With the season premiere of Lost offering us looks at two very different scenarios -- a safe plane landing and a post-bomb fallout life on the island - we got to thinking about what would have happened if some of our other shows had chosen different paths at key turning points. It might have improved their quality immeasurably, or at least kept them from going completely off the rails. Here are the alternate realities we wish we could've seen:

Recently, Daniel Franco, who already had two chances at Project Runway (two too many, if you ask us) got another shot at reality TV by appearing as the self-described lovechild of Susan Boyle and Adam Lambert on American Idol. Really, some people just don't know when to quit. However, he did inspire us to look back at the desperate, pathetic famewhores who make his two brief runs at reality TV look practically lazy by comparison.

It's official: Jeff and Jordan from last summer's Big Brother will be on the upcoming season of The Amazing Race (along with Caitlin Upton, the Miss Teen USA contestant who didn't know why Americans couldn't read maps). Despite the fact that Jordan won BB, these two are an odd choice for TAR since Jordan isn't exactly what you'd call a savvy world traveler, or a very smart person in general. So we're skeptical that they'll make it very far at all (though possibly further than Caitlin) and, much like Romber, it'll be weird to see (minor) celebrities and former reality stars competing against regular folks/aspiring reality stars. If TAR really wants to go that route, why not cast all the teams that way? These would be our dream pairings:

Paula's gone, Simon's got one foot out the door and yet, American Idol will still soldier on through 2011, if not beyond. But based on what we've seen over the last eight years, including the first four hours broadcast this season, we have some suggestions for tweaks the show should make in order to keep us hooked after Cowell and his cutting critiques are gone.

How I Met Your Mother celebrates its 100th episode January 11 with a massive musical number by Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) about how much he loves suits. Oh, and Ted (Josh Radnor) might meet the mother he's been searching for this whole time. But does anybody care about that anymore? For a long time, the "supporting" cast has left Ted in the dust, entertainment-wise, as their comedic chops have overshadowed snobby Ted's seemingly unending quest to find a wife. Is Ted even relevant to the show anymore? Is he the bad we have to take with the good? No. In fact, he's more awesome than most viewers might think. Here are ten reasons why he makes the show great, and why it wouldn't survive without him.

Last year we recommended resolutions for shows and it seemed like some of them actually followed our advice. Of course, others completely ignored us, but yet we figured it couldn't hurt to try again. So here's what we hope networks, studios and showrunners do to improve their series in the New Year.

In this tough economy, we can't be expected to spend a ton of money on presents for the holidays. So the best bet is to take something unwanted and pass it along to someone else who might appreciate it. This is exactly what we'd like to do with characters on some of our favorite shows. We've got the wrapping paper ready and shipping boxes all set so we can pass these folks off and make their current shows better in the process.

While we love it when beloved stars get cast in new shows, we're just excited when we discover new favorites. This past year we've gotten some wonderful surprises thanks to the actors and personalities that were never regulars on a TV series before, but are now big stars - at least in our minds. In fact, we really can't believe that until 2009 we didn't even know that the majority of these people even existed. How did we survive?

Stuntcasting: most of the time it's an evil force to be mocked and complained about, but on rare occasions, it can actually be brilliant, and breathe new life into shows. It doesn't happen very often, but this past fall was particularly good to us in that respect. Here are the top 10 instances in which some of our favorite shows actually chose their guest stars wisely -- and gave them something compelling to do -- this past fall.

For a welcome change this fall, the villains of weren't the main focus of our reality TV attention. Instead, there's been a pleasantly surprising number of genuinely nice people on unscripted series that we've really adored - or at the very least that have kept us amused without resorting to scheming or screaming. While we don't usually watch reality shows for sweet folks that we'd actually like to be friends with (or in some cases, adopt and give a loving home to -- we're looking at you, Shambo), these personalities recently wormed their way into our jaded little hearts: