S15.E06: I'm Going Full Ballmer

[TiredMe]

Aww I'm sad now. My Carson is gone. Although he deserved to go. My joy in this season is severely dimmed now.

[steff13]

23 hours ago, Steph619 said:

I don't know what it is about Brooke that makes me not like her. I've felt this way about her since she was the co-host of DWTS. She seems nice, but just something about her bugs me. Kudos to her winning the task though because fitness is her strength and she did a great job demonstrating the product, but I think Laila was the one that ultimately helped spike the sales.

You know what?  She's just the worst.  I can't stand her, either, and I've never been able to.  What is she even famous for?  I do feel bad that her husband is a dick, though. 

[steff13]

I thought the slidey think that Brooke was selling looked like a lot of fun.  But $110?!  That's easily twice what I'd pay for that thing.  Maybe I'll just skate around my kitchen in my socks. 

I really want Matt or George for the win. 

[krawz555]

3 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

Arnold fumbling with and commenting on the rolled up, taped t-shirt in the boardroom was all kinds of funny. I must have replayed that  four or five times.

Yes!  Takes me back to his comedy movies like "Twins".  He's very comedic, like his jabs with Jon Lovitz! 

[Mumbles]

Quote

I scared my cats when I laughed over Ah-nold saying "hasta la vista, babies!" with that smile on his face. That just tickled me unexpectedly.

I don't know if this is coming back but if it does, I'll watch for Arnold. He has won me over. And I was not a fan of his movies, or his politics, or how he cheated on Maria (which I still think is awful, but I can compartmentalize.)

[RealReality]

"To the choppa!" gets me everytime.  I don't know why, but I find it hilarious.

All I know is I want to say it to someone so bad.

[Celia Rubenstein]

5 hours ago, TiredMe said:

Aww I'm sad now. My Carson is gone. Although he deserved to go. My joy in this season is severely dimmed now.

Severely dimmed, indeed.  Thank goodness Boy George is still around. I doubt he's going to manage to win (I think Harry Potter man has it in the bag) but I like George a lot and enjoy watching him.

Carson was toast the minute he picked that awful pulley gadget thing as his item. Nobody wants that thing, nobody shopping on QVC at least. Marie Osmond has a bungee cord item that does more things, is much easier to understand, infinitely easier to use and it's like half the price. She sells it herself on there constantly and people eat it up. It's one of their best selling items.  The population of QVC shoppers who are in the market for that type of little strength building gadget has already been completely tapped for the time being. I adore Carson and he knows a lot about QVC but he obviously has not spent much time watching it or else he would have realized this.

I give him credit for knowing it was better to be selling an item that would ship immediately, but unfortunately that was never going to make enough of a difference if what ships immediately is something nobody wants.

Since Carson was so keen on using Boy George's weight loss story as a selling point, he should have gone with the mini trampoline or the slide board and had George talk about its cardio benefits and how the type of exercises you do on it are like what he did to lose weight.  Having George relate his weight loss to that little hinge thing that works your biceps -which he'd never laid eyes on before that day - was meaningless.

I'm not a huge Lisa fan and not sorry to see her go, but what was she expected to do about anything from her position? There was never any bump in calls to indicate something was working.  There was nothing to re-direct Carson back towards, no big dip to tell her she should steer him away from something. Arnold's suggestion that she should have ran from the truck and leapt on stage to take over was preposterous. It would have been incredibly awkward to interrupt the presentation that way. That kind of thing may work if you are selling protein powder to a bunch of pumped up guys whose idea of a good time is busting their ass lifting weights but middle aged women watching QVC at home would think it was some weird, rude bullshit.

They gave Carson a lot of grief for not using Lisa onstage as if she was such an obvious choice, but I don't think it was just a dumb mistake on his part. I suspect that Carson perhaps thought Lisa was .... lacking in charisma, shall we say? Charm-free?Not ready for prime time?  A curmudgeonly, grouchy sourpuss who couldnt make a go of selling ice water in hell and he didn't want her toxic energy contaminating his segment?  But our Carson was just too nice a guy to come right out and say it in the boardroom. Maybe he should have. It's the only thing I can think of that he might have done to save himself.  Just say he stuck her in the truck because he thought she would bomb onstage.  Paint her as a liability and why his team lost. I'd have believed him if I was Arnold, given her five times being called back into the boardroom to face elimination.

