September 29, 2010: Survivor Recap - "Don't Think That I'm Gonna Be Nice To You Because You Have One Leg"

We’re only on the third episodes of Survivor Nicaragua, and so far it’s been the Jimmy Johnson show. With the CBS previews this week, it looked like that trend would continue, as we kept getting teased about a possible mutiny, and saw footage of the Coach barking at a monkey.

To be honest, I was still reeling from the absurdity of last week’s Tribal Council, which saw minutes-from-being-ousted Shannon lose his mind and go crazy in front of everyone. Reading Jeff Probst’s blog last week, I learned two things: a) that Shannon actually did go bonkers right from the first question…that wasn’t creative editing, and b) Shannon will get a reprieve of sorts at the reunion show because it is taking place in L.A. this season, not New York City, as I stated last week.

But back to this week.Would NaOnka continue to be the drama queen we saw last week? Would the teased Tribe Switch-up happen already? And who’s being ‘wasted’ on the bench?

My Random Thoughts:

- When the Older Tribe came across the pack of howler monkeys, Jimmy T made sure to tell the monkeys “We ain’t gonna hurt ya.” I’m thinking that the monkeys could have put up a pretty fair fight against these old folks. I’ll take the monkeys. And speaking of Jimmy T, could it be any more obvious that he has a mouth full of fake teeth? Was he allowed to bring his Polident to the jungle?

- Yve talked about loving Jimmy Johnson’s soul, and how “inspiring” it was. I’m sorry, but I just can’t get behind your spiritual assessment as I’m watching him howl at monkeys. (Although the Terry Bradshaw dig was pretty funny.)

- Marty keeps showing how annoyed he is that everyone likes Jimmy J, but do you really have to be so visibly annoyed when your tribe is catching fish? - On paper, I can’t really ever understand the logic of telling your tribemates you have the Hidden Immunity Idol, so I wasn’t big on my pick to win, Marty, telling the rest of the nursing home that he had found it. But that strategy worked for Yul Kwon in Survivor Cook Islands, so maybe it will work here too.

- Dan looks like every Italian uncle I’ve ever known…and there have been a lot. Watching him waddle around camp made me wonder if he was suitable to be on Survivor, or was auditioning for the role of The Penguin in the next Batman sequel.

- Then, right from crotchety Dan, they switched to the Younger Tribe and a Bo Derek-esque shot of Brenda wading into the surf. Kind of like parking your sports car beside an old beater so that it looks even better. Yes, we get it…she’s your sex symbol for this season, there’s no need to beat us over the head with it. - The challenge was neck and neck until Benry took over and the Younger Tribe got to take back a bunch of spices and the Travelocity Immunity Gnome. Jimmy T begged to the Coach that he was being “wasted” on the sidelines, and Dan did nothing. How bad is it when Jeff Probst yells at you “Dan! You need to do something!”

- Does "Purple" Kelly ever speak?

- SUPER-SCRAP on the beach as NaOnka took out Kelly B to get the Hidden Immunity Idol Clue. NaOnka is rapidly becoming the most annoying person this season, and is in the running for most annoying of all-time. Unlike Coach Wade or Jonny Fairplay, who at least made good television, she does not. And her on-camera confessionals are absolutely unbearable. I actually get a headache watching her bob and weave with her BS drama delivery, and listen to her ridiculous fake “listen to me, I’m from the hood” ranting.

- Why is Holly always squinting like someone is reflecting a mirror in her face?

- If I see that freaking Zesty Mango McMini commercial with the singing girls one more time, I’m going to find them and personally shove one of those disgusting sandwiches down each of their throats. - The Older Tribe didn’t really have a decision at Tribal Council. They’re at a disadvantage already, and they need to keep the tribe strong by voting out the weakest member…an arthritic old shuffler who can’t do anything. Despite the Kool-Aid that Marty was dishing out to his tribemates, voting out Jimmy J at this point is a death sentence for this team if they want to be successful from this point forward. Dan will only hurt them in challenges. I wasn’t a fan of him being on the show…but this vote was a big mistake.

Next Week: Hurricane NaOnka rolls in.

Survivor Fans, feel free to bookmark the site or add your name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions, and please leave a Comment in the Comments section if you’re so inclined.

Thanks for reading.

September 26, 2010: Amazing Race Recap - "You Have To Finish"

I make no bones about the fact that I’m a reality TV show junkie. But for all the Survivors and Big Brothers and Hell’s Kitchens out there, The Amazing Race is still my favourite (although Top Chef is getting pretty close), so the season premiere is something that I always look forward to. Join in the celebration with me, Amazing Race fans…it’s the Return of the Eyebrow!

To the returning readers, Welcome back! It’s nice to see you again. And for those of you new to my blog and my Amazing Race Recaps, a hearty welcome as well, and a couple of things you should know: a) the recaps should be up within 15 minutes (often less) of when the show ends on the East Coast, b) the pictures will all have hidden captions underneath, so make sure to mouse over them if you want to see them, and c) I love Comments, so let’s all get involved in the Comments section for this season.

For tonight's premiere post, instead of the traditional ‘Random Thoughts’ format (like I will be doing for the rest of the season), I’ll be going with my First Impressions of the new Racers, based on tonight’s episode alone.

My First Impressions:

Andie and Jenna – Newly reunited birth mother and daughter. If you had been given an opportunity to re-connect with the mother/daughter you never knew, would you do it on The Amazing Race? They said this was only the third time they had ever seen each other. Was the second time the day they shot those horrible ‘Mom and Daughter playing billiards’ vignettes we saw at the beginning?

Brooke and Claire – TV shopping channel hosts who “could sell ice to an Eskimo.” Or as I like to call them, the Watermelon Team. More on that below.

Chad and Stephanie – Boyfriend and Girlfriend, with Chad declaring that he was going to propose to Stephanie on the Race. Weren’t you hoping that they got eliminated first after hearing that? Seriously, seeing Phil tell them they were the first team out, and Chad drops to a knee right there on the mat? In their intro video, we saw them pushing each other as they jogged on the beach…then we saw former football player Chad’s bouts of rage throughout the first leg. I’m calling it now…these two have disaster written all over them.

Connor and Jonathan – Team Glee told us that they’re “going to sing to make the other teams like us.” If by “like us”, they mean “make the other teams and every viewer (who isn’t a gay teen) hate us”, then I would agree.

Gary and Mallory – Father and daughter, who just happens to be a former Miss Kentucky and “the boy he always wanted.” She is painfully perky, despite the candid father-daughter footage of them driving ATVs and hunting together.

