S05.E06: This Is Us Game Night

[yeswedo]

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The celebrity players are Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Carson Kressley, Marcus Lemonis, and Bill Engvall.

[paigow]

Are the supporting cast members of SVU so busy??? Unlucky civilian gets Team Smorgasbord....

[Primetimer]

How do The Big Three do at party games?

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[Aliconehead]

Other than song sung wrong, I really enjoyed this one. Plus it made me love the This is Us cast even more. They were into and having fun. Sterling was especially lovely with the competitors but all three were great. The Profit dude can be banished.  Biothe competitors were good but the winner kicked major ass on the last round. 

[sweetandsour]

The final game was definitely uneven in terms of categories and answers.  Zoo animals is inherently much easier than amusement parks.  Sure, some are difficult, like seal, but others like elephant, giraffe, and penguin you can get in literally 2 seconds.  When that civilian won, I thought it was such a shame for the other civilian who seemed clearly superior during the games. That said, the winning civilian was on point during the final round and deserved to win the $25k there.  I did notice, however, that all of the celebrity answers were pretty easy and well-known.  No obscure ones (and I don't count Robin Roberts as obscure, though I can see how someone would not know her).  They didn't even pass on a single one, they were so easy (yes, the civilian was good, but the answers were easy).  Compare to a few weeks ago when there were answers like Elizabeth Warren!  But there was plenty of time on the clock, so the civilian could have burned time on a couple of hard ones, only to pass on them, and still win, so congratulations to her.

I don't know if Justin and Carson already knew each other or they at least were chummy in the green room before the show.  Even given Carson's known and visible personality, it was kind of interesting ... that he plopped on Justin's lap like that.  He either knew it would go over just fine or was assuming Justin would play along.  Justin is super affable though so I'm sure Carson knew it would be fine.  One thing I've always really appreciated about Justin is that he has never tried to shy away from his soap opera background like he's embarrassed or too good for it, and he kept that up today by bringing up soaps himself.

I, too, still hate Song Sung Wrong.  I feel like Jane and the producers could have hard evidence that viewers hate it (like Nielsen information that people tune to another channel for 10 minutes once that game comes up) and they would still do it as a vanity piece for Jane.  Bleh.  And I would have killed in the conveyer belt game re: Wu Tang Clan.  My only limitation would have been can I hold all 9 (if they had all 9).

[sugarbaker design]

5 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

I did notice, however, that all of the celebrity answers were pretty easy and well-known.

Even easy and well-known celebs can be difficult if the clue-givers are awful and the civilian is a dumbo.  But this was definitely not the case.  Carson and Sterling worked great together!  Carson took the lead, Sterling complimented his clues, and the civilian was well-versed in pop culture.  Perfect combo!

[Corgi-ears]

This show is fun when they have contestants who know stuff! Who would have guessed!?

I enjoyed all the celebs -- even Bill Engvall, whose old-man-yells-at-cloud act at least culminated in the punchline of him flashing the Wu Tang Clan sign. Somewhat to my surprise, I actually was least enamoured of Chrissy; I like competitive celebs, but she was just a leeetle much where that was concerned. And for some reason, when Jane joked that losers would be cut off from snacks, Carson's sincere "that's harsh" reaction totally cracked me up. 

But yeah, Sterling singing "Shawty get looowww" made me feel all funny downstairs.

[notcreative enough]

I could watch the This is Us trio every week. You can see they got really into the game. Sterling kneeling on the floor to get a better view of the people playing was so cute. They seem to actually really like each other. 

I think it the final round you need to pick the right people. She picked the same two that I would have. They gave great clues. Let's say of she picked Justin and Bill she might not have gotten it. The woman in the last episode pick horrible clue givers so she didn't win.

[iMonrey]

First of all, I still find Clue Boom highly suspicious. The timing of it seems too random and it's like the producers can decide arbitrarily who gets boomed. There ought to be a little clock on the screen that they players can't see (but we can) just so we know it's on the up-and-up.

Secondly, after listening to Jane on Talking with Chris Hardwick, it turns out she really does think she's a singer. Honest to God, she is (or recently was) on a concert tour doing old standards with a philharmonic orchestra. I shit you not, she really thinks she's that good. She's not. At best she could belt out a novelty tune or two in a Broadway show but I wouldn't go to an entire concert of just her singing if you paid me. And I say that as a fan. She just isn't good.

Finally, I have to grudgingly admit that the way Carson Kressley aggressively hits on every male within arm's reach is cringe-worthy. If it were a woman doing it to all the men or vice versa it would seem intrusive, needy and pathetic, and it seems no less so with Carson, frankly. And again, I say that as a fan. It's too much.

