S15.E01: Qualifiers 1 & 2

[Lantern7]

Watching now. Apparently, “Ninja vs. Ninja” will be used to determine who qualifies for the next round. Also, completing the course fast enough gives you a shot at Mega Wall. Should be interesting.

[ams1001]

Congrats to Najee and his wife!

[Lantern7]

Dang, Brian Kretsch got broke. Failed on another balance obstacle, and he looked like he was going through an existential crisis. At least he didn’t break anything physically.

Najee Richardson falls on Lasso Launch, which looks like a ninja killer. That’s funny given the aesthetic. Googly eyes . . . yay or nay?

[ams1001]

18 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Najee Richardson falls on Lasso Launch, which looks like a ninja killer. That’s funny given the aesthetic. Googly eyes . . . yay or nay?

OMG, I didn't even realize they were little cows! 😄 I love 'em! 👀

[Lantern7]

FYI, next week’s episode is only an hour long. I’m thinking that’ll be the case this season.

Runoffs look cool so far.

[Quilt Fairy]

I like the new obstacles and the other changes.  Things are moving faster this year, for sure.  A little less of the heart-warming backstories and a lot more competition. 

[ams1001]

I have never even heard of these Tik Tok twins...

[Lantern7]

2 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I have never even heard of these Tik Tok twins...

. . . and we won’t be hearing about them on this show again.

[Lantern7]

Oof. Jera Boyd cleared the course, cleared Mega Wall . . . and he got WWWA.

[MsVixen]

Geez, I'm getting old!  Nate Hansen is 22 and I remember when he started.  Don't get me started on James/The Beast and Alan Connealy!!!  
 
I think I know some of the females but only slightly.  Hopefully, next week, will have more of the veterans.

Having said this, I do like the new formats and the new Mega Wall.

[enoughcats]

Did they make any announcement as to why the fifth obstacle change to the bells?  Was it just editing or have we seen the last of the first fifth obstacle? (I even understand why this part of the country has a Fifth Third Bank, but I don't get switching obstacles in the middle of a broadcast)

[Quilt Fairy]

13 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

Did they make any announcement as to why the fifth obstacle change to the bells?  Was it just editing or have we seen the last of the first fifth obstacle? (I even understand why this part of the country has a Fifth Third Bank, but I don't get switching obstacles in the middle of a broadcast)

It was 2 different sets of qualifiers, each one was an hour long.  I don't know the background of that change. 

[enoughcats]

I think it may have been because they planned for series of one hour shows.

But NOW there's a writers' strike so there was no one to write an explanation for the hosts to read?????????

[Fukui San]

I mean if any dialogue could be written by AI, it’s the boilerplate of ANW set up and commentary. 

[ams1001]

14 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

It was 2 different sets of qualifiers, each one was an hour long.  I don't know the background of that change. 

Don't they usually change up one or two obstacles for each qualifier? This was essentially two episodes so it makes sense. I'm guessing next week will have something different in there.

[astrohip]

14 hours ago, enoughcats said:

 

But NOW there's a writers' strike so there was no one to write an explanation for the hosts to read?????????

Actually, there are writers for this show. But they are covered under a different contract than regular TV writers, and aren't on strike. Almost all reality shows use writers who aren't covered by the striking WGA contract.

[eel2178]

On 6/5/2023 at 7:16 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

Things are moving faster this year, for sure.  A little less of the heart-warming backstories and a lot more competition. 

It definitely felt like the Readers' Digest abridged version. There were a lot more WWWAs than usual. As I say every year, I'd rather skip the sob stories and the WWWA and watch more full runs.

[eel2178]

On 6/5/2023 at 9:00 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

It was 2 different sets of qualifiers, each one was an hour long.  I don't know the background of that change. 

Were they even filmed in the same place? They looked as though they were in different parts of Universal Studios. Could one of them have been filmed in CA, and the other in FL? 

[DEL901]

I dislike the final side by side run off for the final male and female spots.  Either you are in or out.