Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays to all who read the blog! Without y'all, there would be no blog. I especially want to thank those who donated this year. It's been a very challenging health year for me and those donations are appreciated!

Big Brother Reindeer Games - Ep. 6 Finale Blog Party

 

                                                                                      CBS

While I won't be live blogging the show as intensely as I usually do, I will pop in now and then with a screen shot or comment as well as keeping up with major events. I do hear there's a party going on in the comments section. I hope to see you there! I will fill you in with major things like who wins the comps, who gets the boot, etc. 

Since we have no pool, I'm just keeping track here who gets the boot and what they win on the way out --

Cody Calafiore (BB16 and BB22) Eliminated 2nd/won a fruitcake.
Nicole Franzel (BB16, BB18 and BB22) 
Frankie Grande (BB16)
Taylor Hale (BB24)
Cameron Hardin (BB25) Eliminated 1st/won year subscription jelly.
Brittany Haynes (BB12 and BB14) Eliminated 5th/won men's Christmas underwear and socks.
Josh Martinez (BB19) Eliminated 4th/won ugly Christmas sweater
Xavier Prather (BB23)
Danielle Reyes (BB3 and BB7) Eliminated 3rd/won $5,000

Remaining to play the actual Reindeer Games, we have Nicole, Frankie, Taylor and Xavier. I wouldn't mind it if Frankie is the first boot of the night. Heh.

We get a Previously On. We're working on getting to the four who will compete tonight.

Tiffany remains the Elf in Charge tonight. Two head-to-head semifinal matchups. One final Naughty or Nice tonight. One of the paintings on the wall is a forgery put there by art thieves. Xavier thinks he has it ... and he does!

Xavier will get to make the bracket for the tournament. Decide with whom he wants to go head-to-head and that person starts 30 seconds after him.

He picks Nicole. Frankie and Taylor will do battle in the next part. The winners of the two will battle for the three.

Semi-Finals -- Nutcrackers are broken, need to be fixed. Must attach all 28 gears to their nutcrackers, first to fix and use, advances. Nicole has the 30 second disadvantage.

NICOLE WINS!

Xavier gets the boot. What? No gift going out?

Semi-Finals Part 2- Taylor versus Frankie. Elves are causing mayhem in the North Pole and must be apprehended. Five guilty elves. Knock down five guilty elves. First one done right wins.

TAYLOR WINS!

It will be Taylor versus Nicole at the end.

All of those previously eliminated come in. It's time for the Reindeer Game Final. They are all shocked that Frankie and Xavier got the boot. 

Final Reindeer Game - Acquire magical mistletoe, ancient antlers, sacred snowflake. That will fuel Santa's sleigh and save Christmas.

Taylor gets the mistletoe first.

Taylor has moved on to snowflakes

More evenly matched in snowflakes

NICOLE WINS THE BB REINDEER GAMES!    

Survivor 45: Living the Survivor Dream - Ep. 13 Season Finale Blog Party

 

Yep, tonight is the three-hour (oy!) season finale.

I will be live blogging the show the best I can as it airs here on the East Coast. Refresh this page to get the latest updates. As always, the real party is in the comments area. I hope to see you there!

Lifeguard SueGee has updated the blog pool. Here's where we stand:

Austin --- Pearl, Nora M, Sharon N

Jake --- Donna in FL, TS14Fan

Katurah --- Donna NY, April W

Dee --- Judi Sweeney, Brent McKee

Julie --- Andi, PDX Granny

JURY

Kaleb

Kellie

Kendra

Bruce

Emily

Drew

Survivor fans ready?

They are starting out on a new beach tonight. There will be two Immunity Challenges, two Tribals. We get into the Previously On segment.

Austin was definitely blindsided by the Drew vote. He had no clue. He wants to talk with Dee about it. He tells her no hard feelings and that it was probably a good game move. Meanwhile, back at the camp Katurah, Julie and Jake are talking about what a pair Dee and Austin are.

In the morning they see a box. Three stations around island -- coconuts, crabs, bamboo -- count them and use the number as a combination to open it. First person to solve it gets an advantage.

JAKE wins the advantage!

