Lantern7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdJ_iJwDQNg Word of warning about the commercial for the finale . . . there's a shot of sixteen people on the Big Mat with Phil, so it can be a bit of a spoiler if you squint hard enough. ETA: This is "Reality Remix," where Jeff from TAR16 goes over moments from TAR and Survivor. I had to look up his name . . . I tend to black out on Big Brother alumni.

"Tonight, on Rivals III . . . " So far, so good. I'm only really focused on two people: the girl who's from my neck of the woods (Nicole) and the guy I share a name with (Jason). They both seem normal . . . Nicole seems to be a chill lesbian who will never appear on a Challenge because she's too normal (see: Arielle). Jason looks normal so far, but his Skeletons look to be huge. BTW, you think the folks that are brought in appreciate being called "Skeletons"? Seems kind of nasty to me. The rest of the cast? Pretty standard hardcore idjits that tend to blur together. Bruno looks to be a bigger brute type than Tony/Tommy, so telling the white guys apart is a snap. Violetta and Sylvia are a little tougher, mostly because I don't really give a crap about them at this point. Madison is blonde and from The South, so she's easy to pick out of a crowd. Oh, and she's had guns put to her face. Hard to forget a detail like that. Seriously, why can't I quit this show? They don't have the "true story" intro anymore, and there's no cute dogs to distract from the psychotic. I guess I'm a sucker for moments like Bruno/Jason/Nicole taking a 45-minute walk to the supermarket that's a mere stone's throw arrive from the place where they live. Any guesses as to how the extra rooms will be formed when the Skeletons come a-callin'? Not like BMP can send them away on vacation two weeks into their tour of duty.

From Reality Blurred: the concept for S30.

That would be Holly/"Hollywick", who wouldn't share with Coral. I think she won enough prizes with Theo to take the sting out of it.

I figured that with Extreme Challenge getting covered, we could shine a spotlight on BMP's first foray into elimination rounds: the original Battle Of The Seasons. I think the turning point for how good the season would become came when Lori was unable to partner with Mike due to 9/11. Her replacement? Mike's main adversary-turned-ally, Coral. Everything after that was icing on the cake. Sure, you had a flawed scoring system, which kept six pairs in the game for more than half the season. There was the collusion fest, where everybody made deals with everyone else in spreading the wealth, to the point where BMP closed that loophole in Battle Of The Sexes. And you had psychos on both Real World and Road Rules sides, like Slappy Stephen. And god-bothering couple Chadwick & Holly. And Belou, everyone's favorite Dutch import, who coined the phrase "bishes" for viewers. But even with a hurricane thrown into the mix, it was still a stellar season. Future Congressman Sean took enough time off from impregnating his wife Rachel in order to top the Real World pairs with Elka. Danny & Kelley shocked audience members by staying in the game. Timmy and Theo started a "bromance" of sorts that was never built upon in subsequent Challenges (though there would be shout-outs to each other). And there was the time where Mike lost a mission on his 21st birthday, got piss drunk, and tried to hurt himself in the fakest way possible. Still, even when you factor in stuff like Mike's busted-ass Rock impression (set to Remy Zero's "Save Me," the theme song to Smallville) and the Inner Circle drama that paid off immediately with the eliminations of Veronica & Yes (fourth-best Road Rules team after the first mission) and Jon & Beth (the latter being tagged "Osama Beth Laden" by Norman, bless his heart), it was still a season to remember . . . particularly Real World's upset win over Road Rules, where Mike solved a Hanoi Tower puzzle (like he saw a woman naked, according to Coral) to lead his team to victory. Anybody else have memories to share?

Repost . . . because this is the only poster of The Colbert Report that I ever made .. . I don't remember when the episode originally aired, but I was in the audience on that day.

Preview of the finalist montage from the opening credits. Warning: epic slo-mo loogie hocking! And is it bad that I still can't remember which Twinnie is which? ETA: Natalie: Left nostril piercing. Gotta remind myself of that . . . though I'm hoping she makes F3, and Nadiya fills her place at the reading of the votes. Aside from the most eagle-eyed viewers, who would notice?

Scattered thoughts about what I'm expecting at the Reunion: Precious little time with the winner. We have four women and an older man known for his spitting vying for the $1 million. No way does Probst spend much time with the winner. If Natalie wins, Probst probably won't ask her and Nadiya about The Amazing Race. Lots of Twitter filler. Probst sent up a video asking for submissions about what the show means to viewers. He will go back to that well again and again. John Rocker: Not a bad guy. I'd be surprised if he gets less than five minutes. It might be one of the few times we get to see the Twinnies get to talk, since -- IIRC -- they said he was cool. Oh, and Julie gets ignored by herself, because she's a filthy, filthy quitter. She'll talk about how she's not a nutjob for liking John, but we won't get any questions about her. The contestants will be separated into couples, like the original BvW. All the better for Probst to ignore, say, Dale & Kelley. I also figure he'll pass on Val and Drew. I'm putting the over/under on passed over contestants at 4 1/2. If I recall correctly, the only person ignored in BvW1 was Gervase's niece . . . but since this season mostly stunk, Probst is probably going to skip a lot of people. Cochran will show up begging for a job now that The Millers has been canceled. Just kidding . . . but could you imagine? And I'm going to go with Natalie getting the big check on Wednesday. Go, Twinnie!