Jill and Thomas – Boyfriend and Girlfriend: Notre dame grad and hairstylist. Yawn.

Katie and Rachel - Now, I’m going to have to be honest…I’m a red-blooded heterosexual male who thinks that women’s beach volleyball is the best spectator sport in the world, so I’m going to have a hard time rooting against these two. Remember a couple of seasons ago when the producers kept giving the Racers challenges that made them strip down to their underwear? Fingers crossed…

Michael and Kevin – Father and Son who were labelled as “internet sensations”, which may be the best billing in the history of the Amazing Race.

Nat and Kat – Doctors and BFF. Let’s be honest, you two got on the show because of your spiffy rhyming names and the fact that the casting agents obviously referred to you as “The Hot Docs.”

Nick and Vicki – Boyfriend and girlfriend from Las Vegas. More combined ink than the previous 16 seasons of The Amazing Race put together. Frankly, I’m getting really sick of CBS reality shows having contestants that are listed as Bartenders from Las Vegas. Are the casting agents just hanging out in Sin City getting hammered in the clubs looking for new contestants?

Ron and Tony - Best friends and Musical Theatre performers for 22 years. Do we really need two different teams inspired by Glee? I loved how they specified that as black, musical theatre actors, they met in a production of The Wiz…just in case you thought they might have been cast as Danny and Kenickie in a school production of Grease.

And a Few Random Thoughts:

- I like the Express Pass concept. I’m glad that there is an expiry date on when you can use it (up until the end of the 8th leg), similar to the Hidden Immunity Idol on Survivor. I can’t think that they would be able to use the Express Pass on the last leg. That’s way too much of an advantage.

- Ron and Tony told us about Tony’s two separate University degrees, which apparently showed us that he was able to read a map…wrong. First place to last place in a heartbeat.

- Doctor Nat is a Diabetic, and Doctor Kat told us that “she is an excellent example for diabetics.” The beautiful irony of that statement is that Kat said this while Nat was doing a Finger Prick to check her blood while driving with no hands! Great example, indeed.

- A note for Team Glee: if you’re going to stop and make sure everyone is ok whenever you see another team having car trouble, you’re going to be singing your way right out of this race really early. And Jonathan…we understand that you really do bear a resemblance to Harry Potter, but if you keep referring to things as “magical”, it’s going to be pretty transparent.

- Let’s talk about the watermelon shot for a moment, shall we? I’ve watched the clip of that watermelon smashing into Claire’s face about 50 times already (it was posted here on the blog last week), but it was still just as unbelievable watching it on the show. How was she not more seriously injured? That thing absolutely exploded into her face. Amazing.

- Gary on Michael and Kevin trying to cross the river: “They looked like a couple of carnies in a dunking booth.” That was actually pretty bang on.

- Andie and Jenna told us that the fact that they didn’t really know each other worked both as an advantage and a disadvantage for them. Personally, I’d love to hear how not knowing your teammate could possibly be an advantage.

- Nick and Vicki are painfully dumb. Painfully.

- Mallory the beauty queen is going to be very difficult to watch. With her squeaky, excited, baby-talk, screaming, shouting, and cheering throughout this episode, I’m praying that her and her dad get eliminated next week. It’s just too over the top.

- I love when people yell redundant things to their teammates while they are working on a challenge. Nuggets of wisdom like “Aim!” when they are shooting watermelons, or “Don’t let it sink” when they were trying to cross in the boat.

- After being the first team on the first flight, Ron and Tony’s map inadequacies in the U.K. put them too far behind to recover…and they were eliminated first. Aren’t you glad that you talked about how awesome you were with directions back in Massachusetts because you had (gasp) a COMPASS! Looks like it’s back to Summer Stock for you two.

Next week: Car Trouble in Ghana.

All in all, I thought it was pretty good, and this cast looks like they have the chance to give us some really entertaining TV for the next few weeks.

What did you think? Who's the favourite this season? Was the watermelon shot as awesome as it would have been if we hadn't seen it in promo media for the last month? How fast will the A Cappella thing get old and make you want to rip your own ears off? Let’s hear from you in the Comments section.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up.

Thanks for reading.

September 22, 2010: Survivor Recap - "I'm Gonna Keep One Eye On My Shoes"

Last week’s premiere of Survivor Nicaragua was pretty entertaining, considering we’re watching a group of model-esque 30-somethings take on what resembles a nursing home. Would the youngsters continue their hot streak? Are we going to be subjected to a full season of blurred crotches? (considering the 100+ hits I got this week from people Googling “blurred crotches”, I’m guessing it’s a pretty hot topic) And what’s with all the footwear theft ?

My Random Thoughts:

- If they’re going to keep referring to the tribes as ‘Older Tribe’ and ‘Younger Tribe’…why even give them tribe names?

- I liked the night-vision footage of the Older Tribe back at camp after Tribal Council. Solely because there was a great shot of Dan stumbling around in the dark, like your old uncle who had too much to drink and was trying to find the back door late at night.

- Sash’s strategy is to join up in an alliance of all “minorities”? Really? And he’s going to give snappy nicknames, like calling Brenda “The Asian sensation”? What are you, then? The “mulatto with bravado”? Newsflash Sash (totally unintentional rhyme), if you build a tribe of minorities, and they eventually have to cut someone loose, it’s probably going to be the guy who is billing himself as “half-black” to the others.

- Thanks to NaOnka for the most redundant line of the season thus far: “Kelly B. She has the heart. She has the mind. But she doesn’t have 100% of the body.”

- Holly went off the deep end early in the episode, ranting about snails and inexplicably stealing Dan’s shoes, filling them with sand, and dumping them in the water. I can get behind the tribe being concerned that she’s a nutbar, but why the drama about her dumping the pail of snails? Just go pick them up again…it’s not like they’re chickens that got out of a cage…they’re snails. No matter how old or tired this tribe gets, I have to think they can still catch up with a snail.

- Who the hell brings a $1600 pair of shoes on Survivor? And who the hell spends that much on shoes anyways?

- NaOnka…yes, Jud is stupid. But not so stupid that he can’t tell when you’re wearing his socks right in front of him!

- The Immunity Idol looks like a bronzed Travelocity Gnome. (On that note, don’t forget The Amazing Race premieres on Sunday night.)

- Don’t you think it was funny that Mr. He-Man Woman Hater’s Club, Mr. Alpha Male Shannon was relegated to “dropped ball retriever” in the Immunity/Reward Challenge?

