millennium

I think it's a career move for her. In my eyes, he'll always be the attention whore who from day one tried to piss people off just so he'd get camera time. Others have done that, true, but they at least bring something else to the party, like they're funny or great competitors, whatever. Devin is/was a one-trick pony. I think the way he has ingratiated himself with Tori, etc., is part of the reason he keeps getting asked back.

I'm Bananas for the win. Jordan doesn't want it enough. Kyland is a colossal, overrated bore. I've never cared much for Derek, but he's better than having Cory around.

Not sure if anyone has brought this up yet, but the "lost season" of The Challenge, Season 14, Inferno 3, "the season MTV didn't want you to see" is now available on Paramount Plus. I just discovered it the other day. It was like finding a long-lost work of art. Season 14 lands just about on the dividing line between Era 1 and Era 2. Cast members include CT, Kenny, Bananas, Danny, Timmy, Aneesa, Evelyn, Rachel, Jenn, Janelle, Alton, Tonya, Susie, Paula and a couple others, including a vet I can't mention without spoiling. I've watched a few episodes. There have been shouting matches, cat fights, pushy-shoveys between some of the guys, physical violence, etc. An excellent way to cleanse the palate after Season 40.

I was doing something the other day and turned on the TV for background noise. It happened to be on E and they were showing a marathon of House of Villains Season Two. I watched about ten minutes before I began feeling terribly embarrassed for Wes as he tried to be relevant in a poorly scripted production that is little more than a shouting match between drag queens and diva-types I've never heard of. He was being the Wes we all know, but the chemistry of the show wasn't right for it. He was a bad fit.

Don't care what anybody says, Tori's head went underwater long before Cara Maria gave up. Tori's close association with Devin is having the effect I thought it would: I'm really starting to dislike her. Sorry to see Cara's game end. It never really got going this season. She was sitting there all season putting this plug in that hole trying to get the engine to turn over but it just didn't. The "Cara and Paulie" storyline died on the vine, the "Cara vs. Laurel" storyline was less than galvanizing, and the "Old Cara motivates Current Cara" storyline didn't bear fruit, either. Sick of Michele again. I'm hoping she gets a Georgia-like comeuppance ("Is Bear here?") in the final. Bananas is the only one I'm enjoying this season, and not even that much. Jordan seems checked out, more interested in being a race car driver than a Challenger. It's apparent he's after the money and is just going through the motions. I wouldn't mind seeing Jenny or Rachel win the final. Jenny especially, considering she's battling asthma all through the challenges yet retains a great attitude.

He's a guy. Period. I'm really surprised Sam didn't win. He deserved nothing (although his entitlement told him otherwise). All he had at tribal council was his sports announcer stream of bullshit. And fake crying. But Gabler won with even less. Generally speaking, men prefer to vote for men and women do not like to vote for women. I really thought Rachel was going to be Cassidy 2.0. So glad to be wrong.

I wonder if Challenge USA will be calling him. He's a jerk, but The Challenge is lately short on supply of that particular commodity. (Don't tell me who won Season 40, I'm still about six episodes behind!)

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I see no reason to watch this show without Joe and Mika. (Or more recently, with Joe and Mika -- see Disclaimer below.) Jonathan Lemire and Willie Geist are two of the most milquetoast cable news personalities I have ever seen. B-O-R-I-N-G. It's exactly because of the likes of Jonathan Lemire and Willie Geist that the show needs Joe and Mika. His self-importance, her incompetence ... they outshine the dim bulbs surrounding them. Katty Kay, Mike Barnicle, Jon Meacham, David Ignatius ... ugh. Morning Joe without Joe and Mika would be like the Love Boat with just the guest stars. A rudderless ship. A cruise to nowhere. The show needs its Captain Stubing and Julie. * Disclaimer: Notwithstanding the above, Joe and Mika have demonstrated that they are feckless opportunists -- they have no feck, no feck at all. For this reason, they no longer deserve our time or attention. The show should be put to sleep (which is ironic, considering it's a show people wake up to).

I'm convinced Andy is a narcissistic sociopath. He'll be whoever he needs to be in the moment, without empathy or regret for his victims and choices. He is devoid of any quality that would make me like him.

IMO, no one on the show deserved a dime. The final three was a poor group to have to choose from. There were no Punkin standout moments (and I hate having to actually say Punkin), Therron was a screaming drama queen and very entitled, and Nick was a walking premature midlife crisis. To be honest, the show demanded very little from the players. I bet on any weekend, those slopes are filled with New Zealand families climbing to the top. That last stretch to the summit looked easier than some kiddie slopes I've seen. But I agree -- Jeannie and Amy voted for the only white male. It seemed they would rather give the money to a backstabber than a gay black man or a black woman (who is also gay, though I'm not sure the others knew it). Oh, and the way Amy faked out Punkin at the end, making her think she was going to get the money ... that was just sick.

What is the deal with women who say "oh, you betrayed me, you hurt me, you lied to me, I'm 56 years old and you crushed my last chance at realizing my dreams for me and my family ... so I'm going to give you an extra $250,000." Jeanie AND Amy. Nick looked right at Jeanie and said "I always intended to bring you to the summit" (right up til the moment I decided not to) and she swallowed it whole!

Nope, that's what mediaite is for.

Let's keep the schadenfreude going. From Steve Schmidt: https://steveschmidt.substack.com/p/morning-fear-at-morning-joe?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

I would also recommend this: Joe Scarborough as the new Ted Cruz. How often has Scarborough lambasted Cruz for bowing to Trump after Trump ridiculed his wife?

I just watched the 20-minute rant ... well, the first 15 minutes at least. That's all I could stand. Having been away from the show for almost a month, I have become verbose intolerant. It was like an infomercial by a cheating husband. I cheated for the good of our marriage! Where do you get off being hurt or upset? I'm not the villain here. I was just trying to do right by you. I thought you were mature enough to understand that. Instead you're all "boo-hoo, my husband betrayed me." Grow up! You have no justification -- none! -- for being hurt or upset. My God, has the whole world lost its mind? In his all-caps voice, Scarborough threw David Frum under the bus and offered his "very dear friend" a non-apology: "I'm sorry if I made David uncomfortable ..." He ridiculed George Conway complete with a mocking George Conway "voice." He fell back on a false distinction between campaign Trump and President Trump -- "we said he was sounding like a fascist, and he did -- during the campaign!" He confused himself with actual reporters, imagining some parallel universe where he's called out of bed at night to confer off-the-record with world leaders. He channeled Mental Geller when insisting he would run the show "the way I want to because it's my show!" "MY SHOW!" In Scarborough's world view, all of his critics, including people he sees at Thanksgiving, are wrong and he and Mika are the true victims. To make his point, Scarborough said he called the news desks of the New York Times, the Washington Post AND David Frum's own employer The Atlantic to ask if THEY would ever publish what Frum said! He also tried to insert a big hmmm by noting he invited David Frum to come back and discuss, and Frum said he'd be here today, and he was supposed to be here today, because he told us he'd be here today, but obviously he's not here today, and now he's saying he'll be here on Friday when I'll be on assignment talking to Bill Clinton and unable to discuss this whole matter with David Frum. Everybody -- everybody! -- criticizing them for Mika's on-air apology (which by the way was NOT an apology, NOT an apology) or who says their fearful visit to the the Court of Maralago (which was NOT fearful, I am NOT fearful, ask anybody at the network if I am fearful, go on, ask, I dare you) was a betrayal of their viewers, well, all of this is their fault. He could have saved everybody 20 minutes and just posted his screed on Truth Social. It would have been right at home.