Utopia (US) Live Feed Discussion

[Etta Place]

This morning, the food order for Rob's wedding has arrived.

 

It includes something like 12 boxed cake mixes, and a couple of vats of butter cream frosting. Quoting Aaron: "Yeah, if we run out of butter cream, we're in trouble because that's what will stick it together." And goodness knows, there is no way to make butter cream frosting from scratch.

[whack-a-mole]

This is a disaster in the making if they're going to try to stack layers for a big, traditional, tiered wedding cake. Boxed cake mix isn't really good for that sort of structural cake making. You need a denser cake that can stand up to it or some kind of support structure. It's also going to taste like boxed cake mix and vats of pre-made frosting.

 

Oh well, should be funny to watch them try to make that work. I have no sympathy for anybody's wedding disasters when they're trying to have it on a reality show.

[unloboloco]

The great chef should stick to what he knows best -- frozen. I'm sure their grocery supplier carries Sara Lee. Frozen pound cake should go well with the frozen pizzas he's probably going to serve as the wedding dinner.

[DeLurker]

Cake + Frosting + Shady Chef + Flies + Maggots = YUCK (and or dysentery).

[In Pog Form]

It includes something like 12 boxed cake mixes, and a couple of vats of butter cream frosting.

Above all of the stupid, insane things about this show, the way that Aaron presents himself as a chef, and the others just go along with it, makes me do the biggest face-palm in the Universe. There are no words for his dumbassitude.

Edited October 9, 2014 by In Pog Form

[BusyOctober]

I think they only call Aaron "chef" because he's one of the few idiots that knows how to turn on a stove.  The lack of basic skills among the "too cool for school" group is appalling. Another reason probably comes down to sheer laziness.  The majority of them have zero ambition (aside from future soon to be reality show has beens) and won't lift a finger to do chores like "cook" (aka boil water and toss in ramen). 

 

FOX can't possible keep the show on life support much longer.  I wish when they finally pull the plug, they'd 'forget' to tell the Utopians and let them languish away a la LOST - Dharma Initative recruits. Of course, they'd make a ton of money off live feeds if they told the public this "twist".  There's the experiment! "Watch what happens when 15 self-absorbed, self-important people too stupid to be successful in the real world are isolated from the rest of society"

[candall]

Above all of the stupid, insane things about this show, the way that Aaron presents himself as a chef, and the others just go along with it, makes me do the biggest face-palm in the Universe. There are no words for his dumbassitude.

According to his bio on AllUtopia, Aaron's real life job is "personal chef."  That one made me laugh the hardest, but it goes on about how cooking isn't even a job for him--it's his life.  And his jobs in Utopia include cooking all the meals and cleaning the kitchen.

 

(Sorry, mods.  I know it's the wrong place, but it's just so, er, delicious.)

[backformore]

VATS of buttercream frosting?    Yuck! 

I rely on cake mixes all the time - the dry ingredients are pre-measured for you.  I can add stuff if I want.   For a special occasion, I make cakes from scratch - sometimes.   

But FROSTING?  Buttercream frosting is easy, and the stuff you buy isn't real buttercream - in most cases it's full of transfats and artificial colors and flavors.  Basic recipe is butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla. 

 

Where's this budget coming from?  And are they having a real wedding, like with a hundred guests?  

[DeLurker]

candall - Aaron and the word "delicious" in any context should not be in the same post....of course, I just broke that rule. What a quandry.

[Zahdii]

candall - Aaron and the word "delicious" in any context should not be in the same post....of course, I just broke that rule. What a quandry.

 

That's OK when you're talking about Utopia - it appears that there are no repercussions to breaking rules there.  Just ask Mike, Aaron, Kristen, Dede, Dave, Bri, Bella, Red...

Edited October 10, 2014 by Zahdii

[ottoDbusdriver]

If I was Josh I would just pack up my tools and leave -- screw 'em all.  Aaron should be gone, instead they just gave Shadychef the license to do whatever he wants.

