'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - East Coast Update - Finish Order and Philimination - 2/25/07

Here's the order to the Pit Stop:

1. Rob and Amber - Each won an off-road motorcycle
2. Oswald and Danny
3. Joe and Bill (Team Guido)
4. Eric and Danielle
5. Uchenna and Joyce
6. Dustin and Kandice
7. Teri and Ian
8. Charla and Mirna
9. David and Mary
10. Kevin and Drew - Eliminated

A full report will be posted later...

Just a Quick 'Amazing Race' Note...

The show started on time here for a change. Expect an East Coast Update post with the finish order and any elimination by 9 PM ET. A full review/recap will be posted later tonight.

TV Newsy Bits - Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Oh, my... I've been busy watching television lately, haven't I? Of course, I still have to work and do things like eat and sleep, too. Gack. I'll be happy when American Idol isn't five hours a week! That's a bit too much and I forgot to tape Law and Order: Criminal Intent last night.

Before I go on with the actual TV Newsy Bits, I'd like to thank all the readers for their comments on so many entries! I read each one and, although I may not always agree with everyone, I like to read your takes on the shows. If you're interested in a particular show I write about, there is a label at the bottom of each one and a list of Categories in the main sidebar of the blog. By clicking on the show title, you'll bring up all entries in that category, newest first.

Also, please keep in mind that this is your home for East Coast Updates for boots (voted off, castaway, fired, etc.) on The Apprentice, Survivor 14: Fiji, The Amazing Race 11: All Stars, and soon (tomorrow night) the voted off from American Idol 6. I started doing those as so many folks in other time zones really want to know. So, I post quick updates as the shows air here in the NYC area and post longer review/recaps afterwards.

What about those TV Newsy Bits? Here you go:

• You like to have fun with the voting for American Idol, but the polls are closed? AOL Television has an Idol Ranking poll with some results which might surprise you.
• My friends over at Buddy TV have posted their exclusive interview with John Vito and Jill, eliminated in the first leg of this season's Amazing Race. RNO also has an interview with them posted.
• Want some spoilers about Survivor 14: Fiji? You can try here. Or here. But don't say I didn't warn you that they're spoilers. And, of course, they could be foilers, too. The only spoiler I could tell you about tomorrow's show is that one of the Ravu members will start a fire with water on an eyeglass lens. Heh.
• In other Survivor 14: Fiji news, Reality News Online (RNO) has posted their exit interview with Erica, voted off last week on the show.
• News reports are rampant all over the web - Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - has met its demise or "indefinite hiatus." Although I didn't enjoy the show, I know several blog readers here did and I'm sorry to hear it's been canceled.
• Celebrity Spider (amongst many others) is reporting that Fantasia will be singing and make some sort of "special announcement" on Thursday's American Idol results show.

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' Season Premiere -or- "Don't let your Frat Boys grow up to be cowboys"

It seems like it was a long time in coming once the news got out that this season would be an "All Stars" season. For the most part, I think the team choices were good. I don't care for a few of them and I'm ambivalent about others, but I generally understand the reason they're on the show.

Unlike other seasons of the show, tonight's season premiere was only an hour. That, in a way, was a good thing as golf (of all things) delayed its start here. (Don't get me going on that!) But, even with two hours, I often feel the first team out really doesn't get remembered. At least with the "All Star" format, we know the team. And, it's one of the ones about which I was ambivalent. Phew!

Tonight's premiere, whether due to the abbreviated hour-long version or not, didn't seem to cover as much ground as did previous premieres. The teams raced on boats to Miami, bringing about a comment from Ian (an ex-narcotics officer) about Miami Vice. They got into their nifty TAR-Mercedes cars and headed off to the airport. Since a few of the teams, especially Oswald and Danny, were familiar with the area, there was a lot of following without hesitation from the other teams.

There were two flights available, an American airlines flight which left twenty minutes after a Copa flight but arrived almost two hours earlier to their destination - Ecuador. The more quick-thinking teams thought to ask, but David and Mary just jumped on the tickets for the flight which left the earliest. This, of course, is after Mary said in the show's introduction, "I can win first place without anyone giving it to me."

I will give them credit for trying to be sneaky lying to the Beauty Queens (Dustin and Kandice) by telling them that's the quickest flight after they found out it wasn't. But Dustin and Kandice didn't fall for it and only ended up on the same flight as they were later to the airport. In the end, it didn't matter which flight folks were on as both the first place and Philiminated teams were on the American Airlines flight. It was what went on in between the airport and the Pit Stop which made the difference.