From YouTube: A look at the medical team. Includes lots of roughhousing, behind-the-scenes footage, and most of the eleven "evacuations" . . . which, out of an estimated 450 contestants, isn't too shabby. Probst narrates and he gets a little too into it, but it's a good clip anyway. ETA: Is the Survivor Hall of Fame still a thing? Just wanted to know, so I can bitch about inductees.

Extreme Challenge. .. aka "I Think Something's Wrong With Julie." I mean, RW9 had indicators, but the Challenge made me turn against her. Memories? There was the James/Rebecca "showmance," the pre-recorded "clues" from past and present cast members, Christian rocking the roller derby and tightrope missions, Christian getting beat up by Ayanna for saying a word nobody's supposed to say, Ayanna getting kicked out and replaced by Susie (back when she was a good girl), and the disgusting fetish mission . . . albeit with Dan Renzi as Sigfried and Syrus as a white tiger. Oh, and there was the mission that turned into such a clusterfuck that Judge Mills Lane ("Let's get it on!!!") had to get involved. I know I'm remembering other stuff, but that's the bulk of it, dude.

Anybody want to take a stab at how the "previously" segment will go down on Friday? I'm thinking we start off with the NYC start, then go into the Realtors/Firefighters skirmishes, as well as Nici's breakdown at the Pit Stop. I also figure we'll get Tim & Te Jay's struggle on the pole, the one Firefighter's swollen ankle, and Amy smacking into the car. As for individual segments (in alphabetical order): Dentists: They started off with a leg win, then they wound up finishing last and tried handing in their Save. No scary Jim moments, but we'll see them struggle with tasks, which doesn't take away from their four other leg wins. Scientists: Struggle, struggle, struggle, and the massage Detour, because the producers are cruel like that. After seeing Amy almost keel over at the last Pit Stop, we'll be reminded that they're still in the game, and we'll get Maya running a lap and/or proclaiming how much she loves the show. Surfers: I know they haven't run the race like Kris & Jon, but I think they won't have a flaw shown in their segment, just like the TAR6 couple. Phil won't mention how Bethany has "single-handedly" stayed in the game, because he's not a total asshole . .. but he will say that the Surfers have managed to "hang ten" in their quest for a million bucks. Wrestlers: Lowlight after lowlight, with lots of complaining from Brooke. Yadda yadda yadda, managed to hang on and (miraculously) win the last leg. Oh, and we'll see Brooke drop the elbow on the thing of hay (or whatever she was carrying), because she's a wrestler. That's all I got. Oh, and I think there will only be three Roadblock/final task stations in the end, and the last team to arrive automatically goes to the Finish Line to cheer on the remaining teams.

. . . and here's a preview of the third issue. I'm on the fence on whether I'm going to continue with the series, and I'm contemplating dropping Doctor Who Magazine, especially since I seem to gravitate towards looking at the comics and little else.

LittleKuriboh's abridged series counts, doesn't it? Here's "- FENG SHUI NO JUTSU~!" which snuck up on me by at least three weeks. Lots of cursing is involved, so tread carefully.

I got the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly; they gave Skeletons a C-minus. ETA for anybody who's interested: the season premiere is slated to run for 70 minutes on Tuesday. I don't know . . . because MTV, that's why.

Maharincess . . . I don't think the dollies were available at the Roadblock. I also thought Jim and Amy would be penalized for using them, but it looked like there wasn't any rule against it.

I think stuff outside the season counts. Otherwise, you could've made a case for Jamie Chung, who seldom took the spotlight in RW: San Diego. Judd wound up coming a cartoonist/comic book writer, adapting Pedro's story to graphic novel (Pedro & Me; not exploitive and a must-read), and he married Pam. I can understand Judd turning some people off, but I never thought he was especially bad and/or dull.