Aaron will not be doing any tilling -- who are they kidding ?

 

Then Rob and his new bride will have to bang in the partially completed workshop, complete with open walls.

[vhakra]

Then Rob and his new bride will have to bang in the partially completed workshop, complete with open walls.

 

 

That's their new money making scheme. $20 a performance screening in person. Ugh I have to bleach my brain for releasing that snark.

[RedheadZombie]

Disgusting quote of the day:  Mike about wearing condoms - "It's like kissing your sister through a wet blanket".

[In Pog Form]

That's OK when you're talking about Utopia - it appears that there are no repercussions to breaking rules there.  Just as Mike, Aaron, Kristen, Dede, Dave, Bri, Bella, Red...

Speaking of misdeeds, according to allofutopia.com:

"Rob and Mike want to scheme some people. They want to try if they can come up with a proposal that will look appealing to people. They want to try to get a lot of people into it and try to make a profit from other people in the group. They call it a Ponzi scheme."

Who the hell does that? Just openly talking about establishing a Ponzi scheme! Doesn't even bother to hide it behind a euphemism. And of course, Mike is the same guy that the other 'Topes are praising for his fantastic governance:

"Most people were happy with the Miketopia system. It was a good way to bring issues up in the group. Some people like how it was funny and others like how Mike didn’t want to be in charge himself."

Sure, he doesn't want to be visibly "in charge" himself. He just wants to pull the strings from behind the curtain, and manipulate the system he created himself for his own benefit. Damn, these people are gullible.

Edited October 9, 2014 by In Pog Form

[RedheadZombie]

I just can't with these people.  Rob's disgusting comments are often dismissed as being "humor".  Judge for yourselves.

Direct quote from Jokers -

 

Shortly after Mike laughed about how a chicken disappeared and none of them gave a damn, Hex brings over the chick, whose leg seems to be injured.  Rob says the only thing to do to fix it? Is put it in between two rocks and smash it.

Bri lays it on its stomach and says, "It stopped beeping."

Rob says should they spend $135 of the thing or just throw it in the pond instead?  

 

 

[ElleryAnne]

"Rob and Mike want to scheme some people. They want to try if they can come up with a proposal that will look appealing to people. They want to try to get a lot of people into it and try to make a profit from other people in the group. They call it a Ponzi scheme."

 

 

I thought Mike wanted to be a DA.  Embracing the Bernie Madoff school of business ethics isn't the best way to get there.  

 

Bri lays it on its stomach and says, "It stopped beeping."

 

 

Beeping?  

 

 

Rob says should they spend $135 of the thing or just throw it in the pond instead?

 

 

Is he still talking about the chicken, or about Bri? 

[areca]

I don't particularly care for Rob's seeming glee, but yeah, you don't spend $135 dollars on a damn chicken when you can buy a fully dressed one in the store for 8 bucks.

Edited October 10, 2014 by areca

[Reo]

Or a baby chick for $5.

 

[driedfruit]

I am fine without evictions, I think it would be more interesting to simply add people and see how they deal with new blood and a larger size. The problem with this show is that they are not forming their own society, they are not cut off from the rest of the world, and 1/3 of the people they cast suck ass.

 

People who never should have been cast: Bri, Aaron, Kristen, Dave

 

People who are questionable but could have been interesting in the right environment: Red, Bella, Chris, Rob, Mike, Jon

 

People who seem to be ok but need others who don't suck to help motivate them: Hex, Taylor, Nikki

 

People who are decent 99% of the time: Josh, Amanda, Ernesto

 

I don't mean I want evictions throughout the run of the show. But casting isn't a foolproof art, so a lot of eliminations early on to get rid of the likes of Bri/Aaron/Dave/Kristin would've helped shape the show into something halfway decent. Actually, production should've left the early evictions to the viewing audience, since the first to go would be the animal abusers, bullies, and psychos. And it would set a tone of consequences for people like Mike/Rob/Chris who are otherwise unmotivated and prone to be unethical and bully. 

