Your Reality TV Emmy Nominees...

Friends!

Well, here we are in another great week...Hope all is well. On this side, business is robust and I could not be happier (Ah, let me rephrase this comment, on the subject of more profits, I am always in a good mood).

Speaking of, I bring even more good news. We have received the latest group of Emmy Nominations, so without further delay, let us get right down to business.

Here is what we have that pertains to our favorite subject of Reality TV...

Twenty-two reality television shows received a total of 63 nominations in last week's announcement of the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards nominees -- with the number of shows and amount of total nominations both representing the genre's highest figures ever.

Leading the 2008-2009 reality TV Emmy Awards nomination field for the third consecutive year is Dancing with the Stars (ABC), which received 10 nominations from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences -- besting the eight it had received each of the last two years.

In addition, Dancing with the Stars (10 nominations) represents the most ever for a reality series in a single year and the show was able to claim two Emmy Awards last year after it had previously been shut out in 2006-2007. The series had received six nominations in its first season in 2005-2006 and won a total of exactly two, to be precise.

American Idol (Fox) received eight nominations, tying its previous record in 2005-2006 and placing it second behind only Dancing with the Stars. AI has claimed one Emmy Award in each of the last two years after it had previously been shut out during its first four years of eligibility, despite receiving 22 nominations.

The Amazing Race (CBS) quite possibly the most successful reality show at the Emmys with 11 statues -- received seven nominations, placing it behind only Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. The seven nominations represent the highest total ever for The Amazing Race, which had been nominated for six Emmys last year and five Emmys in each of the previous three years.

Moreover, The Amazing Race was once again nominated in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category, which it has won every year since the Academy first created the category six years ago.

The host of the show, Phil Keoghan, was recognized by receiving a nod in the Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program category.

Keoghan will be competing in a six-nomination field that also includes a shared nomination for Top Chef (Bravo) host Padma Lakshmi and "co-host" and top judge, Tom Colicchio.

The remaining competitors also within the category, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, Project Runway host Heidi Klum 'Seal', Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron, and Survivor host Jeff 'Dimples' Probst -- all of whom were included in the category's inaugural set of nominees last year and the group of hosts that cannot ad-lib in front of a live audience, if you may recall (Minus Howie Mandel).

Bravo's Top Chef and So You Think You Can Dance (ABC) each received their highest total of nominations ever with a total of 5 nominations (Both in their fourth year of eligibility and won one award each last year).

Other nominees included: Kathy Griffin's My Life On The D-List (Bravo), Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch (Discovery) - Hi Tom B!, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (Travel Channel), MythBusters and Dog Whisperer (National Geographic), Intervention (A&E), and The American Life (Showtime).

How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris, who was nominated as an outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series, will serve as your host.

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards airs September 20th, on CBS.

And The Award for Outstanding-Reality Competition

Goes to...The Amazing Race.

Judging by many of your emails, you watched 2007 Emmy Awards last night and you know that The Amazing Race (CBS) won in the Outstanding Reality Show category.

An Amazing Show

Even more important, 2007 was the fifth year in a row that The Amazing Race has earned the top award for Outstanding Reality-competition Program.

Creator and executive producer Bertram van Muster beamed during his acceptance speech, "We are so proud to win this again, it's extraordinary".

So far, it remains the only show to win the award since the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences first created the category in 2002 and has managed to edge out other great shows such as American Idol (Fox), Project Runway (Bravo), Dancing with The Stars (ABC), and Top Chef (Bravo) whom were also nominated in the same category.

The Best Show On Television...

Back in 2002 a friend of mine (programmer) stated that he did not watch much television, because he was too busy writing code (Yes, this was back in the dot com 'heyday').

However, no matter what was going on or project deadlines that he was attempting to meet, he would ALWAYS watch The Amazing Race every week.

I would always smile and try to find new ways to pile on more work for him to complete (just kidding - hey, this was before my current occupation).

Anyway, my friend believed that The Amazing Race was by far hands-down THE best show on television and hearing the exclamation from someone that does not watch much TV, it was a great compliment for the show.

Today, my friend runs his own successful multi-million dollar Internet company (I train my people well) and to this day the show remains his favorite. I LOVE ambition!

Good, Clean Global Fun For The Entire Family

If you have not seen the show according to my handy site, The Amazing Race is a competition show in which teams of two race around the world in competition with other teams.

Contestants strive to arrive first at the end of each leg of the race to avoid the possibility of elimination. Teams are progressively eliminated until three teams are left; at that point, the team who arrives first in the final leg is awarded a large cash grand prize.

Teams (usually of two members) are often comprised of real people from all ages, genders and walks of life (spouses, partners, friends and even business associates).

At A Safe Distance In The Lead

Even more, what sets the show apart is that it is a reality show (yes), but not so much into relying on the skulduggery, deception, denigration, and general characterization of others to drive the dramatic story lines - much to the credit of the producers, the show is as real as reality could present. Ah, I don't want to spoil all of the fun...You understand where I am going...

What is equally as remarkable is the tremendous amount of planning that goes into creating this type of program. There are many elements such as dangerous conditions, weather factors, multiple (exotic or foreign) locations, cast concerns, and a rugged field crew, just to name a few.

Around The World in 10 Seasons

The next regular U.S. edition of The Amazing Race will be it's 11Th season and already the show has one 'All-Star' program under it's belt and soon there will be the addition of another.

The show is so popular that it is now a franchise that is seen in some 4 countries total, including Asia, Europe, Brazil and the United States.

Here is an idea: Perhaps one day, we will see a GLOBAL scale race, where there are multiple participants from various countries all competing together in one show - Oh, there I go again saying too much.

You can check out more about the show on the CBS website:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race10/