Lol but Carson would never do that. That's part of the reason I like him so much.He's not that kind of guy. I am though, and I would have thrown Lisa right under the bus! A big city bus cuz' she's really tall. But I would have stuffed all six and a half feet of her right under there!

[MarkHB]

14 hours ago, RealReality said:

I wonder if Ballmer got a lot of heat for that speech or if people made terrible fun of him for it, which is why he is a little sensitive about it.

Among Microsoft-haters, it's known as the "Monkey Boy" speech. Here it is (there are many copies out there):

[waving feather]

13 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

Arnold fumbling with and commenting on the rolled up, taped t-shirt in the boardroom was all kinds of funny. I must have replayed that  four or five times.

Arnold as the intimidating boss character doesn't work for me, but Arnold as the comedian works very well. He is really good at comedy and that's why his comedic movies have done well in the past.

Yes, it seems like Ballmer wanted to forget that presentation ever happened and wasn't proud of it, so he didn't appreciate it when Matt recreated it. I liked how Matt stood up for himself and explained why he did it. Matt is great.

Edited February 1, 2017 by waving feather

[Never Again]

16 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Yet, that's kind of the impression I have of Brooke-that's she really just a mean girl.  I think that the editing for her has shown a bit of a nasty side, 

Yup, exactly.  I've been thinking the whole season that Brooke is a secret mean girl but is trying hard to hide it because being on a team show forces her to let these others sit at her lunch table.  Except that she's not hiding it too well, and I feel it's the reason many viewers instinctively don't like her but can't put their fingers on exactly why. But her vibe comes through .  

[ennui]

11 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

(I think Harry Potter man has it in the bag)

I think Matt wants it the most. Some of these contestants are along for the ride.

[Celia Rubenstein]

2 minutes ago, ennui said:

I think Matt wants it the most. Some of these contestants are along for the ride.

Agreed.  I don't think the entire full cast put together wants it as much as Matt does all on his own, lol.  He may want it more than anyone else ever has in the whole history of the show.  I will be okay with it if he wins. He's just so damn likable.

I really hope that Brooke Burke person doesn't end up winning.  I guess it's not her fault, really, but the thing about her asshole husband refusing to sit behind her on the bike bothers me.  I shouldn't hold it against her, I suppose, but I can't seem to help it.  If she had told him he had to sit in the back or he was "fired" I'd be rooting for her on principle.  But the way she tried to make it sound like her husband's refusal was this perfectly understandable and reasonable thing was just crap and flew in the face of the entire marketing concept Kawasaki was going for.  I really wanted her to be fired for it, but Kyle just tanked the whole campaign and took the heat for losing. But I still wish it had been Brook who was fired.  Don't let her win!!!! 

[ennui]

I think Carson was gambling that the QVC crowd would remember him (he sold a line of clothing for a few years on QVC). However, I think the QVC demographic are also big fans of DWTS, so they were predisposed to like Burke and anything she had to sell. 

I remember that slider thing from years ago, so I'm not sure why it's "new."

[LoneHaranguer]

20 hours ago, steff13 said:

 

I thought the slidey think that Brooke was selling looked like a lot of fun.  But $110?!  That's easily twice what I'd pay for that thing.  Maybe I'll just skate around my kitchen in my socks.

 

I'm surprised they didn't take advantage of the "easy pay" option they've mentioned on QVC tasks in prior seasons. Saying "it's only five payments of $22" will work better than saying it's $110. That's why nationally-advertised charities push for donations of "only X a month/day" instead of saying outright that they want $200 or $250.

[Celia Rubenstein]

Yeah, Carson's doo-hicky was on two easy payments - and he was smart enough to keep it under a hundred bucks.  Goes to show how hopeless selling that thing was.