Edited October 10, 2014 by driedfruit

[Mediocrates]

So, have we lost our daily recappers? Seems like this thread is dying. I miss the snarky recaps... With the free feeds practically gone and the ham handed editing on the actual TV show if this thread dies I'm basically done with this show.

[whack-a-mole]

I watched the feeds occasionally back when the two were free and not impossible to manage. Now it's not worth even trying. The show was a one and done. That's an editing mess. Mocking this was fun, but they all got awful and turned into evil scammers and bullies. I'm not paying to see people plot a ponzi scheme. If I wanted that, I'd go to business school and at least get a degree out of my daily disgust.

Edited October 10, 2014 by whack-a-mole

[EverCat]

Ok - from my feed watching this morning.

 

Bri and Hex are mucking the corral and Tailor is sitting on the fence.  He says to Bri  "When I think about the monster under my bed - your face pops up"

She pretended to not hear him say it the first time, so Hex repeated it for her.

This was after Bri was saying "The ones with the buckets on top of them are dead".  

[ottoDbusdriver]

I watched the feeds occasionally back when the two were free and not impossible to manage. Now it's not worth even trying. The show was a one and done. That's an editing mess. Mocking this was fun, but they all got awful and turned into evil scammers and bullies. I'm not paying to see people plot a ponzi scheme. If I wanted that, I'd go to business school and at least get a degree out of my daily disgust.

 

Add in the ridiculous amount of production intervention all the while claiming "production rarely interferes and the Topes are building their own society" -- reshooting scenes because they didn't get the camerawork they wanted (what is this, The Hills ?), faux backstories for the bulk of the participants, the fakery around the money problems, the conniving/plotting/stealing/bullying, the stupid government rotations, and finally, the kiss of death, a wedding episode --  this show has strayed so far from the premise it is barely recognizable.

 

For example, the goals of the Topes for this entire week -- wedding planning, bachelor party, building a fuck shack for the newlyweds.  All the while the animals and gardens are being ignored and I'm pretty sure Cal is reprogramming Nikki to be his next subservient wife.

Edited October 10, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[whack-a-mole]

I watched The Hills. At least it was pretty honest about what a fake mess it was. The worst thing about this show is it's trying to pretend to be something other than just another guilt watch reality show. If they gave up the premise and actually plotted this stuff out, we'd have at least one person in this to root for getting the hero edit. Instead it's a bunch of awfuls with a wedding episode this week, and a baby coming any time now. It's trope bingo over there, but they forgot to make any of them likable. As good as it gets is only boring and less bad. 

[DeLurker]

It's become to exhausting to watch or even read about the Topes.  Between the recreating/reshooting of scenes as OttoDbusdriver mentioned and how the feeds suddenly go mute if something interesting might be happening, it is a sham even beyond the standard shammery of "reality" tv.  It's become 24/7 of vile people getting away with being reprehensible (actually, rewarded for being reprehensible) to what appear to be some left-of-center but reasonably decent people.

[henripootel]

I'm not paying to see people plot a ponzi scheme.

Sigh.  He does know that the essence of a Ponzi scheme is expansion, right?  I mean they all eventually collapse because there's nothing in them except greed, but for a while it can grow provided a steady stream of suckers.  How long can you sustain this in a group of less than 20?  About 5 minutes?  I wonder if this makes it official: the producers are entirely out of ideas.

 

So what would be some better ideas?  My favorite at the moment - fake buried treasure.  The Topes find some gold from 'back in the pioneer days' and tear each other apart trying to get bigger shares.  It wouldn't last long but it sounds more interesting than 'fake wedding' or 'parliament of idiots'.

 

Yeah, this show'll be lucky if they make it to the end of the day.