To the first Immunity Challenge. Crawl under obstacle, dig up machete, cut down sandbags, untie knots, throw three sandbags in baskets, reveal numbers, retrieve keys, climb tower, puzzle. Winner gets Reward -- Sanctuary dinner. Jake gives Jeff his advantage -- two of his sandbags will be in the baskets, he only has to land one in the closest basket. Jake is in the lead. But he forgets to bring his key and has to go back for it, costing him time.

AUSTIN wins Immunity and a guaranteed place in the Final Four! Austin chooses Jake to go with him because he hadn't won any rewards and it was such a battle this time.

Katurah still wants Dee to go. She talks to Julie. Julie wants to keep Dee and get Jake out. All three women talk about voting out Jake. Meanwhile, Jake and Austin are drinking wine and eating steak. Austin tells us he wanted to bring Jake for strategic reasons. Jake tells him he has an idol. Jake would like Julie out tonight.

They return to camp where Austin tells Dee that Jake has an idol and wants Julie out. Dee and Austin both would prefer Katurah out rather than Julie. Jake tells Katurah that he has an idol and now she thinks they can send Dee home. Dee tells Julie that Jake has an idol.

They head to Tribal and it's very confusing who will be going home tonight. 

Tribal Night 24 commences. Tribal is not contentious. Time to vote. It looks like everybody is getting a vote on them except Austin!

The tally - Jake plays his idol for Katurah.

Katurah, Jake, Dee, Julie, Julie.

Bye-bye, Julie. 

Night 24 at camp. Jake is angry because Dee is still there. He's snapping at Katurah. She says she voted Julie because she thought there was another vote out there for her. She would have voted Dee had she known he was going to play his idol on her.

Final Immunity Challenge. Maneuver bowls on a perch walking through a frame. First person done wins. 17 total bowls.

Austin accidentally dumps his. Jake and Dee are at around ten bowls. Ack! Jake loses his. Dee is at 14 bowls! Jake breaks his frame thing returning for his bowls and gets disqualified.

DEE WINS THE FINAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE! She will decide who to bring with her and which two must duel with making a fire.

Jake tells Dee not to take him (she didn't plan to anyway) and wants to make fire so he could have a move he makes. Dee warns Katurah to work on her fire. Austin goes to help Jake with his fire and realizes how bad he is at. He goes to Dee and suggests she keep Jake and put him on fire against Katurah.

Tribal Council time. What will Dee do? Jeff asks about Dee's conversations with each of them. Katurah says Dee was worried about her strengths. Austin tells Jeff he was willing to make fire. But he doesn't know if he will or not. Jake wanted to make fire, didn't want to be taken.

Dee brings Austin -- so Jake and Katurah will make fire. JAKE WINS!

Katurah admits to all that she's a lawyer before Jeff snuffs her torch. Love all around. Austin, Dee and Jake are the Final Three.

The Final Three get their big breakfast feast. They talk about the jury members, Kaleb first. Kaleb tells us he's a bit partial to Jake. Kellie, Kendra (who speaks highly of Austin). And on and on.

The Three head to Final Tribal.

Kendra - I want to feel your truth. How did you make the game yours?Jake? Nothing I wouldn't do. I cried a lot but I love the game. Dee? My reason was my family. Day be day, having fun. Austin? I was the alternate, wanted to do everything.

Katurah - Facing your fears. Austin - blindside thing, lying to someone's face. Dee - Feels the same way, betraying or blindsiding. Jake - Fear of failing but getting right back up.

Drew - Reba Core Four success? Dee - loved it because it was the four of us. Austin agrees. Austin's name was never written down.

Emily - Dee use a decision with your brain, not heart. I need to build my relationships.

Kaleb - Congratulates Jake. Jake says he tried to build relationships. He had to keep trying.

Kellie - Saving others? Not telling people? Austin had an idol and played one for Julie. 

Julie - Questions Dee and Austin. Showmance? Is it real? Dee says real. Austin says real, not strategic. Dee admits to Austin that she told Julie the vote.

Time to vote. Kendra votes Austin. Emily votes Dee. Drew votes Austin.

The tally -- Dee, Austin, Dee, Austin, Dee, Austin, Dee, Dee.

DEE WINS SURVIVOR 45!

Congratulations to blog pool winners Judi Sweeney and Brent McKee!

Survivor 46 sneak peek - newbies. Yay! February.

