aghst

In a foreign country they've never visited, with signage in a foreign language? It's one thing to figure out metro stations in Paris or even London where they place names are in English. But learning where certain streets, districts or attractions are, going in cold? OK the racers typically ask directions from willing locals. How is that necessarily a better thing than using actual navigation tools?

Not a millennial. I’ve driven in Europe with paper maps. Also Garmins with Euro maps. Now have been getting unlocked iPhones and iPads so I can get local data SIM cards and use Google Maps. I can create custom maps with bookmarked destinations and then open them up on my phone. It’s not about paper map skills. It’s about navigating much more efficiently time-wise. The sisters got eliminated in this leg because they couldn’t navigate Paris. I’ve been to the city many times but never drove it, always Metro, some bus, some taxi. If I had to drive using paper map I’d figure it out but might have to pull over once or twice. It shouldn’t have taken them that long. But did their difficulties finding that location make this episode more watchable? I preferred that the blonds survived rather than the sisters, because they were enjoying the experience thinking they’d lost. But I’d rather that the last two teams be much closer and the team survived because they performed better on the tasks, which were all more interesting than the navigation parts of the race.

I mean they're running the same playbook as previous seasons. - Austen is going to be competing with Pringle or so they make it appear, just like he supposedly competed with Shep for Chelsea. - Craig starts out each season, with good personal habits and business going really well. Then as the season goes on, you see he's sleeping in and kind of blowing off doing any work on a given day. You know, what's her name complained about that a few seasons ago. - Shep is always going to have this question about whether he will be the eternal bachelor or will commit to a good woman of substance or whatever and right now, he made it official. Whoop de doo! - Kathryn may be coming into a good place in her dealings with her baby daddy and then boom! I guess they caught a great break because Thomas is gonna Thomas. Leva is for now screen time worthy. But she said in Persian culture you cook for your friends or guests as a gesture of friendship. Oh you mean like every other culture on earth? Except maybe cannibals, who don't cook for you, because you may be the main fare! I'm hoping the pandemic and the emoji will bring something different, not necessarily better but different, to the show. Will they keep going to trendy restaurants and bars to film scenes? It's such a staple of the show and you don't associate South Carolina with lockdowns so do the cast just Zoom with each other the rest of the season or do the producers try to force them together?

HDM: My Daemon the app. Answer some questions and the app will show your your daemon. And display him/her in augmented reality.

Thanks, that's very interesting timeline. Iceland has had its share of increasing new cases too recently so I guess they got it done just under the wire.

So while we're working when the next season will air after the one currently on the air, MTV announced that season 36 of The Challenge is coming back in early December. Season 35 aired from 4/1/20 to 7/22/20, 17 episodes in all including a Reunion episode. So it would be about 8 months between the premier of seasons 35 and 36. That show had been on that kind of tempo 7-8 months between "seasons" the last couple of years. Season 36 was filmed in Iceland. They don't say when it was filmed but it like was after March/April when much of the world locked down non-essential travel -- i.e. tourism. Iceland had been talking about reopening for tourism to all starting in early summer, because they'd fared well with the pandemic during the spring. Not sure if they went ahead with it. Maybe MTV capitalized on this country's willingness to have foreign visitors. Obviously TAR needs more than one country to allow them in. Even then, there may not have been enough flights between countries for TAR to get the racers between countries. Airlines were cutting their flight schedules way back. Some other TV productions planned to shoot and go into production starting in late summer. That was when the spread of the virus was relatively low in many countries. In fact there was talk that Netflix would have an advantage because they had rights to shows filmed in places like Europe and South Korea, which at the time were doing better with preventing new infections. TAR's best chance might have been early summer when Europe was doing relatively well. But they were barring Americans and pretty much all of Asia is also banning Americans from entry.

