I have to be honest; I was not thrilled when the cast for this season of DWTS was announced. The truth is that the show really should have always been called “Dancing with Celebrities” but this is the most “starless” season ever. Despite my initial, and still lingering, apathy about the cast I did end up enjoying the premiere more than I anticipated. A big part of that is because Samantha Harris is gone and the lovely and classy Brooke Burke has returned. Finally we have a co-host on this show who knows what she’s talking about and can articulate it.
Chad Ochocinco & Cheryl Burke: (Cha Cha) Really, DWTS? Of all the current and former NFL players out there you had to go with the crazy diva? He’s good looking, no doubt, but the man named himself after his football jersey! In fairness, Chad did show flashes of style and charm. Surprisingly, he also looked quite nervous. My preconceived notion of him was of a man much too full of himself to have any self doubt so I thought the nervousness was a very good sign. I’m not ready to start voting for him or anything, but it wasn’t a bad start. Scores: Carrie Ann Inaba – 6, Len Goodman – 6, Bruno Tonioli – 6. Total = 18.
Shannen Doherty & Mark Ballas: (Viennese Waltz) On this evening, Shannen’s “bad girl” image was nowhere to be seen. Mark gave her a lot of difficult (and clever) choreography to do for week one and I thought Shannen held up pretty well. The dance did lack grace in some places but the spin at the end was very striking. Shannen has got a long ways to go but it was a good start. And yes, I did get drawn in by the story of her father’s recovery from a stroke. His teary face after watching her dance was very touching. Scores: Carrie Ann – 6, Len – 6, Bruno – 6. Total = 18. I’d agree that Shannen and Chad were about even.
Erin Andrews & Maksim Chmerkovskiy: (Cha Cha) I was prepared to issue a stern warning to Maks to be nice to Erin but it was clear from their setup clip that Erin is more than capable of handling Maks. They are a good match. Erin is the celeb this season whose corner I am firmly in. What happened to her over the past year was terrible and I’m fine with her making lemonade out of those lemons. Erin has the longest legs seen on this show since Stacy Keibler. While she did show a lot of personality, Erin does need to figure out how to use those long limbs on the dance floor. Still, it was another good start. Scores: Carrie Ann – 7, Len – 7, Bruno – 7. Total = 21.
Jake Pavelka & Chelsie Hightower: (Viennese Waltz) I don’t watch “The Bachelor” so I don’t really know Jake. He seems nice enough, and he certainly was trying very hard, but it was a rough dance. Chelsie has her work cut out for her – but, then again, she was the one who worked miracles with Ty Murray. Scores: Carrie Ann – 7, Len - 6, Bruno – 7. Total = 20. Those scores seemed a bit high to me. I would have given him a 6 at the most.
Niecy Nash & Louis van Amstel: (Cha Cha) Personality will not be Niecy’s problem on this show. She’s got plenty of that. The best part about her being on DWTS is that it will give Danielle Fishel plenty of chances to do her Niecy impression on “The Dish”. Niecy had the attitude for her Cha Cha but the steps got a bit awkward. Scores: Carrie Ann – 7, Len – 5, Bruno – 6. Total = 18. Bruno was the right one here. This was a 6 dance.
Evan Lysacek & Anna Trebunskaya: (Viennese Waltz) Their setup clip was all about lowering expectations but it wasn’t necessary. Evan was just as good as we all knew he would be. He was very Fred Astaire. Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Len – 7, Bruno – 8. Total = 23.
Buzz Aldrin & Ashly Costa: (Cha Cha) Well, they gave Buzz the right partner in sweet, little Ashly. She was doing a valiant job of trying to cover all the missed steps. I have no desire to say anything negative about Buzz but there’s no denying that this was a very, very rough dance. Scores: Carrie Ann – 5, Len – 4, Bruno – 5. Total = 14. They were being generous.
Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough: (Viennese Waltz) To absolutely no one’s surprise, Nicole was fabulous. She was the picture of grace and the final spin was stunning. She is a ringer, no doubt, and I do think a serious argument can be made that she is too much of a professional dancer to be on the show. She’s the favorite even over the gold medal winning figure skater- despite Len’s rant to the contrary. I’m not sure what got into him when he started rambling off all of Nicole’s supposed flaws. I couldn’t help but think he was trying to make Nicole seem like an underdog despite her being the clear frontrunner. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 7, Bruno – 9. Total = 25. Wow. 9’s right out of the gate.