Big Brother Reindeer Games - Ep. 5 Blog Party

 

                                                                                    CBS

While I won't be live blogging the show as I usually do, I will pop in now and then with a screen shot or comment. But I do hear there's a party going on in the comments section. I hope to see you there! I will fill you in with major things like who wins the comps, who gets the boot, etc. 

Since we have no pool, I'm just keeping track here who gets the boot and what they win on the way out --

Cody Calafiore (BB16 and BB22) Eliminated 2nd/won a fruitcake.
Nicole Franzel (BB16, BB18 and BB22) 
Frankie Grande (BB16)
Taylor Hale (BB24)
Cameron Hardin (BB25) Eliminated 1st/won year subscription jelly.
Brittany Haynes (BB12 and BB14)
Josh Martinez (BB19) Eliminated 4th/won ugly Christmas sweater
Xavier Prather (BB23)
Danielle Reyes (BB3 and BB7) Eliminated 3rd/won $5,000

Who will be cast out into the cold cruel world tonight?

Four challenges today. 

The doorbell rings. It's Tiffany, Elf Ambassador. Naughty/Nice Challenge. Holiday Special Canceled? Elfie has locked himself in Santa's Office. The keys must be found to let him out. NICOLE finds the key!

Her advantage will be someone else's disadvantage. Two Jingle Bell Brawls. Nicole picks one person to sit out. Most think it should be Xavier.

Jingle Bell Brawl One time. Eggnog recipe book misprinted, each recipe missing one ingredient. Sample seven eggnogs, figure what's missing, grab ingredient and win. Nicole sits out Xavier.

TAYLOR wins the Jingle Bell Brawl and a big power! She is the first to advance to the Reindeer Games. She can bring one player with her. She chooses Nicole. 

Frankie, Britney and Xavier will compete in the second Jingle Bell Brawl and the winner of that will go on to the Reindeer Games.

Second Brawl - Asked questions about entertainment performances so far. Two losers must go to Santa's Showdown. Xavier is the first to get one wrong. Then another one. Then another. Britney wrong. Frankie leading. FRANKIE wins. He will be in Reindeer Games. Britney and Xavier have to compete in the Santa Showdown.

Santa's Showdown time. Krampus is putting up anti-Christmas billboards. They must knock them down and put up new signs. They are on ziplines kicking down the bad ones. Britney is not doing well at all. She recovers and both are working on the good sign puzzle.

XAVIER wins!

Britney wins a pair of man's Christmas underwear and socks.

Big Brother Reindeer Games - Ep. 4 Blog Party

 

                                                                                      CBS

While I won't be live blogging the show as I usually do, I will pop in now and then with a screen shot or comment. But I do hear there's a party going on in the comments section. I hope to see you there!

I will fill you in with major things like who wins the comps, who gets the boot, etc. I'll even throw in a screencap now and again.

Since we have no pool, I'm just keeping track here who gets the boot and what they win on the way out --

Cody Calafiore (BB16 and BB22) Eliminated 2nd/won a fruitcake.
Nicole Franzel (BB16, BB18 and BB22) 
Frankie Grande (BB16)
Taylor Hale (BB24)
Cameron Hardin (BB25) Eliminated 1st/won year subscription jelly.
Brittany Haynes (BB12 and BB14)
Josh Martinez (BB19)
Xavier Prather (BB23)
Danielle Reyes (BB3 and BB7) Eliminated 3rd/won $5,000

Who will be cast out into the cold cruel world tonight?

Oh, we will have a candy cane rodeo!

Derek X. the Elf arrives with bad news. Jill Frost has disappeared. They have to figure out who took her. This is the Naughty or Nice challenge. The winner is Frankie. Another message from Santa. Next Jingle Bell Brawl pair up with your bestie. Frankie gets to choose his partner and will be able to penalize one pair during the brawl.

Frankie decides on Taylor for his partner. The other guys want guy/girl duos while Nicole and Britney want to work together. It ends up being Josh/Britney and Nicole/Xavier.

Jingle Bell Brawl time! They have to repack their sleighs. Winning duo decides who goes to Santa's Showdown. Frankie, as part of his Naughty or Nice win, can freeze a team.

When Xavier and Nicole were ahead, Frankie froze them for 45 seconds.

Taylor and Frankie win!

