Question: I like the underdog too, but seriously, Bristol Palin in the finals of Dancing With the Stars? If the public is voting for the BEST dancers, then the last two couples would be Derek/Jennifer and Maks/Brandy. I agree that Bristol has come a long way and is better than she was, but she is NOT one of the best dancers! I don't think the Republican party should be voting for Bristol just because they like her MOTHER!! That's not what THIS voting system is for. Vote for the best and consistent dancing. This should have nothing to do with politics. Actually Bristol deserved to be voted off before Audrina Patridge, Rick Fox and Kurt Warner. I hope the final show will reflect that the voting is back to honesty. — Mary
Matt Roush: And this was one of the most polite rants in my mailbox regarding this hot-button topic. What a hornet's next ABC stirred up by inviting the "Pistol" to the party and then being forced to accept the consequences. This isn't the first time Dancing has brought on a contestant whose notoriety eclipses their actual celebrity (or, more to the point, talent), but usually these novelty non-entertainers are eliminated by the show's midpoint. This time the watercooler strategy backfired. We'll see if the Dancing faithful or the Palin faithful will ultimately triumph when the results are announced Tuesday night. But I'll be glad when this one's over. And if Willow somehow shows up to the American Idol auditions, I may just have to leave the country for a while.
Question: Have you seen the new reality show featuring the Palins? I have no desire to watch it, especially given that I personally think that actors should stick to Hollywood and politicians to D.C., but then again, Ronald Reagan was already out of office before I ever knew he'd been an actor. Maybe I just don't know what I'm missing. But did the Palins really need a reality show? I was under the impression they'd been on one for two years ... it's called "the news." Every sound bite, misstep, divorce rumor and Dancing with the Stars announcement related to that family has been covered ad nauseum on everything from cable news to network nightly news to my beloved Today show for I don't know how long. So a new "reality show" just seems like overkill to me! — Katherine
Matt Roush: Overkill in the world of reality TV? That could never happen! (I kid, of course.) A show like Sarah Palin's Alaska is probably inevitable, when you combine the self-promotional instincts of the Palin tribe with the history of shameless exploitation on a channel like TLC (which just finished exploiting a polygamist family on the execrable Sister Wives). A marriage made in Nielsen heaven (or hell, depending on your POV), given that Sarah Palin commands a sizable following wherever she turns up—ergo, the detour into "reality" TV, where she can continue to shape her own image. I did watch the first episode, and wish the focus had been more on the natural beauty of the state than on the state of the Palins. But this kind of celeb-reality TV always rubs me the wrong way, whether it's a Palin or a Kardashian, so I doubt I'll be looking in on this one again. You already know if you're the target audience for something like this, and I'm not.
Source: TVGuide
