Bobby Jon finally went down on "Survivor" tonight, though not quite the way I expected — although, as usual, I wondered what the editing was hiding.

I was thinking earlier today that we should have hit the point of resentment by now, when the other competitors looked at Bobby Jon and Stephenie and really objected to their being in the game. Hadn't they already had their chance on "Survivor," after all? I have also been wondering when Gary was going to officially become known as The Quarterback and be ousted because he, too, had had a chance at greater rewards than your usual "Survivor" competitor has managed.

So maybe there was a watershed moment when Bobby Jon, trying to warn players against Stephenie, reminded them that he and Steph had competed before. Maybe that built, too, on what had happened in the reward challenge.

That was one of those fights for food. Winner gets the best meal, second place the second-best meal and so on. Judd won and Jamie — stung by the accusations against him in the last telecast — gave up fourth place for ninth in order to get back in everyone's good graces. Judd was given a chance to share some of his meal with two other people, and picked Bobby Jon and Stephenie. Needless to say, this didn't sit well with the other — and may have fueled some unhappiness.

Judd also won a clue toward the hidden immunity idol, sharing the clue with Stephenie but lying to everyone else. Jamie, meanwhile, won the immunity challenge — saving himself from a likely vote-out since even his reward sacrifice didn't keep him from annoying people.

That put Gary in jeopardy, until he deduced Judd's lie and was able to save himself at tribal council. But a big alliance within the tribe had obviously made a backup plan — and the target of that plan was Bobby Jon.

So now I wonder if we'll see Stephenie or Gary next, or if the alliances will shift. (I always get amused when groups see themselves as solid; have they not watched the collapse of seemingly impregnable alliances on previous series?) And yes, I was more interested this time than I have been in awhile. Either the show has reached the point where the scheming is complex enough to be entertaining, or it's just the inertia of watching every week.

I mean, I also was drawn into this week's "Amazing Race," which didn't seem significantly better on paper — there was an awful lot of driving — but still held my attention when I watched the two-hour installment. (I watched one hour before "Lost" on Wednesday, the other before "Survivor" tonight. I am so behind in my viewing.) But there I have a motive, though not a particularly positive one. I want to see the Weavers lose.

I like the Linzes and the Godlewskis and don't mind the Bransens. The Weavers are like a raw nerve, talking up their "Christian life" while playing dirty tricks, speaking ill of other teams then resenting things said about them, whining that no one likes them when they have given the other teams ample reason to feel that way. They embody self-righteousness, so sure of their own goodness that they are unable to recognize their own wrong-doing. I'll concede this: They're a pretty successful team, and they could well win this thing. But when they do well, I get the same sick feeling I got from Rob & Amber, that someone else — almost anyone else — is more deserving.

My colleague Alan Sepinwall and I were arguing about the current state of reality shows — he is a little more forgiving at the moment than I am — and of course, that led to the thought any dissatisfied TV viewer has.

You know: "I can do better than this!"

For instance, "Landscape!" a combination of a couple of recent threads on "Survivor" and "The Apprentice."

Hosted by Susie Coelho ("Surprise Gardener"), the show would seek the next great landscaper. Of course, Gary Hogeboom would compete — only this time he would tell everyone that he IS a former NFL player, so who would expect landscaping experience.

The challenges would involve exotic locations and rampant self-promotion. You would hear Coelho say, "For this event, we are going to one of the finest hotels I have ever seen, the Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena! I adore its fine floral displays and meticulously maintained grounds. Today, our two teams — 'There Must Be a Pony' and 'Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom' — will each try to come up with a better design for the horseshoe garden. But the design must be game-related!"

Pony struggles when it realizes that its planned croquet-mallet scheme is too complicated to compete on deadline. Hundred Flowers goes simpler — trying to turn the horsehoe into a circle, which it claims is a Hula Hoop — but has a falling-out over the proper color sequence for the mums. Pony ekes out a win, sending Hundred Flowers to the Greenhouse for an elimination ceremony. There someone will hear Coelho say, "You're mulch!"

Next week: A visit to Aaron Spelling's estate, where the teams have to mow the names of all his series into the lawn. And here's the twist: It has to be in flowing script!

If that doesn't work for you, how about this: "Virgin!"

I know, Fox probably already thought of that title. But let's go ahead.

Adam from "The Apprentice" would host this competition in which seven men and seven women must figure out who among them is, well, you know. In the opening telecast, each is asked about his or her experience, and answers with the new catchphrase, "I'm really not comfortable talking about it."

Various competitions are used to get information: The drunken party, the "What would you do on 'Temptation Island' quiz," anything but actually getting a contestant in bed. Of course, in these close quarters, with all this talk about intimate behavior, some contestants may fall into each other's arms. (Memo to Fox: Cast former "Real World" stars in the first series.) Imagine the shock, then, when one contestant declares that another is a virgin only to discover he's not — as of the night before!

Other things could happen, too. But I'm really not comfortable talking about them.

Well, tonight was one of those "Survivor" episodes where it's obvious at the end that the editors held back crucial information. Amy was voted off, and it wasn't close, and all we saw going into the vote was her attempt at forming an elimination-proof alliance — not the other alliance that easily trumped hers.

