict created by the likes of Chris and Marlo -- stumbles down the alley and the boys flee in terror. The devil's hard to keep down in the hole ...