Survivor Samoa- Week 11

Since the merger, this season of Survivor has been unbelievable. The previews before the season started hyped Russell to be the best thing out, and he has proven them right. Will he make it all the way to the end? Who knows? But he has definitely made his mark thus far in the competition.

Shambo is the absolute worst. I wish they had made promos back in August that made statements like "Could this be the biggest loser in Survivor history?" and "How much are you going to want to punch your television when you listen to this contestant speak?" "This season on Survivor, Shambo is the absolute worst, don't tune in to see her." I would've still watched.

Here are a couple times she got my blood boiling this week. Talking to the chickens...She told them that she wanted to let them know that they were going to eat them today. Oh she also used a bit of an Andy Bernard baby voice.

She finally got rid of her mortal enemy last week, in Laura, and now she is more angry and upset than ever. Why? Because Dave asks her about cooking the chicken...This is Shambo, "You're gonna tell me how to cook chicken?!? No way mister!!"

The absolute worst.

Fantasy Results

The Technotronics

W. Russell-W11 (56)= 56
B. Russell-
Monica- W11 (56)= 56
Liz-
Natalie- W11 (56)= 56
Week 11= 168
Total=865




Canon Controversy

John- Votes (-28)= -28
Jaison- W11 (56), Im (20)= 76
Mike-
Dave- W11 (56), Votes (-4)= 52
Betsy-
Week 11= 100
Total= 731







Freecell Makes Me Wanna

Mick- W11 (56), Votes (-4)= 52
Brett- W11 (56)= 56
Marissa-
Laura-
Yasmin-
Week 11= 108
Total= 710

Sweet Niblets


Erik-
Ben-
Ashley-
Kelly-
Shambo- W11 (56)= 56
Week 11= 56
Total= 455

Amazing Race- It Was So (Big) Easy

My favorite duo throughout this season of The Amazing Race has been the pair of Harlem Globetrotters we know as Flight Time and Big Easy. They're fun loving, boisterous at time, and always out for the W. As the weeks have gone on and on it has become more apparent that Big Easy was holding the team back. Whether it was him not being able to paddle a boat, hardly being able to climb a ropes course, or taking forever to find a miniature mandolin at an opera house, he has struggled as of late. Flight Time has not once yelled at him, or fought with him to do better (a rarity for a contestant on a reality show). This week it all came to an end when Big Easy made the worst decision I've seen on the show. It was the biggest mistake, because last season's Jen decided to stop for a bathroom break on her run to the final pit stop, but it was the worst decision in my mind.

First off the dude had five letters...R N A F Z...maybe it is because I watched Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon on Saturday Night Live, or because my dad watched a lot of NYPD Blue when I was a kid, but when I saw those letters, FRANZ was the only think I could see (and I could see it right away). Ok so maybe he wasn't a fan and he couldn't understand that it was that easy, but still there are only so many combinations of letters. So he had been working on it for two hours or so, beside himself with how long it had taken him, and one of the gay brothers finally figures it out. He leaves Big Easy with the fact that it starts with an F. Now he only has four letters to figure out what the answer is, R N A Z. After what the editing made it seem was only a half hour or hour later, he decides to give up and take a FOUR HOUR PENALTY!!!! Are you kidding me?!?! Keep guessing! Sooner or later you SHOULD come up with the right combination of letters to get FRANZ. But no, Big Easy tells Flight Time that he decided to take the penalty and wait the four hours to continue to the next challenge even though he knew they were currently in last place. Flight Time didn't complain about this idea. He encouraged his partner and they went forward with a positive outlook. You gotta be kidding me. These guys, as fun as they were to watch at times, did not deserve to win this thing.

Poolies Watch- Veronica Mars Award

The Veronica Mars Award is given each year to the best female character in a drama series. Last year's winner, Julie Taylor has proven herself to once again be a contender for the award, as has 2009's runner-up Naomi Clark. The other three in the top pack would be receiving their first nomination in the category. Rebecca Logan's Greek switched over from the comedy category, while Ella Simms and Olivia Burke are making their first appearances in any category. Olivia's stint on Gossip Girl was short lived, but she packed a punch in the time she had in NYC.

The Lead Pack
Ella Simms- Melrose Place
Julie Taylor- Friday Night Lights
Naomi Clark- 90210
Olivia Burke- Gossip Girl
Rebecca Logan- Greek

Adrianna Duncan and Betty Draper are currently holding nominations as they did last year, even though most have disliked Betty during this past season. I thoroughly enjoyed everything she brought to the table in Mad Men's third season and I see her as being at the top of this group. Rachel Berry and Sue Sylvester sneak in on the new Glee. As a dramedy, Rachel and Sue have the advantage of bringing funny to a category lacking in it (other than Naomi's random moments).