One player from each of the losing pairs will go to Santa's Showdown. Frank has to choose between Josh and Britney. Taylor, the other two.

Frankie wants to send Josh and Xavier and work as a team. In the end, Taylor goes with ... a commercial break. She chose Nicole to go to Santa's Showdown. Frankie sends Josh.

Sant's Showdown is a candy cane rodeo!

Yipes! They seemed to fall at the same time and we go to commercial. It turns out that Josh hit the mat first so he's out.

His prize is a Christmas sweater.

Big Brother Reindeer Games - Ep. 3 Blog Party

 

                                                                                  CBS

Ah, finally to the first one-hour episode. I'm sorry. I'm just having issues with all the long episodes of everything these days!

While I won't be live blogging the show as I usually do, I will pop in now and then with a screen shot or comment. But I do hear there's a party going on in the comments section. I hope to see you there!

I will fill you in with major things like who wins the comps, who gets the boot, etc. I'll even throw in a screencap now and again.

Since we have no pool, I'm just keeping track here who gets the boot and what they win on the way out --

Cody Calafiore (BB16 and BB22) Eliminated 2nd/won a fruitcake.
Nicole Franzel (BB16, BB18 and BB22) 
Frankie Grande (BB16)
Taylor Hale (BB24)
Cameron Hardin (BB25) Eliminated 1st/won year subscription jelly.
Brittany Haynes (BB12 and BB14)
Josh Martinez (BB19)
Xavier Prather (BB23)
Danielle Reyes (BB3 and BB7)

Who will be cast out into the cold cruel world tonight?

Why oh why has Nicole done NOTHING with that messy hair bun all these years?

We can expect drama tonight. Good. 

Uh-oh. The other women are onto the Danielle/Xavier duo.

The doorbell rings and it's Derek X. (BB23), our second Elf Ambassador. It's the Naughty or Nice Challenge. Oh my! The crooner has been dumped by his gal! Eep. He gets to the 9th day and loses it. Santa thinks they can help him figure out why she dumped him. Find scrambled letters on cookies and give him the four-word phrase as to why she dumped him. Winner gets a two-minute head start in the Jingle Bell Brawl.

I have it figured out. "You are too clingy." See if I'm right. I'm right and so is Taylor, the winner of the Naughty or Nice challenge. Both Josh and Xavier offer themselves to Taylor as the Naughty recipient.

Taylor chooses to give the Naughty list disadvantage to Josh.

Jingle Bell Brawl. 

Similar to the tiny tweezer comps

They have to rebuild tiny cookies. Josh can't see his photo of what it should look like for five minutes. NICOLE thought she won but was incorrect and didn't match the image given her. Now, NICOLE won the Jingle Bell Brawl!

Today Santa's Showdown is a one-person comp. That person will choose the next one to play if he/she wins. The second person has less time to play.

Time for the Santa Showdown in the Candy Cane Forest. Mrs. Santa's favorite ornament is trapped in a snow globe. First player gets the most time, each after that gets less. If the person completes it, they choose the next.

She sends in Frankie. He has five and a half minutes. 

Reminds me of the egg through chicken wire but moving.

Frankie finished it in 3.11 minutes. Frankie has to send someone else out. They will have one less minute. Frankie sends Xavier to do it next. Xavier completes it with 17 seconds left on the clock. Now he has to send someone in. He talks to everyone. Britney begs him not to send her. Nicole asks him not to send Britney. 

So ... he sends Britney. SHE BEATS IT WITH a minute 17 seconds left!

Finding out that Danielle is being protected by Xavier and possibly threw her under the bus, Britney chooses Danielle. Taylor had volunteered.

Danielle does not finish the comp. Lots of tears. She is out of the game. Her prize on the way out is the $5,000.

The Amazing Race 35: A Sunset, Seattle Scramble - Ep. 12 Season Finale Blog Party

 

Yes, we're at the season finale. Although I have my random blog pool pick still in there as well as an outright personal favorite team apart from the pool, any of the three teams remaining winning this would be fine. All three teams are likable and have really done their best ... with no arguing or nastiness. Kudos to all three!

I will be live-blogging and updating this post constantly as the show airs here on the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest updates. As always, the real blog party is in the comments. I hope to see you there!

