The Thursday Report

Archive

So Sirius Radio Canada debuted last Thursday, and I gotta say, Iceberg (channel 95) has a rather eclectic lineup to say the least. With Rush, Tragically Hip, Melissa O’Neil, Holly Cole and Feist, all on the same station. So far, the DJ’s have been a mixed bag, as we’ve got Kelly Cutrera and Steve Anthony (from Mix 99.9 in Toronto), and the “Iceman”, who sounds like he’s from EZ Rock in Toronto – which is not a good thing, considering the amount of rock that’s being played on the station.

As for the Canadians who unlike me, got the Canadian receiver and not the “grey market” one, I think The Pulse (09) and BBC 1 (11) are probably the ones you want to check out. Oh, and also, NFL Radio if you want to hear inane callers from throughout North America.

Bits and Pieces
– Does anyone think that Randall won’t win ‘The Apprentice’? Barring a Jennifer Massey-like f*ckup, he’s got this one in the bag. Not that I’m dismissing Rebecca entirely, but Trump already has a female winner, and Randall winning would be good press for the Donald. As John Gafford said, this show has nothing to do with business. And nothing, really, to do with the candidates either. It’s all about the Donald, folks.

– I hope you’re watching ‘Arrested Development’ and ‘Kitchen Confidential’ while you can. Seriously funny episode of AD, with Michael FINALLY realizing that Rita is a bit… slow.

– On Zap2It.com, they’re reporting that Stephanie March will return as ADA Alex Cabot in ‘Conviction’, which of course is a Dick Wolf production. First, there is no word on whether Munch will appear on the show, and second, since the last time we saw Alex on ‘Law & Order: SVU’, she was in the Witness Protection Program, they’ve got a lot of explaining to do. And they’ll give Matt Basilo an ever bigger headache trying to sort out that retcon.

– Speaking of Zap2It, Amy “TV Gal” Amatangelo doesn’t understand why everyone hates the Weavers. In related news, Amy Amatangelo can be an idiot sometimes.

– With ‘Prison Break’ on a super-long, er, break, I watched ‘Las Vegas’ and was treated to an hour with Dean “Superman” Cain, Howard “The Professor” Lederer and Ron “The Hedgehog” Jeremy. I’m not sure what’s weirder, that Superman is now making a living playing heels, that the episode was directed by Tom Paris, that poker players are becoming household names, or that Ron Jeremy was on camera and (thankfully) not naked.

– Heading back to ‘Law & Order: SVU’, I’m pretty surprised that almost the whole episode focused on the gay relationship and how it affected one of the families. Also, Amy Pietz (Zoe) still looks good.

– A question. If Vince McMahon thinks Ashlee Simpson sucks, why does he have her on his iPod?

Down to the final three teams on ‘The Amazing Race’
The first thing we get after Phil gives them the clue is a bunching that renders the first half of the leg meaningless. Which always sucks. The rest of the episode was again pretty linear, which meant that teams had to race well with minimal mistakes to advance to the Final Three.

Detour – Pioneer Spirit was the better choice, although I have to say that the Godlewskis would probably have taken the same amount of time on both tasks. The teepees were a bit slower, probably because it’s not immediately obvious how to set the thing up, and because the height of the teepee presents an obstacle for the teams.

Roadblock – The golf ball task is one of those “be thorough or you’ll lose position” tasks, which is exactly what happened to the Linzes. By not checking the 18th hole, they cost themselves the chance to be first out the gate on the final leg(s), although they’ll be about a minute behind the Bransens. And Sharon Godlewski’s blowup on the Roadblock arguably cost the sisters the Race, by creating a lot more separation between them and the Weavers than there should have been – on the Early Show, the Godlewskis revealed that they only had two balls when the Weavers finished the task, which really cost them the task.

Will Be At The Finish Line:
10. Black (Lancaster, PA)
9. Rogers (Middleburg, VA)
8. Aiello (Huntsville, AL)
7. Schroeder (New Orleans, LA)
6. Gaghan (Quepos, Costa Rica)
5. Paolo (FF, Y, 2) (Lake Powell, AZ)
4. Godlewski (3) (Des Plaines ,IL) – It came down to teamwork, and when push came to shove, the sisters couldn’t get it together. The remaining three teams all work well together, and from that standpoint, really do deserve to race to the Finish Line.

Racing To the Finish Line:
Bransen (3) – Three first place finishes would seem to make the Bransens the favourites to win, but the question is, does Wally have the endurance to make it to the end?
Linz (Y, 1) – When this team is on, they can do really well. However, the siblings tend to rush things a bit too much, and it generally costs them first place. So that means that they have to keep mistakes to a minimum, even if it means keeping pace with the other teams for a while, in order to win.
Weaver (1) – Interestingly, this team may have an advantage as they have no extra clothes to lug around (remember that the Bransens piled on clothing before they got robbed). I’m obviously going to root against this team, but there is no denying that they have what it takes to win. But if they do, they’ll join Flo, Freddy and Kendra in the annals of the morally undeserving.

They’d Better Win:
Linz

‘Survivor: Guatemala’ – Five for Fighting
Well, a bit of a surprise with last week’s elimination, but not really, as you figure that Judd would get turfed at some point. Let’s break it down:

Reward Challenge: OK, it’s official. Lydia’s an idiot. There’s an auction, with food, and she’s been whining about not getting enough food. So, obviously, she spends her money on… a mosquito net. Yeah… ok. Good stuff. Luckily we don’t see her whine this week. Other than that, you just knew that Danni was taking that Immunity Advantage. Nothing else really important here.

Immunity Challenge: I probably would’ve waited a bit longer to use the “trading spaces” card, but Danni knew that Steph had a lot more tiles, and pulled off the victory.

Rankings:

Preseason:
18. Jim Lynch
17. Morgan McDevitt
16. Brianna Varela
15. Brooke Struck
14. Blake Towsley
13. Margaret Bobnich
12. Brian Corridan
11. Amy O’Hara

Failed to make the Playoffs:
10. Brandon Bellinger

Eliminated in the First Round:
9. Bobby Jon Drinkard
8. Jamie Newton (1 IC)
7. Gary Hogeboom (1 IC)
6. Judd Sergeant – Judd’s pissed, and I can’t really say I blame him. He thought he was in a solid alliance, but he didn’t realize that winning the reward would turn Rafe against him, and set the wheels in motion.

Yeah, I realize that means there are five in the Second Round:
Lydia Morales – While I’m sure the other four would like to vote someone else out, they probably can’t risk a “nice” person slipping through and winning the whole thing, so I’m looking for you to go home tonight.

Final Four, Baby:
Rafe Judkins (3 IC) – Given your immunity prowess and your ability to Play the Game, I’d say you’ve got a great shot to win, which is why it’s imperative that the women get rid of you ASAP.
Stephanie La Grossa – You’ve definitely made enemies this time around, but all in all, you’ve been playing a pretty good game so far. There’s still some flaws, though, and I’d look for the others to use it to try and oust you.

Chance to drink from the Cup:
Danni Boatwright (1 IC) – Will winning the Immunity necklace be the turning point for the Miss USA 96 runner-up? There’s a good chance that it could be.
Cindy Hall – First off, holy crap there are two of them! Second, I think the not voting for Judd is a good idea if you can make it to the Final Two, but I hope that you explain to the others that you gave him your word because he let you see your sister.

Get the Parade Ready:
Danni Boatwright

Four hours of ‘Survivor’ starting tonight, so enjoy the finale and make sure that you let the significant other watch ‘Desparate Housewives’ if they want to.

That’s it for this week.

Kevin has been an Insider since 2003, writing on a variety of topics ranging from The Amazing Race to Mixed Martial Arts. His current hobbies include Fantasy Football, Sporcle, travelling, making liberal use of his DVR and wondering what the heck he's gonna do when his two daughters are old enough to date. You can follow Kevin on Twitter (@starvenger).