- Looks like that Medallion of Power is going to be a big game-changer for this season. I really like it…after 21 seasons, it’s tough to come up with something new to impress me in this game.

- I know I already made this comment last week, but how do you not crack up laughing every time you see “Pro Race Car Jackman” on the screen?

- I chose Marty as my pick to win the game based on last week’s episode…and now he has the Immunity Idol. Sweet!

- So the Younger Tribe had to choose between the Woman Hater and the Strong Woman. Who saw that coming?

- That was indeed a jaw-dropper of a Tribal Council, wasn’t it? Just when I thought that Holly was the craziest one on the show, Shannon drinks the insanity-punch and starts yapping about integrity and the proliferation of “gays” in New York vs. Louisiana. When the dumbest person on the tribe (Fabio/Jud) is telling you to shut up, how bad do you think that is? Wow. No way he wasn’t getting voted out after that.

- Can’t wait until the reunion show (which is in New York), because I’m sure that Shannon’s idiotic comment will play a big role that night. Good luck winning over that crowd.

- I don’t mind Sash, but when he voted and gave the “biggest bachelor in New York” line, my girlfriend called him a “self-promoting douche”, which I have to say, seemed pretty accurate at the time…and made me laugh out loud.

Survivor Fans, feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions, and please leave a Comment in the Comments section if you’re so inclined.

Thanks for reading.

September 22, 2010: Six-Year Anniversary

Today is the 6 year anniversary of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 from Lost. yes, I'm commemorating an anniversary of a fictional flight, with fictional characters...but more importantly I'm commemorating the anniversary of the premiere episode of one of my favourite television shows of all-time.

Since May 23rd of this year, I've been mourning with the rest of the Lost Universe, sad that our weekly religion has come to an end. I have been planning a full and complete re-watch of the entire series, every episode since Season 1...with recaps for each. I wasn't sure when I was going to start, until one of my friends and a fellow Lost fan (thanks Jim!) suggested that September 22 would be an ideal start date. So that's what the plan was.

But sometimes regular life gets in the way, so unfortunately, I just don't have the time right now to devote to this re-watch. Sure, I have time to watch one hour a week, but the time and effort that I want to put into the recaps, along with the post-episode discussion I'm hoping it will generate...well, it's just not the best time. So I have to announce that I'm delaying the Re-Watch for a little while. I'm not sure how long, but hopefully we can start it up by the New Year, at the absolute latest. Make no mistake...I am still 100% doing it.

So in the interim, to commemorate today's anniversary, I'm going to re-post my Ode To Lost, which was originally posted the week before the Finale.

Namaste.

An Ode To Lost

As I thumbed through my 2004 TV Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly, I was reading about a bunch of new shows that were premiering in the fall. There was the Friends spinoff featuring Matt LeBlanc and Drea De Matteo (also both featured on the cover); a new incarnation of the CSI Franchise set in New York; a new show about a bunch of housewives who lived on the same street; a legal drama starring James Spader; a medical drama about a cranky doctor with a cane…and this show about a plane crash on an Island.

I was reading the synopsis, which include the sentence ''There are going to be things that will be just left of normal on the show, but the reason you'll care is because you get invested in the characters", and I thought to myself “How the hell is that concept going to be able to last a full season?” Plus, it was starring the guy from Party of Five, the guy from Millenium, and one of the Hobbits..so I wasn’t optimistic. I just passed on by.

I was flipping around on September 22, 2004, and saw that the 2-hour premiere of Lost was on in a few minutes, so I decided to tune in. I watched the opening sequence on the beach, with Jack running around, a guy getting sucked into the engine turbine, and all sorts of craziness going on.

“Too busy”, I thought…and switched the channel.

That’s right. You heard that right. So, I’m letting you in on my little secret…

I didn’t watch the first season of Lost.

Yes, that’s correct. Me! Super Lost-geek…Mr. ‘Don’t you dare call me or text me during Lost’…Mr. ‘write a 4,000 word recap right after the episode’…didn’t watch the first season.

But a lot of friends watched it, and raved about it. I would catch a few minutes here and there as I was flipping around on Wednesday nights, but never enough to really follow what was going along. “Oh, an Iraqi guy who is a torturer?”, I thought to myself, “Isn’t THAT unique?” And why the hell did he have a British accent?
Then one night I caught the last few minutes of a recap show, highlighting the story up to that point, and the closing image of John Locke looking into the hatch piqued my interest. I went into work and asked one of my co-workers, Larry, what it meant. He explained that he didn’t know yet, and that the show was getting better and better every week. He recommended again that I watch it, and since he and I had similar tastes, I figured I would give it a shot. But with the serialized nature of the show, and the new trend of TV on DVD, I committed to not watch any in that first season, watch the DVDs in the off-season, and then pick it up in Season 2 if I liked it.

So after the first season ended, I got the DVDs for Labour Day weekend in 2005, and planned on watching as much as I could over the course of the weekend. I figured I could fit it all in before Season 2 premiered two weeks later. Little did I know just how addictive it was, and ‘one more episode’ didn’t seem that bad at 3 in the morning. Eventually, I had watched the entire first season…all 25 episodes…over the course of that weekend.

And I was hooked.

I watched on Wednesdays at 9, Wednesdays at 10, Thursdays at 10, and Tuesdays at nine. It bounced around like a rabbit trying to stay out of Ben Linus’s satchel. But every time it changed slots, it meant a new routine. When it aired on Wednesdays, which was my regular poker night, I would generally get home between 1 am and 2 am. Having recorded it while I was gone, I couldn’t wait until the next night to watch it…we were all going to be talking about it at work the next day. So I would have to stay up that extra hour, to make sure I watched it before I went to bed, regardless of how late it was.
When the switch to Thursday happened, I was thrilled, because I had a viewing routine on Thursday night. I would head to my girlfriend’s house to watch Survivor and CSI already, and now Lost was on right after, so it would work out perfectly, other than having to drive home at 11 pm. Keep in mind that this was before I was writing recaps on the blog, so that wasn’t an issue. Then back to Wednesday (damn it!), and then finally off to Tuesday for Season 6. Lost was the utility infielder of mid-week television viewing.

As I devoured the recaps online every week (Erika, Vozzek69, Doc Jensen, Robz888, Luhks, Anna, and many others), I started writing my own late in Season 5. It was very fulfilling, and the response was overwhelming. I’m sorry I came to the party so late, and I wish I would have started much earlier. I’m actually considering going back and re-watching each episode from the beginning, and recapping them along the way…I haven’t decided yet. I know I’m not the only one to discuss doing that (or even do it in the off-season), but I’m thinking it might be a good way to keep up the writing that I’ve been enjoying so much.

