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They always tout 5-star service but Jason's interpretation of that is that they will do what supposedly the guests ask for. In this case, a cheesy male stripper show without the actual stripping. But we've seen videos of bachelorettes parties gone wild so it's believable that these guests were game. Some of these guests may have husbands and boyfriends but Bravo got them to go on a girl's weekend. But they flew all the way from California to Cairns for just 2 days of mostly a stripper show? Seems highly unlikely. They are spending more time in Australia than the 2 nights of the charter and they're probably not spending this trip with each other. In any event, Aesha flubs the advice about drinking before diving and most of them do not get to dive. Yet they leave a $20k tip while noting the botched diving trip? Adds more to the notion that the tips are pure fiction, fixed by producers to make sure the cast gets a certain amount of money. Maybe with a larger tip they hope the crew act out more when they go drinking.

Yeah Kaz is one of the hottest women to appear on the Challenge, with that sexy British accent to boot. Wonder what kind of shape CT is in. His acting didn't lead to more roles so he wants another bite at the apple but it's been a couple of years since he was last on the Challenge, so a couple years older and who knows what kind of shape. Now there are more younger and bigger men in the Challenge so CT has to rely more on his wits.

I can't tell who it is in the video. Oh I see @nuryskm so that is the same Nurys who was on a season or two ago and hooking up with Jordan? Am I suppose to know who Alston is? That can't be the old school Alston, right?

Name an American president who was elected by a third party. Maybe go back to the early 19th century when there were the Whigs and other parties which no longer exist. In any event the show has not made a case that Prince's campaign is in any way viable. I would think that Prince would have the best polling done and unless it shows he has some kind of traction, he would cut his losses early. That is what Bloomberg did in 2020, started spending a lot on ads and had some bit of polling momentum until the disastrous debate performance and he cut his losses, knew it wasn't going to happen. I think the writers just struggled for a plot, especially one which would justify Axe's return. And so far, what they revealed isn't that compelling. Also I think it's interesting that at the end of this episode, you have Wendy, Wags and Taylor strategizing, because Wags got the authority to do transactions over $500 million when Prince or Scooter aren't around. They are setting themselves up for huge liability because they're plotting against Prince's interest. You can say the presidential campaign is not part of MPC but he could find lawyers who could argue that the campaign and MPC are linked, so for these individuals to draw huge compensation while working against the interest of the Prince campaign and MPC could set them up for a big lawsuit. Prince could try to ruin them financially for their betrayal. Whether he has legal basis for doing so is kind of secondary to the fact that he's very rich and can absolutely disrupt their professional and personal lives.

I think if they blatantly objectified the women, Bravo will get a lot of blowback so they know not to put that in the preference sheets, or at least the ones they read out loud on camera. There was that one stew in the first season of BDSY, where she was in a thong sunbathing. They briefly showed her when she was lying on her stomach. Presumably it was her choice to put on that bikini and sunbathe near where she knew the cameras would be.