Looks like I was one-for-two, prediction-wise. I would not have believed in a final four finale, even if Phil is going to eliminate a team halfway through the leg. Assuming this week's leg counts as legit, as oppose to being part of a mega-leg, here are the leg-placement averages (with adjusted average in parentheses): 2.64 (2.33) Misti & Jim 2.82 (2.56) Adam & Bethany 4.09 (4.11) Brooke & Robbie 4.82 (4.78) Amy & Maya Still feels like a case of "racers vs. race-nots," even with the Wrestlers' win. The front-to-back ratios also confirm that: Adam & Bethany: 8/3 = 2.67 Misti & Jim: 7.5/3.5 = 2.14 Amy & Maya: 4/7 = 0.57 Brooke & Robbie: 4/7 = 0.57 If the Dentists win: They will have won six legs, and they would be the obvious team to win. If the Surfers win: It'll be a rare case of a fan favorite team winning. They are no polls on CBS.com, but I'm assuming Adam & Bethany gained fans along the way. If the Wrestlers win: It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, though I'm assuming there would be a line to slap Brooke for being an ugly American. If the Scientists win: It'll be as big an upset as the Beekman Boys winning two years ago. Amy & Maya may not have been inept, but they have lagged behind most of the way.

Holy crap. I was expecting a "race right away" leg, but a non-elimination leg to boot? Damn, show, I don't even know you anymore. It was a case of "Last Mistake Loses" . . . you think Robbie would torpedo himself and Brooke by not following the posted instructions, but then Adam and Jim do the same thing. And then Amy makes two mistakes: not reading the instructions and almost dying. I can't believe the Scientists are still in the game. My mother insists they have a shot, even though my math says otherwise. They're nice (nicer than Brooke, anyway), but they've been lagging behind the entire race. Maya's adrenaline can only take her and Amy so far. I think the Wrestlers getting first place means that Hell will freeze over. Despite Brooke's nagging, they managed to pull past the other teams. I don't know if this counts as a leg win, though, since they didn't get a prize for winning. I suppose making the final three against most of the odds makes up for it. The ideal final leg would've had the Cyclists, Dentists and Surfers racing for the million bucks. And who's Robbie to talk shit about the Dentists? Jim looks like more of a wrestler than Brooke or Robbie. Y'all think Bethany scored any points at all? At least she can inbound and pass it off to her "bebeh." I guess it was a better option to play hoops than to ride a bike with one arm. I'm still rooting for those two, even with their overwhelming faith. Seriously, I've read Bethany's book . . . as a teenager, she had more faith in God and Jesus than I will ever have in anything, and that was after she lost an arm to a shark. Normally, believing that much in God is a negative, but I can't help but pull for them. So I take it 100/70 blood pressure isn't good? Then It looked like Maya needed to be revived when Phil told her and Amy the good news. I think that if they don't win, they've clinched a berth to another season on Maya's enthusiasm alone. I mean, if Caroline & Jennifer could be invited back for TAR24 . .. Not much to save about the Dentists. Screw Robbie, they're the odds-on favorites to win. For the record: I vote "no" on Blind Detours, unless the tasks are close to each other. I do like the idea of an F4 final leg, as well as a "keep racing" from Phil, which kinda/sorta resembles the envelope hunt from TAR8, where Phil would have been.

I don't remember that. Was that on the "never seen" DVD? I wound up tracking it down and saw it exactly once. It's funny how David doesn't seem that bad compared to recent seasons, but he was so ridiculous, what with the ego trips, the singing/rapping/scatting, and the sexual conquests. Remember when he was producing the cable access show, and the girls (and Danny) were making fun of him in the car? Or the time Julie did an impressive impersonation of him, capping it off with "woo woo"? Good times.

From Stop Being Polite: Ranking the last ten seasons of RW. Personally, I would've ranked Portland higher thanks to Daisy, but I supposed Nia balanced her.

You and Kyle both. He looked legit surprised when PewDiePie showed up. Seriously, what's the lesson for the episode/season? That Cartman doesn't care if he get bad attention? We already knew that. One reason to rewatch: check out the Twitter handles. Lots of references dropped from past seasons. Also, notice how Angelina Jolie is scratching herself, like she did at the end of "Lice Capades."

From MTV: Meet the Cast. Nice that they're using the same music from Ex-Plosion. It looks like "This is a true story . . . " is dated.

So . . . who ya got winning? For the heck of it, I have Natalie beating Missy & Baylor. I also figure that Probst has his work cut out for him at the reunion, because we're not dealing with a great cast. Minimum, Dale and Kelley will be ignored, while we get a "Rocker isn't that bad, you guys!" segment.

Anybody else feel that the focus was scattered? Or maybe it's because I was expecting Mr. Hankey and I got PewDiePie instead. Or maybe I'm a Grandpa, unable to deal with the rampaging continuity. ETA: Seriously, this PewDiePie is a big deal? Then again, I'm the one that watches abridged versions of anime, so who am I to judge?

Apparently, Amy looks close to keeling over in commercials, to the point where Phil is urging her to get water at the Pit Stop. Maybe she and Maya have to drop out, an the fourth-place team manages to stay on for the final leg?