astrohip

Jeff has said it's back for this season.

Nah, I'm out. Too much American Auto, not enough Superstore. I'm glad they aired back to back eps, as I like to give new sitcoms a couple of shows to see if it grows on me. This saved me from having to wait a week to kill the SP. Superstore was offbeat people, but close enough to reality that it almost made sense, with some biting wit. They were just big box store peons, and they were mostly doing their best. You could almost imagine a store actually being run that way. American Auto was ridiculous (IMHO). Those people were running a car manuf, yet they had the common sense of a turnip. It was the wackiness of Superstore, turned up to 11, and made no sense to me. There was zero chance any business like that would exist. And that's why St. Denis is closer to AA than SS. No hospital runs that poorly, No nurse doesn't know how to use an Epipen. No admin is the one actually overseeing equip installs. It was ridiculous, and every scene took me out of the moment. Maybe if one person was that loony, it would add icing to the cake. But when they're all that far out, it's all icing, and no substance. And the shame is, I like every one of the actors. Really like some of them. But the writing... 🤷‍♂️ There was a reason Superstore lasted six seasons, and AA was two short seasons (10,13).

Survivor is doing quite well, still a top-rated reality show. This is the 47th season, and they've already been renewed thru at least 50 seasons!

We've made it to the end of the second season. I thought there was a significant improvement in the stories in the back half of S2. Fingers crossed we get an S3. As Christmas approaches, Frasier enlists the entire gang to help Alan reunite with his estranged daughter and meet his new grandchild.

I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that an open container is illegal everywhere in the US. There are exceptions (trunk, locked up, limousine, etc), but in general, you can't have an open container anywhere. Otherwise it's too easy to evade DWI be pouring it out when you get stopped.

Not everyone is a Vegan for the same reasons. Our son was Vegan, but it was 100% health/diet related. While he's not a hunter or anything, it wasn't about killing or not killing animals. He just felt healthier not eating anything animal-ish. He changed his diet about a year ago, and now will also eat seafood (fish, shrimp, etc). But that's it. Not a religion, just a health nut. I also think it's easy to say "I would never have surrendered a core part of my very being for a reality show and have eaten the chicken wings" when you're sitting at home. Try not eating for two weeks and see how you feel. I got the distinct impression Kyle really really didn't want to do it, but when asked why later, he simply said "I'm hungry". Hungry people do a lot of things they normally wouldn't do.

Money. 100% money. I've never seen a hit show where the producers squeeze the actors this tight. Remember a few seasons ago, they were gonna cancel this until the leads agreed to take a pay cut. How often does that happen? This is the only show where regular, recurring characters are still considered "guest stars". Only Frank, Danny, Pops, Erin, and Jamie are the actual leading stars. Everyone else, including Eddie, Abigail, Garrett, and all the rest, even Baez and Anthony, are paid as secondary actors. Even Baez! And as a result, many of them don't appear every episode. Bottom line: Joe Jr won't appear unless he's necessary to the story line. $$$$$$$ 🤬

Ok, I'm missing something here. It seemed to me, after they talked to Roylin in the Embassy, that she made it seem like the PM's wife is involved. She didn't say it overtly, but she pretty directly hinted at it. But then after that, they all left thinking it was the PM. Did I read something into this that's not there? I'm off to watch E3 now, maybe they address it. Remember, no spoilers beyond E2 in this thread. In fact, you don't need to respond at all, I'll hopefully finish tomorrow, and can discuss in the finale thread.

I guess it comes down to whether you believe the show is rigged or not. CBS & Jeff are adamant that this show is legit, and they never make a decision to help or hinder an individual player. He keeps talking about how the show is laid out before it starts, and they follow the plan. They know when every idol/advantage is going to be rolled out, and what each challenge will be, and how it will be held. There is also a CBS S&P person there 24/7, just to make sure everything's legit. So I think most of us believe the show is fair to all, or maybe better said, unfair to all. If you think it's rigged, or the producers step in at times, or push one person ahead or behind another, then that's what you think. Most of us would say (to use your words) "you need a tin foil hat". But you can choose what to believe, even if you're wrong. Sierra, from her exit interview: Andy had just eaten at the merge reward. I definitely I let him slip through the cracks, and I am getting all of these comments: “Why did you not share the chocolate with Andy?” Things like that, which ultimately I have a whole explanation for that. They didn't show why I randomly chose Gabe and Caroline to share the chocolate with. [Interviewer] I assumed that was because they got screwed on the auction items that they picked. Was that it? They did, and they both haven't eaten at all. Gabe didn't have the barbecue reward, the merge feast, none of that. And I felt like I didn't have that connection with Tuku members yet. So I was like, “Let me try to build different alliances.” And I felt pretty good with Andy. I was like, “He's not going to turn on me. I'm not sharing chocolate with him. He just ate. He got food already.” Yes, the rules allow you to stack your idols and immunities. She could have played her idol if she wanted, immediately after the SitD was revealed. Additionally, having, or not having, a vote doesn't affect any of this. Here's why she did it, repeating what others have said above. She was worried that she was the target, even though her "allies" had said she wasn't. Remember, she was the target last week. So she played her SitD, to see the reactions. If it failed (which it did), and several players had shown signs of relief (as in: good, we can still vote her out), then she would have played her idol. But since everyone's reaction was more like "why did she do that?", she knew she was safe, and kept her Immunity Idol, also known as a French frIdol. And it's still a secret from everyone else.

You don't give them enough. Back when I was running a business, about twenty years ago, we had to report every hire to the state (in this case, TX). We went online and reported name, SS#, and a few other tidbits. We also had to photocopy their Drivers License and SS card. The state used this info for several things, including looking for child support deadbeats. They also sent the info to the Feds (as I think every other state does). If any info doesn't match up, they informed us. Could be a dead person's SS#, could be name & SS# don't match, could be SS# doesn't exist, yada yada. If we were notified, we let the person know, so they could rectify it. Sometimes it was an honest mistake and got fixed, most times they quit because... well, they got caught. This doesn't mean fraud never occurs. Fake DL, buying valid SS#s, whatever. But there is a system in place to catch the obvious or dumb ones. And this was 20 years ago. I imagine they've gotten better at it.

The food was set out by Jeff (under a cover) before anyone started bidding. They had no way to know who was going to win it. No optics at all.

When Olivia hosts a surprise murder mystery party, Frasier tries everything he can to get himself and his date out of the evening's festivities.

I'm out. On a scale of Veep to Avenue 5, this is 80% A5. I can see the satire and biting wit they're going for, but whereas in Veep it hit home, and seemed organic to the show, here it's just forced. Scenes are ridiculous, not funny. It's a shame, it's not a bad concept, but the writing doesn't come close to holding its end up. I quit halfway thru E5. SP deleted.

We could also have Vernee Johnson guest star as a nurse. That would give her seven Chuck Lorre TV shows.

Meh, I'm out. It's too maudlin for me, and not very funny. I liked Reba as a recurring and occasional guest on Young Sheldon. But I never watched Reba, is this what it was like? Emmett the cook (happens to be Reba's real life boyfriend) is the only character worth watching, the waiter Takoda isn't bad either. But the rest are just cliches. I like Melissa Peterman, but her character is written like a joke. And the accountant for the bar, the OCD guy, sits at the bar all day? Just lazy writing. I think the half-sister Isabella is miscast. She brings no personality to the role. I gave it three episodes. Done.