Showtime has secured US rights to this BBC production, created by and starring BAFTA winner Adjani Salmon, who plays Kwabena, an aspiring film maker stuck in an office job in recruitment. It has good reviews in the UK media. Kwabena daydreams a lot, especially at his office job, about making films, or on the bus, seeing an attractive woman, he imagines he would smoothly chat her up. Between his dreams though, he endures little micro aggressions at his office, where he's one of the few people of color. His coworker Adam asks for advice because he has a date with a black woman. But he doesn't say that at first, says she's "vibrant," likes spicy food, changes her hair style a lot and imitates black speech "dem the kinda tings." Kwabena doesn't mind giving Adam feedback on black films Adam and his date might watch, like The Color Purple or 12 Year a Slave. Kwabena notes that those films include depictions of rape so he might want to steer clear for a first date. But Vicky asks him to eat some peas he's brought for lunch in the kitchen instead of his desk as a courtesy to his office mates. Kwabena sees two white colleagues eating at their desks so he decides to avoid confrontation, goes to the kitchen where he sees an Indian woman eating her lunch. Kwabena runs into Amy, a schoolmate from film school who is working as an executive assistant at a film production company. Amy endures her own little humiliations at her company, but also hopes to move more into film production herself. She promises to forward Kwabena's script to development execs and gets him meetings. However, the meetings conflict with his office work and he misses his chance with the film production company. He realizes he can't keep doing his office job and pursue his dreams. The decision is made for him when he goes out for karaoke with his coworkers where Adam exhorts him to do a rap with him on stage. Adam chooses a rap where the mostly white coworkers are changing the n-word several times and as Kwabena take this all in, he realizes what he must do. He announces "I quit" and literally drops the mike, walks out. So now Kwabena is doing food delivery but also trying to raise money from family. He films a short pitch for "Jamaica Road" a story about Jamaican immigrants to the UK in the '50s, based on the experience of his grandparents. He scarcely raises 1000 out of the target 5000 Pounds he needs for his film. Kwabena lives with a young couple Funmi and Maurice who are expecting their first child. Funmi's Aunty Lola wants a fancy video filmed for her 60th birthday party. Aunty Lola wants fancy tracking shots for her birthday video and offers to finance the whole film if he makes the video the way she wants it and if his film has Nigerian characters. On the day of filming though, they don't pick up the Steadicam gear so Kwabena improvises by filming while on a wheelchair while Amy pulls him. But Aunty Lola isn't happy with the result because it didn't feature enough of the party. She gives him 20 Pounds for his time. Kwabena meets Vanessa who gets her wig stuck in the doors of a bus, which he chases to get the driver to stop and retrieve the wig. They go on a date and he asks what's her favorite film. She says no way, he's a film snob and will judge her for her choice but it turns out to be Love and Baskeball which he says is shit, in a teasing way. But they have great chemistry so they are going to keep seeing each other. Kwabena still has to figure out a way to get his film made but he's met someone and he no longer has to deal with the daily racist behavior of his former co-workers. Meanwhile, Amy still experiences those. Her boss has her fetch coffee all the time and talks to her about the importance of diversity. She puts up with it hoping to move into real film work. She asks him to submit her for a new position and he promises to do so. Then a new employee compliments on her hair, says it's like Powder Puff Girls and reaches for it, asking if it's real. Amy finds out this new employee has been hired for the position she wanted. So for American viewers, it's an interesting look at the experience of black people in the UK. I don't think the racism depicted is too heavy. They seem mostly about white people being oblivious of how the things they say and do offend their co-workers of color. And these are short scenes depicted deftly and with some comic undertones. Some of the black characters are also seen in a satiric or mocking way, for instance the elder Jamaican and Nigerian aunties and Maurice, the roomie who's often putting his foot in his mouth.

They won't have the stewardesses go around wearing thongs or skimpy bikinis, will they?

Canadian wife kept harping on ocean views, over and over again. They also wanted 3 bedrooms and only one property had 3 bedrooms as well as larger rooms. The one property with ocean views was further away from town and beach, which the husband wanted to be close to. She also didn't want any renovation projects but the ocean view property had some renovation required. But she dropped the view thing and agreed it would be best to be in the roomier place, close to town, not just for them but their daughter as well. All 3 properties were well under their budget IIRC. Gold Coast of Costa Rica prices maybe not so out of control.

That's the kind of activity for which the expression "rage quit" was invented.

I thought AC was dead but they seem to really like their hotel suites. Pauly has a residency at an AC casino, Vinny had a stripper show in Vegas. Do the people who sign these deals think people who watched the OG JS would come to their venues? Or do they think a lot of people watch this Family Vacation show, which has been on as many, maybe more seasons than the original show, will come because the show is currently airing? There's no point in Jenny and Angelina making up. There's going to be more blowups as long as they both keep doing the show. They know what's expected of them. What was the whole convo about fapping and Deena and Chris arguing about? And Chris getting backed up. TMI? The show doesn't show any signs of ending but they should put some money away. It doesn't look like it. Show could go away but they have millions of followers on social media so they must think the money will keep coming in. Deena and Angelina have both upgraded their houses. Haven't seen them driving as many expensive cars as Mike or Pauly do. Vinny might be the only one being smart with his money.