There was no Roadblock in this leg. If there had been one, I have my doubts that one of my favorite teams could have made it through it. Oh, my... the Frat Boys, in particular Drew, are not in shape. Drew was falling; Charla beat him in a footrace at one point. Ack! Sort of like Boo on Survivor 14: Fiji, Drew stands a chance to "hurt himself out of the race." I'd hate to see that happen as I really like Kevin and Drew.

Once the teams landed in Ecuador, they had to find Pim's Restaurant where they collected tags for their departure times. Those times were 7:00am, 7:15am, and 7:30am. Romber was the first team there and most used locals to get to their destination. Ah, they remember their lessons learned, eh?

In the morning, the teams left at their fifteen-minute intervals. But once again, sometimes it doesn't matter when you leave. It's how you screw up in between which makes the difference. They had to go to the north entrance of the Cotopaxi National Park. Some went to the south entrance. Some couldn't find the park.

Once there, the teams were given directions for a Detour -- a choice between two tasks having to do with the local culture. They had a choice between Wrangle It or Recover It. In Wrangle It, teams had to lasso a wild horse, trim its hooves, and cut its mane and tail. The horses were in a corralled area, so it wasn't like they had to go hunting for one.

But in Recover It, hunting was involved. One team member had to dress in a historical military uniform and search a field for three missing items from the uniform - a sword, an epaulet, and a button. Romber, in a rather unusually not-bright move for them, first chose Recover It, then switched over to Wrangle It once they realized they had to find a button in a huge field. That didn't hurt them any as they made quick work of the task despite their hesitance to go for an animals challenge.

After the completion of the Detour, teams had to walk (run) to the Pit Stop. Alas, while some teams were hitting the Pit Stop, still others were almost hopelessly behind. Charla/Mirna, David/Mary, Jill/John Vito were just plain old lost or misguided trying to find the right spot in the park. Drew and Kevin were lost with bad luck in the form of a flat tire.

In the end, the finishing order to the Pit Stop was:

1. Rob and Amber - They also won a skiing vacation at Whistler for coming in first.
2. Oswald and Danny (You go, Cha Chas!)
3. Teri and Ian (He wears funny hats.)
4. Eric and Danielle
5. Joe and Bill (Team Guido after their dog)
6. Dustin and Kandice (Evil Beauty Queens not so evil tonight)
7. Uchenna and Joyce
8. Charla and Mirna
9. David and Mary
10. Kevin and Drew
11. John Vito and Jill -- Philiminated

Hmmm... I was so hyped to watch the show tonight that I ended up feeling a bit letdown. My adrenalin didn't pump as much as it should during a TAR episode. Don't get me wrong. It kept me entertained enough, I guess. It was good to see teams I enjoyed so much from their own seasons, like Kevin and Drew, the ChaChas and Team Guido (they set the standard for teams you love to hate on the show). I wasn't so upset that John and Jill went even though I always thought them to be nice folks. I would have preferred a Teri/Ian or Eric/Danielle boot, but at least it wasn't Kevin and Drew.

To me, something was off tonight. Perhaps it was the one-hour format or the fact they didn't travel a lot. Perhaps it was because you just can't go home again. I don't know. But I do know I'll be watching again next week.

Your thoughts?

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - Finish Order and Philimination - East Coast Update 2/18

Here's the finish order at the Pit Stop:

1. Rob and Amber (Romber)
2. Oswald and Danny (ChaChas)
3. Teri and Ian
4. Eric and Danielle
5. Joe and Bill (Team Guido)
6. Dustin and Kandice
7. Uchenna and Joyce
8. Charla and Mirna
9. David and Mary
10. Kevin and Drew
11. John Vito and Jill -- Philiminated

A full recap/review will be posted later tonight. Please stop back and let me know your thoughts on the show!

TAR Will Begin Shortly Here in the NYC Area

They must have abbreviated 60 Minutes to a mere portion of an hour. It just ended here, so The Amazing Race 11: All Stars season premiere will start momentarily. Expect an East Coast Update on the boot in about an hour and a full review/recap will be posted later tonight. You can get to all of my TAR 11 blog entries by hitting the label you see at the bottom of this entry.

I Hate Golf -or- Stupid Evil CBS

In its infinite wisdom, CBS was airing some golf thing which ran overtime. Although 60 Minutes is on now as I type this, I flipped to the network at about 7:40 and it hadn't started yet at that time.

