"Before that time there were no wages for man or beast. No one could go about his business safely because of his enemy, for I had turned every man against his neighbor." - Zechariah 8:10

Last night, two new reality show competitions began. "There Goes the Neighborhood" on CBS, and "Shark Tank" on ABC. The first features a real-life neighborhood put behind a giant wall and cut off from the world. The neighbors must compete in challenges to win both safety from being voted out and luxuries, all fighting for an eventual $250,000 grand prize. Frankly, the show is one of the most evil concoctions I have ever seen. You have a neighborhood that gets along really well, and you throw money into the mix and of course things are going to get ugly. And even if you could get past that part of the show, the first challenge was so dumb - hosing down family members to read numbers - that the show better not become a hit. I think this neighborhood will regret signing up for this program. Did they not think this through? They have to live with each other once the show is done!! If I had to live with the likes of Jamie, Drew, Justin, or Kimberly for instance from "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" once our show had completed taping, I think I would go insane. I will not be watching "There Goes the Neighborhood" anymore. If you didn't catch it, I would not suggest tuning in next week.

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On the flip side, a breath of reality tv fresh air came in "Shark Tank", a Mark Burnett ("Survivor", "The Apprentice") creation which is both captivating and original. If "The Apprentice" and "American Idol" were smashed together, this is what you would get. Instead of singers, you have potential business owners or inventors, and instead of judges, you have real-life investors looking for the next big ideas. There are no "rounds" or "eliminations" or "voting offs/firings", just deals or rejections. The format is simple - a "contestant" walks in, presents their idea(s), and gives their demands for what money they need. The "sharks" then run over the pros and cons, and either back out of the idea, buy the idea, or counter-offer. It's fascinating! I love that you could miss an episode (not that I would want to based on the stellar premiere) and you could still tune in the next week and be entertained fully. I wish the show was longer than one hour per week - it's seriously the best new reality show I've seen in ages.

Oh, and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is back - but it never really left. It's been on, in syndicated form, ever since it ended it's primetime run five years ago, so it's not that big of a deal, especially since they made the new primetime version the same style as the syndicated one - which was a bad move in my opinion. It is great to see Regis back in the host chair though - it's a good show to have on when you have nothing better to watch, I just won't go out of my way to catch all of the episodes.

Well, I have to go get ready for work. Did any of you catch either of those two new shows? What did you think?