In for Now
Adrianna Tate-Duncan- 90210
Betty Draper- Mad Men
Karen- Californication
Rachel Berry- Glee
Sue Sylvester- Glee

Both Haley James Scott and Brooke Davis have fallen way down, as the demise of One Tree Hill continues. Haley has an outside chance to get back in the thick of things, as she hasn't had that much screen time. Too much screen time has been the problem for Brooke as her character has done a complete 180 from the first few season and is unbearable to watch now. Watch out for Jess Merriweather of Friday Night Lights. The former best friend of Michelle Tanner has gotten me excited early on in Dillon, Texas.

Outside Looking In
Blair Waldorf- Gossip Girl
Brooke Davis- One Tree Hill
Casey Cartwright- Greek
Haley James Scott- One Tree Hill
Jess Merriweather- Friday Night Lights
Quinn Fabray- Glee
Rebecca Harper- Brothers & Sisters

House Steals My Joke

Yeah sure I tend to exaggerate from time to time when speaking of how much I enjoy a show or how much I laughed at a given joke. On this week's episode of House, I literally paused the DVR and laughed out loud for the duration of 2-3 minutes. Finally. Finally, my constant mentioning of how Omar Epps looks exactly like Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin has paid off. The writers at the esteemed medical drama have the intelligence to realize that they were given a perfect situation of a character/other celebrity look-a-like and a main character that likes to use pop culture to poke fun at his subordinates.

What you end up with is this...

Chase- "What are you so excited about?"
House- "Why wouldn't I be? Got all my starters back, plus a couple of first class free agents. I feel like Mike Tomlin."
(House pauses to stare at Foreman. Camera pans to Foreman staring back at him)
House- "Probably not as much as you do, but you get the idea."

Curb- Seinfeld Reunion and Finale

This week's season finale was not quite up to par with last week's stellar episode. Having said that, I still thoroughly enjoyed almost everything about it. I especially liked that it was 40 minutes long. So much good stuff that they had to extend their normal 25-27 minute range for the second straight week.

Other than getting to actually see another Seinfeld ep (on Larry's tv) the best part of the night was definitely Larry and Jerry's conversation a the party for Jason's book. Jerry stepped up big time and proved why his character on Seinfeld (which is almost identical to his real life persona) is in my top ten characters of all-time. I lost it when he was explaining to Jason that the title of his pamphlet could have also been Acting with Acting. He then ties in the entire convo he had with Larry, by saying to Jason "Having said that, I think this is a terrific title."

Jer also came up huge by doing the LD stare down to LD. Although not as good as the original, Jerry's final burst of bug-eyed stare was fantastic. Final note on Jerry was that I loved his very Seinfeld-esque observation that Larry's unimaginable love for wood meant that when he is at a funeral, he is more concerned for the coffin than the deceased. Classic.

How were the other people on the stage not cracking up at Larry's version of George? It was hilarious.

And final note on the Curb side of things, George doing LD's pretty, pretty, pretty good was also extremely enjoyable to see.

Great season.

Now to all the haters out there that were unhappy with the Seinfeld finale back in 1998. What were and are you thinking? It was a great finale. It did what a finale should do. It summed up the show in a way that gave it a complete ending. Going through and bringing back all the old characters to show how sick and twisted Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer were was both eventful and fulfilling. I would have been extremely unhappy at the time, if the finale had been something like what Curb's Seinfeld ep within an ep was. There was no closure on the characters. In '98 the four guys go to jail because of all of the trouble we've seen them get into. It was a perfect end to a perfect series.

Sepinwall, like most I assume, disagrees...

In fairness, placing this "Seinfeld" reunion in the confines of a "Curb" episode makes it easy for it to stand out. It's all the good bits, none of the plot mechanics: just joke, joke, joke, joke, joke. But what we did see of it, here and in "The Table Read," felt much more along the lines of what the finale should have been: just one last collection of stories involving these four socially maladjusted people.

In a final mini-rant, I'll say that I don't want my series finale to be just like any other episode, which he is basically say here. I want it to be momentous, like the original finale was. Having said that, this reunion ep inside of Curb was great for what it was. A way to get these four actors, and at times characters, together again for one more time in a way that they would all enjoy.

Poolies Watch- Titus Pullo Award

With many of the action shows yet to begin this season, and last year's winner most likely in prison for a long time (Tony Almeida), The Titus Pullo Award (Best Supporting Character in an Action Series) seems to be up for grabs. I currently have Gabriel Sylar and Ben Linus at the top of the heap. Although Heroes has gone way down hill, Sylar's character is still fantastic week in and week out. And then with Linus, I don't know whether he will be here or in lead character this season, but either way he'll be a front runner.

Top of the Heap
Ben Linus- Lost
Gabriel Sylar- Heroes

Next we have four guys currently receiving nominations that we have seen already this season. Eric of True Blood and Cho of Mentalist had and are having a great second season and I am pretty confident in them getting nods come June. Lafayette and Wilson are on thin ice depending on what others bring to the table in 2010.

