S02.E19: A Hollywood Scandal

[aradia22]

Kristen Ritter and Scott Foley! Two people from shows I enjoyed but that yeah, probably deserved to be cancelled (Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 and The Goodwin Games). Weir and Nick Swardson worried me as I feel like they're the types who could pull attention without actually being funny or interesting. I think I've heard less than 5 Wynona Judd songs in my life and I'm also kind of neutral on Leah Remini. So... sort of optimistic going into this?

 

Kristen is going to be in Big Eyes? The Amy Adams movie about the painter that Tim Burton is directing?

 

Block Busters: Leah was hammy but I enjoyed it. You need a contestant who tries to make jokes. No one has grated as much as Martin Short. Zachary Levi might have been a little irritating if I didn't love him so much. "What is it, Foley?" made me crack up. Kristen felt a lot like her character in Don't Trust the B which probably made me enjoy the game even more. I also enjoyed Johnny posing for some reason. Also, Scott's "How are they not out of time?" struck me as hilarious. I swear I'm not drinking.

 

Clueboom: Hilarious when Johnny laughed when Kristen guessed "Superbowl" for a baseball round. Johnny is so poised. He barely flinched when the bowl exploded.

 

Back to Back: I thought this was a lot of fun. I think aside from the handcuffs though, the rule is that you have to keep your hands behind your back because they're stretchy even that you can still use your hands for the second half, kind of defeating the purpose.

 

Foley's great. He can come back any time. The way he used the anecdote time on the couch was just great. My cheeks hurt from smiling.

 

I would have guessed Abigail Breslin for Tina Fey. I didn't make the Bossypants book connection and I thought it was actually a line from something.

 

How Do You Doo was a lot of fun as well. Oh, God. Nick can't sing. Though I did get Rehab. How did they not get ABC on the other team? I think an issue with How Do You Doo is also how you sing the song. If you don't have the right feel (genre, pitch) and or you switch up the tempo or mess up the melody a little it throws people off.

 

It was weird that Foley freaked out at the end of Celebrity Name Game. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if they tell them to not get to ten so the celebs still get most of the money for their charities but they don't have to pay the contestants the full $25,000.

 

I just noticed, Leah's heels are crazy. What is that 4 or 5 inch stilettos?

[BellaLugosi]

Interesting reactions to Remini's drunkenness! I usually find the drunk contestants deeply annoying myself, but something about her charmed me. I think it's because the drunks often feel very showy (Michael Weatherly) and impaired in their ability to play (...Michael Weatherly). Leah seemed INTO IT. Being drunk only made her MORE into it. I've been that person at game night. It didn't seem to me like it made her any worse at the game, it just made her louder and more belligerent of the other team. look at how well she did Take On Me! I'd much rather have her on my team than not-even-trying Wynonna Judd or Johnny Weir. Or Michael Weatherly.

 

Lord, what has the world come to when I'm writing a forum post defending Leah Remini on a Saturday morning? Who AM I?

 

Yeah I'm a bit surprised at the reaction to Leah. I agree that Wynonna and Johnny weren't even trying and though she was tipsy she wasn't like Michael Weatherly, who annoyed me beyond belief. 

[ari333]

Are you allowed to go off the beaten path on names? Example : Chris Rock- Can I say "Last name is a a type of music, ____and roll" or "Last name is another word for stone", "Pilgrims landed on Plymouth ____". Stuff like that. 

 

Wow, if you cranked these out quickly off the top of your head, you must be an awesome game player! Great clues and I don't see why they wouldn't be permitted.

[needschocolate]

Back to Back: I thought this was a lot of fun. I think aside from the handcuffs though, the rule is that you have to keep your hands behind your back because they're stretchy even that you can still use your hands for the second half, kind of defeating the purpose

 

Players closer to Winona's size and flexibility can't get their hands far enough around to use them when handcuffed behind the back. Kind of unfair, but I guess one could argue that the player then needs to lose wait or do yoga, and that sends us down the slippery slope between being discriminatory or not making people responsible for their own choices, depending on your viewpoint.  I wish the "handcuffs" made them keep their hands closer together. 

 

I think the difficulty some have How Do You Doo is that they go slower than actual song, perhaps because they are trying to doo-doo the lyrics, instead of the melody.  The one who have trouble also have a tendency to start at the beginning of the song, instead of jumping directly to the chorus, which is generally more recognizable. 

.

[opus]

Wow, if you cranked these out quickly off the top of your head, you must be an awesome game player! Great clues and I don't see why they wouldn't be permitted.

 

Well, remember, posting here, I had lots of time to think about it. No idea if I could actually equal it ON the show.

[pivot]

Man, the only celebrity worth having back was Scotty Foley. Leah and that guy on her team were useless, mugging tools. Krysten was dumb, Johnny wasn't even trying and Wynona was clueless. Complete waste of a show.

Edited July 20, 2014 by pivot

[LadyNebula]

The only good thing about this episode was Scott Foley... and the look on his face when Butt Nurse chose him at the end. Bro looked terrified.

[Taylorh2]

For Russel Crowe, my dh was yelling "Gladiator" at the TV and for Chris Rock my 19 yr old immed said  "Everybody Hates Chris"  he just kept saying it over and over

 

lol

And if Leah was really that 'tipsey' why didn't the producers let her get herself together ?

 

Ratings?

[Mountainair]

Yes, this was probably one of my least favorite episodes. As an aside, I happened upon this show back in June while on vacation and flipping through the local channels. Loved it and caught up with this most recent season onDemand over the weekend. Had no idea there was a first season! I'm always late to the game!

[Rinaldo]

For Russel Crowe, my dh was yelling "Gladiator" at the TV and for Chris Rock my 19 yr old immed said  "Everybody Hates Chris"  he just kept saying it over and over

You wouldn't be allowed to say "Chris," but maybe saying "Everybody Hates ----- ??", making it clear that she needs to complete the sentence, would work. But in the end, not everybody knows that show (or any other necessarily -- we all know different stuff which is what makes this last game harder than it would seem). As only this one more name was needed to win (am I remembering right?), it would have made sense to stick with it more tenaciously than one otherwise would: "last name means stone" sort of thing.

 

Leah had her annoying moments, but I got the feeling she was putting it on to some extent -- turning herself into a "drunken character." The one who was really useless, as far as I'm concerned, was Wynonna Judd. Acting too good for the show ("I don't watch TV" -- I was reminded of the hateful dowager on The Dick Van Dyke Show who would disdainfully snip "eau, I'm afraid I don't own a television machine"), and the one time when she should have been worth her weight in gold to her team, How Do You Doo, she was dreadful -- music is her business and she didn't know any songs (other than her own, I guess). Put her on the Never Again list.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Rinaldo

[Taylorh2]

I agree with "put her on the Never Again" list.

 

How  'I think I'm better then you are'  to say that you never watch Tv, yet you go on a TV show and most likely if it weren't for the 'TV that you don't watch'. You probably wouldn't have much of a career.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Taylorh2

[needschocolate]

Wynonna got uppity with Kristen Ritter early on too - Kristen said something, I don't remember exactly what, and Wynonna immediately said something like, "How very Californian of you." My memory is obviously vague on this one, but I remember Wynonna sort of apologizing and trying to explain herself - kind of "oh, um, I just meant that  you, um, uh..."

[Diane]

Wynonna got uppity with Kristen Ritter early on too - Kristen said something, I don't remember exactly what, and Wynonna immediately said something like, "How very Californian of you." My memory is obviously vague on this one, but I remember Wynonna sort of apologizing and trying to explain herself - kind of "oh, um, I just meant that  you, um, uh..."

It was when Kristen Ritter was talking about going gluten free and dairy free I believe.

Edited July 21, 2014 by dcmjdc2

[Kromm]

Wynonna got uppity with Kristen Ritter early on too - Kristen said something, I don't remember exactly what, and Wynonna immediately said something like, "How very Californian of you." My memory is obviously vague on this one, but I remember Wynonna sort of apologizing and trying to explain herself - kind of "oh, um, I just meant that  you, um, uh..."

Kristen Ritter's whole "gluten free gloating" was indeed silly and "Hollywood", and maybe deserved some gentle mockery,but MOSTLY because she seemed kind of blissfully unaware of how weird and Hollywood stick-figure elitist it made her sound.  The key is that those other two mocking her probably held on for a second too long making fun of it, since Ritter and her gluten-free ass are ultimately harmless (and in fact, under that bitchy character she often plays on various shows, she actually seems fairly nice).

[smrou]

Wynonna got uppity with Kristen Ritter early on too - Kristen said something, I don't remember exactly what, and Wynonna immediately said something like, "How very Californian of you."

That was my favorite Wynonna moment!  Because it is indeed such a very trendy and silly thing.  But other than that Wynonna was pretty much useless.  I didn't think her saying she didn't watch TV was because she thinks she's too good for it, though.  I just thought she was giving it as her defense for not knowing anything.  Even though it's a ridiculous thing to say when you're a)on a TV show that is b)mostly about pop culture.

 

Leah Remini for me is someone who is sometimes amusing and sometimes just too much, and that's about how she was throughout the episode, I thought.  Sometimes she was funny and sometimes I just wanted her to shut up.  

 

Was kind of disappointed in Johnny Weir.  I usually enjoy him so much so I was looking forward to this episode, but he just showed very little personality here.

 

I think the failure to get 10 in the final round was about equal parts Scott's fault and the contestant's fault.  She really should have gotten John Goodman the second he said he was on Roseanne, but I thought it was pretty clear that she knew who he was talking about but blanked on the name, so quickly calling a pass was probably the right strategic move.  And Scott did waste some time on some things, like with his first few clues about Russell Crowe and then his rather vague clues about Chris Rock.  And then passing like crazy at the end (though I think that was just panic).  But it was disappointing that she didn't get all 10 because there was a stretch when they were doing really well and I was sure they'd get there.  Oh well.  