And now that it’s coming to an end, I look back on the past 6 years as a fantastic journey. It was frustrating, it was rewarding, it was joyous, it was emotional, it was heartbreaking, it was mind-challenging, it was funny, it was poignant…it was just plain awesome. I’m not sure as television shows go, I would place it as high on my all-time list as The Wire, or Sports Night, or Homicide: Life on The Street, or maybe even Six Feet Under…but as for as ‘event viewing’ goes, and something that held me captive for that long, Lost is #1 by a long shot.

I saw fish biscuits, smoke monsters, spinal tumors, sonic fences, time-traveling bunnies, and Bad Robots.

I learned about The Black Rock, The Hanso Foundation, Mittelos Bioscience, the Hoffs Drawlor funeral home, The Valenzetti Equation, Tawaret, nanobots, the Panopticon, and having “a constant.”

I saw polar bears, boars, spiders, horses, a dog, and that god damn Dharma shark.

I craved Apollo Bars, Dharma Ranch dressing, MacCutcheons Whiskey, and 3-piece dinner from Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack.

I visited Swans, Orchids, Pearls, Lamp Posts, Hydras, Flames, Tempests, and the Looking Glass...oh, and also Room 23.

I listened to Mama Cass, Petula Clark, Patsy Cline, Three Dog Night, Geronimo Jackson, and Drive Shaft.

I noted countless references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Wizard of Oz. And was re-introduced to half of the cast of Deadwood.

I met some people with some very famous names, like Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Bentham, Burke, Bakunin, Faraday, Hawking, Alpert…and even C.S. Lewis.

I travelled to the South Pacific, Australia, Korea, England, Nigeria, Tunisia, Scotland and Portland, and many others, all the while knowing full well that I was looking at Hawaii.

I heard “Dude”, “Brotha”, “Son of a Bitch”, and WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!!!!

I played golf with Hurley, ate imaginary Peanut Butter with Charlie and Claire, pushed the button with Locke, planted a garden with Sun, and built a raft with Michael.

Plus, now whenever I see a Volkswagen van, I can associate it with something other than the Libyan terrorists from Back To The Future.
I lived alongside all the other die-hards on various message boards and websites. There were Jaters, and Skaters, Purgatory Theorists, “Where are Rose and Bernard?” junkies, questions about Vincent, "Richard Alpert is Ra the Egyptian Sun God" (with eyeliner) arguments, and those who insisted that Aaron was the answer to everything. And my personal favourite, all those people who said "I think that (insert random background character from newest episode here) was actually (insert character no longer on Lost)" No, none of those people were Cindy, and for the love of GOD, every black woman you see is NOT Mrs. Klugh!

I mourned the loss of Charlie, Eko, Daniel, Michael, Sayid, Jin, Sun, and Juliet.

Nikki, Paulo, Zoe, Frogurt, Caesar, and Charles Widmore…not so much. Those ones actually made me a little happy.

Ilana, Dogen, Lennon, Charlotte, Libby, Danielle, and Alex…I wish I had been able to learn more.
Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Tricia Tanaka…shrug.

I absolutely lost my breath seeing two Portugese guys in a snowy shack, the words "Not Penny's Boat", and "Kate, we have to go back!"

And I did it all while I was flashing back, flashing forward, and flashing sideways!

So this is it…”The End.” Everything ends at some point or another, doesn’t it? You break up with your high-school sweetheart…your favourite basketball player retires…the cereal you ate as a kid doesn’t get made anymore…maybe the lead singer of your favourite band dies…or your version of TV religion comes to an end.

Maybe I should have written this post after the Finale aired, but I wanted to say these things before it ended…while it was still there, still living and breathing, still a relationship that I feel with the characters on the show.

I truly believe that the Finale will be fantastic, and I will feel happy and fulfilled at the end. My expectations are high, and I refuse to lower them.

And even if I’m not…I’m thankful for the journey.

September 20, 2010: White Knuckles

You may remember earlier this year when I posted OK Go's video for This Too Shall Pass. (If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you click here and watch it right now) Aside from being a pretty decent band, these guys are visionaries when it comes to music videos. Check out the video for their new single White Knuckles. Again...simply amazing.

September 19, 2010: International Talk Like A Pirate Day

It's the annual tradition...September 19th...International Talk Like A Pirate Day (ITLAP). Don't believe me, check out the website.

So on that note, shiver me timbers matey, it's time to post my favourite Pirate-related photo of all time, the Pirate Keyboard. ARRRRRR!

(Please keep all Comments in Pirate-speak)

September 15, 2010: Big Brother Recap - Finale Night

Summer is in the books, and that means it’s time for Big Brother to wrap up for another season. Tonight’s finale would crown a winner (from The Brigade, of course), give us more drama from the Jury house, and allow us all to breathe a sigh of relief that we would no longer have to hear “Meow Meow” or Rachel’s laugh.

My Random Thoughts:

- Credit to Julie Chen for getting through her opening without breaking into laughter when she said “Meow Meow.”

- Yes Enzo, you “made” the Brigade, but all you really did was give everyone nicknames and name the group. Matt, Hayden, and Lane won a bunch of stuff, and all of them broke off into side alliances that worked…when you did nothing.

- I loved that Rachel thought the 4 members of the Brigade weren’t smart enough to have an alliance because “they don’t even know what alliance means.” Remember way back in Week 1 when she identified that Andrew was Jewish because he was “wearing a Yom Kippur”?

- I don’t understand why everyone in the Jury House was so upset about the Brigade. They played a game, within the rules, and won it. They played well. You don’t see the other team getting all riled up when a player steals a base in baseball, do you?

- Listening to Rachel during the strategy session talking about Enzo playing a great game, and Hayden being a bad player with “no game”, made me realize that she’s not only crazy, but she might actually be retarded as well.

- I always laugh at the final HoH competition, because the 3rd person, the one who isn’t competing, is always banished to the other room behind the wall, and they get this great camera shot of them looking sad and forlorn while the competition is ready to go in the other room.

- When Hayden won the final HoH, he pretty much guaranteed that he would win the $500,000 prize, and I think he knew that. So, in essence, his choice at the end was who he was deciding to award $50,000 to.

- Was Enzo going through puberty at the exact moment he was talking to Julie Chen? How many times did his voice crack? (I’m going to predict it right now, Enzo and his wife will be on a future edition of The Amazing Race. You heard it here first.)

- I like that Big Brother has switched to a full-on Live Finale, but I hate this BS about the jury members having to only ask pre-determined questions that they read off of cue cards. It’s so ridiculous. Remember that these questions were decided BEFORE they knew who the Final Two was. Come on, CBS…you can do better than that.

- That question period was painful. Absolutely painful. Seriously…it caused me physical pain. Nobody answered anything. And I’ll tell you what Chenbot, Jeff Probst never would have allowed all that waffling to go on.

- Rachel forgot her bag at the voting stand and had to go back and get it. I can’t imagine that’s the first time she had to turn around in the dark and grab a bag.

- Monet seemed like she wanted to be anywhere except this studio. And that was obviously because she knew that there was no way that they would be showing any footage other than her crying or saying nasty things about Rachel. Would you want to be there? Plus, tonight I noticed that Monet looks like one of the blue creatures from Avatar.

- Kristen broke up with her boyfriend? What a shocker! When Julie asked Kristen if she was going to pursue a relationship with Hayden, how many of you were expecting her to say “That depends if he wins the $500,000.”

- I was waiting to find out the reaction to the revelation of Ragan as the second Saboteur (which was pretty good…did you see Britney’s face?), but I also wanted to see the rest of the houseguests find out about the prizes that Hayden chose in the POV competition. Why didn’t we see that?

So, what do you think? Was Hayden a deserving winner? Will Brendon and Rachel last? Thanks so much for reading here during the course of this season…I wasn’t sure I would be able to maintain 3 recaps a week for a show with as little substance as Big Brother (we’re all fans, but let’s be honest), but it worked out ok, and I was pleasantly surprised at the traffic on the site. Thanks to you all for making this a fun summer.

Note: if you plan on watching Survivor and The Amazing Race, make sure to come back here for my recaps. As with Big Brother, they will be up right after the show ends. Feel free to bookmark the site or add your name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions hidden underneath, and I encourage you to leave a comment if you’re so inclined.

Thanks for reading.

September 15, 2010; Survivor Recap: Old vs. New

After another Probst-less summer, it’s time for us junkies to get our fix once again, so settle in, grab a cold one and let’s talk Survivor: Nicaragua. For the record, every time I type that, I want you to imagine that I’m saying it in a very thick and authentic Latin/Hispanic accent…so that it sounds like Nee-Kah-RRRRAHG-Wah. More authentic, don’t you think?

To the returning readers, Welcome back! It’s nice to see you again. And for those of you new to my blog and my Survivor Recaps, a hearty welcome as well, and a couple of things you should know: a) the recaps should be up within 20 minutes (often less) of when the show ends on the East Coast, b) the pictures will all have hidden captions underneath, so make sure to mouse over them if you want to see them, and c) I love Comments, so let’s all get involved in the Comments section for this season.

The premiere of Survivor is always so overwhelming, so instead of a traditional ‘Random Thoughts’ format (like I will be doing for the rest of the season), for tonight I’ll be going with my First Impressions of the new Castaways, based on tonight’s episode alone.

First Impressions:

Alina – Art student who decided to keep the Immunity Idol a secret with Kelly B. Not much to go on yet.

Benry – I’m not going to be able to get past the name. As most of you know, I’m a Lost junkie, and when Michael Emerson’s character was first introduced in Season 2, his name was Henry Gale, before we later learned that his name was actually Ben Linus. The Blogosphere and Lostophiles alike started referring to him as “Benry”, and that’s all I can think of when I hear that name.

Brenda – The flirty one who found the Medal of Power. Looks like she’ll try to use that (the flirtiness) throughout the game.

Chase – The best Survivor Job Caption since Erik the Ice Cream Scooper. “Pro Race Car Jackman”…are you serious? I don’t have enough time to list all of the jokes that are going through my head right now.

Holly – Overplaying the game from the get-go. Running up to people the second you get back to camp and saying “I like you. I trust you. Let’s be in an alliance” comes across a little too eager, don’t you think?

Jane – The 56-year-old firestarter with the dead husband. Please don’t tell me we’re going to have to hear about dead hubby every episode.

Jimmy J. – I was very vocal about being annoyed that he was on the show. I did, however, like the speech he gave his tribemates about trying to help them win because he could never win the prize (and he’s right). The “Coach” in him, sure came through in that speech.

Jimmy T. – Looks like an animated character, or maybe an old pro wrestler. Those are some scary Man boobs. 48 years old, but looks 70. 18 years younger than Jimmy Johnson, but looks 15 years older.

Jud – They nicknamed him Fabio, but “idiot” would probably be more appropriate. I predict every 3rd word from him will be “dude”, and he will treat the game like a frat house.

Kelly B. – Did she really think she was going to keep an artificial leg a secret? Especially when the CBS cast photo showed her with the prosthetic visible. YES people are staring at your leg…it looks like your shoe is floating in mid-air.

Kelly S. – Barbie-esque blonde...”Purple Kelly”. Was she even in the episode other than giggling at her own name to Jeff?

Marty – Seems like a smart and composed character. I like him.

NaOnka – Not sure what to think, but if your name sounds like something that a dolphin would say to a whale, then you need to make a pretty good impression on me, and I haven’t seen anything yet.

Shannon – Declared a) that he’s never called a woman a dumb blonde before, but Jud is a Dumb blonde, b) that he doesn’t want a woman to win the game, c) that men already “get owned in marriage” by women, and d) that there will probably be a woman president next. Do you think someone has a bit of resentment towards women because he was given the name “Shannon” as a child?

Wendy – Her husband thought she would be the first one eliminated, so she decided to “hide my true self.” Well, if the crazy goat rancher with the western jacket WITH TASSLES and the turned up cowboy hat isn’t the true you…I don’t want to meet the true you. Also, for the record, unless you’re Madonna, nobody should be wearing that damn cowboy hat. Not your drunken girlfriend at the bar, not Bret Michaels, not even you, Jeff Probst!

Yve – Looked annoyed because she had to go with the old tribe. I think she’s a cougar who likes to go to the bars every weekend and act like she’s 22. That was confirmed when she made a point at Tribal Council of saying that you never ask a woman her age.

Dan, Jill, Sash, Tyrone – I have no idea because I don’t really know who you are.

Other Thoughts:

- I’m already not a fan of this move to Wednesday nights. It just feels wrong.

- I liked the choice they had to make at the beginning, between the unknown power and the Fishing Gear/Flint. Only because they implemented one of my suggestions from last season…what you don’t choose, the other tribe gets. Love it.

- Only 21 minutes into the first episode before the first blurred crotch of the season. A new Survivor record!