However, he and Sterling were perfect partners in Celebrity Name Game. They were so in sync you'd think they'd rehearsed. Carson would set them up and then Sterling would give more specific details. 

Still not crazy about the conveyor belt game but I do love a charade!

[April Bloodgate]

Did anyone else notice that Sterling pantomimed "breast" when he was describing Robin Roberts as having breast cancer? It cracked me up. They did so great though.

Thank you to Tara for pointing out how gross Bill Engvall's gay panic joke was. And it was after the very first time Carson jokingly hit on someone, not after he'd made a long pattern of it.

And thank you Joe for noting how ridiculously uneven the two rounds of the last game were. "Stroller" as a clue for "things at an amusement park"? That's really tangential to me.

[peeayebee]

I missed this one. Sounds like I'd enjoy it. I'll catch it online.

I saw Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley on $100,000 Pyramid. She was excellent; he was... not. I LOVE Sterling K Brown. I also like Carson Kressley.

[weightyghost]

I enjoyed this one up until the last round - animals vs random things at an amusement park is not even close to comparable. At least the civilian was good enough and was really only let down by her team (though they weren't terrible just not as good as the other). Probably one of the fastest final rounds ever. 

This is Us team worked amazingly together, most likely because they know each other so well but it was nice to see (mostly because I've loved Sterling (Supernatural) and Justin (Passions) for awhile, and Chrissy is great). 

I didn't mind Song Sung Wrong as much this episode, most likely because the teams were good at least. 

Clueboom only made me laugh because of when Carson went to push the bowl he happened to look directly into it when it exploded. Otherwise it's mostly people fumbling to open up the little papers and meh. 

[jhlipton]

Hopefully, Bill will be teased mercilessly for a good while for getting a song in his genre ("Jolene") and answering with a completely different one ("Ruby").  And one's sung by a woman (Dolly Parton), the other by a man (Kenny Rogers)!

The losing contestant was shafted by the producers.  I hope she complains and is compensated -- there's no way that was remotely fair.

On 8/15/2017 at 8:05 PM, Aliconehead said:

Other than song sung wrong, I really enjoyed this one. Plus it made me love the This is Us cast even more. They were into and having fun. Sterling was especially lovely with the competitors but all three were great. The Profit dude can be banished.  Biothe competitors were good but the winner kicked major ass on the last round. 

 

14 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I have to grudgingly admit that the way Carson Kressley aggressively hits on every male within arm's reach is cringe-worthy.

I don't grudgingly say it.  I say it flat-out: I hate it.  Bill knew it was coming, so the "gay panic" was probably something they'd worked out before hand.  

[Corgi-ears]

10 hours ago, April Bloodgate said:

Did anyone else notice that Sterling pantomimed "breast" when he was describing Robin Roberts as having breast cancer? It cracked me up. They did so great though.

Not only did he lovingly pantomime "breasts," but his voice took on this soothing, uber-empathetic tone. "She had, awww, great cancer." Hee. 

If we feel generous -- which I don't know why we would -- we could read Bill Engvall's joke a different way: less "I'm going to get out of the way in case Carson decides to hit on me next, which eww," more "I'll move to the other couch so that Carson and Marcus have all the room they need to make out." The first is certainly gay panicky, but the second, well, that's just thoughtful and considerate. (Of course, neither version is especially funny, and certainly didn't land.)

Edited August 17, 2017 by Corgi-ears

[iMonrey]

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Thank you to Tara for pointing out how gross Bill Engvall's gay panic joke was.

I was initially anti-Bill about that but as the show progressed and Carson grew increasingly grabby with every other male on the stage I kind of swung around to Bill's side. It's really not about the fact that Carson is gay and hitting on men. It's just too intrusive and uncomfortable no matter what the orientation or gender. If it were a guy trying to grope and hug all the women on the panel people would be appalled so I don't see anything wrong with criticizing Carson for doing it. It's not "cute" just because he's Carson. 

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I enjoyed this one up until the last round - animals vs random things at an amusement park is not even close to comparable. 

It's true animals is easier but they had to get a lot more points than the other team to surpass them because they were pretty far behind, so I tend to think that evens things up quite a bit. Easier category but more clues to guess. Also I felt like that team got screwed by the arbitrary nature of Clue Boom at the top of the hour so that helped even things out.