[Etta Place]

Sorry, Miketopia kind of destroyed my will to comment on their goings-on and also to recap what I did see. Mike is quite possibly the most horrible human being in there. (And yes, I know that includes Aaron and Bri.)

 

I was thinking the other day about what really bothers me about him, aside from his overall douchebaggery, and the answer is this: he lacks any sort of imagination. He has done a murder mystery and mock trial, a fake gossip TV show, a "real" trial, implemented a government that requires written documentation of everything and Congressional-style procedures, etc. He has no ideas about what they could or should be doing, he can only bring in what he already knows and try to reproduce that there. I find that both dull and exhausting.

 

And that's in addition to all the rest of his objectionable qualities and behaviors. And there's been a lot of Mike lately.

[Mediocrates]

Stumbled today upon @BBFanJenna's Utopia blog. It's utopinews.weebly.com/blog in case anyone wants to check it out. She does some pretty snarky daily recaps of the feeds as well but even she had to mention that it's getting harder each day to deal with watching these people.

[Etta Place]

This morning, after a hard night's drinking at the bachelor party, they are having an archery contest with Hex's bow to determine who will have to do post-wedding dishes.

 

Bella shot an arrow up into the air, reminding everyone they could all die in this experiment. Nikki hit a bullseye. Losers: Taylor and Aaron, but they are freed from dishes because they are already performing kitchen duties

 

Bella, Chris, Bri and Josh will be doing dishes.

 

The less said about the cake, the better. But Aaron was working on it this morning, rolling out the fondant without cleaning the counter, spilling beer on the counter, grabbing a towel from the floor to wipe it up, then continuing to roll. Taylor helped him knead the fondant (without washing his hands - his morning duty was in the barn). After he was done, he said that on his agenda today was taking a shower, because "I am ripe."

 

Delish!

[ottoDbusdriver]

The less said about the cake, the better. But Aaron was working on it this morning, rolling out the fondant without cleaning the counter, spilling beer on the counter, grabbing a towel from the floor to wipe it up, then continuing to roll. Taylor helped him knead the fondant (without washing his hands - his morning duty was in the barn). After he was done, he said that on his agenda today was taking a shower, because "I am ripe."

 

Everyone gets served up a plate full of E. coli, botulism and salmonella for a wedding dinner, complete with listeria cake for dessert.

[RedheadZombie]

Aaron's kitchen hygiene always amazes me.  I read yesterday that he wears the same workout gloves through workouts, bathroom trips, cooking, etc.  He also blew his nose and threw the dirty tissue under the counter.  It's a reflection on the Utopians incredible passivity and laziness that they don't object - except Amanda.

[whack-a-mole]

That's actually worse than I'd imagined. Plague cake for everybody!

 

Is this show secretly a spinoff of that contagion game? Are they Madagascar? 

[BusyOctober]

That cake prep recap is making me ill. Unsanitary food handling is how Typhoid Mary passed along the disease in the early 1900's. I don't know how anyone will hire "Chef" A-hole once he gets outside the walls.  Although I'm sure he thinks his days of cooking will be over due to the "fame" he's achieved from being on TV.

 

I hope future employers for any of these Utopians do a quick search on Google, Facebook, Twitter etc to see how awful they are.

[In Pog Form]

He says to Bri  "When I think about the monster under my bed - your face pops up"

Even though it's Bri - still not cool, dude.

This was after Bri was saying "The ones with the buckets on top of them are dead".

Uh, what??

[DeLurker]

Cake or death?*

With Shady Chef you can have both.

*Eddie Izzard / Dressed to Kill

[CorgiNarnia]

Way too difficult to follow the free live feeds anymore. I used to put it on and leave it in a tab while I did other work online, jot down notes when there's a good conversation happening. When it times out after minutes, it is impossible to get in any rhythm. I have no idea what's going on anymore since there's no context. 

[In Pog Form]

Everyone gets served up a plate full of E. coli, botulism and salmonella for a wedding dinner, complete with listeria cake for dessert.

