Here's my picks for the best of this year:

Best Pre-Existing show of 2002: Gotta be the Mole again. Although the second season wasn't produced quite as tightly as the first, the series really got going near the end, especially the bribery scene and the tag game in Round 10.
Second place: Hollywood Squares. If this show gets cancelled, it won't be for lack of trying. Henry Winkler and his production staff should be ordained by the fandom for resurrecting what was once a bland game show. I dare say that this is about as good as HS has ever been.

Best New show of 2002: Pyramid. A couple things still annoy me (like how you have to win both games and both Winner's Circles to qualify you for the tournament - what if you get saddled with a numbnuts celebrity?) but Sony was well served in leaving a classic vehicle pretty much alone.
Second place: Russian Roulette. Hey, nothing says suspense like the 7 seconds those drop zeons spin around the studio. Never mind that nobody ever drops before the third question.

Best Host of 2002: Anderson Cooper. We're certainly going to miss his wonderful handling of such a delicate reality show. And now we're stuck with Ahmad Rashad - Ahmad forking Rashad! - to keep the ball rolling. I have my hopes, but I also have my doubts.
Second place: Donny Osmond. A little cardboard in spots, but he's done a good job of filling Dick Clark's gigantic shoes.

Best Non-game/reality show of 2002: I'd like to say ESPN's Around the Horn, but I usually reserve this spot for comedy/drama shows and it could be argued that Max Kellerman's sports-discussion-on-speed has game elements in it (however pre-orchestrated). So instead, I'll give the award to ABC's sitcom Less Than Perfect. One of the only sitcoms that actually get me to laugh, plus I need to give a shout-out to former Buena Bulldog and fellow Vis-Com classmate Zachary Pugh... I mean, Levi.

Worst game/reality show of 2002: The Chamber. Its premiere episode had so many production errors, that scared me away from the show more than the Chamber itself. But from what I've heard, the next two episodes were hardly improvements.
Second place: Dog Eat Dog. Admittedly, this is not a show that I actively dislike, and I'm more willing to watch this thing through than an episode of Fear Factor, but the front game is a rehash of every vote-off show that precedes it and the end game makes it the only show where the losers win the money and the winner leaves empty handed. Quoi?

Biggest braindead decision of 2000: Elavia taking the $50,000 bribe. Everyone and their dog knew that she had all of the other 6 contestants wrapped around her finger, and yet she took the easy way out. Of course, I'm sure it's no skin off Dorothy's back.
Second place: TNN's introduction of Taboo. Couldn't you have waited for me to pitch the idea?

Yes, I'm still playing my NES, everyone. In fact, I've just finished another review, for The Three Stooges. I'll try to refrain from using any Stooge catchphrases in celebration, like "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" or "Woobwoobwoobwoobwoob!"

D'oh!

-Loog