I wonder why Brooke's slidey thing wasn't on easy pay.  Surely she was offered the same opportunity, don't you think?  Especially since she was charging so much for the thing.  With easy pay, she might have sold three times as many of her device as Carson sold instead of just twice as many.

He really got smoked, lol.  Darn it! 

[Jillybean]

Brooke has been really bugging me since she kowtowed to her insecure husband. I lost all respect for her there. I was mystified on the fundraising task when she was the only one whose fundraising total was never revealed. I was pretty sure at that point that she was this season's "untouchable."  Which automatically makes me root against her. I was really Team Carson and was so disappointed in how this task turned out. Earlier today I watched a repeat of Celebrity Cupcake Wars and Carson and Brooke were F2. Carson won. So there's that.

[BW Manilowe]

On 1/31/2017 at 1:39 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

Cell phone recordings of those Clippers pep rallies have to have been floating around. Does anyone know if they're using George's song?

Lisa was rightly fired for not doing anything on the QVC task, and saying the metrics didn't change meant she had nothing to tell them is bull. She was the only one on the team with eyes on the viewers and they needed the feedback. Sorry to see Carson go, but it was his decision on the equipment and pricing.

Snerk that Brooke's career nowadays consists of infomercials and QVC.

I think she is/was hosting a lifestyle type show on a TV streaming network. She's also been doing at least commercials (not sure about print ads) for Skechers shoes.

[BW Manilowe]

On 1/31/2017 at 1:41 AM, RealReality said:

yeah, I sort of thought it looked like a thigh master too.  I could see them sort of using it in a variety of ways, but it looked complex, and hard to explain in eight minutes.  I don't see why they didn't pick the trampoline, which looked like a lot of fun, easy to use/explain, and easy to demonstrate.

I think Carson just really missed the mark in demoing the product so the viewer could see all the ways you could use it to work different muscle groups.

Even then, the trampoline looks like more fun.

What was her career?  I just remember her being married to Bruce Willis for two minutes.

She was married to a man named Garth Fisher; he's the father of at least her 2 oldest daughters (current husband David Charvet is the father of her son & at least her youngest daughter--I think Brooke has 2 kids with each husband). As I remember he's a plastic surgeon in the LA area & E! does or did a reality show about his practice.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Burke

[BW Manilowe]

7 hours ago, ennui said:

I think Carson was gambling that the QVC crowd would remember him (he sold a line of clothing for a few years on QVC). However, I think the QVC demographic are also big fans of DWTS, so they were predisposed to like Burke and anything she had to sell. 

I remember that slider thing from years ago, so I'm not sure why it's "new."

If the QVC demographic is DWTS fans, that should've worked for Carson. He's done the show as a celeb contestant.

[DEL901]

14 hours ago, ennui said:

I think Matt wants it the most. Some of these contestants are along for the ride.

I think Matt has the most upside from this show.  He probably had the smallest pre-show fanbase.  I mean, even people who knew who he was (and yes, I watch American Ninja Warrior) probably weren't as passionate as the sports fans and even the BB DWTS fans before the show started.  I think he is like Bret Michaels from a few years ago (except less sleazy).  Bret was just so darned nice.  It shocked the heck out of everyone.  And he did a decent job at the challenges.  I think he was destined for #2 until the medical issues, but, he won over a whole new fan base.  Same for Matt, except I think he has a decent shot and #1 even if he doesn't get conked on the head at the Tony's.

[AZChristian]

7 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

If the QVC demographic is DWTS fans, that should've worked for Carson. He's done the show as a celeb contestant.

This.

And people actually LIKED Carson on DWTS.  There's a reason that Brooke is no longer on the show.  She was excoriated every week on discussion boards like this one for her poor "skills" of interviewing the contestants.  She didn't have "fans" . . . 

[steff13]

10 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

I think she is/was hosting a lifestyle type show on a TV streaming network. She's also been doing at least commercials (not sure about print ads) for Skechers shoes.

She's done commercials for Poise pads, too.