Lifeguard SueGee has once again updated the blog pool and here's where we stand going into tonight's show:

Greg & John -- Brent McKee, Jackie, Judi Sweeney

Joel & Garrett -- ChicMc, Ethan, Willie J, Jasonuwp

Rob & Corey -- marthalight, PDX Granny, Sharon N

Are you ready? Let's GO! 

Skipping through the Previously On bits!

Rob/Corey get the clue that directs them to fly to Seattle, Washington. The next clue will be at the base of the Space Needle. The three teams are on the same flight.

The teams are RUNNING to their vehicles at the airport. At least with the Space Needle so tall, it's easy to find. They have to walk around the rim of the Space Needle for the next clue. Only one member of a team has to go alone. Rob/Corey are first. Corey is doing the walking! He finds a clue leading him to a man and the glass center. John up next.

Rob/Corey have the next clue - Seattle Scramble - Grunge, roadie. Grab, acrobatic. Glass, blow glass. 

John/Greg are at the glass blowing to earn a piece of the next clue. Rob/Corey arrive at Grab. Corey finishes it. Rob's turn. Oh, not so good! Joel/Garrett are at the glass blowing with John/Greg .... both teams are having problems.

Joel/Garrett finish the glass blowing first! They have taken over first place. Rob finally got his knees on the bar but didn't have enough momentum for the other person to catch him. Wait! Next try he did it!

Joel/Garrett heading to Grunge. John/Greg finish Glass and head to Grunge. Grunge has them working as a roadie for a band. Set up the stage for their band. Corey/Rob are also heading to Grunge.

Now all three teams are at Grunge. Joel/Garrett are so close to being done. They finish and the band Smokey Brights comes out and um ... plays. They have to do Grab, then be done with the Scramble.

Rob/Corey finish Grunge and the Black Tones play. Argh ... my blog pool team John/Greg are way behind on Grunge. Finally got it and they are on their way to Grab.

Rob/Corey are at Glass. Garrett is having problems with the trapeze. Joel finally does the Grab right. Then Garrett! They are in the lead. The clue parts end up being a plane with an address in Kenmore, Washington. Meanwhile, the brothers are doing well on Grab, Corey/Rob not so much in Glass. Ah, Rob/Corey finish Glass!

Joel/Garrett get the final clue first. Roadblocks and Detours on kayaks, teams must put in chronological order. Uh-oh ... Rob/Corey seem lost on the way. All three teams are at the kayaks now. Joel/Garrett are SO close to being done but can't figure out why they are not passing the check.

Greg/John finish first and get the clue to head to the Pit Stop. Joel/Garrett make it through now, too.

Pit Stop order

1. Greg/John - my blog pool pick team WIN THE AMAZING RACE 35!

2. Joel/Garrett

3. Rob/Corey

This has been such a good season. 

Survivor 45: The Ex-Girlfriend at the Wedding - Ep. 12 Blog Party

 

Good evening! This is the penultimate episode of the season! Yep, next week is the three-hour (oy!) season finale.

A separate post for tonight's The Amazing Race season finale will magically appear at about 9:25PM ET. So, please shift over to that post for that show. Merci.

I will be live blogging the show the best I can as it airs here on the East Coast. Refresh this page to get the latest updates. As always, the real party is in the comments area. I hope to see you there!

Lifeguard SueGee has updated the blog pool. Here's where we stand:

Austin --- Pearl, Nora M, Sharon N

Drew --- Dr Celine, monty924

Jake --- Donna in FL, TS14Fan

Katurah --- Donna NY, April W

Dee --- Judi Sweeney, Brent McKee

Julie --- Andi, PDX Granny

JURY

Kaleb

Kellie

Kendra

Bruce

Emily

Survivor fans ready?

Time to skip the Previously On segment.

It's Night 21 and they are returning from Tribal Council. Julie is thrilled to be safe. She tells us that Dee is the one who saved her but told the rest that she's mad at her. Austin's amulet is only good until the next Tribal and he must play it then.

Austin tells Dee that they need to get word out that she didn't tell Julie. Dee is acting like she's scared that Julie is going to come after her. Julie comes after Drew, Dee and Austin calling out Reba Four strong. But she tells us that Drew blew it up so it's now game on.

