'The Apprentice 5' - Ep. 11 -or- "Don't Give Up the Cheerleaders, You Bloomin' Onion!"

Once again this week, Deal or No Deal ran over its finish time. What's up with that, NBC? It's annoying to get all settled to take notes for blogging The Apprentice and then sit through 3 minutes of a show about people choosing briefcases. I don't understand the show; I don't watch it. I want it to end on time so I can watch "my" show. Is it too much to ask? What's Trump's opinion on this? Is he going to let a bald Howie Mandel stomp all over him? I think not! Okay, now that I have that out of my system, it's onto the show...

In the hotel, Sean has worked his way up from repeating "awkward" situation by adding a syllable. Now it's "awkwardness." Remember, he spoke against Allie in the Boardroom two weeks ago and she wasn't the one fired. She's as thick as thieves with the other two members on Synergy, Roxanne and Tammy. He said, in his British accent, "I'm adrift in a sea of eastergene." In came Lee and Michael from the Boardroom with the news that the most recent event was a double firing -- both Tarek and Charmaine gone. Right then and there I figured Sean has his way out. The teams can't run two against four. Trump will flip one Synergy member to Gold Rush and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that would be Sean.

They got the call to meet Trump at Rutgers University Stadium in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Not far from where I'm writing this article.) He took his TrumpCopter and they hitchhiked. Well, perhaps they didn't hitchhike. I suppose they drove there. Once there, Trump explained the upcoming task. At the Navy versus Rutgers football game, the teams were to each put on a tailgating party feast selling Outback Steakhouse food. Synergy was assigned the Yellow Lot while Gold Rush had the Blue Lot. Naturally, the team earning the most money would win the task. And, as I had thought, he evened the teams out. Sean volunteered to join Gold Rush, so the show's back to a gender war once again. Tammy, Allie and Roxanne were so happy that they danced. I personally thought that a bit much, but that may just be me.

This week's ominous foreshadowing quote and Trump lecture after a commercial break was "Deliver the Goods." It was a dead giveaway as to which team would win once the task was on. "You can talk a good game, but it's no good unless you deliver the goods," said Trump.

Lee stepped up to be the Project Manager for Gold Rush saying that he's a recent college graduate, a football fan and blah-blah-blah. I think he thought it was a sure thing, didn't you? He delved right into things, planning and scheming with Sean and Michael. He arranged an exclusive on having the cheerleaders join them, got a "money pit" (an enclosure with dollar bills blowing around - people pay to go in and grab as much money as they can in an allotted time span), planned an eating contest and generally went to town with plans run amok. They decided on low prices and went for the crowd scene.

Meanwhile at Synergy, it looked like the women were doomed. Roxanne was the Project Manager and, to me, it looked like they didn't have much of a plan. They decided to visit Outback to sample the food. (Now, I wouldn't have to do that...give me a bloomin' onion any day, mate!) They decided that each dish would be $5, no matter what. They lagged in the actual doing of things to prepare, though. While they were planning, the men were already hyping their tent at the pep rally with flyers. The women's flyers weren't even ready at the time! The more they showed of the team, the more sunk they seemed to be. It looked like the men had this one in the bag. Synergy tried to get cheerleaders, but Gold Rush's exclusive deal with the cheerleader team's coach nixed that. Actually, the coach tried to give them some and silly Michael almost agreed, but Lee and Sean made him insist on all the cheerleaders.

So, Synergy themselves donned little cheerleading outfits. I think all of them were cheerleaders in past lives, or at college. Then it happened. The Trump Quote came to play. Gold Rush had so much going on that it was a cool party, but the focus was on partying, not selling the food. Synergy had almost nothing but themselves and their $5 an item food plan when they hit upon delivering the food through the lots. The baseball team bought $200 worth, taught them the Rutgers football cheer and they were on the run from that point on. They were delivering the goods.

In the Boardroom with both teams present, it was obvious that the delivery (thought of on the spot at the event) won for Synergy. Their proceeds for the Outback Steakhouse were $2750 and Gold Rush only brought in $1750. Synergy won a trip to Raphael Vineyards on Long Island where they made and private-labeled their own wine while Gold Rush won a trip back to the Boardroom where someone would be fired. I would like to mention now that everytime I see people stomping on grapes with their barefeet, I promise I'll never drink wine again. They had a grand old time and each left with a bottle named after themselves.

As Gold Rush prepared their bags in the hotel, it was clear that both Lee and Sean would go against Michael in the Boardroom. They thought he spent too much time on the microphone being the emcee of the tailgate party and not enough time selling. Plus, they still were shocked that he almost gave some of the cheerleaders to Synergy. Once in the Boardroom, the latter is what did him in. Somehow Lee's performance as Project Manager skated through, but Trump and Company focused on Michael almost giving up the cheerleaders. "You don't give away your assets to rivals."

"Michael, you're fired."

