Dream crushers

And here I was thinking Thursday was going to be a boring night. Let's not waste time ...

"Survivor" (CBS, 8:00): OH. EM. GEE! That's all I can say about this show. We've reached the part of the game where my heart starts beating out of my chest and my stomach is in KNOTS for 45 minutes - all the strategizing makes me nervous. Russell has officially become Survivor's best player ever. The man is a beast, and I can't believe it's taken the other survivors 33 days to realize what a force he is. For the last 4 weeks, I have been leading a one-lady hotness parade carrying Russell's banner (and for that I'm only slightly embarrassed). But seriously, he basically dropped his pants at Tribal Council, revealed a massive pair of immunity idols and dared Aiga to cut 'em off.

In case anyone wants to know, Aiga is the name of the merged tribe, but they haven't used that since Day 20. The group is still divided by tribal lines, with Shambo redistricting herself into Foa Foa. You would think after last week's blindside of John (and herself) she would be hip to Russell's square. But "Shan With the Plan" still thinks she's running the show and 'cocky' is not a good color on her. Word of Russell's wealth is spreading around camp and he confronts his fellow Foas to see who spilled the beans. Rewind: Did Jai'son look hungry? tired? sleepy? when he was passing around Russell's bank statement? I didn't think so. He said he honestly didn't remember and I want to believe him. If he hadn't have played his race card so early in the game, maybe he could've whipped it out here. (See previous post for rules on playing the race card).

The first immunity challenge was a Survivor bowling tournament. It was Jai'son and Dave in the final round and Dave choked under the pressure, handing Jai'son his second immunity win. Cut to Tribal Council where Dave gets bounced despite some last minute scrambling by Galu. The second challenge was a bean bag basket toss thingy that Brett (who?) comes out of nowhere to win. When he gets back to camp he starts trying to make a power play by getting Foa Squared to turn on Russell. Pause it: Who is this guy and where has he been the whole show? You're all big and bad with that idol necklace on, Brett, but I dare you to make a move without one ... pansy.

Russell didn't get this far by being stupid. The first thing he did upon arrival at Tribal Council was pull out his idol and put it around his neck. Monica, who's been laying low since her near-torch snuffing early in the game, decides now would be the time to open her mouth. Pause it: Really Monica? Really? You're on my fantasy team, heifer! You just handed my chocolate cake trophy over to my opponent, Jackie.

I was on the edge of my seat during the vote reading and I can honestly say I thought Russell's arrogance would be his downfall tonight. Alas, Foa sticks with their leader and votes off Monica, my most worthless fantasy pick ever. Whoever wants to join my one-lady hotness parade and cheer Russell on to the finish, raise your hand!!!

CHANNEL SURFING

"The Office" (NBC, 9:00): In their special holiday episode, Phyllis gets to fulfill her dream of being the office Santa. She turned her request in 11 weeks ago and Jim gave her the all clear. So imagine her anger when Michael shows up decked out in his Old Saint Nick suit yelling "women can't be Santa Claus".

The power struggle continues throughout the Christmas party with Michael heckling Phyllis's performance and revealing everyone's secret Santa. Jim finally forces Michael to leave, but he comes back dressed as Jesus. Not as funny as the "Santa Claus is Coming to Scranton" episode from Season 2, but it still offered some hiliarious lines like this one: "You can't yell out, 'I need this, I need this' as you try to pin an employee to your lap." - Jim, to a pouting Michael.

"CSI:" (CBS, 9:00): I love it when they have quirky cases like this. The fellas kidnap lab tech Henry to celebrate his birthday. They drive to a nearby city only to get run off the road. They make it to the restaurant and see it's been shut down since March, but also discover a dead body inside. There was quite a bit of gross stuff, but that's how I like my "CSI:"! Did anyone else laugh when the Greg, frustrated about not being able to find a phone signal says, "If I can't find a phone I'm going to make one" then he goes off and does some MacGyver-type stuff and fashions a telephone. Not bad for a Level 2 CSI.

CAN I GET A JUDGE'S RULING?: Just an observation, but one would think that NBC execs are watching an awful lot of shows on FOX. First they described their new show, "Sing-Off", as "Glee" meets "American Idol", two FOX network shows. Then they have virtually the same storyline on "Law & Order: SVU" that "Bones" had on talk show hosts inciting people to commit murder. I know "SVU" aired first, but I think that Dick Wolf must have gotten a copy of their script somehow. I'm just saying ...