The Quest

For the first few years, I made fun of people who watched Survivor... or any "reality" TV, for that matter. Then I watched a few episodes (of the now classic "Palau" season) and I was hooked. (Read my apology to those I made fun of at A Real Good Thing.)

Over the years, I've been drawn into other race/competition shows:

• The Amazing Race
• Treasure Hunters (kind of National Treasure meets Amazing Race 3-member team show)
• Expedition Impossible (3 member teams racing across the wilds of Morocco)
• The Mole (the non-celebrity seasons, thank you)
• Capture (hi-tech tag in a forest)

My most recent (and possibly favorite) entry into this genre is ABC's The Quest - which you should be watching. And, if you hustle over to ABC's website, you can watch Episode 1 & 2 tonight and Episode 3 & 4 tomorrow... just in time to watch the fifth & sixth episodes on Thursday.

I don't quite know how to describe it:

• it's a reality competition with no prize other than the honor of winning & defending the kingdom
• it's not really a reality competition - because it's set in a fantasy world (and shot primarily in an Austrian castle)
• the contestants (paladins) are immersed in that fantasy world - and whoever did the casting knocked it out of the park, as the paladins seem to have bought into enjoying the fantasy world & storyline
• it's family-friendly... which can be a rare commodity in reality television

In short, just go watch it. And tell your friends about it. (We get the TV shows we deserve - if we watch garbage like Mud Lovin' Rednecks, they'll program more of that schlock. If we support wonderful stuff like The Quest, networks will pay attention.)

Heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever; a happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.      Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn