Medley Medals

Anybody interested in finding new high-quality personal websites to read should be glad there's another batch of Medley Medals, highlighting some sites Medley really enjoyed in 2002. Go forth and bookmark, as she says.  

 joe millionaire, explained

If, like me, you've seen no episodes of (or guest appearances by) Fox's "Joe Millionaire", you can still be pop-culturally aware by skimming this deft summary of the whole silly enterprise: Millionaire Or Not, 'Joe' Still Gets His Girl by Lisa de Moraes [Washington Post]

...the big twist we'd been promised at the very end? The producers of the reality hit awarded the couple $1 million at the end of the show. "Smile and enjoy it. You're $500,000 richer -- and you've met me!" Marriott told the stunned teacher and caregiver to the elderly.

Fox Entertainment chief Gail Berman had promised TV critics that everyone would be happy with the outcome of the show -- and by jingo, she was right. It was almost as though viewers had been manipulated into rooting for Zora from the get-go. But of course Fox would never do a thing like that to its millions of loyal viewers. No way.

(Of course, there was that first episode in which lovely Zora was briefly left with no gown for the ball because her 19 Evil Stepsisters had snatched all of them up lickety-split. And then there was...[etc. etc.])

No, no, don't thank me...