When would they have filmed this? Did they cut a deal when Iceland was willing to allow tourists in over the summer? When they did the reunion it was during the pandemic right? So they must have been filming some of it then? I could understand if they filmed in fall and winter and we got it in spring. Total Madness season 35 premiered on 4/1/20 and they're able to film another season, edit it and get it back on the air in 8 months? That's a quick turnaround even if there wasn't a pandemic. Hmm, just checking but season 34 first aired in August 28, 2019, just 3 months after the end of season 33 on 5/22/19 -- S33 premiered on 2/6/19. So that's 6-7 months between seasons 33 and 34, with a season airing over a period of 4 months. And it was 8 months between seasons 34 and 35. So this would be 8 months, which is not that unusual. But it always seem like a year between seasons when MTV is obviously filming with maybe a couple of months breaks? Makes you think that the vets, especially those who make it to the final challenges, are starting up like a month or two after they film the end of the previous season, so not much time to train in between. And MTV is probably cranking out the episodes, not doing much in the way of polishing the episodes. Or maybe they finish editing and post production on one or two and then edit the rest of the episodes as the season is airing. In any event, interesting that Bananas is skipping this season. America's Got Talent newbies? Blech.

I know navigation is an essential part of the game, at least design several legs around how well teams navigate. But who in 2020 is poring over a paper map any more for driving directions? If they were allowed smart phones, it would be too easy and it would be about Google skills? Maybe, but it would reflect life and travel as they are now. Well they're allowed to ask bystanders and cab drivers to look stuff up on their phones. So they're kind of going half-way on the restrictions. Many times, the bystanders congregate to watch the filming so they're not really discouraging the racers from borrowing phones. It's just one step removed from them having their own phones handy. Otherwise, they ask bystanders for directions, which introduces randomness since one team might have better luck finding people who knows places well. Its only in the last 10 years or so but phones are indispensable now for traveling abroad. It's inconceivable, the idea of not taking a phone on a trip. You might have to find a wifi connection or know how to get SIM cards for local networks. Isn't that a skill showing how you navigate through a place?

Blonds had the best attitudes. By the time they did the pies they must have figured it was over and decided to enjoy themselves. Didn’t get too stressed when they got lost on the way to the carnival games. Maybe without pressure they enjoyed themselves. But not sure why they fell so far behind from the airport. Navigation could be a problem for them.

It's really one long continuous story about the main character. The cast changes a little, with departures which aren't really explained. One thing is striking to American viewers. The show films in locations Americans rarely see in a show or movie -- Algeria, Damascus, Turkey, Kurd regions, Moscow, etc. The war zones look convincing and they seem to use actual nationals of the countries being portrayed like Kurds, Syrians, etc. Several languages are spoken in addition to French -- English, Russian, Arab, etc. The French characters all speak English well and it makes sense that they'd communicate with Russians and Arabs in English as well as French.

Yeah Sarah is usually not that cross or snarky but this couple was being unrealistic. In fact she’s usually chipper, to a fault. But is she not American herself? Not very tolerant of newbies. They made the right choice though. $300 above their budget. You can spend that much easily per night in Amsterdam hotels.

Not much happened in the pilot. Harper, black girl with the whitest name ever, seems to be faking her way in to high finance. But even with faked transcripts, she’s still the black girl from a “shit uni” with the nose ring. She scores a big transaction after a big client feels her up. OK the client committed half a billion on a deal where she only makes money if the US and China clash militarily in the South China Sea? Nicole the client is that rich but insists on the firm wining and dining her? So did Nicole feel guilty, thus gave her the deal? The rich don’t have guilty consciences and in any event, she could have made the sexual harassment/assault go away. Because we’re suppose to conclude that Harper has a price, which is treating herself to a luxury suite and room service. Also how she acquired the fake transcript, is she suppose to be transactional? Soon as Harper scored the deal her mentor Eric let her know to get rid of the nose ring, which she did right then and there. For a moment, it appeared Harper was going to walk away from Pierson, as she looked at the wine spill stain left by Hari, the last night before he died in a Pierson bathroom stall. She held back on uploading the transcript — BTW, I’ve never had to produce my college transcript for a job but for things like grad school applications, I couldn’t deliver it myself. FInally Harper tapped upload on her phone after taking a selfie of her wolfing down probably a $35 hotel burger with the London skyline view from the Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard. Hari’s death seems to be meant as object lesson for these aspiring bankers, all trying to make the cut at RIF day — 6 months after being hired the day when half of these new hires will be let go. Harper already seems to have figured out what she wants.