So, I expect the season premiere of The Amazing Race 11: All Stars just might start sometime before 9 PM here on the East Coast. What the heck is wrong with them? Do they (CBS) consider The Amazing Race, the winner of more than a few Emmy awards, less important than golf? Stupid, stupid CBS. Or, maybe stupid me as I thought since football was over, I'd actually be able to watch TAR at its regularly scheduled time.

Grr.

Bloggy Bits

As I'm sure many of the readers here know, The Amazing Race 11: All Stars begins tonight at 8 PM ET/PT on CBS. I'm planning on posting an East Coast Update for the first boot as the show airs here in the New York City Area. Of course, a full recap/review of the show will be posted by late tonight. I hope you all will join me and share your thoughts on the show!

Ah, but what does that do to my The Apprentice: L.A. review/recaps? Well, since that show itself will be knocked into a 10 PM slot within a few weeks, I'd say now is the time I start writing it up Mondays after I return home from work (but before primetime shows air). I'll post the fired in an East Coast Update as the show airs, but the long article will have to be delayed. I apologize to any fans of the show, but I'm so much more of a TAR fan at heart. Yet, I must get up early on Monday mornings, so something has to go or be delayed. "Trump, you're delayed!"

I have another new show timing conflict I'll be facing later in the week when American Idol goes to three days. Yes, the third day will be on Thursday up against Survivor 14: Fiji. Eep. Since the third night of AI is basically the boot show, I don't plan on writing a full review of that night. But I will watch for the AI contestants voted off while watching Survivor (yes, I can multi-task) and get the news out in a quick American Idol East Coast Update. I plan on continuing full coverage of the Tuesday and Wednesday night American Idol shows and, for sure, full coverage of Survivor.

If I didn't have to do that pesky thing called "working for a living," I could write everything up in the middle of the night, but alas...

Thankfully, there is no Big Brother running right now.

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - The Teams, Part 2

As we've been anticipating, the next season of The Amazing Race is indeed an All Star version. CBS revealed the teams yesterday, so you know I have to get in my two cents on them today. And, but of course, I welcome your two cents, too. For the skinny on the first six teams I wrote about, head to this article.

Here are the rest of the teams, again in no particular order:

Often a team I loved to hate during Season 1, I'm happy to see that Team Guido, Joe and Bill, are included this season. These guys are cut-throat, albeit very entertaining to watch. Even though they only made a third place finish in their season, the other teams shouldn't take these two lightly. They're the ones who started the matching team outfits. Mary (TAR10) may have had a very different first impression of gay men had she met Team Guido instead of Tom and Terry in her season. Ruthless competitors, but true TAR history, welcome back Joe and Bill! View Joe & Bill on innertube now

Eric and Danielle come to us from Season 9 in which they were competitors, not a team at all. Eric was teamed up with his buddy Jeremy and they made it to second place. Meanwhile, Danielle was with her best friend Dani and only made it to a seventh place finish. Oh, but they're dating now and coming together as a team for All Stars. I'm a bit ambivalent about the idea of them as a team, but I think they might be fairly competitive. As long as they don't bicker and fuss at each other, I can take 'em on the show... I guess. View Eric & Danielle on innertube now

Oh, no! It's the return of the "Evil Beauty Queens" from Season 10... which we just finished watching a month ago. To their credit, I admit that they're a very strong all-female team and I was surprised they only finished in fourth place in their own season. It still bugs me that they saddled the ChoBros with their wrecked car instead of taking their chances with the damage they created. That was a very low move, I say. That aside, it will be interesting to see how these two fare when the show most likely won't get into alliances. View Dustin & Kandice on innertube now

Yet another Season 10 team, David and Mary touched the hearts of many viewers. With a little bit of help from their friends (and a lot of help from the ChoBros), they made it to a sixth place finish. While I find their worldly innocence and their willingness to thrive on new experiences very refreshing, they're not a strong team. Hopefully they have their determination set to succeed because it would be a blast (and shock) if they were to win at All Stars. I don't think we'll see that happen, but it's nice to think that it possibly could. Wait... they're up against Romber and the Guidos. Make the win a fleeting thought. View David & Mary on innertube now

Last, but only least if we're talking height (Charla), it's Charla and Mirna from Season 5 where they had a sixth place finish. This team caused a lot of controversy similar to the Peter/Sarah relationship in Season 10. Mirna fared poorly with many viewers as she seemed to use Charla's height for her own benefit. If memory serves, she also gushed at show host Phil Keoghan to the point of creeping me out. (I don't know if Phil felt the same way, but maybe...!) I actually enjoyed Charla and think she really did very well when she faced obstacles due to her stature. Mirna, I'm not so thrilled about seeing again. View Charla & Mirna on innertube now

So, there are the teams we'll be cheering on or booing a month from now. Did your team make the cut? Any teams you'd rather see? Any guesses who might win it all? My own thoughts are a bit tainted as I saw a spoilers site where they were tracking the teams. I'll post that link in a Newsy Bits once I find what I did with it. Of course, sites had Christy and Colin in the race and they're not there. So, take any spoilers you see with a grain of salt.

