With the holidays coming up a great deal of shows are finishing up their seasons or taking a break. This really leaves a sparse amount of good shows still providing new material. I was none to pleased to see a Simpsons rerun on Sunday. That being said here is what I thought of a few shows over the past couple of days.
The Apprentice Finale
I wasn’t very into The Apprentice this year. I was a huge fan of last year’s version but this year there was something missing. Perhaps it was just Donald overload. However the big difference for me was the characters. Don’t get me wrong I know these are real people involved in the show but they are just as much characters as the people on any other show. Last year I felt a connection to the people on the show. Bill, Troy, Amy and IPs own Nick Warnock. Even though I was annoyed by them at times Omorosa and Sam were a big part of getting me into the show. This year blah; other then Andy I didn’t really like or dislike anyone that much. Nick Warnock gives an excellent analysis of the finale and the season as a whole. Click here to read his opinion on the show.
Arrested Development
I love this show. It is one of the best things on television these days. For all of those people who complain about the lack of quality TV and how Reality TV is taking over the networks then start watching this show. I say this because the critically acclaimed show isn’t getting great ratings. If this show does get cancelled due to bad ratings only the public can be blamed. The sad part is crappy comedies like Everybody Loves Raymond live long lives annoying the hell out of anyone with a brain. IP columnist Steve Coogan agrees with my love of the show. He ranked Arrested Development #2 in his top 10 shows of 2004. Click here to see his top #10.
Desperate Housewives
I didn’t get into this show right from the start. With all the hype around the show I felt like I was missing out and wanted to jump on board. However it can be hard to get into a show when you miss the first few episodes. Luckily I have been able to catch a few reruns and read through the detailed episode recaps done by IP staffer John Duran. Click here for the most recent recap and you can check through the archives to read up on any episodes you missed.
The Amazing Race
This week’s leg started off in Berlin, Germany. Right off the bat the team whom a lot of people had pegged to win starts to show some cracks. That team being Aaron and Hayden. Aaron gave the quote of the episode, “Hayden can be psycho sometimes.” I would LOVE to have been there when she saw this week’s episode. Jonathan continues to yell at Veronica and for miniscule things like finishing second instead of first or third instead of second. This boy needs to remember that it’s a marathon not a sprint. Winning legs is great because you get prizes but the only leg you REALLY need to win is the last one.
This week’s Roadblock was a cool bungee slingshot challenge. Kendra was the first to go. When she was let down she started saying how she felt sick and dizzy and did not seem able to get up. Seeing her reaction seems to scare the other people. After I saw her get up and run to the cab my devious side started to think, “Was she faking?” If so good on her!
The teams then fly to Budapest, Hungary and have to drive to a smaller city in Hungary called Eger. My new favourite team of Gus and Hera were in fifth place but take the last tickets for the early fight to Budapest. They do this by going to the ticket agency directly which they remembered from being in the airport before. Jonathan and Victoria were in third place but got passed by Gus/Hera while arguing with another ticket agent. Jonathan then got pissed when they found out Gus got on the flight arriving 1 hour earlier. He went around and yelled at everyone in the Berlin airport. (What a prick!) This is proof that you shouldn’t follow others. Jonathan/Victoria waited in line behind two other groups while Gus/Hera went to another agent which they remember spotting when they were previously in Berlin’s airport. Go GUS!! The wrestling duo of Lori and Bolo miss the first two flights and find out they are going be 10 minutes behind second flight.
The drive to Eger is in these crappy little “clown cars.” Gus can barely fit in the car but uses his aviation skills to figure out to drive the weird car. Hayden and Aaron can’t get their car started because of a dead battery. Jonathan figures out the car easily. Adam can’t figure it out how to get the car going allowing Lori/Bolo to catch up. Aaron and Hayden miss the highway exit to Eger and have to turn around and while doing this they get totally lost. This causes more yelling between the two. Things could be worse though. Adam can’t shift properly and ends up killing the car. Lucky for him and Rebecca some guy stops to help them out and Rebecca takes charge for baby boy. Jon/Kris and Lori/Bolo also have their cars breakdown. It is pretty obvious Lori/Bolo are WAY behind. I am upset I want Adam GONE! I like the wrestlers, they entertain me.