- La Flor’s entrance made it obvious that they are there to be silly and goofy, and that they don’t see this being much of a competition against “the old folks.” I think that will be a mistake.

- I think the Medallion twist is great. An advantage at challenges that switches tribes after you use it. This should be good over the course of the season.

- During the challenge, when you heard Jeff yell out “Older tribe with a great flow”, how many of you thought it might be time to book a prostate exam soon?

- Jimmy T. declared at Tribal council that Jimmy Johnson could win the game because if you play the best, the jury will give you the prize. Maybe someone should have explained that to the Jury BOTH times that Russell got screwed.

- So Wendy got the boot, proving her husband right. Home to the goats, and a token question from Probst at the reunion show.

Now, based on first impressions alone, if I had to choose a player who I think could go all the way at this point, I would go with Marty (dark horse = Alina). But what do I know…I picked the first one voted out the last two seasons.

What did you think? Who is your pick? Will this Old vs Young twist be as ridiculous as I’m expecting it to be? Let’s hear from you in the Comments section.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up.

Thanks for reading.

September 13: 2010: Survivor Nicaragua Preview

A new season of Survivor is just around the corner as Survivor: Nicaragua is set to premiere on Wednesday night. You know what that means...it's time for more Island plotting, Jeff Probst's blue shirts, challenges that involve players having to cut a rope to raise a flag, and hearing all about the Sony Palm Pre. Free up your Thursday nights.

Wait...scratch that...make that Wednesday.

I was originally intending on posting a full preview of the new batch of contestants/ castaways, but since CBS no longer provides really comprehensive advance bios, I decided not to. I mean, there used to be a full page listing for each player on the Survivor page leading up to the episode where you could find out everything about everyone: their favourite TV shows, movies, bands, chocolate bars, beverages...even their kids' names. And laugh if you want, but based solely on the advance bios, I correctly picked 3 winners out of 5 consecutive seasons (Tom Westman - Palau, Yul Kwon - Cook Islands, and Earl Cole - Fiji).

Now the bios consist of a skeleton template, which is essentially filler, that lists interests like "snowboarding, landscaping and partying with hot girls", personal claims to fame like "being a rad older brother", and reasons why they will win Survivor like "because if you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, you get paid good!" And that's just a couple of them.

I kid you not. If you don't believe me, check out the CBS Survivor page and see for yourself.

On top of that, almost every response in the bios is punctuated with an exclamation mark, so either these contestants are always yelling, always excited, or just plain crazy. I firmly believe that people who use exclamation marks at the end of every sentence are legally insane. And those who use multiple ones (!!!)...well, don't even get me started.

Add in the fact that this is perhaps the WORST twist this show has ever come up with, and I'm not feeling the regular September excitement I usually do around the return of Survivor. (Did they have the same creative team who came up with the failed "Saboteur" twist on Big Brother this season?) Splitting the teams up by age is just idiotic, regardless of the fact that the tribes will assuredly be switched up within 3 or 4 episodes. (In case you didn't know, one tribe is all aged 30 and under, and the other is all 40+) Perhaps that's why CBS has been bombarding us with promos and advance press for a FULL MONTH before the premiere on September 15th, because they know what a fiasco this is shaping up to be.

And Jimmy Johnson? Are you serious? A former NFL coach and current celebrity broadcaster as a contestant on Survivor? I didn't believe it when I first heard it this summer, but when it was confirmed for me, my faith in the show plummetted. It's bad enough that almost all of the contestants are recruited now instead of the good old fashioned application process, but now we're getting more and more celebrities. It's absurd.

Now, before you attack me, keep in mind that I'm a full-fledged Survivor junkie. Every season. Every episode. But I'm very disappointed in what I've seen so far leading up to the premiere of Survivor: Nicaragua. Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong, and have this end up being a fantastic season, but they have their work cut out for them.

Nonetheless, I will be posting full recaps after each new episode. I will generally have the posts up withing 30 minutes of the end of the show, so bookmark the page and make sure to come back each Wednesday (still makes me shudder...Wednesday). If you're not familiar with my recaps, click on the Survivor tag on the left sidebar and read some of the old ones.

The one thing I am excited about is the new season of The Amazing Race, which premieres on September 26th, if for no other reason than to see this clip on a huge screen. (Payoff is at 0:26 - I can't stop watching it.)

And yes, I will be recapping The Amazing Race again this season as well. I hope you'll be back for both shows.

September 12, 2010: Big Brother "Recap"

I've never been a fan of these penultimate episodes of Big Brother. It's always the same every summer...give the final houseguests a feast and a bottle of champagne, and then coach them into talking about everything you want to show clips of. It's more contrived than the Survivor "Fallen Comrades" montage.

So I'm not bothering with a recap, other that to say "What the hell was Kristen eating a spider for????" Instead, let's start a discussion in the Comments section. Here's your topic:

Who will win the final HoH, and who will they take to the Final Two?
Who will win?
Who played the best game?

Sound off in the Comments section.

September 9, 2010: Big Brother Recap

The Big Brother house is now 100% Brigade. I said it from the get-go with these guys, the only way to make it to the end is to stick together in that alliance and never waver. They did it, it worked, and say what you want, they proved that loyalty will work in this game. It's the simplest strategy.

My Random Thoughts:

- Lane was talking about being upset at Britney leaving and said that it was because “she was funny, she was quirky, she was jokey”…and part of me was hoping that he was going to keep going and just name an alternate Seven Dwarves

- Enzo, why the hell were you screaming constantly during the Rope Riding competition? You sounded like an idiot, which admittedly, isn’t that much different from the rest of the season. The strategy of hitting the wall with his feet first was idiotic, and predictably, he lasted less than 20 minutes, while the other two lasted over two and a half hours. Newsflash, Enzo sucks at challenges…again. And then he had the balls to declare “These competitions just make me look like I’m weak.” Um…no, 69 days of losing EVERY competition except one is why you ARE weak. 69 days isn’t an anomaly…it’s a pattern.

- Lane was talking about the challenge being like a bar fight in Texas. Man, we’re learning that Lane can compare pretty much everything in life to a bar fight, aren’t we? He said that it was the same because he was being slammed from wall to wall, getting water dumped on his head, and in the morning, he would wake up and his testicles hurt. That doesn’t sound like a bar fight, that sounds like a scene from Oz.

- Hayden with another nugget of wisdom: “Jury votes are one of the most important things in the game.” Really? Can you name anything MORE important? I can’t.

- Enzo’s wife was kid of cute, but at the end of the day, just looked like a trashier version of Kate Beckinsale. I couldn’t get past his mom, however. Aside from the Jay Leno-esque chin, when she opened her mouth, she sure as hell didn’t sound Italian.

- The Jury house was full of drama, as expected. Matt came clean to Ragan (while wearing the worst pyjamas possible), who aptly described the feeling as being the same as when Lucy would pull the football away from Charlie Brown. Then Rachel continued to prove that she is well aware that her fifteen minutes of fame are at approximately 14:57 and counting when she manufactured more drama and picked a fight with Ragan before storming off. Did you see Brendon’s face after she left? It was a resigned look, like “Well, guess I’m stuck with this now…here is where I’m supposed to follow after her.” Good dog, Brendon. Good dog.

- I always like the Morphed Face challenge each season. (Remember when Ragan was studying for it a couple of weeks ago). While it did appear to be easier than past years, Lane just flew through it, and I knew that Enzo had NO shot at winning. And why was Enzo hopping around the whole time? Was the backyard lawn suddenly made of hot coals? But the best part of the entire competition…did you SEE the picture of Brendon and Rachel, and what their kids would likely look like???

- Just a reminder that Sunday's episode is a recap show. I will not be doing a recap. And the 2-hour Finale (finally!) will follow the premiere of Survivor Nicaragua next Wednesday.

Reality TV fans take note, that I will be posting full recaps in the fall for the new seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race. As with Big Brother, the recaps will be posted within an hour of the end of the episode. I hope that those of you that have been reading here this summer will come back for more recaps in the fall.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions hidden underneath, and I encourage you to leave a comment if you’re so inclined. Thanks for reading.

September 8, 2010: Big Brother Recap

Here we are folks…the point in the game when we have an eviction on a Wednesday (gasp!) to make room for the final week’s flurry of activity. Would the Brigade all make the final three? Could I go one day without someone hitting this blog by Googling “Britney cleavage”? And why is Enzo offering up “one free shot” to Nick?

My Random Thoughts:

- Hayden’s words of wisdom to Lane early in this episode: “I hope me, you, and Enzo can get in the Final Three because then that means that we’ve got a good shot to get in the Final Two.” In related news, the number 7 comes after the number 6.

- Enzo said he didn’t trust Lane because he kept Britney safe and put his two fellow Brigade members on the block. But in reality, Enzo only wanted Lane to trust them to keep Britney, which they weren’t going to do! Don’t you always love the irony of the Player A who is outraged that Player B didn’t keep their word…and that, in turn, prevented Player A from backstabbing Player B?

- I found out this week that Britney had to see the medic on site after injuring her finger in a competition. The only thing is that it was the $10,000 Piggy Bank competition! How does she not cut herself after snapping about 40 Christmas ornaments with her bare hands, but somehow cuts it looking for a giant penny?

- This veto competition is always traditionally extremely difficult, and this one was no different. Man was I ever surprised to see Hayden smoke everyone else and complete it before Lane or Britney even got one up on the board.

- The way that Enzo told Britney about the Brigade was 100% arrogant and cocky. She didn’t deserve that, and you could tell that Lane was really uncomfortable as he cackled and celebrated. Hayden was a jerk as well when he declared “I’m glad you won the 10 G’s.” You could tell how furious she was (and rightfully so). I thought she was going to chew her own fingers off as she bit her nails while listening.

- For the live vote, I loved how Britney decided to rock the ‘little black dress’ while Lane decided to go with the ‘Black T-Shirt and Shorts’ look. Juxtaposition, anyone?

- Kudos to Britney for forgiving Lane and realizing that he truly did want to go to the Final Two with her, which he actually did. I loved her reaction at the mere mention of the Jury House. At least she only has a week there. For someone who I really didn’t like at the beginning of the season, I really came around on her, and was rooting for her to win. She gets my vote for Favourite Houseguest. I think she’ll win it.

- The show ended with a typical endurance competition as Part 1 of the traditional 3-part Final HoH competition. This one actually looked like it would be fun to watch with them slamming into the walls.

- I’m looking forward to Ragan’s reaction to Matt’s lie in the jury house tomorrow more than I’m interested in the HoH competition.

Reality TV fans take note, that I will be posting full recaps in the fall for the new seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race. As with Big Brother, the recaps will be posted within an hour of the end of the episode. I hope that those of you that have been reading here this summer will come back for more recaps in the fall.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions hidden underneath, and I encourage you to leave a comment if you’re so inclined. Thanks for reading.

September 5, 2010: Big Brother Recap

Thursday’s episode of Big Brother ended with what was arguably the lamest HoH competition ever this late in the game. A chicken-wire Christmas ornament challenge? Are you serious? What’s with the giant backyard pillow fight? And why are the houseguest tearing the house up?

My Random Thoughts:

- What sort of Iron Grip does Britney have to be snapping so many Christmas ornaments the second she touches them. Good comment from her: “I’ve been called a ball-buster before, but who knew I was actually that good at it.”

- Hayden, are you really trying to tell us that your baseball experience and 22 years of decorating Christmas trees are what gave you an advantage in this challenge, not those giant fingers that look like you should be giving a horse a gynecological exam?

- Enzo has never won HoH and has won only one Veto, when he took out Ragan with a knockout blow last week. I hear a lot of people saying that this is his game to lose if he gets to the Final Two, but it’s going to be a pretty hard sell to say “give me half a million dollars” when you’ve been that inept at challenges.

- Watching Lane and Hayden try to light the propane BBQ with the lid closed made me cringe until I realized that CBS would never show a Reality TV contestant actually blow up on television. There definitely should have been a warning on screen for viewers to NEVER try that at home.

- “The Meow Meow doesn’t get his name for nothing. Hide and Seek is my game. Let’s do this.” What the hell does one thing have to do with the other? Can someone please explain to these Final Four rocket scientists about actual relative comparisons before we hear something even more ridiculous like “I'm from Texas, so I can definitely make an igloo faster than the others. “

- Watching them tear their own house up for a $10,000 competition was hilarious. I loved this Luxury challenge. Nice to see Britney win the money, if only to see her stop crying for a while (Seriously, there have been more tears this season than all others combined!), but she should really thank Hayden since he’s the one who won it for her by taking the trash outside.

- Hayden and Enzo’s strategy conversation was painful to watch because they talked the whole time with their mouths full of jerky. I wanted to throw something at the TV and yell “Don’t talk with your mouth full. You sound like a couple of cows!”

- So Britney and Lane are on the block, but I will reiterate again that the nominations this week are completely redundant. The winner of the POV has the sole vote and decides who goes home, so the nominations are irrelevant…it all lies in the Veto Competition.