Day 22 dawns. Katurah goes searching for an idol as she knows once idols are used, they are usually back hidden the next day. Dee notices that she's gone. So, Austin and Dee go out looking for her. Austin sneaks up on her. She admits to him that she's looking for the idol before Julie comes out looking for it.

Meanwhile, Julie is up after not sleeping well. Julie talks with Drew. She wants to believe in Reba but ...! She thinks the blindside was done by Drew and Dee's the only one she can trust. Dee and Julie talk and both think Drew is the problem child mastermind who must go.

Time for the Reward Challenge. First person to finish wins a picnic -- helicopter ride to a sandspit to picnic. They must make their way to shore from individual platforms, roll a barrel standing on it using ropes to steady themselves, grab three keys and sliding puzzle.

AUSTIN wins Reward! He picks Dee to go with him. One more spot. He chooses Katurah after telling Jeff he would need to have alliance members to stay at camp to dissuade conversation about booting him.

Drew is bummed that he never gets picked to go on Reward. He feels like he's back in middle school. Julie feels like she is being babysat.

Back at camp, they all seem to be a bit bummed. It turns out that both Drew and Julie have been on a helicopter, and both threw up. Julie knows that Drew is to babysit both her and Jake. They both think they will look for an idol.

The helicopter does a flyover of the camp. Like rubbing salt in a wound. Katurah knows she's a third wheel and sees that there might be romance with Dee and Austin. We get more takes on the showmance.

At camp Jake thinks he's stuck with his two targets. He goes off on his own looking for the idol. He finds a clue to it ... a note that says the idol is in a secret compartment in the raft. He's got it! The last time it can be used is when there are five players in the game.

Immunity Challenge time. One foot on one end of a hinged beam. On the other end is a ball. Ball drops, you're out.  

Julie out, then Jake out. Katurah out. Drew out. It's down to the showmance partners Dee and Austin.

DEE WINS IMMUNITY!

Drew wants Julie out still. I guess we will see about that!

Back to camp, Dee and Austin have a friendly rivalry going on. Austin thinks Juliee needs to go. Same with Drew. Jake, on the other hand, thinks differently. Jake wants to go after Drew. Little does he know, Julie was already wanting to work with Dee to go after Drew. Jake talks to Katurah about going after Drew. Jake thinks he's masterminding it all. But Dee already was thinking the move. They need to make Drew think they are targeting Julie.

Drew thinks it's a clear shot at Julie and that Austin is with him. Dee is considering telling Austin about blindsiding Drew but ...! Time for them to head to the Tribal Council.

Tribal Council Night 23. Jeff brings up the Reward Challenge and the fact that he was worried about who to leave behind. Julie talks about being babysat at camp. Friends, love and voting people out. Drew says the money brings you back to reality. Dee thinks that they're all lying to each other. Alliances not really locked in. Drew thinks if he gets through tonight, he has a clear shot to the end. Julie can't think of it that way.

Time to vote. Drew votes Julie.

Tally time ... Austin plays his amulet for himself. 

Julie, Julie, Drew, Drew, Drew, Drew ... 6th member of the jury. He says no goodbyes. They will be taken to a new place to start over as they get to the end.

Big Brother Reindeer Games - Ep. 2 Blog Party

 

                                                                                    CBS

While I won't be live blogging the show as I usually do, I will pop in now and then with a screen shot or comment. But I do hear there's a party going on in the comments section. I hope to see you there!

I will fill you in with major things like who wins the comps, who gets the boot, etc. I'll even throw in a screencap now and again.

Last night, Cameron got sent home. Who will it be tonight?

We get the typical Previously On. We go through the three comps again -- Naughty or Nice, Jingle Bell Brawl and Santa's Showdown.

The doorbell rings and it's Jordan once again. Another crisis. Naughty or Nice -- Cranky Carolers, torn up sheet music of 19 songs and will only sing one. First player to guess song wins Naughty or Nice Power. The advantage today is supposed to be a game-changer. Of course, many are trying to avoid winning as they don't want the power of choosing a Naughty.

We have a winner -- CODY! The doorbell rings again and this time it's the carolers. 

The upcoming Jingle Bell Brawl will be a four-on-four challenge. Win and the team will be safe. Cody's advantage is to choose his team members, he will put one on the opposing team on the Naughty list.

