Delve Into Lunacy

Although I never specifically picked anyone in regards to who Janelle would put up I was figuring it would be Maggie and April. My reasoning was that Ivette had gotten too close to James and therefore might be the best to go against in the final two. Plus, she sucks at challenges so even though one of the others would still be there Ivette would essentially be a non-player in the final HoH.

After this episode I’m glad I figured wrong. Janelle showed us yet again that she is quite intelligent and very strategic in her game play. I didn’t take into account April’s propensity to keep talking when she shouldn’t and it was an excellent idea to only talk to her and not the other two. Unless April said more than what was shown in the episode she didn’t really spill much information that Janelle didn’t already know, but it worked perfectly in regards to making Maggie and Ivette think April cut a deal. The fact that April was the safe one at nominations only helped to foster that thought. Considering April always coming across like she’s hiding something (even when she’s not) this next episode should be pretty good since I’m guessing quite a bit of drama has gone on since the nominations.

Prior to the point in the episode where they revealed the winner, I had actually forgotten all about America’s Choice this week. As expected, Janelle won and the other three hated both her and America for it. I really wish I could see their faces when they hit the outside world and realize just how much America hated their group. Of course they will blame it on “the viewers just being a bunch of pieces of shit” as April so nicely put it a few weeks back, but oh well. What’s funny is that with the exception of Ivette and Eric I think America probably would have liked (or at least dis-liked less) the others had they not been part of the Friendship with all of it’s phoniness and hypocrisy.

Anyway, I can’t understand why they continue to blame Janelle for always winning considering the people in the house have zero control over the outcome. Hell, this time they didn’t even know that another America’s Choice was happening until the winner was announced so they didn’t even get to do their stupid diary room speeches about why they should be picked. I don’t understand half of what that group does so I shouldn’t be surprised I guess.

As a final thought, did they not drag out that promotion for Two and a Half Men enough? Good lord, the thing was around two minutes long. They already advertise the show during commercial breaks and most people that watch much TV know about it even if they don’t watch it (like me…I hate kid oriented shows). I can understand a brief clip similar to what they would run during a commercial break, but that was ridiculous.

Unfortunately, I was right about Ivette not flipping on her group and voting out April. It sucks to see Howie go (although him hitting on Julie made it worth it), but at least Janelle won HoH. I was dreading the worst when they showed the competition setup for the first time since Janelle has a history of not being able to pull out a win in competitions that have a lot a questions about what has happened so far. Thankfully, she came through this time.

I’m torn on who she should put up. Without someone flipping on their own group I don’t think she is going to be able to win the game no matter who she ended up in the final two with. That’s unfortunate since she’s easily played a better game than anyone else there. I’m guessing April and Maggie will go on the block and if I was forced to bet on it April will go home unless she wins the veto. As much as I dislike Ivette and don’t want her to even get second place money I think Ivette is probably the best bet for Janelle to take to the final two if she wins the next HoH.

I was looking forward to seeing more of the sequester house again and they didn’t let me down as far as drama goes. As much of a bitch as Ivette is Jennifer somehow tops her. It’s even worse since she’s a complete hypocrite as well. She gets pissed when the other two that are there (who were part of the opposing group) show even the slightest sign of humor in people from Jen’s old team doing poorly, but then when she goes ape-shit because they do well she gets pissed if they don’t share in her joy. Dumbass.

Let’s hope that in the next episode Janelle is able to pull it off. The first part of the final HoH competition is always stamina oriented and she should be able to take that with no problem no matter which one of the other three goes home next. The final part of the challenge has me a little more worried however.

I read an article today on MSNBC.com that is making me dread the show even more than I already had been.

For starters, I’m just not a fan of “family” editions of shows. They tend to focus on the idea that everyone in America finds all children and their zany antics cute. Unfortunately, there are enough jackasses out there that really do feel this way that the networks keep making these shows to cater to them. Now I know some of the things kids do really are cute and humorous, but these shows tend to focus on children that act so horribly that they deserve a good caning along with their parents for allowing the behavior. I originally thought the show was limiting kids to no younger than 12 which in my opinion is too young. Do the family thing but require them to be at least 16. The rumor now is that they have allowed kids as young as 8 which is just ridiculous.

My second fear with the show is that they wouldn’t be able to go anywhere interesting. I was getting tired of the requisite trip to India every season but a lot of the best episodes occurred in places where the local culture combined with a language barrier put the contestants as far out of their comfort zones as possible. The locations in the world that typically do this (and that are safe enough for them to travel to) also tend to be backwaters where you don’t have huge vans and such available at the drop of the hat. With teams of four people, be it families or otherwise, along with at least one cameraman per team it just becomes too difficult logistically to take them somewhere like that and keep everyone together.

Well, now it seems that they possibly won’t even be leaving North America. I guess they’ve repeatedly been seen filming in numerous areas in the Northeast and also in Canada…far more often than if they were just there for one or two legs of the race. To me the “amazing” part of the race was the fact that they were traveling around the world and I was pissed last season when they didn’t actually circumnavigate the globe. To stay in North America is even worse since it turns it from being an amazing race into just a wild family summer vacation and nothing more.

I know I’ll end up watching the show, but damn it feels like a kick in the nuts that one of most acclaimed reality shows out there is going this route. Thank god we already know that season 9 will be back to just two person teams.

To start I have to say that I’ve really been gaining back a lot of respect for Howie that I lost when he carried on with his tirade a few weeks ago for just too long. Tonight was a nice look back on why I originally liked him so much. How can you not like a guy that is that secure with himself that he doesn’t mind potentially looking like a fool on national television by tapping into his inner child. He reminded me of The Star Wars Kid minus the whole retard factor.

Despite how much I love watching Howie I’m still hoping Janelle wins it all, although she doesn’t have any shot at all unless both her and Howie make it to the final two. Even then I have a feeling the majority on the jury would vote for Howie just because they like him more than her. I seriously doubt that Ivette would flip and side with them even though she brought up the idea to Howie without prompting. At least she realizes she has a better chance at the money with either of those two but I’m not going to get my hopes up. The one good thing is that with the exception of Ivette all the other players have a chance at the next two HoH spots. Janelle’s only shot now is to win both of them.

Speaking of Janelle winning, is anyone else getting sick of just how predictable the editing of reality shows is getting? Out of the ones I watch, Big Brother is the worst offender. Survivor, The Apprentice, etc all have the same issue but at least they occasionally throw the audience for a curve. Even without the live feeds (which I don’t follow) Big Brother is completely predictable as you watch it.

As an example, tonight during the veto competition there was only one player where they focused on their reaction once they got back into the house after completing the game…Janelle. True, she needed it more than anyone else and she thought she did poorly, but as soon as they did it I immediately knew she won. My question is whether the producers truly think people don’t catch on and that they are simply building the drama or do they realize it’s a give away and just hope only a minority of the viewers notice or care?