Reality TV fans take note, that I will be posting full recaps in the fall for the new seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race. As with Big Brother, the recaps will be posted within an hour of the end of the episode. I hope that those of you that have been reading here this summer will come back for more recaps in the fall.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions hidden underneath, and I encourage you to leave a comment if you’re so inclined. Thanks for reading.

September 2, 2010: Big Brother Recap - Eviction Night

After 62 days, there are only 5 people left in the Big Brother House, and after tonight, that number will drop by 20%. Would Ragan be able to sway the votes to stay in the game? What has made Kathy so angry in the Jury house? And will Lane continue to play “half the dodo?”

My Random Thoughts:

- Is there anything more awkward than watching someone eat soup with a ladel?

- Ragan gave Britney a lot of great points about keeping him in the house. It makes a lot of sense for her to split up Enzo and Hayden.

- When Ragan brought his sales pitch to Lane, he opened it up with “Hey Laney.” I’m thinking that when you want to try to sway someone to your side, you probably don’t want to address them the same way that Jerry addresses Elaine on Seinfeld.

- “It doesn’t matter how tanned I get. I’m always the whitest guy on the dance floor.” Hayden finally said something funny, and it only took 62 days!

- Finally some footage of the Jury house! Rachel and Kathy were so excited to see each other, they just stood in the kitchen and yelled excitedly in each others’ face.

- I just noticed tonight that Kathy has a huge tattoo on her back. How did we never see this before, or did I just miss it while trying not to look directly at her for fear of turning into stone. Would you want your Deputy Sherriff to be inked up like a biker chick? (I’m not anti-tattoo…in any way whatsoever. It just seems like an odd revelation.)

- Quite the anti-climactic Brendon and Rachel reunion in the Jury House, don’t you think? After repeated “Don’t mess with my man” threats, when he actually shows up, you’re like…”Aw…bummer.”

- Say what you will about Matt revealing what he did about lying about his wife’s health, you have to give him credit for owning up to his lie and coming clean, even if he wasn’t sorry for doing it. Perhaps Kathy wasn’t the best sounding board, but the anger she showed after hearing that was the most passion and emotion she showed throughout the game. It’ll be interesting to see Ragan’s reaction to his bro-mantic partner when he finds out.

- It was obvious that Ragan was going to be eliminated when the other houseguests didn’t participate in his “ooey gooey yummy cookies” sing-along.

- I’m not a fan of these HoH competitions that go on past the end of the episode, but I have to say that I’m picturing Britney slicing her fingers open about a hundred times based on how many ornaments she broke in the two minutes we saw.

- Please remember that being the HoH with only 4 people left in the house is a largely cosmetic reign. Next week, the HoH has no power at all, other than ensuring that they make the Final Three. The winner of the POV has the sole vote and decides who goes home, so the nominations are irrelevant…it all lies in the Veto Competition.

- Just a note to say that I will be away on Sunday night, so my recap of Sunday's episode will not be up until mid-day on Monday. Also remember that next week’s eviction is on Wednesday, not Thursday.

Reality TV fans take note, that I will be posting full recaps in the fall for the new seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race. As with Big Brother, the recaps will be posted within an hour of the end of the episode. I hope that those of you that have been reading here this summer will come back for more recaps in the fall.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions hidden underneath, and I encourage you to leave a comment if you’re so inclined. Thanks for reading.

September 1, 2010: Big Brother Recap

With 5 players left, Lane is the new HoH, and he decided to spare Britney from the block. Was this all a master Brigade plan to backdoor the only woman left in the house? Who is getting shunned? And who is Brendrew?

My Random Thoughts:

- This is the first time that I can remember in this show where all 5 of the remaining houseguests have a legit shot at winning the game if they make it to the Final Two.

- “The Meow Meow gets the shun away from the penguin.” If I would have told you at the beginning of the summer that you would hear that sentence on Big Brother, would you have believed me? I’m dumber for hearing that…aren’t you?

- Enzo doesn’t want to see another penguin for as long as he lives? That’s not going to be a big problem in New Jersey, is it? Thank God his costume wasn’t a skanky bar chick!

- Ragan studying pre-POV competition and his weightlifting/Eye of the Tiger montage foreshadowed that he was going to win the POV, which he didn't. And how many times can they use that piece of music this season? Come on! Mix it up a little.

- Hayden: “Otev? I’m not an English major, but I think…it’s Veto spelled backwards.” Speaking as someone who actually was an English major…let me say first of all that THANK GOD you aren’t an English Major. I would really have to question the Arizona State English Department if that was the case. And secondly, in my four years of University, not once did I ever take a class where we had to spell words backwards. Please don’t confuse an English degree with a party game.

- Britney: “I don’t usually go sliding on KY Jelly…believe it or not.” What? No Rachel joke? Perfect opportunity lost Britney…I’m very disappointed.

- Enzo showed his Jersey Shore side when he took out Ragan going for that last CD. “One shot…that’s ONE SHOT kid!”

- I don’t get Enzo’s logic about backdooring Britney. A) It’ll piss Lane off, and B), it’ll infuriate Britney, so in the event that you DO make it to the Final Two, there’s two votes you won’t be getting.

- The ‘No Cups or Utensils’ punishment was ok, but the sock puppets were actually pretty funny. Although Ragan seemed to be slowly losing it talking alone to his sock puppet in the hammock.

- Is there no recycling in the Big Brother house? When Britney was cleaning out the kitchen, she just kept throwing bottles and cans and jars into the garbage. I’m sure CBS is going to be getting some angry mail on that one.

- The dancing punishment wasn’t a punishment at all. Seriously, how much fun would that be? Watching Britney and Lane talk football while dancing was hilarious. The Brigade may be the three worst dancers ever. Every time the music started, Enzo just put his hands in the air…and waved them like he just didn’t care. That’s so Jersey.

- Lane stayed true to what he wanted to do and put Hayden on the block. I can respect that decision, and I hope that Lane and Britney make the Final Two.

Reality TV fans take note, that I will be posting full recaps in the fall for the new seasons of both Survivor and The Amazing Race. As with Big Brother, the recaps will be posted within an hour of the end of the episode. I hope that those of you that have been reading here this summer will come back for more recaps in the fall.

Feel free to bookmark the site or add you name as a Follower on the sidebar to the left. You can also add me on Facebook, where I post all of the recaps as soon as they go up. Don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for captions hidden underneath, and I encourage you to leave a comment if you’re so inclined. Thanks for reading.