[Kel Varnsen]

I'm also put out over how the final game for the big money played out.  They might have had that if the monkeys behind the scenes hadn't screwed up.

 

While Scott can't be totally dismissed of blame, I think the production monkey in particular who handled the video screen needs to have some blame.  Leah is a piece of garbage, but her hissing over how long it was taking to change names on that screen was actually right.  In fact, AFTER she started hissing and Scott passed AGAIN the screen went even slower.

Yea there definitely seemed to be something wrong with how fast they changed the names after Scott said pass. I mean especially since they got 9 out of 10 for the final game I hope upon review something was done. I mean it was only a few second difference, but that could have been enough for a win.

[aradia22]

 

Leah had her annoying moments, but I got the feeling she was putting it on to some extent -- turning herself into a "drunken character."

Yeah, that was my impression. I never believed she was actually drunk and belligerent. She seemed to be playing a character... a very broad one.

[Kromm]

Yeah, that was my impression. I never believed she was actually drunk and belligerent. She seemed to be playing a character... a very broad one.

Geez. Was she auditioning?  Or just afraid nobody would give a crap about her if she was herself?

[needschocolate]

It was when Kristen Ritter was talking about going gluten free and dairy free I believe.

 

Kristen Ritter's whole "gluten free gloating" was indeed silly and "Hollywood", and maybe deserved some gentle mockery,but MOSTLY because she seemed kind of blissfully unaware of how weird and Hollywood stick-figure elitist it made her sound.

 

Thanks for filling in the details - Wynonna made fun of Kristen for bragging about being gluten free, huh?  Well, I will take back calling Wynonna "uppity" because, unless Kristen has a medical reason for going gluten free (celiac disease or gluten sensitivity),  she deserves some mocking.  Bragging about being gluten free is like bragging about being mustard-free or being carrot-free. Why brag about giving up something that wasn't harmful to you?

 

Getting off topic here, but I have often thought that if gluten had better sounding name, people wouldn't avoid it so much. My theory is that "Gluten" sounds like something bad for you and people don't know what it is, so when restaurants start offering gluten free items, people jumped on the gluten-free bank wagon, thinking they were eating healthier, even though gluten may not be a problem for them.  Peanuts probably affect as many, if not more people, than gluten does, and restaurants give warnings about peanuts or offer to make items nut free, but since people know what peanuts are, and they don't adjust their diets, if they don't need to.  In other words, people without a sensitivity to peanuts haven't stopped eating peanuts just because other people are allergic to them, but people who don't have a problem with gluten have stopped eating gluten and think they are doing something noble. 

[Wavy]

Leah was often loud and over-the-top when she hosted "The Talk," too.  That's why I don't think she was drunk.

[April Bloodgate]

Yeah, that was my impression. I never believed she was actually drunk and belligerent. She seemed to be playing a character... a very broad one.

If that's the case, it makes it even worse for me. She was in control of her mental faculties and chose to act that way? Ugh How could she possibly think that would be entertaining?

Edited July 22, 2014 by Denay

[BoogieBurns]

Nick Swardson just did a Q&A on reddit. He says that he and Leah were actually drunk during filming. So, there we go I guess.

[April Bloodgate]

Nick Swardson just did a Q&A on reddit. He says that he and Leah were actually drunk during filming. So, there we go I guess.

Thanks for filling us in on this. I wouldn't have guessed Nick was drunk. He seemed like his usual self, from what little I've seen of him.

[WasntMe]

"It seemed like Scott's first thought for absolutely everyone was "Who are they married to?" rather than "What are they known for?" "

I was thrilled when he went this route because when we first saw him on the couch, I turned to my husband and said "I want him to go to the finals and I want him to have to clue Jennifer Garner of Ben Affleck." It seems like he'd have given the clues I wanted in that situation.

 

this is what I wanted.  Jennifer Garner. I really wanted to see if he'd say he used to be married to her or if he'd just say "she's married to Ben Affleck." 

[dcalley]

I feel like the show wouldn't have any names that would cause whispering or distress, so no Tom Cruise while Leah's on, no exes, etc. So we'll never know how Scott would have handled it (well, I'm sure).

Edited July 23, 2014 by dcalley

[jhlipton]

Ugh.  Just ugh.  What a bunch of bone-heads and losers.  I never want to see any of the a--holes on my TV again.  

 

Everything about this was pure dreck, but I must say I thought the Butt Nurse did a lot better than I thought she was going to.  (I predicted 4 out of 10...)

 

I made weird little sound effects every time they mentioned Scott's last name -- he is a "Foley artist" after all! 

Edited July 25, 2014 by jhlipton