S02.E18: What's Cooking on Game Night

[Lisin]

 

Contestants play unique party games with celebrities Margaret Cho, Scott Wolf, Matthew Morrison, Martha Stewart, Mena Suvari and Curtis Stone.

Edited July 12, 2014 by yeswedo
added description

[TheOtherOne]

Wow, that was a roller coaster ride. After the first round I thought Amanda's team was so clearly inferior that Jacob was going to walk away with it...only to have his team become terrible in the letter and doo-doo rounds and seem to throw it away...only to have her team completely choke (and a couple of those songs were performed perfectly well and were easily guessable from where I was sitting). Geez. Martha Stewart was predictably terrible, but Suvari and Wolf were also dreadful.

 

I would have picked Margaret Cho for the final round, too, but she wasn't good at all (Star Wars for the first Neeson clue? Ouch). Not that contestant was all that great either (Bale took way too long).

 

Ugh. Not good, and not very fun to watch.

[opus]

For some reason, I really wanted to see a bowl of paper blow up into Martha Stewart's face.

[Actionmage]

I enjoyed this episode. I was thinking during the episode that there needs to be an episode with Martha Stewart and Tim Gunn on opposite couches. They are very game folks, but are kinda stiff when out of their element. That's what makes 'em enjoyable to me- they are still fab, just a bit more relatable.

 

"..the Chevy was dry..." Ah, Curtis Stone, that goes into wrongly quoted lyric heaven, like "'scuze me while I kiss this guy!"

 

I agree about the show being a roller coaster; still, Team Amanda kept it close all night. Block of Fame was insane in how both teams got stuck in vertical stacking. It was fun to see Home Sweets Home again. I felt dumb thinking the Junior Mints were Almond Joy drops. I liked this  group's approach to Four Letter Word, with the figuring out the word-> their letter-> passing with 'Letter X high/low' for the others. It helped some.

 

I was disappointed for Jacob; he and Margaret could've gotten the jackpot. Why not "I have a particular set of skills?" or Taken as a clue, but then again, I am in the home audience. Still, $9k more than you came in with is nice.

 

Anyone know for sure if it's just one more episode for season 2 or what?  

[peeayebee]

I would have picked Margaret Cho for the final round, too, but she wasn't good at all (Star Wars for the first Neeson clue? Ouch). Not that contestant was all that great either (Bale took way too long).

 

I would have picked Margaret, too, though I wasn't sure how she'd do. (I think Jacob took a while to pick someone because he didn't think any of them were particularly strong.) However, I disagree that Jacob was bad. Yes, he took a while to get Shatner and Bale, but he was extremely quick getting some other clues. Cho took the long way in giving clues. 

 

I felt dumb thinking the Junior Mints were Almond Joy drops.

I thought they were Hershey's Drops. 

 

There was poor game playing all around. I think I liked Cho and Scott Wolf the best.

[Sara2009]

I would've picked either Margaret Cho or Matt Morrison for the final round. I thought the latter especially did well in many of the games.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Sara2009

[Tara Ariano]

Anyone know for sure if it's just one more episode for season 2 or what?

 

EpGuides says there will be episodes on 7/17 and 7/24, at least.

[pivot]

Wow, that was a roller coaster ride. After the first round I thought Amanda's team was so clearly inferior that Jacob was going to walk away with it...only to have his team become terrible in the letter and doo-doo rounds and seem to throw it away...only to have her team completely choke (and a couple of those songs were performed perfectly well and were easily guessable from where I was sitting). Geez. Martha Stewart was predictably terrible, but Suvari and Wolf were also dreadful.

 

I would have picked Margaret Cho for the final round, too, but she wasn't good at all (Star Wars for the first Neeson clue? Ouch). Not that contestant was all that great either (Bale took way too long).

 

Ugh. Not good, and not very fun to watch.

 

I thought Suvari and Wolf saved their teams during the music game at the end. This was the first time I've liked Clueboom.

 

Martha was a dud this show.

 

I felt bad for Margaret Cho when she got Liam Neeson because she was trying to avoid saying his wife died. But that is always the first thing I think of when I hear Liam's name.

 

For the final game, it really seems that you need to do clues based on what movies the people were in and less about their personal life. I think that is faster. Had she said Pretty Woman for Julia Roberts and Top Gun for Tom Cruise that would have saved time.

 

But, I don't think I would have picked anyone else besides Cho for the final game because all the celebrities were pretty bad.

[Dewey Decimate]

Not a great showing on either team. At the end, I would have picked Matthew Morrison (didn't he win on a previous episode? or at least do quite well?) - even though it would be kinda awful to pick someone not from your team, I would have made up some baloney about how my mom looooves Glee and she'd die if I didn't pick him. He seems to know his pop culture, and also appears to not be the panicky type (crucial in that final round).

 

I know it's easier to play armchair quarterback from home, but some of those clues sucked ass. "Actress in Gravity" was an excellent one (current, and, uh, Sandra Bullock was the ONLY actress in it, right?), but like others have pointed out, why not go with iconic movies for Cruise, Roberts, and others? I haven't even seen the film, but the first thing I thought for Liam Neeson was Taken. And Taken 2, starring the incomparable Liam Neesons. You know who he should be in a movie with? Bruce Willies. That. Would. Be. My. SHIIIIIIIIII*explode*

[Kromm]

I honestly thought Mena Suvari was Nicole Richie until they introduced her.  

[rubaco]

I agree with those who said they would've gone with Matthew Morrison rather than Cho. I winced when she was chosen.

 

Maybe I'm easily amused but I really got a kick out of this episode. It cracked me up when they were trying to build Sean Hayes in the box game and kept screwing up. Then I laughed hard again during the "doo doo" game.

 

It's totally true that Scott Wolf never seems to age or change. Holy cow.

[MMLEsq]

Martha Stewart was predictably terrible, but Suvari and Wolf were also dreadful.

 

I would have picked Margaret Cho for the final round, too, but she wasn't good at all (Star Wars for the first Neeson clue? Ouch). Not that contestant was all that great either (Bale took way too long).

 

Ugh. Not good, and not very fun to watch.

I thought Scott Wolf did really well.  I thought it was a toss-up between him and Matthew Morrison as the best choices for the final round.

 

I expected Margaret Cho to do better in the final round.  I realize there's pressure, but who thinks "August: Osage County" for Julia Roberts and not "Pretty Woman"???  And for Tom Cruise?  Saying "he's a handsome guy," instead of saying "Top Gun," "Risky Business"....ugh, so frustrating.  I will admit that the first thing I thought of for Liam Neeson was that his wife died in a skiing accident.  :-(

 

Even if it wasn't the greatest episode, I still thought it was fun to watch. 

Edited July 11, 2014 by MMLEsq

[car54]

I think if they are going to have Martha on, they probably should have had Tim Gunn back to balance her out on the other team.

[Rinaldo]

I thought Margaret's clues, when she got around to giving them, were all right -- either personal info or movie credits can work, depending on what the contestant knows. But she wasted 5 seconds on each name with preliminaries: "He's a handsome guy / She's a good actress" sort of thing. Get right to the info, including an identifying "he" or "she" to establish gender. (I'm still, many months later, annoyed that "ran for vice president" was abandoned, when prefacing it with "she" would have given Sarah Palin instantly.),

[Sara2009]

I like Scott Wolf, but he had a really hard time with " How Do You Do?" He passed on like 15 songs.

[peeayebee]

This was the first time I've liked Clueboom.

I had the same reaction. I'm not sure why. Maybe because everyone was so hyper. I don't know.

 

I felt bad for Margaret Cho when she got Liam Neeson because she was trying to avoid saying his wife died. But that is always the first thing I think of when I hear Liam's name.

Yeah, me too. I cringed when she said that, but she did as well. I think she couldn't get any other thoughts in her head until that one came out.

 

I like Scott Wolf, but he had a really hard time with " How Do You Do?" He passed on like 15 songs.

True, but I actually thought he was doo-doo'ing a couple of the songs really well. They were clear to me, but his team couldn't get them. Once or twice Matthew Morrison seemed to recognize the song but couldn't bring the title to mind.

 

Oddly, even though the players weren't all that good -- and I didn't care for the contestants either -- I enjoyed this ep, maybe in a train wreck sort of way.

[pivot]

I thought Scott Wolf did really well.  I thought it was a toss-up between him and Matthew Morrison as the best choices for the final round.

 

I expected Margaret Cho to do better in the final round.  I realize there's pressure, but who thinks "August: Osage County" for Julia Roberts and not "Pretty Woman"???  And for Tom Cruise?  Saying "he's a handsome guy," instead of saying "Top Gun," "Risky Business"....ugh, so frustrating.  I will admit that the first thing I thought of for Liam Neeson was that his wife died in a skiing accident.  :-(

 

Even if it wasn't the greatest episode, I still thought it was fun to watch. 

 

I expected Margaret to say Scott Wolf looks just like him when giving a clue for Tom Cruise, because it is uncanny how much they look alike.

 

Scott looks like he has barely aged. It's bizarre.

[Primetimer]

Actually, she doesn't really try.

Read the story

[JennB]

Did anyone else notice a couple of the players grinning when Mena Suvari guessed "American Pie," since she was in the movie?

[Sara2009]

I had the same reaction. I'm not sure why. Maybe because everyone was so hyper. I don't know.

Yeah, me too. I cringed when she said that, but she did as well. I think she couldn't get any other thoughts in her head until that one came out.

True, but I actually thought he was doo-doo'ing

a couple of the songs really well. They were

clear to me, but his team couldn't get them.

Once or twice Matthew Morrison seemed to

recognize the song but couldn't bring the title to

mind.

Oddly, even though the players weren't all that good -- and I didn't care for the contestants either -- I enjoyed this ep, maybe in a train wreck sort of way.

I thought Matt was the best at do dooing the songs, but that might be because he's a singer. He also did quite well at a couple of the other games.

[Bondfool]

Martha fascinates me. What goes on in that prim little patrician head of hers? Could this actually be what "Martha having fun" looks like?

[peeayebee]

She's done several filmed bits with Conan O'Brien that were really funny, so she does have a sense of humor.

[Lizzing]

Is there some kind of ban, in the final round, about giving out movie titles?  For Tom Cruise, for example, could not the clue giver shout out "Top Gun, Born on the 4th for July, Mission Impossible" for the clue?  It just seems like over the past few eps that the obvious clues aren't given so I wonder if it is rule thing that is unspoken.

[yeswedo]

@Lizzing many of the clues she gave were movie titles so that's not a rule. She didn't pick the most obvious ones though for a couple of the actors. Other nitpicks - they wasted almost 10 seconds on William Shatner and she should have started the Betty White clues with Golden Girls not that she's old. 

 

Is it possible Martha was going for Pez and said Peb instead? That wouldn't have been the correct answer but at least it's a candy.

[peeayebee]

Yes, I think Martha had Pez in mind, though the candy didn't look at all like Pez. I think she just doesn't have much experience with junk food.

[Taeolas]

Yeah Martha was by far the odd one out on both couches tonight, though she did seem to try and help in a low key way. I think in the Letter Round she actually got most of the answers. I wonder if she could see above the glasses since she somehow saw the L above her somehow early on. (Noticed too that Jane said they would have 2 minutes and then gave them a 90 second clock. A slip of the tongue I guess. :) )

 

I wiffed on most of the candies myself, and I wonder if Curtis was at a disadvantage for not being American with the candy round. I know as a Canadian I wiffed on many of them. On my screen, the candy images seemed a bit photoshopped which added to the confusion too (the M's gone on M&M's. I'm sure if Curtis was up then, he might say Smarties; even though those are thinner) And the Junior Mints looked a lot blacker than just chocolate covered. (Martha clearly whispered licorice from the couch so it wasn't just me)

 

Doo Doo, it was clear that Matthew seemed to get a lot of the songs but blanked/brain farted on the titles. Scott passed so many songs at the end because he was fishing for something easy I think. He knew they only needed 1 for the win, but a lot of the ones we saw he half attempted were tricky. 

 

ClueBoom was fun. Loved how Martha almost went for a second clue from the bowl. It felt like there was a lot of cuts during that part; I wonder if they paused the round or something for some reason? 

 

I'm starting to like Celebrity Boxes; probably only when it's done with a somewhat inept team or two. 

 

Margaret would probably have been my choice for the last one as well. She did well, but wasted too much time on Shatner. That was partly Jacob's fault but it was clear they both knew the answer but farted on his name. (The Geek in me sobs). She might've tried other shatner clues (mimic his voice style?) but that was probably better to be a pass in the end. Lliam was another she wasted too much time on; she should have passed on that when the first few clues failed. Golden Girls would have been my first Betty White clue along with "Still alive", but she seemed to have a bit of a brain fart there (This show causes lots of farts of the mind. :P ) combined with the time running out. 

[Kromm]

I agree the Candy thing is unfair to anyone either not a kid raised in the US (the time when you eat Candy like that), or who's a snooty elitist, like Martha!

[peeayebee]

Margaret would probably have been my choice for the last one as well. She did well, but wasted too much time on Shatner. That was partly Jacob's fault but it was clear they both knew the answer but farted on his name. (The Geek in me sobs). She might've tried other shatner clues (mimic his voice style?) but that was probably better to be a pass in the end.

She did mimic Shatner. Did they pass? Didn't the guy finally get it?

[Taeolas]

She did mimic Shatner. Did they pass? Didn't the guy finally get it?

 

Eventually. He clearly knew the name but couldn't pull the name out. She kept repeating Star Trek Captain repeatedly until finally she started mimicing. It would probably have been better to pass after 5 seconds or so and hope a better name would click later on.

[BobH]

The contestant was a little slow on Shatner, but if Cho had given better clues all along they'd have had time to spare. I was amazed he pulled out some of those answers as quickly as he did based on her awful clues. "Scientologist" for Tom Cruise? Like there aren't too many actor/scientologists. "Young blonde singer" for Taylor Swift? "Star Wars" for Liam Neeson???

 

Wasn't a bad episode except for the somewhat frustrating final round. I expected Cho and Martha Stewart to be much more annoying than they were, so that beat expectations.  The candy game did seem a lot more difficult to me than the previous times they've played such games.  I think I only recognized three of them, usually I'm pretty confident on about 6 or 7.

[Iboatedhere]

I agree the Candy thing is unfair to anyone either not a kid raised in the US (the time when you eat Candy like that), or who's a snooty elitist, like Martha!

 

To be fair to Martha, there was that Conan O'Brien tape piece with Martha Stewart years ago where he went to her test kitchen and she had a fridge full of beer and cheese whiz basically on tap. I think she licked it out of her hand....

[A Boston Gal]

Yup, I agree some of the candy pictures looked a bit "off"...those junior mints appeared to be the wrong size, in addition to a strange shade of very dark brown, as Taeolas had noted.

[Tara Ariano]

Yeah, I thought those were Crows, the black licorice version of Dots.

[Monty]

I thought they were Raisinets, because I'm awful.

[Genius]

I always get so frustrated watching the final round at home. It seems like the easiest game in the world! Just start naming iconic movies the person's been in. Describing a celebrity should be the easiest thing in the world, especially since the words in the English language you're barred from using are the actor's names. Easy for me to say, I suppose!

And Scott Wolf, my crush since '96, still looks amazing. "TV's Matt Damon" - I love that!

One thing's for sure - Jacob the male contestant was a smokin' hottie!

[ae2]

I always get so frustrated watching the final round at home. It seems like the easiest game in the world! Just start naming iconic movies the person's been in. Describing a celebrity should be the easiest thing in the world, especially since the words in the English language you're barred from using are the actor's names. Easy for me to say, I suppose!