Aiden Turner & Edyta Sliwinska: (Cha Cha) Aiden is no Gilles Marini but he is certainly very pretty and I think there is some potential here if he can learn to loosen up a bit. I agreed with Carrie Ann’s comment that there was no musicality but I think there’s hope. I certainly didn’t think he deserved Bruno’s crack about being another Kenny Mayne. Scores: Carrie Ann – 5, Len – 5, Bruno – 5. Total = 15. That was too low. The scores should have been 6’s.
Kate Gosselin & Tony Dovolani: (Viennese Waltz) Oh, Kate. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone look as terrified as Kate did during this dance. I was actually quite impressed that she made it through given all that fear. The judges were correct that Kate is the contestant most out of her element. Scores: Carrie Ann – 6, Len – 5, Bruno – 5. Total = 16. I’m thinking that may have been a bit of a pity 6 from Carrie Ann. Kate should not have received a higher score than Aiden.
Pamela Anderson & Damian Whitewood: (Cha Cha) I have to give the woman her due, Pam worked this dance. It was much better than I expected. It was definitely campy (see photo above), but it was also fun and sexy and pure Pam Anderson. I’m both fascinated and horrified by the thought of her doing a waltz. Scores: Carrie Ann - 7, Len – 6, Bruno – 8. Total = 21. By the way, kudos to Carrie Ann for the fab hair flip when she gave her score.
There will be no elimination this week. If there were, I’m thinking Aiden would have been the one headed out the door. He doesn’t have much of a fan base and the judges were really tough on him. Buzz should be the first to go but we know from the show’s history that he’ll be kept around for a while by the audience.
Full episodes of DWTS can be viewed at ABC’s website here:
Posted on February 15th, 2010 by Princess Kitty in Sports
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d declare my favorite part of the opening ceremony for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics to be the poet. Yep. The poet. I love this guy!
Posted on February 1st, 2010 by Princess Kitty in Comedy
It was another lack-luster installment of “Saturday Night Live” this past weekend. I watched because my adorable Michael Buble was the musical guest. Call me biased (and I am) but I think the skit he participated in was the best of the night. Check out (Jon) Hamm & (Michael) Buble:
I had high expectations for this opening show of the awards season. I’ve wanted to see Ricky Gervais host one of these things for a long time. The Golden Globes feels like a party – a good fit for Ricky’s style of humor. Unfortunately it is also a show that normally operates without a host and that showed. There wasn’t really a place for Ricky. I wasn’t expecting a big musical number but he didn’t even really get a full monologue. That’s not to say that he didn’t get off some pretty good one-liners. His crack about being a man who loves a drink, but not as much as Mel Gibson, was a slap-your-hand-over-your-mouth classic. Kudos to Mel for reacting so well to it. The Salty Old Dog’s take on it was that Ricky took his “I don’t care” attitude a little too far and didn’t seem to particularly care how funny he was.
As for the show itself, it moved quite well and even ended on time. There were funny moments and even a couple of heartfelt ones. Here’s what stood out for me:
Fashions
Might as well start with what really matters – the gowns! For me the knock-out of the night was Jennifer Garner. It was a stunning dress that fit her body type perfectly:
I thought there were also some interesting (while still being attractive) dresses. I love the color and unique style of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s gown:
I also found Kate Hudson’s dress striking – while also being a little odd:
And, of course, my girl Jennifer Aniston was her usual, gorgeous self:
She and Gerard Butler certainly weren’t trying to stop the romance rumors on this particular night.
As for the misses, I didn’t think there were any real disasters this year. Mariah Carey has been getting some grief for her super-plunging neckline:
I don’t really see what the problem is. She’s Mariah Carey. She’s supposed to dress this way. Nick Cannon certainly looks happy about it.
Winners & Speeches
My favorite winner of the night was Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side”. As she has admitted, she’s not the kind of actress who gets nominated for awards so it was great to see her get her moment in the sun. I also loved the speech from Jason Reitman after winning for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture with Sheldon Turner for “Up in the Air”. He seemed so genuine in his praise of George Clooney and his words to his father (who was there along with his mother) were very touching. Salty was struck by the heartfelt speech from Mo’Nique who won for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for ”Precious”. Sometimes Mo’Nique can be a bit much but this speech was sincere and moving. My favorite speech of the night, though, belonged to Robert Downey, Jr. He was just plain funny:
Other notes: How adorably uncomfortable does George Clooney look when he’s being praised? It makes me love him even more (if that’s possible). Meryl Streep was also charmingly uncomfortable with her embarrassment of riches and her impromptu speech was outstanding. The Martin Scorsese tribute was quite good – especially the speech from Mr. Scorsese himself.
It was definitely an enjoyable evening full of beautiful people. In closing, I’d just like to take a moment to focus on two of the prettiest - Leonardo DiCaprio and Simon Baker:
Oh, and I should mention that the hot guy standing there with Simon is his brother. Here’s hoping he shows up on “The Mentalist” sometime soon.
We opened with the encore dance – Mya & Dmitry’s Salsa. That was an easy choice. It was certainly THE dance of the previous night. It was just as fabulous the second time around.
In the recap we learned that Kelly made up her solo in the Rumba because she forgot the whole thing. We also saw that Kym was at least as upset as Donny over their disastrous Tango.
Hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris announced that the first couple moving on to the finals …. was going to be announced shortly. Oh, that was just mean!
Samantha then interviewed the four celebs and I was struck by Kelly and Joanna’s comments. They both sounded like they were getting themselves prepared to be eliminated.
The first number of the night was a production of “Be Italian” from the movie “Nine”. I’m not sure who the people were performing the number. I also don’t know that I would have picked this particular number for such a high profile spot. The commercial that followed was much more appealing.
Musical Guest #1: Alicia Keys with “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart”. Alicia looked gorgeous but I wasn’t loving the thigh high blue suede boots.
Oh, good grief. They had the four celebs lip syncing in a music video to David Bowie’s “Under Pressure”. Donny was getting waaayyy too into it.
We finally got some results. Tom & Samantha called forward Joanna & Derek and Mya & Dmitry as they were the two highest scoring couples. The result:
Mya & Dmitry Chaplin – in the finals.
Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough – in jeopardy.
Musical Guest #2: Leona Lewis with “Happy”. Leona was wonderful but I seriously did not like the choreography for the dancers. It was much too melodramatic.
Tom then had Donny & Kym and Kelly & Louis come to center stage:
Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson – in the finals. Donny looked immensely relieved.
Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel – in jeopardy.
Musical Guest #3: The BeeGees. Specifically Barry and Robin Gibb singing “You Should Be Dancing”. It’s a little unbelievable that Barry can still rock that falsetto after all these years. They were joined by Tony Dovolani, Cheryl Burke, Chelsie Hightower and a newbie named Artem Chigvintsev. The featured dancer, though, was last season finalist Melissa Rycroft. She did the second half of the dance with former partner Tony. She looked great – but that’s not exactly news.
We came to the end of the show and it was time to find out whether Joanna & Derek or Kelly & Louis were leaving. As Tom lead up to the announcement, Kelly looked worried and nervous while Joanna & Derek looked resigned. They just seemed to know. They were the ones eliminated. After a brief interview, Tom announced that Joanna & Derek would exit by doing a reprise of their lovely Waltz from the night before. It definitely brought a tear to my eye.
There’s no way around it, this result wasn’t fair. I adore Kelly and Donny but it should have been one of them to go. Joanna was the second best dancer (behind Mya) in the cast but I guess she just didn’t have the fanbase. Sigh.
Full episodes of DWTS are available at ABC’s website here:
Our celebs had a lot on their plates in the semi-finals. They had to perform an individual Ballroom and Latin number (including a brief solo dance section) AND then perform the dance they had prepared in case they were ever in a dance-0ff.
Round One
Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson: Donny was nervous about the semis since he had been in last place the previous week. To help him get into character for the Tango, Kym brought in last season hottie Gilles Marini. His advice was that Donny needed to make people feel uncomfortable watching this Tango. Well, that’s what happened – but not in the way Donny wanted. During the dance it almost looked like they were fighting against each other and the missed steps were obvious. Donny looked really upset when it was over. He said he lost focus when he saw sister Marie in the crowd but we also saw that Kym’s heel had become tangled in the hem of her dress. Head judge Len Goodman called it a shame because the Argentine Tango had gone so well for Donny. Bruno Tonioli said that, normally, Donny’s a master at hiding mistakes but he couldn’t cover it up this time. Carrie Ann Inaba called it rough but congratulated them on making it through. Scores: Carrie Ann – 7, Len – 7, Bruno – 7. Total = 21. Donny said the judges were very kind.
Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough: I loved this setup clip. Derek was shown getting very frustrated during the rehearsals with Joanna so his former partner (and DWTS champ) Brooke Burke showed up to get him grounded. They both did hilarious impressions of him. Derek may get himself worked up sometimes but the guy does create some stunning choreography. This Waltz was lovely and some of the moves were striking. Joanna struggled to get into one of the poses but, overall, it was classy and graceful. Bruno said it had the grace of angels in heaven but there was the slightest hesitation that kept it from being paradise. Ah, Bruno. Carrie Ann said Joanna can take her breath away when she dances but, when she does a reaching move, she needs to have a reason behind it. Len thought her hold was as good as any professional. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 27.
Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel: In their rehearsal clip, we saw Kelly get a call from her dad saying that one of their dogs had died. She, of course, was in tears. Louis said it was a sign of how much Kelly has grown that she stayed and kept rehearsing. The old Kelly would have gone home. As I mentioned above, the celebs had to do a brief solo in the Latin dances. Kelly & Louis were given the Rumba and that’s a tough one to solo in. I thought it turned out to be a bit dull. On the other hand, Carrie Ann said that Kelly brought her to tears. She added that Kelly isn’t the best dancer but she reaches into Carrie Ann’s heart. Len didn’t feel it was one of Kelly’s best dances but it certainly wasn’t the worst. Bruno said Kelly is endearing but some parts of the dance weren’t as perfect as they should have been. Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Len – 8, Bruno -8. Total = 24.
Mya & Dmitry Chaplin: Their setup piece was meant to show us how devoted Mya is to the competition. I don’t think we needed that proven since she already seems like one of the pros. Their Waltz was absolutely stunning and was the kind of dance that wins the trophy. It was the best characterization Mya’s had so far. Len thought it was a joy to watch. Bruno called it “love set to music”. Carrie Ann said Mya always has the potential to get 10’s but she felt they were slightly disconnected in the hold. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 10. Total – 28.
Round Two – This round featured biographical clips of all the celebs and, frankly, I don’t know how any of them could dance after watching these tearjerkers. I was a mess!
Donny & Kym: This was a great comeback dance for Donny. They performed to “One Bad Apple” and, yes, I’m enough of an Osmond geek to recognize the classic Osmond Brothers moves. As unhappy as Donny was after the Tango was how happy he was after this Samba. Bruno said that a bit of a stumble doesn’t stop a professional. It was carefree and fun like a Samba should be. Carrie Ann said it was certainly better than the Tango but it seemed a bit sloppy. Len agreed with Bruno. He called it a “metamorphoses”. Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 26.
Joanna & Derek: Their Cha Cha was good (and I got a kick out of Joanna singing along) but it was an oddly low-key dance. Carrie Ann loved it and said Joanna truly was a dancer. Len thought it was clean and crisp but could have been a bit more “cheeky”. Bruno called Joanna “natural sex”. Tom just shook his head. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 27.
Kelly & Louis: Their Quickstep as uneven. Parts were very good but there were also some pretty clear missteps. Len said it was beyond his expectations. As a performer, and a person, Kelly had blown him away. Bruno acknowledged there was a mistake but added the dance was light, fast-footed and in sync. Carrie Ann thought Kelly nailed it. Kelly then tearfully thanked the judges for all their comments saying it was part of what has been giving her the confidence to keep coming back. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 27.
Mya & Dmitry: Wow, wow and wow! That was about as hot as a dance can get. I’ll say it – the girl deserves to win this thing. Bruno said only one word could describe it – sensational. Carrie Ann called it hot beyond belief. Len declared, “Tutti frutti, what a booty.” He said Mya deserves to be in the finale. Scores: Carrie Ann – 10, Len – 10, Bruno – 10. Total = 30. It’s times like this when you wish there was an 11 paddle.
Knock-Out Dances
Donny & Kym: They chose to dance the Jitterbug. It was the perfect kind of dance for Donny – very energetic. Carrie Ann said Donny needed to be good and, thank God, he got his mojo back. Len told Donny that 2 out of 3 wasn’t bad and Bruno called it upbeat and full of vigor. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 27. Total for the night – 74.
Joanna & Derek: They picked the Salsa. It was fun, but not as flashy as I expected. Len called it hot, tasty and full of spice. Bruno said it was delicious and flirtatious and Carrie Ann told Joanna that she would love to see her in the finals. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 27. Total for the night – 81.
Kelly & Louis: They went with the Cha Cha. It was short and cute – just like Kelly. Bruno said it might have been a “quickie” but it worked for him. Carrie Ann thought Kelly did a great job with finishing her lines and Len was pleased that all three of her dances were well done. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9. Total = 27. Total for the night – 78.
Mya & Dmitry: They picked the Cha Cha as well. Mya had a great night and seemed to be having the time of her life. Carrie Ann said the beginning of the dance didn’t speak to her. Bruno replied “You’re deaf!” Len was disappointed because he wanted it to go on longer and Bruno called it an action packed trailer for a blockbuster. Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Len - 10, Bruno – 10. Total = 29. Total for the night 87 out of 90. Wow!
So, we ended the evening with Donny & Kym in last place but my guess is that Kelly & Louis are the ones in real jeopardy.
Full episodes of DWTS are available at ABC’s website here:
Posted on December 16th, 2009 by Princess Kitty in Comedy, Music
Move over, Jay-Z. Stephen Colbert is takin’ it suburban. Last night he and Alicia Keys performed the best version of “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down” ever.
Posted on December 13th, 2009 by Princess Kitty in Music
I love this kid. He’s a pretty good ukulele player but it’s his interpretation of the lyrics of the Jason Mraz song, “I’m Yours”, that really make the performance.
Posted on December 6th, 2009 by Princess Kitty in Amazing Race
Aired 11-15-09
We picked back up in Stockholm, Sweden. After a mandatory rest period, first place team and Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time & Big Easy departed at 2:23AM. The teams had to travel by ferry 236 miles across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia. Once there, they had to sort through keys to open the door at a building called Mustpeade. The Trotters seem to be viewing Sam & Dan as the biggest competition left in the race. They were hoping to get a good lead on the brothers but, at the ferry dock, they learned that the next boat to Estonia wasn’t going to leave until 5:45PM. It was looking like we’d get a race reboot.
The second team to depart was dating couple Meghan & Cheyne at 4:12AM. They had some trouble making decisions in the last leg but were now just focused on staying in the lead. They were followed by married couple Brian & Ericka at 4:37AM. They weren’t getting hung up on the fact that they had yet to win a leg of the race. Brian said the only leg that matters is the final one.
The brothers, Sam & Dan, were the 4th team out at 5:04AM. Sam was hopeful that they’d learned their lesson in the last leg and would be able to keep their bickering under control. The last team to depart was father and son duo, Gary & Matt, at 6:29AM. Gary said he’d been apprehensive about the race and, specifically, about son Matt seeing his flaws. He was grateful that Matt has been accepting. I’m not sure what those flaws were supposed to be. Together they’ve been one of the calmest and most likeable of teams.
They all made the 5:45PM ferry boat. The trip took about 16 hours but they did get sleeper cabins - that were about the size of a closet. Once they docked, the Trotters lead the charge off the ferry (with a fair amount of trash-talking) but it was Meghan & Cheyne who were the first to get a taxi. They were also the first to arrive at Mustpeade but the brothers were right behind them and the two teams worked together to find the correct key to open the door. Inside they found a Roadblock.
Roadblock
One team member had to join the Brotherhood of the Blackheads (a secret society of merchants) to solve a mystery. They would go into the cellar (where a Blackhead party was taking place) and find a candelabra with a room number attached. They then had to locate that room where they would be given a blank scroll. They had to figure out that the writing would only show if the scroll was held over a lit candle. Cheyne and Sam took the challenge.
Brian & Ericka and Gary & Matt were the next to arrive at Mustpeade but this was also the location of the Speed Bump. Since Gary & Matt had been saved from elimination on the last leg, they had to perform an additional task. They had to take a 5 minute sauna with some locals in a Saunabuss – yes, a bus that was a sauna. They were relieved it was something that simple.
By the time Brian & Ericka got the door open, the Trotters had arrived and just followed them in. Ericka and Flight Time set about to solve the mystery. Locating the rooms proved to be harder than it seemed. Even though Cheyne and Sam had been looking for quite a while, it was Flight Time who was the first to locate his room. Unfortunately he didn’t benefit from this because he fell for a trick. The show put a little red crayon next to the scroll so Flight immediately started rubbing the crayon all over the scroll.
Cheyne was the next to find his room and he had much better luck with the scroll. He immediately took it to the candle and quickly saw the next clue taking the racers to the Pikk Hermann Tower Garden. Ericka also got the clue quickly and the two teams headed to the Tower together.
Gary & Matt finished their sauna and got the Mustpeade door open but their troubles were just beginning. Poor Matt had no clue what a candelabra was. It was a little sad watching him wander about the cellar trying to get one of the Blackheads to tell him what it was. While Matt was stuck in the cellar, Sam and Flight Time finally found the Tower clue.
Eventually Matt figured out that the “candle” part of candelabra was important and started looking for his room.
Detour
Brian & Ericka and Meghan & Cheyne found the cluebox in the Tower Garden and it was a Detour. The choices were “Serve” and “Sling”. In “Serve” the teams had to play volleyball against a local team – in a bog. They would be knee deep in muck and would have to score 5 points. In “Sling” the teams still had to stand in the mud but would use a slingshot to fire vegetables at a target. When they hit the target, a table full of cabbages would fall revealing the clue. Both teams opted for “Serve” and headed out to find a taxi. They both spotted one at the same time but Brian let Meghan & Cheyne take it as long as the cab driver called another taxi for them. Meghan then proceeded to order their driver not to call.
Meanwhile Matt found the clue about Pikk Hermann Tower – but he missed the word Garden. It really wasn’t looking good for this pair.
Sam & Dan and Flight & Easy got to the garden and also went with the volleyball. The two teams argued a bit over who spotted a taxi first but, since it was a van, ended up sharing it. There was definitely some frustration building between these teams.
After losing a significant amount of time trying to get into the Tower, Gary & Matt finally spotted the cluebox. They decided to do the slingshot challenge.
Meghan & Cheyne were the first to arrive at the Detour spot and they immediately stripped down to their undies and crawled into the muck. The game was a mess – but pretty funny. The dating couple scored their five points before any other team had arrived at the site. The next clue directed them to run to the Pit Stop at the Keava Raba Overlook Tower. They checked in first and won a red cedar sauna.
Meanwhile Brian & Ericka, Flight & Easy and Sam & Dan wandered about the bog looking for the Detour spot. Once they figured out where they were going, the guys all outran Ericka. Because only two teams could play volleyball at one time, she and Brian went a few steps over to the slingshot challenge. Sadly for them, they missed seeing Sam & Dan in their underwear in the mud. Now normally that wouldn’t be a big deal but, with these two, there was some serious pixilation of a certain area of their anatomy. We’ve had a lot of underwear moments on this show but I don’t ever remember this much censoring being needed.
The Trotters won their game first but headed in the wrong direction to find the tower. This resulted in a footrace between them and the brothers. Flight and Dan collided along the narrow wooden path and both wiped out. Dan got up quickly but Flight seemed a bit banged up.
Sam & Dan checked in 2nd.
Flight Time & Big Easy were 3rd.
Host Phil Keoghan could sense the tension between the teams. Dan said that Flight came up behind him and tried to push him taking them both down. Easy thought Dan had thrown an elbow to knock out Flight. The show aired the collision a couple times and, I have to say, Dan’s account seemed more accurate. Anyway, Easy said they didn’t realize that the physical stuff was in play adding, “I’m 6′10″, 260, so we’re gonna do what we gotta do.” I like the Trotters, but that comment made Big Easy look ridiculous.
The editing made it seem that Gary & Matt arrived at the challenge site just as Brian hit the target. I suspect they were much further behind than that.
Brian & Ericka checked in 4th.
Gary & Matt kept going. They hit the target with a radish and ran to the tower where Phil told them they were eliminated. Gary broke down as he talked about how proud he was of his son. Coming into the show these two were depicted as not being particularly close but they have been one of the most delightful child/parent teams ever. They were always kind, patient and respectful of each other.
Next Week: We’re in Prague and Sam & Dan steal Brian & Ericka’s taxi. Hmmm. I’m not sure it’s wise for them to make an enemy of yet another team.
Full episodes and bonus clips of TAR are available at CBS’ website here:
