LoneHaranguer

I think they're going to see what worked with viewers and what didn't and go accordingly. In what mythology would a "loom of fate" be sitting unattended?

New season starts this Friday, January 23rd.

The producers have always had trouble fitting everything in during the early part of the season, with so many contestants to create air-worthy moments. When they initially tried to solve the problem, they tried extra-long episodes at the season start, and showing a completely re-edited version instead of a normal rerun, before settling on putting bonus clips on their web site. They've been hit and miss about them; I haven't checked the site yet this season. It was much worse if you looked at the details of where the money went; Holly basically lied about the purpose of the charity, spending all season talking about the poor children after sending a whopping $600 to a children's charity...for the first time. That wasn't the cause for which the charity was created,

If it were anyone but Bob, who has been out at Comeback Canyon all season, I might have suspected that they were secretly hoping for an accident that would sideline Rob. The other trainers have had to put up with him for a lot more hours than Bob or we have.

A restaurant of some sort seems to be the most common cameo setting I've seen; it gives viewers a better chance of spotting it. Maybe Walt could be picking up fried chicken for dinner on his way home.

I couldn't blame Rob too much for being reluctant to jump onto the box. He's the heaviest contestant they've had in years and even after a respectable loss, is still a "before", so there was a real risk that the box would collapse or flip and he'd wind up with a broken ankle or wrist..

Wouldn't it be Dandy that was scammed? If she had already sold the show to Chester, that would mean she was selling something she didn't own any more. The cops ought to be around soon. Even though what Chester carried in turned out to be a doll, they can't dismiss that he's covered in Maggie's blood.

Maggie has a traumatic experience in the box with a killer clown (Dandy) manning the saw and she cheerfully volunteers for another go with a stranger who's been acting crazy all over the place? No way. That's completely ignoring the character to fit an end. And none of the group cared that Chester had wanted it to be the twins in that box? How exactly was Chester planning to fit them in that box anyway, with their extra-wide shoulders and second head?

Trump may have an idea of how he wants things should go at the start, but he'll change his mind if somebody disappoints him or makes a particularly good argument. I don't think he planned to pick Piers, but Piers pretty much forced his hand with the argument he made (Trump has cut off subsequent contestants who threatened to do the same). It would help if the producers screened the charities better. Near the end of Holly Robinson Peete's season, it became a topic of conversation on TWOP what a fraud her charity was. Others, while more honest, have had no broad appeal, sometimes being in niches that threatened to put off some potential donors.

They reran my favorite Wil Wheaton episode last night. It's the one with the bowling competition that ends with the guys having to dress up as female characters. I love that they made one of the particles in each scene-transition graphic look like a bowling ball every time the next scene was in the bowling alley.

Just a chuckle, but I would have loved if he'd tacked on something like "and you've had two so far?". Geraldo was clearly confused as to why Trump was calling on him and may not have been paying full attention. Except that he likes to brag about the amount donated and using the amounts net of fees would conflict with that. There was also a prior season where they seemed to make a big deal out of being able to take credit card donations, wherein they used gross amounts. I have little doubt that sponsor involvement was behind both highlighting being able to donate by credit card and glossing over the fees, but the producers may not want to change the tallying. Trump used to make a big deal about bringing in the big money because each task could be their last, as though nobody the contestants were calling were going to be giving that money to charity anyway. I think he's become resigned to the idea that only the PM's can be counted on to go all out, so they're the only ones who have to go big, but that doesn't excuse everyone else from posting a good number; Trump still likes to be able to say they raised the biggest amount ever in a task/season so he doesn't like anyone who disappoints him for any reason.

For some reason that's the only part of that ad that I can consistently remember. They should have done a cross-branding deal and stuck some fast-food name in there.

Based on how his name appeared in the credits, I suspect we'll be seeing him, but much less often. I noticed that the mentors weren't very happy about the pool of remaining contestants they had to pick from in the last two rounds; it was a huge contrast from the enthusiasm they showed at the beginning.

Technically I think that should be "an unknown school". It's not a junior college or all that small, but like most universities in the country, almost nobody's ever heard of it, which is likely what's important to the producers.

Depends on how things are working out. Usually he just rebalances when one teem has two more people than the other. In one season, he didn't have to rebalance because on alternate weeks he'd fire from whichever team had the extra team member. I've heard that she and the contestants are often sitting there for a lengthy period of time. It would be a wasted opportunity to speed editing if she didn't make some notes for the producers on what went on. The producers are likely to be making up any difference, which wouldn't be anywhere near 3% for a charitable donation anyway, even if they couldn't negotiate a lower rate (or outright waiver) as part of any ad deals.

Just because we don't see it doesn't mean something isn't going on. Trump may still have to confer with someone about who to get rid of next (that may not have anything to do with the task performance). I'm certain there's been at least one time he's made the offer and had the PM's turn it down. I think what Trump was referring to was how small the difference was as a percentage. In the past it's been something like two percent; $2500 against nearly $300k each is unprecedented. I think what really mattered to them was the "fresh idea", something they could take to their own staff to do up right (which isn't going to happen in the time the contestants are given). When this task was filmed, the guys' idea would have been a clear winner. Did I miss something or did the Cosmo people not chip in anything to boost Trump's $20k? She must not have been paying attention; Trump always drops hints.

Trump has done much worse in past boardrooms and likely will at least match her before the season has ended.

Lori would have to lose 40 lbs just to match what Sonya's done so far.

The ad agency should have saved this idea for Five Below or some other retailer of low-priced items.

Maybe they stopped drinking earlier on and the point of staying up until dawn was to have time to sober up a bit.

I was wondering the same thing about Rebecca Romijn. In the science fair episode, I don't think any other outfit could have done more to say that she's out of shape. Actually, I don't mind how Cassandra dresses; what I dislike is her strange compulsion to tell people about her tumor every week. I was particularly impressed with the way she conveyed that she wasn't who she claimed to be when she gave that short speech at the start. Except that when making wishes it's generally a good idea to be specific about what you want.

It would appear from Sabur's charts that Lori is lucky to still be in the running. Sonya's percentage loss is over 50% greater, with others not far behind.

I think there needs to be some credit given to whomever has lost the largest percentage, but you could have a run-off between that person and anyone who met their goal; that would avoid a repeat of somebody coming back looking emaciated because it would only be a disadvantage to go to an unhealthy extreme.

Maybe this was when they could schedule both Tim Gunn and Ken Paves. It could also be a sponsor issue; e.g. this was the number of contestants Kohl's was willing to outfit along with paying whatever they did for product placement.

Or they could have gone to a competitor. Just because you can go to a web site to order a pizza doesn't mean you have to and I've often walked out of a Domino's with a pizza I didn't pre-order faster than doing the same at Little Ceasar's.