[Spaceman Spiff]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I was initially anti-Bill about that but as the show progressed and Carson grew increasingly grabby with every other male on the stage I kind of swung around to Bill's side. It's really not about the fact that Carson is gay and hitting on men. It's just too intrusive and uncomfortable no matter what the orientation or gender. If it were a guy trying to grope and hug all the women on the panel people would be appalled so I don't see anything wrong with criticizing Carson for doing it. It's not "cute" just because he's Carson. 

When I first saw Carson my initial thought was, is he even relevant anymore Queer Eye was what 15 yrs ago? As you mention his constant grabby touchy groping was off putting if even in fun. Once is okay, but when it continued it became too much. I would have almost voted for him as celeb to never return, but I have to admit, when the game was on, so was he, and he was good. They all played well I thought. Even Profit, who I thought would be a dud like Michael Bolton, but he wasn't. He was singing along to all the song sung wrong songs. The only one who faltered was Justin during that game and I don't blame him, I didn't know those songs either much less the lyrics.

Even though the This is Us cast was dominating and the final round was a bit lopsided in category, who doesn't like a good comeback story? And the civilian smoked the final round.

[sugarbaker design]

I guess I'm the one with the Unpopular Opinion because I thought Carson's grabbiness was funny, and I thought the dudes' reaction (for the most part) was quite magnanimous.

[peeayebee]

So I finally watched online and really enjoyed it. I do think it's unfair when one team knows each other well (This Is Us) while the other is like Jeopardy's Potpourri category, randomly thrown together. Sterling, Chrissy, and Justin really shone as a team during charades. Wow. They were great to watch.

There were a couple songs in Song Sung Wrong that I didn't know. I would have been lost. 

I think that the conveyer belt box game (name?) would have been better if there'd been music playing. It's a minor thing, I know, but I felt there was a void.

 

On 8/16/2017 at 6:26 AM, sugarbaker design said:

Even easy and well-known celebs can be difficult if the clue-givers are awful and the civilian is a dumbo.  But this was definitely not the case.  Carson and Sterling worked great together!  Carson took the lead, Sterling complimented his clues, and the civilian was well-versed in pop culture.  Perfect combo!

I think before they started, Carson told Sterling that he would take the lead. He might have said it like a reminder, as if they'd talked about it previously. Anyway, I agree that this worked fantastically. That's the way to do it.

 

On 8/16/2017 at 8:11 AM, notcreative enough said:

I think it the final round you need to pick the right people. She picked the same two that I would have. 

Me too, not only because they're good, but because I love them both. :D

 

On 8/16/2017 at 9:49 AM, iMonrey said:

There ought to be a little clock on the screen that they players can't see (but we can) just so we know it's on the up-and-up.

I agree. It's obvious that it can be kaboomed remotely because before the commercial break, it kept going off as Jane spun around.

 

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Finally, I have to grudgingly admit that the way Carson Kressley aggressively hits on every male within arm's reach is cringe-worthy. If it were a woman doing it to all the men or vice versa it would seem intrusive, needy and pathetic, and it seems no less so with Carson, frankly. And again, I say that as a fan. It's too much.

I wasn't bothered by this and thought he was funny. I didn't find anything he did to be lewd, gross, or aggressive. It was PG-13, innocent joshing. Even when he sat on Justin's lap it didn't seem all that sexual to me.

 

On 8/17/2017 at 0:45 AM, Corgi-ears said:

If we feel generous -- which I don't know why we would -- we could read Bill Engvall's joke a different way: less "I'm going to get out of the way in case Carson decides to hit on me next, which eww," more "I'll move to the other couch so that Carson and Marcus have all the room they need to make out." The first is certainly gay panicky, but the second, well, that's just thoughtful and considerate. (Of course, neither version is especially funny, and certainly didn't land.)

I didn't notice any gay panic from Engvall, so maybe I took it the second way you described. 

 

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Not only did he lovingly pantomime "breasts," but his voice took on this soothing, uber-empathetic tone. "She had, awww, great cancer." Hee. 

Is that autocorrect?

[Irlandesa]

Sterling has to stop being so adorable. 

I enjoyed this episode.  All the celebs seemed to have a good rapport, not just the TIU team.  Yes, there's a minor quibble about zoo animals being easier than things seen at an amusement park but it was still enjoyable.

[rwgrab]

I'm not a big fan of the Nice Package game. I gave it another chance after the first time they showed it, but I don't think it's any fun for the viewer. The boxes go by too fast to see what each one says, and then at the end, Jane just says "you got 12 right!" and the players just toss the boxes on the ground. Why not tell us which ones are right and which ones are boneheaded mistakes?

Also, as mentioned on the podcast, there's not a bunch of possible confusion on the categories. Nobody's going to mistake a Brady kid for somebody in Ghostbusters!