Cody's chosen team is Nicole, Frankie and Xavier. Britney, Danielle, Josh and Taylor are the other team. On the Naughty List, he puts Taylor.

They are in Santa's Village. Each team has to decorate four trees. For her Naughty disadvantage, Taylor has to decorate a small tree before her team can do a tipping tree. The four trees can easily tip as the ornaments weigh different and branches are different lengths.

Despite the team waiting for Taylor, they are ahead with the first tree done.

Red team - Josh, Danielle, Taylor and Britney - are really ahead now!

RED TEAM WINS the Jingle Bell Brawl! They are all safe from elimination tonight. They must all agree to make one person on the other team safe. The other three will head to Santa's Showdown, loser gets eliminated.

The Red Team decides to save Nicole. Xavier, Cody and Frankie must compete in the Santa's Showdown.

Santa's Showdown time. The workshop is full of toys, lists from five picky kids -- stuff they like and hate. Find the gifts that fit their criteria. Can only carry one toy at a time to each gift box. First two players done are safe.

Xavier finishes first and is safe! Frankie finishes second.

CODY will be sent home. His winning package is a fruitcake.

Big Brother Reindeer Games - Ep. 1 Blog Party

 

Welp, we have two hours of games tonight, an hour and a half tomorrow night, then the last four episodes will be an hour each.

Tiffany, Derek and Jordan are the hosting elves.

While I won't be live blogging the show as I usually do, I will pop in now and then with a screen shot or comment.

But I do hear there's a party going on in the comments section! I hope to see you there!

I'm liking the introductions to each competitor. I like Britney so much! And Danielle! 

Santa tells them Christmas is in danger of being cancelled. One player who falls short each day will be sent home. At the end the winner wins 100 grand.

They did better on decorating the house for the holidays than they did for the last several seasons.

Britney and Nicole mend fences. It's a Christmas miracle!

Who could be at the door? Jordan! She's an Elf Ambassador for Santa. Time for their first challenge. First challenge each day will be the Naughty or Nice challenge. They have to solve a riddle -- packages will open with clues to a DJ's favorite song, can only guess once. More on the Naughty or Nice power later.

The winner is Britney. (Up On the Housetop) She has earned the Nice Power, will have an advantage at the next challenge - the Jingle Bell Brawl. She can put someone on the Naughty List.

After talking to everyone, Britney puts the Naughty disadvantage on Cody.

Safety for the day, winner will have a crucial role in who goes home. That's the Jingle Bell Brawl. Letters to Santa have stopped being delivered. They must place their letters in the boxes of others. Then they deliver ones in their box. Britney starts with one less for Nice, Cody starts with an extra trip due to Naughty.

FRANKIE wins the Jingle Bell Brawl. It will be up to him and him alone to decide which two players go to the Santa Showdown. The loser of that goes home.

Frankie chooses to send Cameron and Xavier into Santa's Showdown.

In it, they each have to make a Yeti sweater, 57 sweater parts. It's a giant puzzle.

What the sweater needs to look like.

XAVIER wins Santa's Showdown! Cameron is eliminated and going ho-ho-home. He gets to choose one gift from under the tree. He gets a year's subscription to the Jelly Club.

Regarding BB Reindeer Games

 

CBS

Monday night is the debut of the Big Brother Reindeer Games holiday series. While I won't be live-blogging the six shows per se, I will set up posts on show nights and may occasionally chime in with updates and screen shots. 

There are a few reasons I'm not committing to actual in-depth live blogging the shows. First, we went from a ridiculously long and intense BB25 season into The Amazing Race and Survivor as I blogged all three for a month and am still tied up with the latter two! Plus, I had a bad case of Covid back in September and am still affected by it. And, third ... this is all competitions. Competitions are hard to blog. Believe it or not, it's not easy to be constantly typing while watching a show!

But, since there have been requests, I will put up posts so y'all can go wild updating and partying in the comments area.

