Bristol Palin, Dancing With the Stars and "Reality" TV

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I don't watch Dancing with the Stars. I also don't watch The Biggest Loser, The Amazing Race, Sarah Palin's Half-Baked Alaska, So You Think You Can Dance,  The Real Housewives of ANYWHERE, America's Got Talent or a host of other so-called "reality" shows. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an insufferable elitist who takes any sort of pride in not watching them (I don't even own a television, they sniff).  I've been a Survivor fan since the beginning, though I've bailed out of this season, as I have a few others. I've caught a few other shows here and there, and have watched full seasons of American Idol.  So I'm not beyond watching bad television. Hey, I've even watched The A-List New York.

So, though I have a confirmed case of Sarah Palin Derangement Syndrome, I don't begrudge her daughter Bristol having a slot on DWT (not so much) Stars.  I'm not even beyond a little sadistic glee when viewers "stuff the ballot box" on those shows that allow unlimited viewer voting.  Hey, they set the rules.  There's a site called Vote For the Worst that each year tries to do just that to American Idol.  So, let the viewers promote the--allegedly--untalented Palin daughter to the gold crown or whatever it is.  I guess.

The motives for doing that are a little blurry though. Vote for the Worst does it to AI just to put a stick in the spokes of a show that they think is silly.  But what are the Palin fans doing it for, exactly? When you've got a nationwide right-wing political talk show hostess, Tammy Bruce, spearheading an effort to vote for Bristol, my natural inclination is to be against that. But I guess I'm not. Whatevs, y'all.  I still wonder what they think it'll prove. And I wonder what it will do to future "vote for your favorite" reality shows.  Will they change the rules? Will future contestants on DWTS be dissuaded from even trying if there is an obvious "fan favorite" in the mix?  You watch. I don't really care!

[Excerpt]

Bristol Palin's Dancing With the Stars' run fuels conspiracy theories

Bristol Palin in the finals of ABC ballroom competition Dancing With the Stars? Shocker!Conspiracy theory. The Palin Effect. Tea Partiers and other grassroots conservatives gaming the vote. . .

Read more at: KSDK.com

UPDATE: A new wrinkle I wasn't aware of, is that conservative sites are encouraging vote tampering of a sort in order to get Caribou Barbie Jr. more votes than she'd otherwise be able to get.  That's a horse--or moose--of a different color. It still isn't enough to get me too excited, but I'll bet it will inspire a new voting system next season.

Read about it at: Jezebel