ABC’s ‘Splash’ finale: Was the winner Rory Bushfield, Drake Bell … or no one?

On Tuesday night before the end of “Dancing with the Stars” finale, we saw the grand send-off to a show that did not exactly receive much in the way of buzz almost all season long in “Splash.” ABC’s exploration into the world of celebrity diving at times had some pretty good promise, but to us, most of that was extinguished when some of the more entertaining personalities were sent home a little earlier on in the season.

In the end, the final three contestants were not really that interesting. Drake Bell is known these days for hating on Justin Bieber as much as he is for  “Drake & Josh,” Rory Bushfrield is mostly known within the world of extreme sports, and we personally remember Nicole Eggert more for “The Real Gilligan’s Island” (quite possible the weirdest mash-up of a sitcom and “Survivor” ever) than we do for anything remotely resembling “Baywatch.” We were more into the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Louie Anderson, mostly because they are the last people in the world that you would think of diving.

In the end, the winner here was Rory, and you can let out all of the fanfare now. Seriously, we’re sure that he did put a lot of work into this, and it seems mean to be cynical about that. But did the viewers really win anything? We just wish that the show fully lived up to its potential.

As for the show itself (which will surely not be renewed), we may ultimately remember it the most for simply having so many injuries. Eggert nearly had to withdraw at one point, and Katherine Webb and Chuy Bravo were forced out due to injuries. Kendra Wilkinson, meanwhile, left the show and admitted later that she regretted even signing on.

Did you tune in to “Splash” at all, and what was your opinion on the finale? If you want to read a little bit more about how Nicole almost didn’t make it to the finale, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ABC