Who is that some celebrity chef? Killer Mike’s endorsement is that important or it’s stunt casting and they made it seem so vital that Prince and Scooter spend most of the day incommunicado? So he would deliver the voters who really like pot and guns, like that’s some huge tranche of voters? But the fake deal was a plot by Taylor to do huge deals? How is that going to derail Prince’s candidacy? If they did some embarrassing transaction, Prince could blame it on rogue underlings and fire them, doesn’t necessarily make people not vote for him — versus running as a third party candidate, which is the biggest obstacle to him winning. And who knew helium was such big money? Because everyone, even Taylor, wants to sound like a chipmunk? Ira’s sex tape story, just so Davy can get back into the main plot about Prince. That wife is such high maintenance. She’s beautiful but is she worth it? She was the one who wasn’t going to marry him unless he could give her the right ring, which was this huge, ugly thing. Ira is constantly bemoaning how she’s cross with him and may stop having sex with him. Thing is, a man with Ira’s money can always find willing younger women so plots involving Ira’s domestic life always make your eyes roll. Chuck’s former lieutenant, Connerty, was a better character. He makes a return in this episode, out of prison for trying to prosecute Chuck and losing out. But he’s a skeleton in Sacker’s closet as she prepares to run for Congress. Because what, they used to sleep together? In a world where George Santos is still in Congress, this is a dumb subplot too. Kate should get Connerty his law license back or rather Chuck should do it so he can replace boring, whipped Ira.😄

Daily was good but it was a big advantage to have seen and done similar challenges before. I don’t know if BB or Survivor has tasks requiring a lot of swimming and diving? Bananas trained to dive in anticipation of challenges like this one and Wes has a competitive swimming background. Monte couldn’t even submerge for a couple of seconds. Then being good with puzzles, that is how Bananas and Tori won. Wes could have beaten Johnny but he couldn’t figure out dances and he was beaten by Tori, who was also faster than Bananas, even though Wes got to the cave first. The Elimination wasn’t physically demanding though it’s probably emotionally taxing. Monte has a mechanical engineering degree. Forget about reality TV, go start your career. Also he not as cutthroat as others.

Sure. But it’s also said about adults who work at fast food restaurants or retail with high school or college kids too. However many are unable to move beyond entry or low level jobs because of life circumstances or mishaps. I wonder what the age range of writers on Real Time is. I would guess they’re older and some or all of them have producer credit. As opposed to people a couple of years out of college. But one of the arguments the WGA is making is that there are fewer opportunities for career development because of mini rooms and productions, particularly those associated with streamers, don’t keep writers on for as long as network and cable TV shows did, which allows writers to learn all different aspects of production, giving them a chance to move beyond just writing scripts. So it seems that Bill rejects this argument or is unaware of it when he says they’re not owed a living as mere writers.

That was for the dinner not the drinks before or afterwards? Or to get really sloshed, they go back to the yacht and raid the booze which was supposedly provisioned for charters. But it's ridiculous that Bravo doesn't pay, since they clear the establishment to let them film there. I imagine the places they choose would have to have private tables, away from onlookers or background people who might not sign waivers to appear on the show. Also for TV purposes, they have to have enough room for cameras and lights and crew to surround the table. They don't always show the name of the place long enough for viewers to see, which you'd think the establishment would want in return for agreeing to let them film there.

That one guest -- "we had to draw straws!" -- was something else. These guests definitely had history together, unlike other guests where you knew the producers put them together. The casting people just made a note to look for more lactose intolerant guests in the future. Eh, they didn't miss much with that treeless island or key. All they would be able to do is quickly have a meal without sun shade and then rush back. There has to be other beach locations if they insist on keeping having picnics. Are these guests even going to go snorkeling? One of the main reason, maybe THE main reason, to go to Cairns is to see the Great Barrier Reef. I think you have to fly to Sydney or Brisbane and then take a domestic flight to Cairns so it's a long way for Americans to go. Presumably they will see Sydney and maybe other cities in addition to Cairns. Tsarina really shredded the girl code. Her friend not only has to learn that she slept with Joao, she's going to see and hear it. Hookups and boatmances are going to happen, especially since the TV show encourages it. But why do they have to make it everyone's business, the way Aesha is gesturing and everyone is talking about it. Jason is right, not everyone needs to know. But this is a T show where one of the goals is to have hookups shown or talked about over and over.

Sure but if any of them get profit participation in their shows, and they may not if they are on a major network, they may not necessarily accede to all the WGA demands. That doesn't mean they wouldn't help out with the podcast but they might not necessarily agree, if they had a role in the decision, to give up profits so that the staff are better paid. Bill is no doubt protesting his privilege since he's towards the top of the food chain among entertainer. But he probably believes that he toiled for years to get where he is and that besides the hard work, he has some talent which deserves better compensation than the average WGA member. Also it should be noted that the most ambitious screenwriters will write and develop their own shows to pitch, will cultivate relationships with producers so that they can become show creators and show runners, owning a percentage of the show. So in that sense, screenwriting is kind of a lower-level, not entry level like gofers and production assistants but a stepping stone towards more lucrative roles in the industry. His attitude may be that the best and ambitious ones are able to move on to better roles such as producing and show running and if you're a screenwriter more than a couple of years, you're in the wrong profession because it's not meant to be a long-term job.

