Rickster

I’ve seen a few episodes of this and overall, I like it. My biggest complaint is that it is a wee bit over-produced for my taste, with the music especially annoying. I like that it is not a flat out competition with weird last minute twists, like most of the FN baking shows and that the bakers have a chance to put out high quality work (or at least most of them do).

Worst performance by a Chaser in the history of the show, in my opinion (and I think I’ve seen almost all the GSN shows in reruns). I did think Ken got some difficult questions in the final chase. I’ve always wondered why they increase the head start with more finalists in the final chase, too. I had sort of convinced myself that the intent was for the contestants to think more like a team in the one on one with the chaser, and not crash and burn by going for the higher offer.

All that has been divulged is that it will be a different cast of characters at a different resort in the White Lotus chain.

Apparently, season two is not necessarily set in Hawaii.

I would say we sort of enjoyed it, compared to other streaming movies available lately, especially on HBO (an admittedly low bar). We liked the world building, even if it didn’t entirely hold together. However, the story was overlong and repetitive; and I think fatally, Jackman came across as a weak unsympathetic character as the lead. Newton (now credited as Thandiwe) did a better job in a smaller part. I blame the script for a lot of this.

We thought it seemed like the blades were spinning a bit slower on the first one.

I suppose people may have different tolerances for the hosts, but the Food Network is showing a somewhat similar series, “Bobby and Giada in Italy”, where Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentis travel around Italy eating. The second of two episodes in Rome is tonight. Next week is Tuscany. I actually thought their first episode in Rome was more enjoyable than Stanley’s in some ways.

I can see where older ninjas are aging out, but I don’t think the answer is replacing them with 16 year olds. I wonder if its due to covid eliminating the walk-ons and regional competitions that made them open it up to their known quantitities of ninja jrs. I’d rather see new competitors in their 20’s. I also wonder whether adolescence is going to turn out to be the sweet spot, combining strength, speed and flexibility before competitors mature and put on more weight, to do well on ninja courses and we’ll see it dominated by teens in the future.

It was interesting that unlike most patients, NC guy did not mention the town he was from (unless I missed it at the very beginning of the show). I was really curious where all the crazy people lived.

Interesting interview in the NY Times about the show with the actor who played Shane. (May be behind a paywall) Jake Lacey Says Aloha To The White Lotus

An eerily similar real life situation that might have inspired Shane’s plotline, but this guy may potentially be charged with manslaughter (it was a foreign country though) Banker May Be Extradited To Anguilla

I’m not sure he would face repercussions like jail time, but I also don’t think an investigation into killing someone he had such open conflicts with would be wrapped up so quickly. I thought this series was very uneven. I thought the actor playing Armand was terrific and I liked the Shane/Rachel story and actors. On the other hand, I found anything involving the Mossbachers and Tanya to be a complete waste of time. Besides that, I did enjoy the Hawaiian choral music.

It seems every season there’s one show that focuses a bit too much on Joe and Rob, and for me that was this one this season, plus I didn’t think they were up to their usual humor level. I noticed even the woman who missed on the Polecano zipline did better than other contestants this season and wondered if something was tweaked on it this show.

I loved watching the players walk out from the corn, but I thought Fox botched it a bit. I would have liked to see wave after wave of players appear, but Fox kept changing camera angles - aerial view, following the back of Aaron Judge through the corn, etc. Sort of ruined the effect for me. Not the way a movie director would have done it.

They need to make sure there’s an unidentified dead body in episode 1 to keep viewership up.

I will admit that I am clueless about careers and money potential in track and field, but it would be a mistake to think there is security in an NFL career. Contracts are generally not guaranteed and most players careers are only a couple of years, even without severe injuries. Of course maybe they make more in a couple of years than a lifetime in track.

They did. I saw an Australian winner and anthem very early on, and I can remember hearing the weird ROC Tchaikovsky piece more than once. But in fairness to NBC, I think in recent Olympics they have tried to downplay the nationalism (for everyone)a bit. I can remember when every broadcast ended with the Star Spangled Banner. Regarding Mike Tirico’s ancestry, I might tactfully suggest the photo his mother showed him of her husband might not be the same as showing him a picture of his father.

Thanks! I took the line to mean strip down and jump in the river, didn’t notice a change in Linda’s hair.

My number one complaint as well. Plus you often never knew when in 6 hours of coverage the event you wanted to see would be shown. It did occur to me at some point in these Olympics that NBC, being owned by Comcast, might not be fully motivated to create a great online streaming resource for coverage that draws people away from cable TV coverage.

Just saw the first episode last night. Thought the approach to the story intriguing and entertaining (have never read the source material). One thing bothered me though. When Fanny and Linda go to Oxford for lunch, we have the scene where they watch everyone bathing in the river at the university. In the next scene, they are in the rooms for lunch. Fanny has a completely different haircut !(and different from her hair in all the previous scenes) Did she get it cut on her way to lunch? Is it an odd directorial choice? Or did I just miss something?

Actually, the Jessica Long commercial also predates the Olympics and debuted at the Superbowl. Toyota might have kept it on the shelf since then though.

Red Sox ownership is probably too busy spending money on Liverpool football to get Joe a Premier League Championship. Maybe he’s over there getting the team ready for the upcoming season.

There’s an article in today’s New York Times that hints that the Chinese are planning more draconian covid restrictions that we saw in Japan. The IOC is refusing to discuss publicly. Although I suppose if the pandemic fades by next year they may not have to be used. The surfing in Tahiti seems a crazy solution, when it seems there is decent surfing in Portugal (based on the HBO documentary I saw) nearby. I guess without some flexibility, the need to provide a surfing venue could really limit the cities/countries that could hold the Olympics.

One other thing that requires a certain suspension of disbelief on my part is the relationship between Greg and Tanya. Not that something might develop over time, but someone like Greg would be hanging out at the bar looking for someone younger, thinner and less ….complicated. I figured in the last episode he was setting up some sort of scam, but this week it seems less likely.

In my recent experience, there’s been pretty decent coverage of dressage and jumping in the last several Olympics, at least since they expanded Olympic coverage to several channels and have been looking for events to fill air time. Maybe there was a little more promotion of it this year due to her participation.