The Amazing Race: Season 12: “Let’s Name Our Chicken Phil”
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Amazing Race, The,
Instead of venturing to a new destination, the remaining eight teams stayed in Burkina Faso for their latest round of adventures. In other words – the episode was surprisingly airport-free.
Having reached the last pit stop in first place, Azaria and Hendekea had the honor of kicking off the next leg of The Amazing Race. Their first mission was to follow a marked path to a nearby village. There, the teams would find a tribal chief waiting with a clue….and a live chicken. The birds – a customary gift of generosity – was something the teams had to take with them during their travels. (They would not be allowed to ‘check-in’ without their ‘chicken’.) Shana and Jennifer opted to name their new pet ‘Phil’; something about its spiky hairdo reminded them of the ‘cute’ host.
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The Amazing Race: Season 12: “Please, Lord, Give Me Milk”
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Amazing Race, The,
While eight teams were taking advantage of their mandatory rest period in Amsterdam, one team was seeking medical attention. As a result of the last grueling bike ride, Ronald suffered a painful hernia. (It was unclear whether he blamed his heavy daughter at any point for the predicament.) Fortunately, a doctor was able at least offer a temporary solution for the cranky father.
The next morning, Lorena and Jason kicked off the departures to the airport. Next stop: Ouagadougou. While it took a little bit of work to figure out exactly which country they were actually heading to (answer: Burkina Faso), all of the teams managed to pinpoint their destination. Unfortunately, flights to the West African country were few and far between, so it was important to secure seats asap. Despite a very close call for Christina and the hernia patient, eight of the nine teams were able to snag an 8am departure.
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Reality Show Predictions
Posted by David L. Williams Categories: Prime Time, Reality, ABC, Bravo, Cable, CBS, FOX, The CW, America’s Next Top Model, Dancing With The Stars, Survivor, The Bachelor, Editorial,
Every week I watch ESPN and listen to all of the football predictions, but I only really watch a couple of the (sometimes up to) sixteen games. Sometimes I only watch one (go Steelers!). What I do watch though is a whole bunch of reality competition shows, and I never ever see programs predict winners on those. Maybe that’s because most of these shows have been pre-taped and their outcomes have already determined. But I’m going to ignore all that. So, even though I don’t have a television show (yet) (or ever, really), I’ll use this forum to make my predictions on all of the reality shows I watch (and a few I don’t). Here they are in glorious alphabetical order:
THE AMAZING RACE:
Two episodes in, it’s still hard to tell. You never know who’s going to get a delayed flight or rack up some bad taxi karma, but let me do my best here. Azaria & Hendekea appear to be doing well, so I’ll put them in the final three. Lorena & Jason did well in the second leg, and, most importantly, they have yet to annoy me, so they get to be there too. For the final spot…I say Kynt & Vyxsin. Yes, I know that before the show I hated them, and I still can’t stand the concept of Goth on principle alone, but they seem to be good competitors and more likeable than I would have guessed.
And the winner is…Azaria & Hendekea. They’re smart, in shape, and being brother and sister they can fight with each other without having everything come to a grinding halt. Congratulations, you two, in advance. Or retrospect. Or whatever.
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Sunday Ratings: Three Networks Finish Strong
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, Reality, Sports, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Amazing Race, The, Desperate Housewives, Family Guy, Ratings,
Last night’s football action helped FOX and NBC earn strong demo numbers; ABC was right there with them.
8pm
- A tight Sunday Night Football game (6.8/17 in 18-49 demo) averaged about 16.6 million viewers.
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (15.1 million, 5.3/13) was up 2 million from last week.
- The Simpsons (5.1/13) rounded up 10.6 million; King of the Hill (3.7/9) brought in 7.7 million.
- The Amazing Race (10.5 million, 3.1/8) was down from last Sunday’s strong debut.
- Life is Wild (1.4 million, 0.4/1) actually saw a miniscule improvement.
9pm
- Desperate Housewives (18.5 million, 7.2/16 in 18-49 demo) remained steady from last week.
- Cold Case (12.9 million, 3.0/7) was down about 1 million from last Sunday.
- Family Guy (10.4 million, 5.4/12) was even while American Dad (7.9 million, 4.0/9) was up about 900,000 thousand.
10pm
- About 12.5 million saw Justin’s intervention on Brothers & Sisters (5.0/13 in 18-49).
- Shark (11.5 million, 2.6/7) was up about 1 million from last week.
Variety
The Amazing Race: Season 12: “I’ve Become the Archie Bunker of the Home”
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Amazing Race, The,
In the middle of the night, the ten remaining teams took off from their last rest stop in Ireland and headed toward the local airport. Next stop: Amsterdam.
Azaria and Hendekea started the departures followed by Kynt/Vxyin then Jason/Lorena. Ronald and Christina, the 7th team to leave, got off to a delayed start when Christina forgot her fanny pack inside the hotel. Although they did finally get on the road, the father/daughter team later returned to the hotel so they could research flights via computer. Thankfully Kate and Pat – who waited alongside Ronald – were not as impatient with Christina as her father was.
