Maverick

100%. With Lucie Arnaz as Mary Beth no less. I hate this episode. First strike is that it's another episode where Jessica is roped into some strangers drama by lying manipulation. The scenery--and story--are dreary. And other than Peter Haskell's character, everyone is pretty reprehensible.

They were going to put "Punch Me" under that picture but then decided it was redundant.

Class is not one of the options for a mystery gift in your starter pack.

It's not about money. He feeds on our tears. And glitter.

I can't stand this idiotic commercial either. I can't understand anyone, not just MIss "Leave Now!".

Between that cake and the logo that is supposed to have clues to the season, the theme looks like comic books. Which also doesn't fit with the house design.

Looks like a water cooler / filtered water dispenser.

The UT is one of the things that exist to move the story along so they don't spend a third of the episode trying to figure out how to speak to every new alien they meet. Enterprise actually had whole episodes and plot points in episodes deal with this use by making the UT new technology that was fallible and didn't work instantly. But even by the end of that show they got away from addressing that and went right to normal conversation with new species. Like many things in Trek--and sic fi in general--it works the way it works (or doesn't work the way it usually works) for the sake of the plot.

Yes, she included them because of Brooke's comment. At first she says there's no beans in dirty rice but then says something like "unless you're saying I need beans". Brooke basically tells her I'm just asking what you're doing and it goes downhill from there. Sunny yells at her team to go to the pantry and get beans, one guy runs over there, Anne yells at Sunny that it's cheating to have their team helping, the guy runs back without the beans because he didn't see anyone else over there and Sunny has a talking head about how if a judge asks you about beans you better put beans in there. She was so s****** about the whole thing.

It's probably AI Simon from last season. Even the real Simon thinks this is too boring to show up for.

Costs (and shopping) were part of the first challenge. The wing truck specifically was shown commenting on the cost and low availability of chicken. Those elements may still be present and they're just not showing it or they may have been eliminated. If it's still net cost, the vegan truck has an advantage by not having to buy any meat or meat substitutes, which can be pricey too.

Which was all a put on. The interview was obviously filmed after the challenge (contestants are always prompted to talk in the present tense when recounting what happened) so they were already aware they were needed to be sent to remedial math. That fluff salad gave me stress flashbacks to Molly Yeh. Couldn't they get Trisha Yearwood, someone whose cooking show I've actually heard of? She does some... nostalgic stuff but I don't think I've seen her do anything like that.

I don't get it. They started all their summer programming late, presumably so they'd have something to air into the fall because of the strikes. But they keep burning everything off. First Tough As Nails now this.

I think Sunny was in the Air Force. Whichever branch it was they apparently didn't teach discipline. Anne's still being bossy and they're not only hiding it they're actively pointing it out.

Yes, that's exactly what she did. Then faux-stuffed it her bra when Bobby came to take it back. I'm not feeling this season. Sunny is in obnoxious Beat Bobby Flay mode. The dumb "games" they have them playing are like rejects from Worst Cooks in America. And I'm not digging the new location. At all. Seeing everyone bundled up in scarves and gloves in cold, damp weather doesn't not say "summer barbecue show" to me. It's like when The X-Files was filming in Vancouver are tried to tell me Mulder and Scully were on an investigation in some tropical locale.

I always liked JM because she was always direct with litigants but I didn't feel like she was doing it to make good TV. But there's definitely a change in her post-covid. When they were running older episodes earlier this year, there is a very noticeable difference in her demeanor. As you point out, she also seems to make some WTF decisions. I didn't watch as regularly before covid so maybe she's always been like that but I feel like it a change. My biggest annoyance has been how in a case involving a man vs.. woman her default is the man is the problem and is taking advantage of the woman. I don't have a problem with her tearing into anyone if their actions deserve it but she's supposed to be impartial as a judge and her being so obviously biased takes away from her credibility. I don't mind her side trips about her daughters but she does annoy me when says "my children" when she's having a one-on-one conversation with her husband. Is she trying to tell us he's not the father? Were they conceived by immaculate conception? TPC is still the only court show I can watch (never made it through a single episode of JJ) so I'll give her new show a try. I just hope it's a straightforward show without a bunch of manufactured drama and campy production values. There was a time where I would say JM cares enough about the law and takes her role in arbitrating these cases too seriously to do some fake schlocky show but who knows. I was taken aback both she and Judge John think every should fork over a DNA sample for the government to keep on file so it would be easy to solve crimes and you shouldn't complain if you're not doing anything wrong.

