S04.E03: Way-ans To Go!

[yeswedo]

The celebrity players are Marlon Wayans; Kevin Nealon; Bill Engvall; Mario Lopez; Nicole Scherzinger; and Miranda Cosgrove.

[Actionmage]

This is not fair, programming gods: This v. The Flash v. Agent Carter? Not fair.

[Jaded]

Ugh @ Nicole Scherzinger. 

[weightyghost]

Ugh @ Nicole Scherzinger. 

 

Sadly she was one of the best ones tonight. She was amazing in the "How do you do" game, and she gave solid clues in clue boom. 

 

Everyone else other than Mario were the worst though so I don't know if I'm just giving credit for being alive (looking at you, Miranda) 

[swimmyfish]

Not a great player, certainly, but I really enjoyed Bill Engvall peering over the top of his glasses. For some reason that was very endearing.

I though the male civilian team was much stronger than the woman's. Kevin Nealon takes the game seriously but doesn't seem to know anything, and Marlon Wayans gets my vote for celebrity to be banished from the game. You can't cancel a pass, man! Stop trying to force it and move on.

Was this the first time someone was kicked out for cheating? I'm glad to see that there are rules to these games and they are indeed enforced.

[indeed]

Well, Kevin Nealon kept passing everything without giving the clue givers any real chance, so he was worse IMO.

The celebrity lineup didn't seem that strong this episode, but Marlon and Mario did a good job for Celebrity Name Game.

[vibeology]

Nicole got lucky that she didn't have to move around too much in those shoes and that outfit. She may have been strong in How do you Doo-et but Miranda dressed for the venue. I'd much rather see a female celebrity show up in something more practical than sexy since you never know when you're going to have to roll on the floor in charades or Smash the Buzzer.

 

I actually don't think the celebrity lineups were that bad. Bill and Kevin both could have been stronger, but Nicole, Mario and Marlon all seemed to know their stuff and Miranda wasn't half bad. People certainly kept picking on her in the musical chairs game which overshadowed the fact that she kept getting right answers. Celebrity Name Game was also really good so I think the lineups were alright.

Edited January 20, 2016 by vibeology

[Racj82]

Nicole got lucky that she didn't have to move around too much in those shoes and that outfit. She may have been strong in How do you Doo-et but Miranda dressed for the venue. I'd much rather see a female celebrity show up in something more practical than sexy since you never know when you're going to have to roll on the floor in charades or Smash the Buzzer.

 

I actually don't think the celebrity lineups were that bad. Bill and Kevin both could have been stronger, but Nicole, Mario and Marlon all seemed to know their stuff and Miranda wasn't half bad. People certainly kept picking on her in the musical chairs game which overshadowed the fact that she kept getting right answers. Celebrity Name Game was also really good so I think the lineups were alright.

When it's said that the celebrities were bad or uninspiring, I look at it more as they were boring and not interesting on the show. Which most of them wont. Being okay players while also not being very funny or sharp makes for a more drab episode. I wish Marlon could have channeled his energy into a few more players.

[sugarbaker design]

I though the male civilian team was much stronger than the woman's.

 

 

Same here, female civilian really got screwed.  At the end she had 35 and the male civilian got 60, it was a blowout.

 

Wayans (I can't remember which one he is) couldn't keep his trap shut for five minutes.

[jhlipton]

There was also a disparity in that the man had a pro singer (Nicole) and someone who can sing half-way decently (Mario) but the woman had none.  Bill may have made up for it a bit, though (thoroughly useless).  If they hadn't had to rotate, Nicole and Mario would have completely dominated.

 

Nicole didn't do much (if anything) during the "Act out the scene" game.  Mario and Bill covered her for that.

[joanne3482]

Miranda Cosgrove can sing. She's put out two records that had some success, probably due to her iCarly fame but people did buy them. I wonder how much of the do do do issue for her was she just didn't know the songs being so young. 

 

I liked that new TV game. That was pretty fun. I think they've got a good quantity of games now to keep the show fresh. 

[Primetimer]

The former iCarly is currently iDozy in an episode full of annoyances.