During the driving Jonathan gets pulled over by the local cops. I am getting excited imaging him being put in some dirty Hungarian jail. It turns out he doesn’t have his lights on. The slickster turns the situation around and gets the cops to help him find the way to Eger
At the Detour, the choice is between using a catapult to smash a watermelon on a target or push a cannon up a hill and then 50 cannonballs and stack them. All of the teams end up doing the cannon thing. Gus/Hera and Rebecca/Adam try the catapult one but eventually switch. During the detour Jonathan keeps yelling at Gus about them getting the plane tickets ahead of them. I was hoping Gus would smack him upside the head. This continues when both get on the same train. Poor Gus, all he wants is another beer and Jonathan to lose.
Freddy/Kendra’s huge lead is devoured because the internet cafe in Budapest does not open till 10 p.m. So annoying!! All six teams are at the internet cafe except Lori/Bolo who are stuck in Eger as they missed the last train to Budapest and have to wait till 7 a.m. There must be another way to get to Budapest for them. A bus? A cab, expensive but it must be sure worth a whole nights delay. Ha,ha. I am a nerd. I just checked on Lonely Planet’s website. Eger is only 80 miles from Budapest and there are hourly bus trips. Well the episode ends with the six teams just about to enter the internet cafe. Argh that is really annoying! They didn’t end the leg today. I’m not sure if it is more annoying the whole catching up thing or the fact they didn’t end the leg today.
Again more reasons why I like Gus:
Jonathan is yelling at the cabbie while going to the internet cafe leading the cabbie to seemingly kick him out. Gus instead admires the architecture and the Danube River.
The Real Gilligan’s Island Finale
The reward challenge in the first episode is a blend over everyone’s favourite foods. That idea was stolen from Big Brother. The safety challenge was at least somewhat original. Mrs. Sterns/Millionaire beat Gilligan in the last round potentially costing him. There was not much else that happened. Some weak attempts at fishing by a few of the castaways. Some lame attempts at Gilligan to get Mary-Anne to break her alliance with the Millionaires. There does not seem to have been very much done on the island other than the challenges. I think they filmed this thing in like a week. The first vote went against Skipper Jim. The strategizing in this game, or the lack thereof, must make Richard Hatch scream. If it was not for Mr. Sterns/Millionaire this game would be total chaos and no strategy.
In the second hour they have a balance/trivia contest for safety. Mary-Anne won safety after making a deal with Mrs. Sterns to take her to the final three. No mention of Mr. Sterns was in the deal leaving Mary-Anne a debate of who to vote for. The host also mentioned the next day they would have a rescue challenge between all of the final three. Gilligan was voted off in the last vote. I have to say Mrs. Sterns ploy of telling Mary-Anne to vote for her, which killed the possibility of a tie, was a quite impressive ploy.
They then spend about 10-15 minutes going over what has taken place over the whole show. Boring! They are running out of content. The rescue challenge to determine the winner was pretty cool. Even though he is rich and doesn’t need the money I am glad Mr. Sterns won. No one else deserved it. No one else played the game, other then perhaps his wife, with any brains. Hopefully he does give the money to charity.
After the show was over I saw an advert for The Real Gilligan’s Island 2. I hope they put a little more money and effort into this one now that they know the first one was a success. This one was planned pretty well but some aspects seemed like it was a show thrown together rather quickly. Then again it is TBS making the show so what can I ask for?
House M.D.
There are some new developments in this week’s episode. Dr. House actually starts talking to a patient, however this one is schizophrenic. This week’s episode has the theme of birthdays for some odd reason. Dr. Cameron, whom I am developing a crush on, wishes House happy birthday, who seems reluctant to admit it is his birthday.
This episode had some good development of House’s character. His bonding with the kid who’s mother he was treating showed a different side of his personality. The writers are trying to open up House so he is not just some grumpy old man. I think they are doing well with it.
It was an interesting concept when House was speaking about how one specialist would diagnose one set of symptoms as something totally different from how another specialist would diagnose it. I saw this as a comment on how the world is becoming overly specialized. Basically that people only know about a very narrow field and are ignorant of everything else. In the past the smartest people in the world were equally as adept at math, philosophy and languages and generally more well-rounded people. Normally I would brush this off as me reading way too far into things but the creator of the show is Brian Singer, whom I respect a great deal, so I think it was intentioned.
There continued to be some with the development of a rift between House and Dr. Foreman. This makes me wonder if this will lead to Foreman leaving the show in a big episode some time in February sweeps or as a season finale. The writers also continued to lightly hint at Dr. Chase’s background by implying he has some first hand knowledge of alcoholism, most likely through a family member.
All in all a very solid episode. I am starting to get hooked to this show, I hope it stays around.