 

I always close my eyes and try to guess them from the clues they are giving. My SO keeps score. It's tougher than it seems like it should be, and I've been impressed with most of the contestants even when they don't get all of them. (Ten, I think?)

 

But I have no idea what goes through the celebrity's mind on that game sometimes.

[aradia22]

I was really excited when I saw the cast for this episode. Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho, and Matthew Morrison? Happy dance! And even though he's a block of wood on Top Chef Masters I wasn't disappointed to see Curtis.

 

The medical sales rep and the realtor can be added to our list of good looking civilian contestants.

 

Home Sweets Home was a return to our "is this a promotion?" games. I haven't missed them though occasionally they've provided some laughs. I wonder if Martha secretly knew the answers and pretended she didn't or if she's just out of touch/too health conscious. 

 

 

I enjoyed this episode. I was thinking during the episode that there needs to be an episode with Martha Stewart and Tim Gunn on opposite couches.

Oh my God, yes! Love that idea!

 

Clueboom wasn't that fantastic but some of the contestants were good at guessing. And there were the usual weird answers. "You use it to make something." "Blender." What? 

 

I like Block of Fame as a game. It's physical and involves the team while still being pop culture related unlike Four Letter Word. I think the other block game is a better test of knowledge though. I'm torn on whether I prefer this to the game where they have to put things in order. I think I might still like that one a little bit more. I'm surprised Martha isn't a little more pop culture savvy as she does interview celebrities on her show.

 

They loaded up this episode with weak games. Four Letter Word after the candy game, Clueboom, and Block of Fame? What are you doing, guys? 

 

Thank goodness they pulled out How Do You Doo at the end. It was a fun round. I'm familiar with most of the songs that both teams got and I don't think I would have guessed most of the ones they missed. Except Call Me. I would have definitely gotten Call Me. It was a combination of pitchy singing and having songs that you just don't make an immediate connection with. Part of the difficulty of How Do You Doo is whether the person who goes up gets a song that they are able to sing well enough to convey the melody. It's a good game.

 

If I were to pick anyone on either team, I would have picked Matthew Morrison. It's hard to get a feel for things from the games they played but I think he would have been the safest choice. The Glee people seem pretty pop culture savvy and he was pretty quick during all the games. Margaret's a good second choice. Curtis could be OK if you happened to get the things that he knows. I think Martha's smart and knows a lot of celebrities but given that she couldn't remember who was in Brokeback Mountain she might give incorrect clues and I get the feeling she would give clues slowly. Scott would have been a dark horse choice and nothing against Mena but she didn't perform particularly well and she seemed to get very flustered in How Do You Doo and that's not who you want to take into the final game.

 

 

I felt bad for Margaret Cho when she got Liam Neeson because she was trying to avoid saying his wife died. But that is always the first thing I think of when I hear Liam's name.

It's way down on the list of what I think of but maybe that's because I've never seen Natasha Richardson in anything. Assuming this was filmed a year ago I still don't think that's what would have come to mind first. She had her accident in 2009.

 

Did anyone else notice a couple of the players grinning when Mena Suvari guessed "American Pie," since she was in the movie?

I know she was in American Beauty. Was she also in American Pie?

For the skiing accident clue there were amazing reaction shots. The lady on the couch above Margaret's shoulder dropping her jaw and shaking her head. Then everyone on the couch who was not Curtis being shocked. Morrison disapproved and Mena and Scott gave Curtis major side eye. Martha just looked kind of cold but I'm not sure if that was a reaction or that was just her expression during the game.

[Kromm]

I know she was in American Beauty. Was she also in American Pie?

She's apparently been stuck in some weird cycle where a good part of her career has been linked to things with "American" in the title.

 

Per IMDB:

 

American Reunion 2012

Heather

American Horror Story 2011

Elizabeth Short

American Pie 2 2001

Heather

American Beauty 1999

Angela Hayes

American Pie 1999

Heather

[barbedwire]

Hate that singing "Do" game.  I really like Clue Boom and the one with the missing vowels.  Yvette Nicole Brown is so great at the game and Jane found her niche as game show host:  she is great at it!