With less than twenty-four hours to go until Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, I decided I would like to sit here and talk to you about something other than basketball – go figure. This week, two of the my most anticipated shows of the summer had their premieres, and boy am I glad to see them back. The first show to air was Monday night on ABC, The Mole; this show hasn't been on since 2004. The second show to air was last night on FX, 30 Days; it went on only a one-year hiatus, probably because Morgan got married and had a kid; he's been a busy guy! While it is way too early in either season to decide how each will perform, I think it's safe to say they will be loads of fun.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Mole, no one blames you, its first episode was in January of 2001 and hasn't been on TV since February of 2004 when it was in its stupid phase. You would think that because it has been gone so long, ABC would advertise the heck out of it to bring back not only the fans from before, but new fans as well. But I guess that's why I'm no TV exec, ABC did nothing of the sort. Sure they advertised, but even I, a fan from before, found out at the last second. It is now officially in its 5th season, its first two seasons were occupied by anonymous contestants while they were hosted by Anderson Cooper (now how cool is that?). Its second two seasons were "Celebrity" editions hosted by Ahmad Rashad (cool, but they blew in comparison). Then the show went on a four year soul-searching mission and it's back for a fifth season, hosted by Jon Kelley of Extra and FSN, either because the show found itself or ABC had nothing better to do during the strike.

Either way, at least it's back. I usually am not too fond of reality shows, but this isn't like other reality shows. Unlike Survivor and American Idol, this show is not based around any popularity contest, its based solely around skill and strategy. The contestants have to go through missions, much like Amazing Race missions, and they have to do it as one big team. The only problem is, not everyone is working for each other, there is one person from within the group working for the show, and that person is... the Mole. The Mole gets paid to sabotage the missions, but to do it in a way in which no one suspects him or her, because no one is supposed to know who the Mole is, not even the host. The point of the game is to try to figure out who that Mole is, while still continuing to complete the missions and add money to the pot. At the end of each show, a small quiz is given to test each contestant's knowledge to the identity of the Mole; the only time a contestant gets booted off the show is if he or she cannot figure out... who is, the Mole. The last one to stay standing on the show alongside the Mole wins the pot, which is only $500,000 maximum this year (it was up to a million in Seasons 1 and 2).

In any type of show filled with people you don't know, the first episode is where we, the audience, tries to get acquainted with these people we're about to go on a journey with and pick a person we want to win. In this show however, we also get to decide who we think the Mole is. Based on the first episode so far, I am without a doubt pointing my finger at Craig as the Mole. He's this happy-go-lucky 30-year-old fat guy who's a graphic designer out of San Diego. He wears glasses and has sideburns that go down half his face, though, only a quarter way down his chin, if you know what I mean. He's a despicable man. But he's happy-go-lucky, so you kind of gotta love him. He's the guy, as Paul from Yonkers said, that no one expects. Well I expect him! But for reasons more than just because he's the guy we'd least expect, I kept track of some clues. First on my list is a trick that The Mole did in Season 1. Often times, the show throws subtle clues and hints at the audience to help them guess the Mole. In Season 1, on the first episode, Anderson Cooper picked up the bag of that season's Mole when they got off the plane. This season, Jon Kelley picked up journal number "11" when introducing how each contestant had a journal to write their thoughts and observations in. Could it be that they were clueing us in again? Or were they trying to trick us? I decided it was a clue. In the opening credits, Craig's name is the 11th to come up, and boom, he's the Mole. But I have more clues. When the show was previewing the quiz to us, on Question 10, "Who is the Mole?", Craig's name was the first to be highlighted even though he was half way down the list... coincidence? I think not! And then during the execution, when the quiz results comes in and the person to leave the show is decided, Craig was the only straight-faced guy there. Everyone else was all giddy with excitement... was that because he was the only one who knew he wouldn't leave?! And finally, during their second mission, they had to look for items on the beach, Craig somehow found a sign that had a message from the Mole and brought it back to the group. And that my friends is why Craig is the mole. But you know, while I was writing this all down, I was replaying the episode in the background and now I kind of think Mark, the history teacher / soccer coach from Wisconsin who cried in the first episode could be the Mole. But then again, it could be the whiny bitch Nicole, or the weakling Bobby. Hell, even Kristen, the neuroscientist from Santa Monica, could be the Mole! It's anyone's game! I'll be watching these next nine episodes to find out for sure. And you should too, because their ratings just straight up blew.

The second show from this week was Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days. Like I said earlier, this show was only off the air for a year before it came back, and most probably for personal reasons rather than financial ones. And it too is a lot more intellectual than the other shows it can be compared to on TV. Most of you probably know Morgan from his hit documentary Super Size Me where he eats nothing but McDonald's for thirty days, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After that and its book did so well, Morgan decided to try the same kind of format, but for television: thirty days in someone else's shoes. But it won't be just anyone's shoes, it'll be in the shoes of the person who is either the complete opposite of you or the shoes of a person whose life will educate you. Morgan was on Letterman last night, and I wanted to point out something he said that I found very interesting. When he started pitching the show idea to the big networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, all of them said "no" because it was "too intellectual for our viewers". And some of them even asked "but who wins?", haha. His response, we all win. Because that is in fact what the show is about, learning something new, but in a strange sort of way.

Last night's episode, the first of six episodes of Season 3, Morgan worked as a coal miner in his home state of West Virginia for thirty days. Morgan doesn't do the show every week, but he has always done the premieres. The episode was extremely good, and extremely educational. Who knew coal miners were dumbfounded men who went underground and dug? Did you know they make on average $60,000 a year doing that job? That's why these coal miners do it, for the money! Did you also know that 50% of our energy still comes from coal? In a world where we're all trying to become energy efficient and we're trying not to hurt the Earth, 50% of our power comes from coal! Makes me want to turn the computer off right now – but I won't, because we all use power. Black lung, a sickness that long-time coal miners get in their lungs, is also a major threat to coal miners, besides the, you know, whole collapsing business. Luckily, Morgan didn't get black lung after thirty days, but it turns out the dad of the family he was staying with got it. The show is really great and very educational. And because its on cable, and not all of us get cable, I put it on my site for whomever wants to watch it – I know you're out there somewhere! You can catch it at its page here, along with the other twelve episodes from the past two seasons. In addition to that, I'm putting the video of Morgan on Letterman up too, so watch it stream below, or download it from its page here. I'm about done for everything I wanted to talk about tonight, so I'm going to go. But don't forget tomorrow night's Laker game against the Celtics, it's gonna be a doozy! ABC at 6PM! But don't worry, you'll be hearing from me before that, I can assure you. Until then, take care everyone! see u.