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - The Teams, Part 1

Ah, it just goes to show you that not all Internet spoilers are indeed reality when it comes to reality TV. The early spoilers out there had Colin ("my ox is broken") and Christy running the race, but no Frat Boys (Kevin and Drew). Other spoilers were indeed correct. There were teams who either weren't available or didn't make the cut -- I, for one, would have loved to see Jon and Al (the Clowns from TAR4) take another go at the million.

Overall, I'm pleased with the teams we'll be seeing. Well, for the most part anyway. There will always be a few teams we'd rather see than a few who made it. But it looks like it's going to be a great season. And, that's coming from someone (me) who is usually a bit turned off by the "all stars" versions of reality television shows. I'm marking my calendar -- Sunday, February 18 at 8 PM ET/PT, don't call me. I'll be watching The Amazing Race 11: All Stars.

The Teams In No Particular Order

Winners of The Amazing Race 7, Uchenna and Joyce were very popular with many show fans. They came across as nice folks, not necessarily ruthless at all. There was a brouhaha about flights and Romber which caused some controversy on the Internet. So, it's going to be interesting to watch how the teams interact this season. They have the right stuff for the win - I think back to Joyce shaving her beautiful hair in order to get a jump on the others.
View Uchenna & Joyce on innertube now


From TAR3, it's second place finishers, Teri and Ian. While their success in the season is definitely "a job well done," they're not a team I would have chosen had they asked me. Now, I'm all for older folks (read that as my generation) doing well, but I didn't really enjoy watching this team. I can still hear Teri yelling, "Ian! Iiiiiiiaaaaannnnn!" To me, he came across as gruff and demanding -- not to the point of a Jonathan Baker, but not a nice guy, either.
View Teri & Ian on innertube now

Not surprising me at all, Romber (Rob and Amber), second place on TAR7, made the cut. I'm of two minds about this team. They've certainly milked reality TV for all it's worth and their fifteen minutes of fame has gone into years now. I don't want to see either of them on Survivor again. That said, I think they're a worthy team and one to watch this season on TAR. Rob, more so than Amber, is shrewd and competitive. He's not afraid to push the envelope and it's going to be very interesting to see what he does next. After all, he staged a coup at a challenge in his own season which benefitted his own goals. He's good at the game. View Rob & Amber on innertube now

Yes! It's the return of Team ChaCha! Oswald and Danny may have only made it to fourth place in Season 2, but they were one of the most entertaining teams ever to appear on the show. These gay friends (not a couple, but best friends) put a priority on shopping instead of the race to be run, but they were a delightful reprieve from overly-competitive teams. I personally don't think they'll have a chance to win this season in view of some of the hardcore teams aboard, but I'm going to enjoy watching them again.
View Oswald & Danny on innertube now


It's the return of yet another fan-favorite team - the Frat Boys, Kevin and Drew, fourth place finishers from Season 1. Even though they didn't make it that close to the big win, they won the hearts of many viewers with their sense of humor, attitude, and the spirit of friendship. More recently, they played the role of hot dog vendors in a clue stop on TAR8. Despite the foilers (as opposed to true spoilers) on the Internet, they'll grace our Race once again. I'd like to see them take it all. But, even if they don't, I'm loving that they're back for more.
View Kevin & Drew on innertube now

Although they're now listed as a "formerly dating" couple, John and Jill came to us with a bittersweet story in Season 3 -- John was the best friend of Jill's brother who was killed on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. She had originally applied to be on the show with her brother, but John stepped in take his place in the race. They only made a fifth place finish, but with both the backstory and their demeanor as a team, they won the hearts of viewers. They didn't bicker and were a strong team. I'm glad they're on again even if they no longer date.
View John & Jill on innertube now


The last five teams will be in Part 2 due to the length of this entry. The links you see posted will lead you directly to the CBS video interviews with the teams.