Those We've Seen
Eric Northman- True Blood
James Wilson- House
Kimball Cho- The Mentalist
Lafayette Reynolds- True Blood

Now we have four dudes that have yet to come on screen this season, but are currently occupying spaces based on previous performances. Captain Awesome and Lester of Chuck have proven to be great comedy, while Desmond and Richard Alpert of Lost make the list for many other reasons. The problem with these two, as with many Lost characters, is that I have no idea how much screen time they will get in the final season. Richard has been lacking in that area most of the time, but I feel we need to hear more of his story this year, and that it will be sweet.

Yet to Come
Desmond Hume- Lost
Devon Woodcomb- Chuck
Lestr Patel- Chuck
Richard Alpert- Lost

There are plenty of worthy characters waiting to grab a spot. There is also the 24 wildcard, since they have so many new characters from year to year. And if Jacob sees any kind of a larger role in Lost, he could have the potential to jump up (that is if he isn't also dead). Also there is the slight chance that I catch up on Sons of Anarchy and they have anyone worth while in the category.

Outside Looking In
Andy Bellefleur- True Blood
Big Mike- Chuck
Jeff Barnes- Chuck
Sam Sullivan- Heroes
Stan Wedeck- Flash Forward
Steve Newlan- True Blood
Wayne Rigsby- The Mentalist

Survivor Samoa- Week 10

After getting yelled at by Lar for having nothing to say about the greatest episode in Survivor history last week, I'll have a bit more to say about what was the second fantastic episode in a row. In what started out as a pretty boring season, the past two eps have picked up a notch.

First of all I can't stop thinking about how fantastic last week's tribal council was when Russell used the hidden idol to perfection to save himself. Great move by a great guy. When Probst announces that the idol will go back into the game, I would have bet $1,000 right then and there that Russell would find it again. Fast forward to this week. The winning reward team receives a clue that the idol is under a rock. As soon as they get back to camp, Russell is on the prowl. Bald Dave starts following him like a crazy man. Russ finds a rock he thinks is it but sprints off through the woods to lose Dave. He then comes back to the rock and what do ya know, there is his third idol of the season. Are the producers helping this guy? Or is he really this good?

Jaison continues to prove how he is the worst. His little tent conversation with I think Monica (could've been some other former Galu) was painful. He tells her that they have five people voting with them. "I can't tell you who it is, but we have five. The fifth person knew what was going on at last tribal council." What a complete idiot. Like it isn't completely obvious that he's talking about Shambo. She's been on the outs with former Galu since the beginning, and you think giving her up to Monica will help in any way? You're dumb. There goes Monica running back to the rest of old Galu to tell them about it.

Finally we get to what was maybe more of an exhilarating tribal council than last week. Everyone in the tribe and the viewers knew it was going to be a 5-5 tie. Is this tie rule new, or were there no ties the past two seasons? After a tie, they take out the two that were voted on (Laura and Natalie) and the other eight re-vote. If it is a 4-4 tie, the remaining eight draw rocks and the odd man out leaves the game. What?!? Why would you risk it to the hands of a 1-8 chance of going home?! Switch your vote please! And the man that I have grown to enjoy and respect over the past couple of weeks, John, did the right thing. He switched his vote from Natalie to Laura and now will be on the side with a 6-4 advantage.

Fantasy Results

The Technotronics

W. Russell-W10 (46), Reward (4)= 50
B. Russell-
Monica- W10 (46)= 46
Liz-
Natalie- W10 (46), Reward (4), Votes (-20)= 30
Week 10= 126
Total=697




Canon Controversy

John- W10 (46)= 46
Jaison- W10 (46)= 46
Mike-
Dave- W10 (46), Reward (4)= 50
Betsy-
Week 10= 142
Total= 631







Freecell Makes Me Wanna

Mick- W10 (46), Im (20)= 66
Brett- W10 (46)= 46
Marissa-
Laura- Reward (4), Votes (-20)= -16
Yasmin-
Week 10= 96
Total= 602

Sweet Niblets


Erik-
Ben-
Ashley-
Kelly-
Shambo- W10 (46)= 46
Week 10= 46
Total= 399

Heroes- Nathan/Sylar Is Making My Brain All Kooky

As my cousin Mikey would say...This whole thing with Nathan and Sylar's bodies and minds switching around is making my brain all kooky. When Nathan's mind inside of Sylar's body touched Sylar's mind inside of Parkman's body, Nathan should have been deleted completely right? Or at least suppressed. If the result of the hand touch wasn't Sylar just pretending to act like Nathan for an extended period of time so that he could kill Peter, then I have absolutely no idea what is going on anymore. I lost faith in Heroes a while ago, but this is just getting awful.

Nice little round table question from TVFanatic that fits in nicely.

If Sylar is back inside his body now, why does Nathan still act and think like Nathan?
M.L. House: I'll give someone $10 if he/she can explain what actually took place in Parkman's hospital room. Ready... go!

Dr. Shepherd: I have no idea.

The Barnacle: Stop! You're making my head hurt. Can't we all just mourn Nathan's death next week... even though, you know, he already died last season.