True but at least some of the writers are often standup comics themselves, who aren't as well known. If they performed the lines they wrote, they wouldn't be nearly as successful as Maher saying those jokes. Bill says the writers are getting screwed by streamers but he's not willing to give up some of his profits to them either. How many of us in his position would say differently?

Bill came up as a writer but now he's a producer. If the writers got more money in a union deal, the costs for his show would go up so he probably gets a percentage of profits and thus, he'd get less if the writers get more.

To her credit, I don't think she played the "I got a text from Luke, the guy who tried to rape me, and it was unsettling" card with either Aesha or Jason. May have been filmed just days after the incident with Luke so maybe it as still fresh to all of them. Yeah they made a whole production out of the little date Culver set up for Jaimee, who then mocks him for the card in her TH -- she pointed out that he's 30. But Harry mocked him too so maybe the Aussies don't get these romantic gestures. Or at least the ones set up on reality TV. I think if something serious went down with that guest, they might not have aired footage of him at all. Or maybe of that particular charter. But either they'd seen their friend go through it before or they were obligated to finish out the charter so that they could film the episode. Serious enough that he had to go home though.

Calgary to Dublin, newlyweds moving to Ireland to connect with his side of the family, though he has a job lined up so it may be about his career too. She is giving her job up in media (TV?) but will take this opportunity to go back to school near the center of Dublin. $1900 budget, he wants city center and modern, she wants Irish charm, the usual setup in HHI. However, the wife is chirpy, quick with one-liners. She really does want the charm, from her comments, which aren't the usual canned remarks you see on HHI. First property is $100 below their $1900 budget. It's tiny but in the best location, closest to her school. Second property is a Mews property, a former stable converted and full of charm. She loves it but it's $200 above and she doesn't want to go over budget since she's not contributing income. However, she says for the charm she's willing to go over budget. Third property is residential, almost suburban. Most spacious and on budget. But no pubs nearby for him and no Irish charm plus longest commute to school so they both eliminate it. She tries to push for the Mews apartment but he's saying their visitors would have to go through their bedroom to get to the only bathroom. How many people do they plan to host in these tiny 1 bed, 1 bath apartments? He also wants the pub life and she likes the short commute so they agree. Turns out they don't really cook and like to go out a lot.

So it was Malta, wasn't sure at first. Really the other couple, who were younger, wanted a foursome? Or they just wanted to have sex in the presidential suite? Paul and Ally had just ended their dry spell. Foursome might have led to some drama between the two. So Paul and Ally are in the last phases of parenthood and Luke just blundered into his. They are going to have more issues about him unilaterally turning down the Manchester deal, not just the two of them but with Paul and Ally.

Bill Maher and Joe Rogan debate Biden v. Trump. Found better link to video long with text excerpts. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/joe-rogan-bill-maher-trump-biden-1235581529/

Maybe they will try to concoct a fake scandal like VPR, to generate some hype. With Kathryn gone who’s going to bring the screaming, fakeness and racism?

Just as the Baron settled into a boring domestic existence, the vampires have succumbed to the banality of modern life, though for Nadja that could include exploring the swingers culture while Nandor doesn’t quite get that Panera Bread is utterly not unique, not realizing that it’s a chain with hundreds of locations and it’s one chain out of hundreds offering similar fast casual fare. Instead of merciless and unsentimental predators, they develop fondness or have favorites, with a pecking order in their social circle, just like the humans they disdain. So they can play mean girls to the guide and Colin Robinson, instead of the unapologetic butchers image that vampires are suppose to project. So now, Nadja likes to hang out with the Antipaxos community, even though they don’t appear to be swingers. The show could continue to ply the fish out of water theme about these eternal creatures now being relegated to utterly mundane and stultifying Staten Island but the cast may be bored. These roles have to be their most successful ones and they obviously have fans in Hollywood so they can insert more guest appearances by celebrities if they continue. As long as they can keep bringing the funny.

So they had Luka in the can so to speak, because he was going to be on BDM. And Adam wasn't bringing the drama so they made the call up.