I'd be down for that G.I. Joe Baroness sounding character from the hacker challenge a few years ago yanking the HGs chains on a regular basis.

It really seems like they're making harder crime scenes for the self taught bakers. Earlier this season they had the Boardwalk pie for them which is not a well know dessert and last week it was structured to make it questionable whether it was even savory while this week it was 100% clear it was a savory pie. I also think the quarter cutout bonus clue was more obvious than the transfer sheet with the chocolate smears the self taught bakers got.

I like Cheryl well enough but I was getting tired of her eating the show too. Is Rona (an unfortunate post-2020) what Lowe's operates as in Canada? Because that looked a LOT like a Lowe's. I thought that's where they were. The Sob Story Light is focused on Akeela this week to explain why she;s so intense and rude to her teammates.

I'm glad they're spreading the days out again. It's been forever since they've not had back to back days. Now if they'd only spread the challenges out. The final noms are set (and lately the evictee has been set) before we even see the nominations. Worse the HGs just sit around for 4 days with nothing to do. The initial noms should be forced to sweat it out for more than 24 hours. As to Julie, I feel like someone is required on eviction night. On the on hand, after 24 seasons I'm used to the Chenbot's quirks, glitches and bonmots...even the increasingly ridiculous religious ones. OTOH, I'd love it if they had someone who could do a proper interview with the evicted guests and do better banter with the ones in the house. More importantly I would love someone who actually watches and is invested on the goings on. Jeff Probst and Phil Koegan are highly involved in their shows and it makes a difference in their on camera performance, versus Julie who just shows up on Thursday and gets Cliff Notes.

"Take a family classic and make it vegan!" Seriously? "I know you're going to think I picked them because they're a vegan truck and because I'm from Cuba." Well, since one truck only does vegan and the other does Caribbean cuisine that you said reminds you of home, yes that's exactly what I'm going to think. This takes the cake for skewed judging. The main Khana truck lady is just smug as shit No More Mr Nice Guy? These people have been nice to anyone, including their own team members, since minute one. Another gem from them: "I think the vegans had a nefarious plan to pair us with Bald Guy because they're low key" Like, really witch? They picked who they wanted to work with. There are only four teams so the last two were together by default. But it was all a plot. A plot I tell you! They're all out to get Khana because they're so fucking awesome. It pretty obvious they spin these scenarios in their mind so they can justify their nasty behavior they clearly revel in. Have people been dogging them on social media or is it all "Don't listen to the haters!" "They're just jealous" "The editors hate you!" I agree social media must have been off limits for this week and it just wasn't mentioned. They might not have gotten the super long lines with the rain, but Bald Guy would have had a better showing than that if they din't have to rely solely on yanking people off the street.

Food Network: so predictable they don't need an AI to script their shows. I knew exactly who would win that challenge and I knew exactly who he'd bring back. It's great that Eric has a chef he's invested in but if I were on his team I would definitely feel slighted. The rules and challenges on this show are more arbitrary than Ciao House. And that's saying something. It's like MadLibs each week to see how the show is going to work.

The last episode in the Bob Barker Studio aired last week. They made some reference to sprucing up their new home but hopefully they're not going to get too crazy in redesigning things. The layout of the stage--three doors, the turntable/dais and contestants row--is an iconic part of the show. I don't think anyone was a fan of the COVID season podiums. I do wonder if the full audience will return or if they'll stick with the contestant pods. That all assuming we get a new season anytime soon. Drew Carey and Wayne Brady are surely members of SAG so I assuming production of TPIR and LMAD are shut down during the strike. Mayim Bialk walked off Jeopardy before the actor's strike in solidarity with the writers and while it's not clear if Ken Jennings is a member of SAG apparently he's already getting flack for stepping in Mayim.

I don't understand why why the Indiana Jones theme segues into ELO's Don't Bring Me Down. Like, WTF does that have to do with Indiana Jones. Both good but they don't mesh together at all and it makes no sense putting them together. Also head scratching: why pair Indiana Jones with Applebee's. It really cheapens an iconic franchise.

That dude is a moron. "I've never been into credit cards because they seems super shady." Like he'll totally drop all his money in Bitcoin but those credit things are just too freaky and convoluted for him. Also complicated for him: pants that fit. Dude, even Opie Taylor grew up and stopped dressing for a trip to the fishing hole.