Read the story

[Charlie Baker]

I get Tara's point from the podcast. about the dubious "cheating" on Casting Couch. But I still enjoyed Jane's calling out the shenanigans.

[iMonrey]

Actually I thought Mario and Marlon did a pretty good job in the final round. And yeah, Marlon annoyed me at first being a little too "on" all the time, but I'll take enthusiasm over . . . whatever Nicole Scherzinger has to offer. 

 

I've said this before, but I wish they'd just retire How Do You Doo. It relies far too heavily on singing ability. If someone can't carry a tune (and so many of them can't, it seems) there's zero chance of naming the song. A monotone "do do do do do" isn't going to help anyone. I think maybe they tried to address that issue by having two people instead of just one, but that didn't really help. At all.

[Valny]

Yeah Cosgrove was barely even a player. I forgot the game, but the one where she was up there between Wayans and Nealon, for the most part she was just looking at them letting them do the work for whatever reason and they didn't even seem to be a threesome because the two guys were just going back and forth with each other giving the clues. I felt bad, she looked like she was lost and didn't want to be in that spot.

Was it me or did Nicole look like she was really truly annoyed at Wayans whenever his team won and he'd get all cocky.

Kudos to Brian, he was on the ball because I was playing along and I couldn't get some of the clues his team was giving out at the end, I agree with Tara.

[peeayebee]

 

Was it me or did Nicole look like she was really truly annoyed at Wayans whenever his team won and he'd get all cocky.

It wasn't just you. She often pasted on a very fakey smile. I can't blame her. Marlon just wouldn't shut up. Completely annoying. 

 

Another annoyance was Kevin Nealon. His continued passing on How Do You Doo-Et was ridiculous. It looked like he started playing it for laughs, which of course is bad.

 

Have they played Title Twist before? I don't remember it, but I thought Jane said something about it being an old favorite or something. Anyway, it was way too easy.

 

I like Get With The Program, except it shouldn't be played with three people. Third wheel and all that. I'm not even sure it should be played with two people. One will suffice. Jane kept having to remind the celebs, "Act it out with each other!" I felt bad for Nicole and Miranda because their teammates were so much more extroverted and loud. 

 

I don't like Casting Couch. I was glad when Marlon was called out for cheating, but that sort of play happens all the time with this game. Marlon was just so obvious about it. 

 

I always thought that for some reasons singers didn't do particularly well in How Do You Doo, but Nicole was excellent. 

 

At least Marlon and Mario helped Brian win the $25000.

 

All in all, not a great ep. 

[HGNBrian]

Hey guys it's Brian from last night's episode. I found this place because as soon as the show aired I scoured the internet to see if anyone out there was calling me fat or something.

The show was so much fun to film, and I agree with most of what you're saying. Mario was the only one totally in it to win it, and I went with Marlon in the final because he was the least of three evils after Kevin's terrible performance in How Do You Doo-et.

I'm gonna totally defend my doo-dooing though. That was the game I was least confident about, but even after viewing I still think I nailed Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Material Girl. Oh well, as they say, music is in the ear of the doo-dooer or whatever.

Sneha was awesome and I really think I only won because she got saddled with the worse team.

Anyway, thanks for watching and thanks for not calling me fat!

[peeayebee]

Hey there!

 

I thought your 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' was very clear. I was shocked they passed on that. 

 

I didn't notice any fatness. :)

 

How fun to get on the show. Are you prepped beforehand on any of the games? Tell us some behind-the-scenes stuff. 

[iMonrey]

 

like Get With The Program, except it shouldn't be played with three people. Third wheel and all that. I'm not even sure it should be played with two people. One will suffice. Jane kept having to remind the celebs, "Act it out with each other!"

 

Yes I think they're going to have to rejigger this game a bit if it's to work properly; it was a bit too much like Charades and the celebs were just giving clues to the civilian rather than inter-acting with each other.

[HGNBrian]

You wouldn't think so by watching the show sometimes, but the producers are impressively VERY thorough about enforcing fairness. Before each game we went through a multi-page rundown of the rules and everyone could ask questions, then we'd do a practice run before filming. Then after each game they review the tape to make sure they awarded points correctly. The whole show took about 3 hours to film, but was a total blast the whole time. And the booze is real!

[Racj82]

Actually I thought Mario and Marlon did a pretty good job in the final round. And yeah, Marlon annoyed me at first being a little too "on" all the time, but I'll take enthusiasm over . . . whatever Nicole Scherzinger has to offer.

I've said this before, but I wish they'd just retire How Do You Doo. It relies far too heavily on singing ability. If someone can't carry a tune (and so many of them can't, it seems) there's zero chance of naming the song. A monotone "do do do do do" isn't going to help anyone. I think maybe they tried to address that issue by having two people instead of just one, but that didn't really help. At all.

I don't really agree with that. Sometimes, a good singer gets caught up in literally singing the song instead of trying to help the people guess. Like, just hit the beats. You don't have to hold and carry notes like that.

[jhlipton]

Also I have "What the hell was she wearing???" about Nicole.  Her top didn't match her skirt at all, and seemed designed o show off side-boob, but she never was on the right camera.

 

They've done "Title Twist" a couple of times before.  I recall 6th Sense being done much the same as 8 Mile.

 

 

I get Tara's point from the podcast. about the dubious "cheating" on Casting Couch. But I still enjoyed Jane's calling out the shenanigans.

 

I can't hear well enough to listen to the podcast, but both examples were hardly "dubious" cheating.  Marlon stopped moving well before the music stopped.  Mario snatched the pillow from Miranda.  Both deserved to be called out.

 

The whole show took about 3 hours to film, but was a total blast the whole time. And the booze is real!

 

\Glad to hear both of these!

 

From the recap:

How many rounds of Casting Couch does Cosgrove get through because she just picked up whatever and someone was dumber than she is?

 

More than the people she out-lasted!  5 or 6 people are dumber than Cosgrove, but she's dumb because... [fill in the blank]

[sugarbaker design]

but even after viewing I still think I nailed Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Material Girl.

 

 

I got both of those!  Even though I'm not sure why Jane didn't chide you for doing hand motions (mountain high enough, valley low enough).

 

Sneha was awesome and I really think I only won because she got saddled with the worse team.

 

 

Totally agree!

 

I went with Marlon in the final because he was the least of three evils after Kevin's terrible performance in How Do You Doo-et.

 

 

When Jane asked you to pick someone else from the other team, I was hoping you'd say "Do I have to?"

[Black Knight]

Same here, female civilian really got screwed.  At the end she had 35 and the male civilian got 60, it was a blowout.

To be fair, it wasn't a blowout until the final round. Sneha's team was only a few points behind. So I was okay with it. The true blowouts in my mind are those where there's a huge lead early on that's maintained throughout.

 

There was also a disparity in that the man had a pro singer (Nicole) and someone who can sing half-way decently (Mario) but the woman had none.  Bill may have made up for it a bit, though (thoroughly useless).  If they hadn't had to rotate, Nicole and Mario would have completely dominated.

Not faulting Brian at all for this (hi Brian!) because it was the first time with this new version of the game and so the best strategy wouldn't have been clear. But I realized shortly into the game that what he should have done was put one of Nicole/Mario up and one of the others up for the first duo. Not Nicole/Mario together. If only one of them was up to start, that would mean that EVERY single round would've had one of Nicole or Mario up singing and the other on the couch guessing. It would have been a slaughter - they probably would've gotten every single song. (It did end up being a lopsided round, but only because Sneha's team was so bad. The number of songs her team needed to get for her to win was entirely reachable.)

 

You wouldn't think so by watching the show sometimes, but the producers are impressively VERY thorough about enforcing fairness. Before each game we went through a multi-page rundown of the rules and everyone could ask questions, then we'd do a practice run before filming.

Thanks for telling us that. It's particularly interesting because in Katharine McPhee's episode, she obviously had no idea during one game of what she was supposed to be doing, and I remember speculation here that they stopped filming so that they could go through it all again with her. It's kind of painful to think that she went through a practice round, was able to ask questions, and STILL didn't understand!