BTW, the little girl in the opening credits is suppose to be young Grace? She’s being stimulated by a rich environment, beautiful plants, a snow gloves, blowing bubbles in what looks like a designer perfume ad. Did little Grace have a rich dream life. So the song and the sequence are suppose to be ironic given her current predicament? Suddenly the bubble has burst for her? She shouldn’t have any money problems but her perfect life is shattered now?

Exactly. It would probably be national or international news because the couple relatively high profile, cancer doctor and a therapist with rich clients. Plus the salacious details, the guy has an affair, gets the woman pregnant, is accused of killing her. Now the wife is getting him a high powered defense lawyer?

Yeah that was weird, beautiful glass doors to the outside in that bathroom, which wasn’t all that. I wonder if they chose the steel legs for that sink just so they could film Lorraine visiting the metal works place. Guess they want to show her choosing tiles and rolling her sleeves a bit. I think the brick looks nice but not sure I’d want to live with it. That surface is porous and I wonder how much dust it sheds, which could get kicked up and breathed in. It might be of interest to some viewers if they showed information about some of these suppliers. Not that HGTV viewers in general are looking to renovate old homes in Italy but there might be a few. I remember years ago, the HGTV site had episode summaries for HHI along with links to the realtors. But that might have been before they started concocting a lot of the stories of the hunters and even using people who aren’t really realtors. So as HGTV became more entertainment-oriented. Of course this show is largely about entertainment, though the 1 Euro house bit is suppose to make viewers think we can follow the same path? Though I don’t think Lorraine referenced the 1 Euro house much in the second episode.

I'm not saying it isn't true. But she said she hadn't been to Italy before? That is surprising if true. Though her grandparents are from Sicily, I don't think she said they were from this small town so again, this wouldn't be the obvious first choice for her. Sicily is definitely worth visiting but it's not easy to reach, especially from Los Angeles. Alitalia used to have a direct flight from LAX to Rome so she would have been able to hop over to Palermo and then an hour drive or ride to Sambuca. Now it's unlikely she can reach Sicily in one connection, so I still question how often she would visit the home even after it's finished. I did see air conditioning in one of the finished rooms in episode 1. It's going to be much fancier than other homes in the neighborhood. I'd like to see how the other 1 Euro homes in Sambuca are renovated, whether people will spend as much on renovations. Lorraine may not necessarily want Rome, Venice or the other big destinations in Italy but those are the places with amenities, especially when it comes to nice restaurants and cafes. Maybe Sambuca has something along those lines but it sounds like a town in need to drawing economic activity so unless there are some kind of attractions, it doesn't seem like higher-end dining would be sustained there. I searched and found this story about Salemi, another Sicilian town offering homes starting at 1 Euro for auction: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/italian-town-salemi-auctioning-one-euro-homes/index.html So Sambuca probably also required renovation plans which the town probably used as a main criterium to approve the buyer. In this case, likely HGTV said we will do a show with a celebrity so you give us one of these homes and approve our plan and celebrity buyer. Is Lorraine truly wanting to connect to her Sicilian roots or is she primarily doing a TV show first?

Positive but not rave reviews ahead of the premier on Monday. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/industry/s01/reviews?type=top_critics