Kroll said it would be a "Red Wedding" but it sounds more like it's going to be a Brown Wedding to me.

[In Pog Form]

Stumbled today upon @BBFanJenna's Utopia blog. It's utopinews.weebly.com/blog in case anyone wants to check it out. She does some pretty snarky daily recaps of the feeds as well but even she had to mention that it's getting harder each day to deal with watching these people.

I guess it's good that someone's doing this, but what's the deal with the writing style - like "Amanda the G" and "pimp" and "GF" etc.? Does she think it's funny or something?

[Mediocrates]

I guess it's good that someone's doing this, but what's the deal with the writing style - like "Amanda the G" and "pimp" and "GF" etc.? Does she think it's funny or something?

Yeah it's a little difficult to read through. I think she thinks she's being witty but I tend to tune most of that garbage out when I read it. And I agree with the previous comments about allofutopia.com not being written by a native English speaker with many typos that make it difficult to read, and Jokers being all over the place hard to follow. I think I got spoiled by Zahdii and Andyourlittledog2 and all the other fabulous recappers here.

[riverheightsnancy]

I have been reading the feeds at Jokers and some of it is hilarious. It is very spontaneous and not a recap by any means. But some of the things that they are commenting on are so funny.  You do get the gist of what is happening. I love how they talk about how to "rattle" the CKC and some of the things that they have done. I agree with everyone on here. This show has become almost impossible to watch it is so bad. I only read the feeds at Jokers now. 

[In Pog Form]

I have been reading the feeds at Jokers and some of it is hilarious. It is very spontaneous and not a recap by any means. But some of the things that they are commenting on are so funny.  You do get the gist of what is happening.

I just don't understand why they don't simply put it all in one thread. Nobody ever replies to the comments, but each comment is its own topic thread. Super-weird.

[RedheadZombie]

I just don't understand why they don't simply put it all in one thread. Nobody ever replies to the comments, but each comment is its own topic thread. Super-weird.

 

They (Jokers) have an "Update" thread that is very straight forward - it had full transcripts of the trial yesterday.  The "Discussion" threads are all over the place because they're interactive.  I read allofutopia daily, but there are common mistakes - for example, someone consistently calls Dedeker a polygamist, when she's actually polyamorous.

[DeLurker]

The cake

http://www.utopiatv.com/news/detail/1501/would-you-eat-this-cake

[whack-a-mole]

That took how many cake mixes and bins of pre-made frosting? I can make better looking cakes than those. The Cake Bible is an amazing resource. I recommend it to anybody who wants less fail than this.

[RedheadZombie]

So Pastor Jon came today and will officiate tomorrow.  Dave (homeless original Utopian) is now in Tennessee, living near Jon, and coming along well per Jon.  Dave doesn't have a job yet, but has an apartment.  This impresses me.  Jon really backed up his beliefs with action.

[candall]

I offered to spring for the pay per view feed for our Tope-A-Dope Newsteam Action Reporters a long time ago.  I don't have enough download speed at my location to do anything but ooh and ahh to this thread--which I have thoroughly enjoyed--so I'd be pleased to make that contribution.

 

PM me.

 

(I won't be able to stand it if half the cast gets wiped out, either by tainted cake or Production grenade, and we miss it.)

 

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[EverCat]

The cake

http://www.utopiatv.com/news/detail/1501/would-you-eat-this-cake

I'm afraid to look

[MrHufflepuff]

There appears to be a fly on one of the cakes in that picture.  I'm surprised they were able to get a photo with only one fly in it.

[In Pog Form]

There appears to be a fly on one of the cakes in that picture.  I'm surprised they were able to get a photo with only one fly in it.

Aaron's a professional food stylist!

[Alia]

I caught the end of a pastor jon / bri conversation that had bri crying about being Americas vote and pastor jon reminding her that her actions reflected on her family. Don't believe she'll change anything though.