S14.E03: Qualifiers 3

[Lantern7]

Quote

The qualifying rounds continue in San Antonio, where competitors as young as 15 take on seasoned veterans on the world’s most challenging obstacle course; the new Kickboards obstacle makes its debut on the course that ends with the Warped Wall.

[ams1001]

Wow, that was a close call for Flex.

I'm sure I had some other thoughts as I watched but at this point that's all I remember, and that's quite likely because she went last.

[SophiaD]

Perfectly fine episode, but the continued shift in focus shows that this show has been rebranded to be more "family entertainment" than a competitive athletic show.  Jamie Rahn and Ethan Swanson both got the WWWA treatment.  Continued focus on the teens and their families, especially the young woman playing with her young siblings and the guy whose mother has had breast cancer.  (I do remember him from last season, and he seems nice).  Matt and Akbar commenting with their dog-avatar selves.  Shawn Johnson, who probably a lot of people remember fondly from the Olympics, commenting with Akbar and Matt in the booth.  And so on.  Even Chris Di Gagni got the WWA treatment.

My guess is the whole thing with Drew really shook them, so they are transitioning away from "sport/activity that appears to weird, quirky, and awkward young-ish men" to this new focus.  

I do think some of the PSAs are helpful, particularly with mental health, and I appreciate that they support LGBTQIA+ athletes and kids.  Also, it was great to see Maggie Thorne again, although I'm afraid she's nowhere near the athlete she was before the injury.  And, of course, Flex was the absolute highlight of the evening for me, although I think the way they are setting it up as a competition with her and Chris is annoying.  

[Frisky Wig]

4 hours ago, SophiaD said:

I do think some of the PSAs are helpful, particularly with mental health, and I appreciate that they support LGBTQIA+ athletes and kids.  

I agree with this, though I do think there's too many PSA's and it seems like 80% of the competitors get one. Some people seem sincere in wanting to spread awareness about their condition/illness where as others seem to be milking their (or their family members) conditions/illnesses so that they have an interesting sob/backstory. 

I was so happy for Flex! She fought hard for that buzzer!

You know that one ninja who's obsessed with his cat? His family was on the sidelines with giant cutouts of the cats head and the first season he competed, they showed video of him scootering around his college campus with a stuffed cat in a basket? I really liked how, yesterday, there was no "heartwarming" video before he ran, just family with giant cutout cat head, shots of his run and him falling into the water and shots of said cat "watching" from home. When the most interesting thing the producers can come up with for your backstory is "I just REALLY love my cat, ok?" the less I see of you, the better. 

One ninja came out and played the cello before he ran. One of the hosts said he played multiple instruments and I wondered why he'd bring a large, cumbersome instrument like the cello to San Antonio, rather than, say, a violin or flute. Then again, maybe the other instruments he plays are church organ, piano and harp and he went with the smallest one?

[Vermicious Knid]

They dragged that poor porcupine all the way to the set for 5 seconds of airtime.

[South]

4 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

They dragged that poor porcupine all the way to the set for 5 seconds of airtime.

Yeah, I didn’t care for that, either.  I hope there are overseers overseeing what needs to be overseen when it comes to the circumstances in which these animals are increasingly being trotted out.

4 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

[South]

17 hours ago, SophiaD said:

Perfectly fine episode, but the continued shift in focus shows that this show has been rebranded to be more "family entertainment" than a competitive athletic show.  Jamie Rahn and Ethan Swanson both got the WWWA treatment.  Continued focus on the teens and their families, especially the young woman playing with her young siblings and the guy whose mother has had breast cancer.  (I do remember him from last season, and he seems nice).  Matt and Akbar commenting with their dog-avatar selves.  Shawn Johnson, who probably a lot of people remember fondly from the Olympics, commenting with Akbar and Matt in the booth.  And so on.  Even Chris Di Gagni got the WWA treatment.

My guess is the whole thing with Drew really shook them, so they are transitioning away from "sport/activity that appears to weird, quirky, and awkward young-ish men" to this new focus.  

I do think some of the PSAs are helpful, particularly with mental health, and I appreciate that they support LGBTQIA+ athletes and kids.  Also, it was great to see Maggie Thorne again, although I'm afraid she's nowhere near the athlete she was before the injury.  And, of course, Flex was the absolute highlight of the evening for me, although I think the way they are setting it up as a competition with her and Chris is annoying.  

I keep telling myself that it will all calm down as the season moves along. 

[ams1001]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

They dragged that poor porcupine all the way to the set for 5 seconds of airtime.

There was a porcupine? How did I miss a porcupine?

[eel21788]

12 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

They dragged that poor porcupine all the way to the set for 5 seconds of airtime.

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

There was a porcupine? How did I miss a porcupine?

You might have blinked. It was literally 5 seconds (or less) of screentime.

[enoughcats]

Easy answer : the porcupine was on the floor, if it was there at all.  Just imagine if it was near the course, got 'excited', launched quills, and deflated two pools under obstacles.

[Ilovepie]

On 6/21/2022 at 9:11 AM, SophiaD said:

Perfectly fine episode, but the continued shift in focus shows that this show has been rebranded to be more "family entertainment" than a competitive athletic show.  Jamie Rahn and Ethan Swanson both got the WWWA treatment.  Continued focus on the teens and their families, especially the young woman playing with her young siblings and the guy whose mother has had breast cancer.  (I do remember him from last season, and he seems nice).  Matt and Akbar commenting with their dog-avatar selves.  Shawn Johnson, who probably a lot of people remember fondly from the Olympics, commenting with Akbar and Matt in the booth.  And so on.  Even Chris Di Gagni got the WWA treatment.

My guess is the whole thing with Drew really shook them, so they are transitioning away from "sport/activity that appears to weird, quirky, and awkward young-ish men" to this new focus.  

And the more they lean into this as "family entertainment" the less my interest in this show. I guess it's understandable after Drew, and I also see why they need to keep building new stars, but I am guessing the show's primary audience is here for the ones who are older now, and to WWWA them is disappointing. I also think it's kind of strange for them to be downplaying the "sport" aspect when they are adding something similar to the Olympics in two cycles.

I admit I haven't watched any of this season, but I came here to see if I even want to watch it. Last year was such a letdown. I know they couldn't do the normal season, but the scaled back invitational with the emphasis on kids just sort of dimmed my love of the show, and I have to say, my enthusiasm hasn't returned. To hear that all the people I root for are already out, or are getting passed over, just makes me want to delete it from my DVR.

[RedbirdNelly]

I enjoyed it. I don't mind some goofy stuff and I like the cat obsessed guy. So glad Flex made it through. My only complaint is when they focus on someone and then reshow their story at the next round. Only one focus with a brief (3 second) reference to their hook is all I'm ok with. 

[QuantumMechanic]

Yeah, I've gotten pretty brutal with the DVR skip.  All sob stores/background stories get skipped.  I immediately start skipping to the next person the moment someone hits the water.  And new this year I've started hitting the 30sec skip while someone's on an obstacle if the obstacle bores me.  On the bright side it means I can watch a show in about 30 min.