Reality TV-related stories
Posted Nov 25th 2009 6:06PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Yes, it's that time of year once again. It's Thanksgiving -- yay, food! With the times such as they are, I'll admit to being more thankful on a regular basis during this year than many years gone by. I have a job (a few jobs actually), a roof over my head, money for food and bills, good friends, family, a bionic knee so I can be a bit like
The Six Million Dollar Man, and so much more.
But, since this is about television, I'm going to focus on what I'm thankful for in television and TV-related kind of things. We might share some items on the list, we might not. While the times might not be great for financial dealings, it's a wondrous time for television geeks like you and me. Or, maybe it's just me. So, exactly what am I thankful for? Read on.
Continue reading What Jackie is thankful for
Posted Nov 23rd 2009 1:25AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S15E10) I mentioned last week that the remaining teams on
The Amazing Race are really feeling the pressure as they're getting closer to the win. Well, there were no fisticuffs, no elbowing, but there was an underhanded incident ... or two or three.
Unlike
Survivor, this show doesn't depend on sneakiness or scheming. In the end, it's how well they run the race around the world, how well they read the clues, and how well they complete the tasks. While getting along with the other teams is always a good thing, there's no popularity vote at the finish line. But they are competing. Sometimes some sneakiness just sneaks on in.
Continue reading Review: The Amazing Race - We're Not Working With Anybody, Ever, Anymore!
Posted Nov 16th 2009 12:50AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S15E09) Things got a bit down and dirty tonight on
The Amazing Race. I'm talking more ways than one. As the promos for the episode showed, we had muddy bogs and a quasi-skirmish between two teams tonight. There are five teams left in the race at this time. Two of the teams are definitely vying for the alpha male rating on the show. And I'm not talking Brian and Ericka! Any previous alliances are gone in the wind as the teams try to get to the precious final three. Take no prisoners.
Continue reading Review: The Amazing Race - We're Not Meant for the Swamp
Posted Nov 13th 2009 1:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E09) If you haven't watched this episode of
Survivor, stop right now. Watch it. Oh, don't go by the expression on John's face. That's the face I had when the show started. Yet now I'm downright perky and alert. For me, this started off being a real iffy season. But, as folks really play the game, I'm all excited about it all over again. Some play it poorly, but there are a few movers and shakers this season.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Tastes Like Chicken
Posted Nov 9th 2009 1:47AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S15E08) This week we revisited one of the toughest roadblocks ever on
The Amazing Race. Back in season six, the same farm with the same roadblock did in one team. Kristy and Lena spent eight hours searching for a clue they never did find. Phil Keoghan came out to them after dark in the field and called an end to their search. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time the show has repeated a roadblock. And what a doozy to choose! While looking for a clue in a haystack is easier than looking for a needle, there are so many haystacks -- how would our five remaining teams fare? Read on.
Continue reading Review: The Amazing Race - This Is the Worst Thing I've Ever Done in My Life
Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:00AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E08) I know this photo might be considered sort of spoilerish for the front page. But since last week's
Survivor promo showed the merge going down, I know you all know Evil Russell will attempt to work everyone. Heck, that's what the guy does. To me, he comes off akin to a snake oil salesman. Yet he seems to get people to believe his wily ways. I bet he could have sold a lot of snake oil a century back.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - All Hell Breaks Loose
Posted Nov 4th 2009 7:29PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Animation, South Park
Even though the show has been on forever, I still enjoy my weekly dose of the new
South Parks. But lately, they seem to be running out of targets or have narrowed their focus too much on one particular evil: reality television.
The season opener featured a rather nasty swipe at Disney's Jonas Brothers. The recent "Dead Celebrities" chortle-fest took a much needed pot shot at
Ghost Hunters, aka, "the gayest f#*$ing show on television." And last week launched an all out attack on Discovery's
Whale Wars and
Deadliest Catch, particularly against
Whale Wars star Paul Watson.
The show has always been a bitch to write and making every episode a satirical masterpiece is impossible without suffering a full-on breakdown. But should the show lay off reality TV and take some bolder shots at reality, which as we all know are two completely different things?