Meanwhile Nicolas and Donald, the 5th team to depart, were unfortunately sidelined with a flat tire soon after their departure. Despite their quick recovery, the grandfather/grandson were one of the last duos to make it to the ticket counters. Luckily, every single team – except for Marinna and Julia – were able to get on the first plane into Dublin. The sister team narrowly missed the flight’s departure because they had taken a long route to the airport.
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The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race: Season 12: “Donkeys Have Souls, Too”
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Amazing Race, The, Features,
For no particular reason (there wasn’t a Hef or bunny in sight), Season 12 of The Amazing Race kicked off from the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, CA. The minute Phil yelled ‘Go’, the eleven teams (you can get a refresher on their backgrounds here) raced to the parked vehicles. Unfortunately, getting out of the circular driveway meant waiting for the team in front to exit. Realizing they controlled the fates of the other contestants, Grandpa Donald took his sweet time to count the money and read the instructions. He and his grandson, Nicolas, eventually hit the road and kicked off the journey toward LAX. First destination: Shannon, Ireland.
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The Amazing Race
Sunday Ratings: Football Draws Large Crowds
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, Reality, Sports, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Amazing Race, The, Desperate Housewives, Family Guy, Ratings,
Two big football match-ups gave NBC and CBS nice ratings boosts:
8pm
- NBC’s Sunday Night Football (6.3/16 in 18-49 demo) averaged 15.3 million viewers for the evening.
- Strong numbers from the earlier Colts/Patriots game helped The Amazing Race (13.8 million, 4.2/9) earn a strong season debut.
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (13.07 million, 4.7/11) was slightly down from last week.
- The Simpsons ‘Treehouse of Horror’ special (5.7/13) scared up 11.7 million fans.
- Life is Wild (1.07 million, 0.4/1) remained dismally even.
9pm
- About 18.6 million saw Bree’s daughter give birth on Desperate Housewives (7.0/16 in 18-49 demo).
- Cold Case (13.7 million, 3.4/8) saw an improvement from last week.
- Both half hours of Family Guy (5.4/12) raked in about 10.5 million viewers.
- American Dad (3.6/8) rounded off the hour with 7.08 million.
10pm
- Brothers & Sisters (12.1, 4.5/13 in 18-49 demo) was down about 500,000 from last week.
- Shark (10.6 million, 2.3/8) did about the same.
Variety
This Week on TV (10/29-11/4)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Daytime, Drama, Games, Kids, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, ABC, Cable, CBS, FX, FOX, NBC, Showtime, Syndication, The CW, Amazing Race, The, Nip/Tuck, The Bachelor, The Office, Cable/Satellite,
MONDAY (10/29)
- Two and a Half Men (CBS, 9pm): “Charlie’s girlfriend does not like to be seen with him in public.” She’s afraid she’ll be attacked by Denise Richards.
- Samantha Who? (ABC, 9:30): “Sam assumes her role as a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding, but upon arriving, she learns that the friend does not want her there.” If only she knew that before she paid for the dress.
- The Bachelor (ABC, 10pm): “The final four contestants bring Brad home to meet their parents.” The dads all envy his cool beard.
- Californication (Showtime, 10:30pm): Season finale. Hopefully I’ll stop singing the Chili Peppers song now.
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Prejudging the Newest Amazing Racers
Posted by David L. Williams Categories: Prime Time, Reality, CBS, Amazing Race, The, Editorial, Features,
Sorry, Viva Laughlin, but I couldn’t be more excited that The Amazing Race is back. It is my favorite reality show and (full disclosure) the only one for which I’ve ever made an audition tape. Remember me from that one season? No, you don’t, because I was never chosen. But, even though I was snubbed by the show, I still love it, and as the premiere draws near, I thought I’d take a moment to judge several books by their covers and give you my initial thoughts on the newest crop of racers and how much I want them to win.
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‘Viva Laughlin’ Canceled; ‘The Amazing Race’ Returns
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Drama, Music, Prime Time, CBS, Cancellations,
Hugh Jackman has had hits in the theaters (X-Men) and on Broadway (The Boy from Oz), but his mark on television will have to wait. Jackman served as the executive producer of Viva Laughlin—the first significant cancellation of the fall season.
Yes, you could argue that Nashville technically earned that dubious honor, but Fox claimed the show was returning in October (yeah—I know it’s gone). Then there was that small CW show, Online Nation. The pseudo-news program that really didn’t exist was just replaced by reruns of Aliens in America. Regardless, I can safely say that Viva was the first ‘scripted’ show to go kaput.
After only one week on air (granted, there were two episodes), CBS put the brakes on the musical drama. Many who saw Thursday’s overnight ratings predicted this day would come—though I’m not sure they imagined it would arrive so soon. Unfortunately, Viva’s second dismal performance last night drove the nail in its coffin.
The good news from all of this? Fans of The Amazing Race will get to see their beloved show return even earlier than expected. It will now take over the vacant 8pm Sunday time slot starting November 4th (a CSI rerun will warm the spot until then). While I feel bad for Hugh Jackman, I’d happily take Phil Keoghan over him any day of the week.
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| Variety
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