I've become so used to this sort of misdirection on "Survivor" that I don't generally mind it. It's like knowing that a magician is distracting you from a tricky hand motion, but if you don't actually see the motion, you're happy to play along. But I'm still having a hard time getting very involved in this "Survivor," and I had gotten to like Amy, so the editorial deception tonight was more annoying than usual.

Besides, I've not been knocked out by what little TV I have managed to see this week. "Veronica Mars" had some good scenes, and it's nice to see Wallace get some story time, but it still did not feel like a great episode. The psychic plot felt like one destined to go awry, and once Wallace went missing, it was likely he would be with his father, and the Duncan-Logan friendship just feels peculiar. I keep the bar pretty high with "Veronica" and this one wasn't close.

"Gilmore Girls" was all right earlier in the week, if not extraordinary. I like the way the show refuses to just let Rory and Lorelai hug and be done with their conflict; real families don't patch up things so easily, so neither should they. And I still have a bunch of stuff DVR'ed that I haven't gotten to, so maybe there's a hidden gem.

Or maybe it's just tough to get through a week without a new "Lost." …

It has been increasingly easy to believe that Stephenie really does have one of those little clouds over her head, especially given the way the reward challenge went in tonight's episode. It was a wipeout so thorough, it was like her cumulative experience from "Survivor" rolled into a single challenge. She didn't even get a chance to show her grit and rally her tribe — the sharp stone was in someone else's hand.

But when immunity came around, and her motley crew managed to win (and to demonstrate the sort of teamwork so necessary for success at this point in the game), it was at once a pleasure and disappointment. A pleasure because Stephenie was at least momentarily uncursed — not unlike the Red Sox in 2004. A disappointment because she is once again just another player, not someone whose terrible fortune provided a dramatic thread that "Survivor" badly needs right now.

Again, she's like the Red Sox. Their tragic currents made them a thing apart, with each loss an addition to their Sisyphean burden. When they were eliminated this year, it wasn't such a big deal because they had a championship in recent memory. I said awhile back that Stephenie felt more like a typical player this year, and only a string of unimaginable losses could change that; a win like tonight's just keeps her in the ordinary pool.

Anyway, she managed to avoid another tribal council. So it fell to that other fractured, blended tribe to pick a victim — and Blake was bid adieu. Editing made it unsurprising, with repeated sequences of his foolish babble, and the vote wasn't as close as the pre-council discussion hinted. Of course, that's the way this disappointing season (which included another tepid challenge tonight) has gone. Even when it seems that things might get interesting, they don't prove to be.

The New York Times has a story about declining audiences for reality shows. You can find it here. Lots of theories to be found there, but I think there's a simple explanation. The key shows being discussed just aren't that good right now.

I've both heard and made some complaints about "Survivor" and "Amazing Race," which you can find in some previous posts. Stephanie Warsmith, a co-worker and faithful "Apprentice" viewer, has been disappointed in that show, to the point of barely watching the current round.

That suggests that viewers are unhappy with a specific show or an individual concept, not an entire genre.

Because of changes in cast, locations and competitions, reality shows can vary greatly in quality from one series to the next. "Survivor" certainly has. So a show that's in a bad round could get audience back for the next series if it improves enough to get the loyal fans talking to the fair-weather ones. And I'd like to think that "Amazing Race's" "family edition" will be seen as an aberration, with the show back to its better ways once it returns to a competition among two-person teams.

Well, they did switch tribe members tonight, and Brooke was voted off by her reconfigured group, and Stephenie really is beginning to look cursed — as she admits — since even a change of tribe couldn't keep her out of tribal council.

To which I say, enh.

Compared to "Survivor: Palau," "Survivor: Guatemala" just isn't doing it. I've already complained about it some, but I've kept watching and still am not feeling the magic. This one feels flat. The personalities don't compel, for good or bad — no Tom, no Rupert, no Boston Rob. And as much as I liked Stephenie last time around, she seems like just another player now. The biggest continuing drama on the show is how long Gary will keep denying his NFL past. And that's not all that exciting, either.

I'm reminded of the way the "Amazing Race" fans at my office have been talking about the current "family edition." They're watching — and so I am — but they feel disappointed — and so do I. Here, the personalities are all right, some likable, some not. I can muster at least a mild rooting interest in some. But seeing people getting lost near Washington, D.C., doesn't feel the same as people getting lost on a dirt road in a foreign land. I mean, they're building suspense around whether people should stop for gas!

I suppose the whole "discover America" bit is good for kids in the audience (and with this installment featuring families, more families with children may be watching). Some may even be turning to parents and saying, "Gee, can we go see that battlefield?"

To which the wise parent will reply, "Yes, as long as we don't have to carry someone on a stretcher."

Digression: Given how easily the family with young children handled the stretcher, why would the all-grown-up families have trouble?

Digression the second: I see that praying will be an issue on next week's "Survivor." And have made note of some heavy praying on this "Amazing Race." I've no problem with prayer. But I often find it interesting what people pray for. Praying for strength and wisdom is fine. Praying to find the next marker on "Amazing Race" strikes me as too, uh, specific.

Resumption: I will still be watching "Survivor" and "Amazing Race" again next week. I'll also be hoping they get better.