[LoneHaranguer]

3 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I think he was destined for #2 until the medical issues, but, he won over a whole new fan base.

Shortly before the finale, it came out on the net that his opponent's charity was a fraud, so I think the producers would have given Bret the win anyway, rather than risk embarrassment if the media picked it up.

15 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

I wonder why Brooke's slidey thing wasn't on easy pay.  Surely she was offered the same opportunity, don't you think?

The rule in the past was that the team had to ask about their options, and initiate any negotiations on bending the usual payment rules if necessary. It wasn't up to QVC to offer everything.

[Vermicious Knid]

Quote

Shortly before the finale, it came out on the net that his opponent's charity was a fraud

What, what? It was probably discussed at the time but I don't remember.

I would put streaming tv on a par with infomercials, unless it's one of the major services.

[LoneHaranguer]

12 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

What, what? It was probably discussed at the time but I don't remember.

Somebody noticed that what the charity's tax filings had been saying about its purpose wasn't what Holly was saying on the show, and the financials looked a lot more like a tax dodge than a legitimate charity.

[karenc3]

I don't agree that Carson using Lisa instead of George would have helped.  I think more women would relate to George and his story than Lisa, and he is much more well known also.  I think the problem was they didn't use George long enough. The only bump up they saw was when George was on.  Though I also think the other major problem was the product itself, it just didn't look as fun as the slider,  or maybe they didn't show enough about how to  use it.  Though actually, if used correctly, I would probably be more likely to use it.   

[DEL901]

3 hours ago, karenc3 said:

I don't agree that Carson using Lisa instead of George would have helped.  I think more women would relate to George and his story than Lisa, and he is much more well known also.  I think the problem was they didn't use George long enough. The only bump up they saw was when George was on.  Though I also think the other major problem was the product itself, it just didn't look as fun as the slider,  or maybe they didn't show enough about how to  use it.  Though actually, if used correctly, I would probably be more likely to use it.   

I actually think the were implying that Carson should have been in the control booth, Lisa hosting/demoing and Boy George still telling his story.   Lisa is fit.  George lost a lot of weight.  They both had something to add to the narrative.  Carson was being funny, but that doesn't sell equipment, especially when they didn't go a good job of demoing.     As Matt noticed when he was in the booth for his team, interest dropped when the fitness models were featured and went up when the celebrities were talking/demoing. 

[EuropeanGirl]

I usually come here to read comments, but this episode left me with little thoughts I'd like to share:

- It was funny how, in the first task, Brooke was judging the other teams' T-shirt like she was Vera Wang or something. Trying to be all professional and sound like a successful designer.

- Brooke should have lost the task because she missed some major marks. If it wasn't for Layla, she would have been dunzo. I think she owes her two (?) wins to luck, because she basically was winging it both times.

- I didn't get that Brooke's team only had that I-LOVE-THIS-TEAM cheer and that was it, until we saw it come to fruition. I think by seeing Boy George writing a song that I've automatically thought their task was to also have a song. Either way, I love what Boy's team did (I can't precisely remember who belongs to Arete or Prima, sorry) and their victory was well deserved.

- Like some of you have noticed before, Lisa is shady. First of all, I need someone to explain to her that: a) she doesn't have the required producing skills and b) bossing around isn't the point of the job. I like how Arnold pointed out that she should have left the boot and switched places with Carson. If I was Carson, that would be my argument for her to be gone. I'm sad that he was fired, because he and Boy George, besides Layla, are my favorites. I'm gonna miss his funny and witty comments.

- As much as I like having Carson and Boy George on the same team, I think it would have been more interesting to seem them go against each other, because they both bring a lot to the table. I think the other team misses that part and is at a disadvantage because of that, despite their win.

That's it! Now I'm gonna go through the comments and read Carson's hilarious blog :)

Oh, and yes, I also am waiting for Brooke to be gone. She has overstayed her welcome and has nothing to offer, comparing to the rest.