Posted Nov 2nd 2009 12:41AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S15E07) Poor Ericka. In tonight's episode of
The Amazing Race, she didn't look quite like Miss America. Stress will do that to you. It seems each week a team or two make what might be a fatal error in the game. Oh, not something that could kill them -- just one which could lead to being Philiminated. This leg wasn't only tough on Brian and Ericka. One of the Globetrotters had to don a dress. Thankfully, it seemed to be specially tailored to fit him.
Continue reading Review: The Amazing Race - This is Not My Finest Hour
Posted Oct 30th 2009 12:50AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E07) Even though we're down a Russell this week on
Survivor, I'll continue to refer to the remaining Russell as "Evil Russell." It just somehow fits even without a confusion of Russells. However, there is just one Shambo. Although she's a good worker in camp and works hard on the challenges, that might be a good thing. One Shambo is quite enough. Perhaps she's just too nice to be on the show. Perhaps she is a bit dim. I just don't know.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Houdini Magic
Posted Oct 26th 2009 12:34AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S15E06) One of the many things I learned tonight on
The Amazing Race is that Dubai is probably hotter than anyplace I really want to visit. Every team was sweating; every team was complaining. At least those teams who didn't have a clue about where the Persian Gulf is or whether it's a country in and of itself will remember it now. If nothing else but for the heat. Oh. And the way cool six-story water slide into shark infested waters. At least one team will really remember that water slide.
Continue reading Review: The Amazing Race - Do it for the Hood! Do it for the Suburbs!
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 12:13AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E06) Well, this was the most unusual episode of
Survivor I've ever seen. Mind you, I've seen all of them since the first season. I won't get into why it was so unusual until after the jump just in case you've missed all of the hype over the injured castaway in commercials all this week. But it wasn't just the injury which made it unusual. It was all discombobulated.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - This Is the Man Test
Posted Oct 19th 2009 12:40AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, The Amazing Race, Episode Reviews
(S15E05) Once again in the NYC viewing area,
The Amazing Race suffered a huge delay in airing due to football. Tonight, it started an hour and fifteen minutes late. And, after all of that, the Jets lost! It's a miracle this show keeps receiving Emmy awards when the CBS Sunday night schedule is so fickle due to every sport under the sun or inside a stadium. Speaking of sports ... who are the Brinkley Tigers on Flight Time's t-shirt? They can't be Christie Brinkley's ex-husbands, can they?
Continue reading Review: The Amazing Race - I'm Like Ricky Bobby
Posted Oct 16th 2009 1:55AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E05) We're into the fifth episode of
Survivor and I'm still getting some of the cast mixed up. True, they're mostly on the larger Galu tribe -- the ones who keep winning, yet we only see a focus on a select few. We all know "Good" Russell and Shambo. Did you know that someone named Brett is on the Galu tribe? No. Really, I'm not kidding. He got some airtime tonight. At this point, they could stick in stunt doubles and we wouldn't know the difference!
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: Walking on Thin Ice
Posted Oct 14th 2009 9:31AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Watercooler Talk
Eliminations on
The Biggest Loser are always heart-wrenching. Much as the contestants hate being away from their families, they've made the decision to try out for the show, and once they're there, the last thing they want to do is go home and back to their unhealthy habits.
Many of them truly are fighting for their life, and you just know that without the motivation of laying it all out there on TV -- not to mention the grueling paces that Bob and Jillian put them through -- some of them might never gain control over their weight.
Continue reading The wrong person went home on last night's Biggest Loser
Posted Oct 14th 2009 9:02AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Celebrities
Apparently, I've gone over to the dark side and have somehow morphed into a person who watches the E! network. I've commented on
the Kardashians,
Leave it to Lamas, and
Chelsea Lately (which I love by the way). I've finally moved to the bottom of the barrel --
The Girls Next Door.
Here's the thing about this show. Who really knows what goes on when the cameras are turned off (or possibly, we don't want to know), but it seems like Hugh Hefner is a really nice guy. All of his girlfriends and ex-girlfriends have only good things to say about him, and they rave about how cool it is to live at the Playboy mansion.
And if you can get past the part where he has several girlfriends at the same time, and is, like, 103 years old creepily having sex with 19-year-old girls (if he can still have sex, that is), he just seems like a nice guy. The kindly grandfather girls have sex with. Oh, and he loves to scrapbook.
Continue reading Hugh Hefner is like the kindly grandfather girls have sex with
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