CBS

There are only six shows. Here is the schedule:

Monday, December 11 - 9pm-11pm ET/PT
Tuesday, December 12 - 9pm-10:30pm ET/PT
Thursday, December 14 - 8pm-9pm ET/PT
Monday, December 18 - 9pm-10pm ET/PT
Tuesday, December 19 - 9pm-10pm ET/PT
Thursday, December 21 - 8pm-9pm ET/PT

Derek Xiao and Tiffany Mitchell of BB23 and BB11 winner Jordan Lloyd will be hosting the shows. Competing for the $100,000 prize, we have:  

Cody Calafiore (BB16 and BB22)
Nicole Franzel (BB16, BB18 and BB22) 
Frankie Grande (BB16)
Taylor Hale (BB24)
Cameron Hardin (BB25)
Brittany Haynes (BB12 and BB14)
Josh Martinez (BB19)
Xavier Prather (BB23)
Danielle Reyes (BB3 and BB7)

All of them were winners or AFP on their seasons except Danielle and Frankie. Of course, I welcome Danielle into anything BB -- she should have won BB3 had the voting players been sequestered! Um, Frankie? No comment.

There will be NO live feeds; the shows are taped. They apparently did not live together at the BB house which has been done over as Santa's Lodge. The kitchen is now the bakery, HOH room is the office, all is festive and holly-jolly. Some comps will have them going to places like the Candy Cane Forest, Santa's Workshop and Santa's Village.  Each episode consists of three competitions, the last of which determines which player will be eliminated.

So, the first post will be up and running Monday evening. Be there or Santa don't care!

The Amazing Race 35: We're Finding Our Pot of Gold - Ep. 11 Blog Party

 

Yikes! Tonight is the penultimate episode of the season! Yeah, a fancy-schmancy way of saying that next week is the season finale.

I will be live-blogging and updating this post constantly as the show airs here on the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest updates. As always, the real blog party is in the comments. I hope to see you there!

Lifeguard SueGee has once again updated the blog pool and here's where we stand going into tonight's show:

Greg & John -- Brent McKee, Jackie, Judi Sweeney

Joel & Garrett -- ChicMc, Ethan, Willie J, Jasonuwp

Rob & Corey -- marthalight, PDX Granny, Sharon N

Steve & Anna Leigh -- David, Donna in FL, Glenn Allen

Are you ready? Let's GO! 

Skipping through the Previously On segment and we see Ashlie and Todd Philiminated once again.

Teams are heading to Dublin, Ireland. They each get a phone and can book the trip through the Expedia app. Once in Ireland, they have to drive and then "take the plunge." All are on the same flight.

Okay, we're in Dublin. Home to U2, teams will take a dip in the chilly Irish Sea. The water is very cold. The cars are manual transmissions. Rob knows how to drive standard but points out it's on the opposite side. Greg mentions the same, claims it's not natural.

Already, Anana Leigh is at Steve about going the wrong way.

Rob/Corey get the clue first after the plunge -- drive to the "Gaiety (sp) Theatre" to get the next clue. The three teams are done with the plunge and Steve/Anna Leigh just got there. Steve is having problems in the cold water.

Greg/John got someone to Google directions. Steve is still having problems on land with Anna Leigh shouting at him. They are following Greg/John.

Roadblock - Who wants to get their steps in? Riverdance! Rob/Corey get to it first. Corey has to do it as he is due a Roadblock. 

Uh-oh - Greg/John seem to be a bit off. Anna Leigh and Steve are no longer following them. Joel/Garrett just got to the Roadblock. Steve has to do the Roadblock. John/Greg finally arrive to the Roadblock.

Corey makes it through the Roadblock Riverdance first! Drive to Croke Park to receive your next clue at the top of the stadium. Now John finished Riverdance. Steve and Joel are having problems with the Riverdance. Steve made through. There! Joel made it through on his next try!

Roadblock - Who got the swing? Ancient game of hurling. Fastest field sport. Corey has to do it as he is still behind on Roadblocks. Greg/John arrive there. Corey finishes. Drive to Toner's Yard. Pub's literary scholars. Memorize and recite quotes from James Joyce.

Anna Leigh and Steve are lost again. Greg/John finish the hurling Roadblock. Now Joel/Garrett finished hurling as Anna Leigh and Steve arrive. Steve did the hurling in one try!

Rob and Corey finish the quotes at the pub and are on their way to the Pit Stop -- Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

Pit Stop Order

1. Rob/Corey - Won a trip for two to Fiji

2. Greg/John

3. Joel/Garrett

4. Steve/Anna Leigh - Philiminated