Edited February 4, 2017 by EuropeanGirl

[EuropeanGirl]

On 31.1.2017. at 5:20 AM, Jextella said:

The thing is I don't know Lisa other than what I see on the show.  I do know Laila and Brooke though.  I'm guessing a lot of women are like me.  Lisa on camera wouldn't have been a selling point for me.  Another thing is that she is really tall and I wouldn't feel I could relate.  I could relate more to Boy George's weight loss than Lisa.  The logic worked for me.  Although I get why it wouldn't work for others.

 

As a big kid during my teen years, I have to say that I'd also relate more to George rather than a tall Lisa (because I'm like 5'5) who has been a fit athlete probably her whole life.

 

On 1.2.2017. at 0:38 AM, RealReality said:

I wonder if Ballmer got a lot of heat for that speech or if people made terrible fun of him for it, which is why he is a little sensitive about it.

 

I was thinking about that, too.

 

On 1.2.2017. at 2:14 AM, scootypuffjr said:

 Coming in, I had no idea who Matt Isener was, but he seems like a good guy, smart and charismatic, a hard worker who is very natural and comfortable in his skin, which makes him very appealing.

Me, too. I'm from Europe and we have Ninja warriors, but there's no subtitles. We have our own hosts. I agree that he made a good impression on me and definitely is worthy of being the next CA. (I'm mostly rooting for Boy George now, though).

[Celia Rubenstein]

Quote

I wonder if Ballmer got a lot of heat for that speech or if people made terrible fun of him for it, which is why he is a little sensitive about it.

He was unexpectedly sensitive about it, wasn't he?  I was surprised.  Matt seemed almost wounded by his criticism.

It made me not like Ballmer and want to root for Matt, even though my favorite players (Boy George and Carson) were on the other team. 

[RealReality]

7 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

He was unexpectedly sensitive about it, wasn't he?  I was surprised.  Matt seemed almost wounded by his criticism.

It made me not like Ballmer and want to root for Matt, even though my favorite players (Boy George and Carson) were on the other team. 

 

14 hours ago, EuropeanGirl said:

I was thinking about that, too.

 

Someone posted upthread that he apparently was made fun of for that speech....he was called the monkeyboy of Microsoft or something by people who dislike Microsoft.  

Its funny to me, I think if I was a billionaire, there would be so many people kissing my butt that I wouldn't care about some criticism over a speech....but there it is.  Billionaires, they really ARE just like us :)

[Dirtybubble]

Count me in as Matt for the win.  He seems to be the best leader; he motivates in a very positive way and he seems to be an all around great guy.  His enthusiasm to ALL the tasks is infectious.  

Also I'm lurving the governor as show host.  I was howling at his unwrapping the t shirt delima.

Edited February 5, 2017 by Dirtybubble

[Amarsir]

I wonder how effective the "real time" call information is for a QVC segment anyway. I've never ordered anything from a TV spot but it seems to me that if there was a segment that caught my interest I'd specifically wait until after that segment to call. If I was excited to see Boy George come on the screen I wouldn't start dialing when he's introduced. I'd wait until he leaves or gets boring and then go "OK that was convincing, I'll order."

[mamadrama]

22 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

He was unexpectedly sensitive about it, wasn't he?  I was surprised.  Matt seemed almost wounded by his criticism.

It made me not like Ballmer and want to root for Matt, even though my favorite players (Boy George and Carson) were on the other team. 

Me too! Made me like Matt more. I wanted to give him a hug. I felt secondhand embarrassment for him. I mean, Warren Buffet was tickled that they looked up his favorite chocolate...

[susannot]

On 2/1/2017 at 9:35 AM, waving feather said:

Arnold as the intimidating boss character doesn't work for me, but Arnold as the comedian works very well. He is really good at comedy and that's why his comedic movies have done well in the past.

Yes, it seems like Ballmer wanted to forget that presentation ever happened and wasn't proud of it, so he didn't appreciate it when Matt recreated it. I liked how Matt stood up for himself and explained why he did it. Matt is great.

Yes, and that is the big difference between Arnold and The Donald.  Arnold has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself.  The Donald is utterly humorless.  Don't remember where I first heard the quote Lack of Humor:  that's what marks the beast.