Matt, I just wanted to thank ...

Question: Matt, I just wanted to thank you for being a supporter of So You Think You Can Dance. I was ready to write it off as typical summer reality TV, but much to my surprise, it became my favorite show of the summer. I have always enjoyed dance and was ecstatic to see a show featuring this underappreciated art form without the need to use celebrities. All of the contestants were incredibly gifted dancers, and it was great to see a show in which people worked to develop their craft. Contrast that to American Idol and several other reality shows, in which many of the contestants are picked solely because of their personality as opposed to their talent, or in which contestants just sit around backstabbing each other. The finale was a treat because all four contestants seemed to like each other genuinely, and it didn't feel like a competition. Anyway, thank you for mentioning SYTYCD in your list of the summer's good reality shows. By the way, I wish I could have seen Travis and Allison at the TCA conference; I heard it was stunning.
Answer: They were terrific, and I couldn't have been more shocked when Allison was booted a few days later. Regarding Dance: I would say that was my biggest surprise of the summer. I wasn't that into it last year, but this time around, once they got past the seemingly endless audition episodes (never my favorite part of these shows), I was hooked by, of all things, the raw talent on stage. And now, looking at reality's flip side, here's this....