 

Anyway, congratulations to you, Brian, on your win! I was nervous when you picked Marlon because with his energy, I figured there would be a lot of disastrous teamwork at the end, especially since Mario was also not the type to sit back, ever (although he wasn't obnoxious, just, he wasn't going to sit back). It did come pretty close, at one point I thought you weren't going to be able to hit all 10. Phew!

[peeayebee]

Real booze! I always wondered.

[ivgotspirit02]

Hey guys it's Brian from last night's episode. I found this place because as soon as the show aired I scoured the internet to see if anyone out there was calling me fat or something.

The show was so much fun to film, and I agree with most of what you're saying. Mario was the only one totally in it to win it, and I went with Marlon in the final because he was the least of three evils after Kevin's terrible performance in How Do You Doo-et.

I'm gonna totally defend my doo-dooing though. That was the game I was least confident about, but even after viewing I still think I nailed Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Material Girl. Oh well, as they say, music is in the ear of the doo-dooer or whatever.

Sneha was awesome and I really think I only won because she got saddled with the worse team.

Anyway, thanks for watching and thanks for not calling me fat!

Congratulations on your win Brian! We were rooting for you hard because apparently you went to the same high school as my husband. I was worried for you being saddled with Marlon but you did really well.

[HGNBrian]

I got both of those!  Even though I'm not sure why Jane didn't chide you for doing hand motions (mountain high enough, valley low enough).

That's the thing, hand motions are totally allowed in the rules - if anything, Jane should chide everyone else for NOT taking advantage of hand motions, haha!

 

Not faulting Brian at all for this (hi Brian!) because it was the first time with this new version of the game and so the best strategy wouldn't have been clear. But I realized shortly into the game that what he should have done was put one of Nicole/Mario up and one of the others up for the first duo. Not Nicole/Mario together. If only one of them was up to start, that would mean that EVERY single round would've had one of Nicole or Mario up singing and the other on the couch guessing. It would have been a slaughter - they probably would've gotten every single song. (It did end up being a lopsided round, but only because Sneha's team was so bad. The number of songs her team needed to get for her to win was entirely reachable.)

You're totally right. I didn't fully realize the error of my ways until Bill and I were up there together. The other team definitely still stood a chance to win, but my fears subsided as soon as Kevin started passing on everything.

 

Congratulations on your win Brian! We were rooting for you hard because apparently you went to the same high school as my husband. I was worried for you being saddled with Marlon but you did really well.

Really? Cool - tell your husband I said hi!

[TheEileen]

Interesting - I walked away from the game "Get With the Program" thinking that both Miranda and Nicole were not improv people and were up against loud improv people. In the podcast, when both Tara and Joe were talking about how nothing and quiet and useless those two were while also saying how much the dudes talked over each other and everyone banged into each other. And my two thoughts were: 1 - you would be complaining as much if these two jumped on the loud and talking over everyone bandwagon and 2 - "Yup, that's what 'girls' are generally socialized to do. If everyone (read: men) is being loud and pushy, we step back and wait our turn." I recognize this is a recap/snark fest and so I'm not saying, don't point out what annoyed. It was just it feels like there is no winning. If everyone is up - it is too frenetic. If some people are not up - they are deemed worthless to the game.

I absolutely agree with Miranda being too young for this crowd and/or game. I watched her start to open her mouth and shut it promptly as soon as Mario or Bill started talking (read: yelling).'

And I super agree with Tara on the podcast about Casting Couch on every point made.

[aradia22]

I wish Nicole would release an album of covers. Her non-Pussycat Dolls stuff is not good but I do like her voice.

 

So far I haven't had as much fun this season as in past seasons though I did like Mario describing the cast of Downton Abbey as "pasty white people." His competitive side came out with Marlon around and it was nice to see him being something other than the soulless Extra robot.

 

There was also a disparity in that the man had a pro singer (Nicole) and someone who can sing half-way decently (Mario) but the woman had none.

Chiming in to confirm that Miranda can sing. Sneha was also a decent singer herself. Obviously Nicole was more of a pro than anyone else up there but something I realized watching her is that keeping time is super important. Even when people are pretty close with the melodies, if you don't get the rhythm right, it can be hard to guess the song. Did you notice the way she kept snapping? Girl's a pro.