I'm imagining HGTV went to Lorraine with a pitch, to do a TV show and they will provide all the guidance as far as giving her an architect and builder with most of the plans all prepared. Hell they may be paying for the whole thing, while the town was probably motivated to participate in the show, for the publicity. Probably helped that Lorraine has been in a famous movie and TV show about Italian-Americans which probably had appeal over there. I think other Italian towns which offered these 1 Euro houses are doing so because they're depopulating and they're desperate to attract new residents and investors. They can't renovate the homes themselves nor most of the residents. So Sambuca wouldn't be one of the first destinations which foreigners would visit in Italy. But good way for Lorraine to do an HGTV show. Piero's English is too good for a local. Wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be an American whom HGTV hired since he's comfortable on camera. The construction infrastructure for using natural rock and cleaning up the old tiles seem unlikely for a small town. It's inland, away from more famous tourist destinations along the coast like Palermo, Trapani, Marsala, Sciacca in Western Sicily. So maybe they get the fancy building materials and methods in Palermo, which is about an hour away. Because I don't think the elderly residents are doing fancy almost 6-figure renovations on those old homes. If the town was more on the beaten path of tourists, there would certainly be more value in renovating homes and marketing them to foreign investors. I don't know how much 1 Euro was a hook for either HGTV or Lorraine. She could certainly afford a lot more and if she plans to have her family over there, there are other towns which would be more in demand. The 1 Euro is an advertising thing for the show but maybe HGTV had to up its budget to pay Lorraine and her Hollywood friends to appear on the show here and there. Unlike HHI, Lorraine didn't make a deal about the location, like wanting to be in center with the cafes and restaurants. If she wanted a place in Italy, it would seem like she'd want a place that would give her the glamorized Italian lifestyle, with nice restaurants and cafes around, as well as historic, cultural and natural beauty which Italy has in spades. She would be able to pay for prime location so the 1 Euro thing is unlikely to be a factor for her. She's building a dream house, combining two properties into one, so at least twice as big as typical homes in the town and of course with fancy HGTV finishes inside. Lot of Americans and UK expats have done similar renovations throughout Italy. But will she actually spend much time there once the cameras are finished filming or she will probably sell it and if she decides she wants a place in Italy, she may be more likely to look for a place in Rome, Venice, Tuscany. She doesn't have George Clooney money so it wouldn't be some lakeside palazzo in Lake Como.

I don’t get the controversy. Madison had some previous beaus and they ran into one of them. So what? Why is Austin acting like it’s humiliating? Because he thinks Shep is trying to throw it in his face that she had sex before he and Madison supposedly became a couple? If it was a real relationship wouldn’t they both have talked about their past relationships? But Madison went after Shep like a pit bull with a juicy leg. Just seems like fake drama. They could just avoid Shep but to be on the show, they have to keep getting together at these events for the sake of the show. Also how is Austin paying for his living expenses from that beer. Is it popular? Or his salary on this show is the real source of income?

TiVo recorded two one-hour shows. first one is the boys going over last seasons clips via Zoom conference. second one is hottest hookups. ok they reference new vacation so new season may be imminent. though how, are they dumb enough to ignore the pandemic restrictions and film over the summer? or maybe they kept filming soon after previous season so they got in a lot of film before March when the pandemic hit?

Can't tell which task took longer, the cello assembly for the blonds or the watermelon stacking for the football players. The football players wanted a physical challenge but there is never going to be a task which gives a huge advantage to upper body strength because it would be unfair to normal people. If they've been watching navigation is one of the most common tasks. It's interesting that some of them swapped taxis when it was clear the drivers didn't know their destination. But the blonds did not and in previous legs, they were stuck with the taxis pretty much the whole leg it seemed. They should have legs that let you have the option to switch but it may not be possible in some cities. I seem to recall one leg in a previous season where one team got a big advantage or disadvantage by taking the subway to avoid traffic but either got lost or made much better time than others who took taxis.

I'm guessing the latter, that she really saw him passing behind the rocks at the beach, not just imagine it. But man that must be a big beach house or mountain cabin or whatever, because he must have been upstairs and they didn't notice until late at night when he was skulking around.

Thinking about this more, it had to be staged. Of all places, why would they ride around the ship? Just happened that they had a drone or helicopter overhead shot as the jet skis orbited the yacht. Looks cool and they probably had the guests do it for that shot. So the other guests could have been swimming near the yacht while those on the jet skis could have been riding away from the ship.

We’re they circling the yacht on the jet skis while some of them were in the water near the yacht? so did they circle for deliberate reasons? then you had newbie Shane taking it on himself to replace plastic straws with paper straws and doing yoga right in front of the bridge, in front of the captain. Doesn’t seem like choices a person in a new job in a new industry would make. So Eddie falls in the water, seems pissed. Then in the “coming this season” montage, seems like more deckhands, maybe including Eddie, fall into the water. Don’t recall anyone falling into the water on any of these BD shows, except of course Ashton. was right between the yacht and a jet ski so he could have hit himself with something solid as he fell in.

Is it because he appears and sounds too much like his comic persona? He's a funny guy so he lacks gravitas? Or he's a skinny guy so he doesn't have enough gravity? Should be bigger and more physically imposing? And not have the same high-pitched voice he uses to riff on people doing stupid things in contemporary America?