All right, even though I still think Lee's days are numbered, I don't think Michael was the best candidate for the win anyway. I'm not sure that if I were Trump I'd fire him over Lee, but he did have to get gone. Michael seems like a very nice man, but he's wishy-washy. In corporate life, unfortunately, nice doesn't often make the grade. A politician-type such as Lee would do better. Sean is still a bit of a non-entity even this late in the game. I'm thinking it may be a Tammy or Roxanne win at the end.

Mark your calendars -- next week's The Apprentice will air at 10 pm ET/PT in most viewing areas. Be there or be square.

Dollar bills, y'all...

'Survivor: Panama - Exile Island' - Ep. 12 -or- "What a Shame About Shane. Heh."

Five are left. Who will be voted out tonight?

The show opened on the 30th night at the Gitanos camp as we head towards the Final Four and the finale on May 14. Shane, as we could have predicted, was very upset that the voting plan changed and it was was Courtney voted out during the last Tribal Council. He wanted her with him in the Final Two as many others did, too. Except for Cirie, that is. She's playing it shrewd and getting her way. Cirie tried to cover with Shane by saying it was a last minute change and they couldn't get the news to him. Now, if he believes that, he's dumber than all get out!

Terry, though in good spririts about his winning streak, feels that Danielle lied to him. After all, the plan was Danielle, Courtney and Terry at the end with the vote to oust Aras. That is, until Cirie convinced Aras and Danielle to vote with her against Courtney. Terry should give up the idea of gaining allies. Cirie seems to be much more effective at rallying the tribe for a cause. The Lone Wolf Terry isn't a part of the pack.

The Rewards Challenge was the loved ones from home genre with a new twist. Jeff brought out family members of the tribemates - Terry's wife, Shane's son, Cirie's husband, Danielle's Mom and Aras' Mom. The winner of a "past challenges combined" obstacle course had to make some decisions. Two loved ones would go for an overnight trip with their respective tribe members. Another loved one would go back to camp overnight. One loved one would just get a hug from the tribe member. One tribe member would be sent to Exile Island and not be allowed to even touch the loved one. It was all up to the winner. And, as it's almost fated to be this season, Terry won. He and his wife and Shane with his son Boston took the overnight trip. H.B. (Honey Bunny? Eek!), Cirie's husband, spent the night at camp. Aras got a hug from his Mom. Danielle went to Exile Island. I personally thought his choices were just right. Even though I don't care for Shane, his young son was there. How could he have made any other choice?

Off at Exile Island, Danielle is mad. She knows Terry's reasoning. It doesn't make her much less angry, though. She chopped a coconut with a machete and pretended it was Terry's head. Oh. Did I mention she was very angry?

At the camp, Aras and Cirie put H.B. to work. He's as city as Cirie was on the first night. Unlike her, he wasn't scared of leaves. He didn't seem too thrilled with murky drinking water. In a side note - I think these two are a good couple. They seem to care a lot about each other. She kept calling him H.B. and Honey Bunny. I can't help but wonder if that's the "H.B." and how he explains it to friends.

On the overnight, Shane was in heaven spending time with Boston. He seems like a nice kid. He definitely thinks the world of his father. I hope he doesn't read this blog! Nuthin' against you, Boston. But your father really annoys me on the show, beyond annoyment. Terry's wife automatically got into strategical talks with him. Shane claimed she was more competitive than Terry. I didn't think that would be possible. I think he's the most competitive player ever on the show.

When the loved ones all went away and the tribe was reunited at the camp, Aras and Terry griped at each other. Terry thought his choices were right and Aras thought that he was slighted as his mother is as important as a wife or husband. Um, I don't think so! Aras is young. (If Aras reads the blog, he'd think I'm siding with Terry because we're both "old.") I bet if he had won the reward, he would have sent Terry to Exile Island. He should be thankful that Terry didn't send him there.

The Immunity Challenge had tribe members standing above water, each on a little platform, raising a bucket of water to try to dump down a small chute which would raise a flag. The first one with the flag wins. As in most challenges, Shane screwed up and misunderstood the directions. He was out first. And, as in almost all challenges (all Immunity Challenges), Terry won. He keeps breaking his own record. Five individual immunities and he's won them all. Plus, of course, he also has the hidden Immunity Idol from Exile Island.

So, the scheming starts. Shane wants Danielle out and thinks that's the deal. Terry has no objection to that choice as she played turncoat on his plan for the last Tribal Council. But, what is Cirie thinking? She's thinking Terry wants to be with Shane in the Final Two now as he might have a chance to win over the jury vote. She convinced Danielle and Aras to vote Shane and, once again, her mojo worked.

"Shane, the tribe has spoken. You must leave the Tribal Council area immediately."

He never saw it coming. He was so sure he had no worries. Terry just held his head in his hands while Cirie and Aras looked quite tickled pink over it all.

In the promo shown for next week, Danielle is seen saying that maybe it's time to ally with Terry. I don't trust the promo so much. But it's time that the Final Four really think about who they would take to the Final Two with them. No one will want to take Aras - he'd win the jury vote. Even Cirie and Danielle would be a worry. Almost any ex-Casaya member would stand a chance against Terry even though he's an incredible player. If the jury voted with their hearts, they'd vote the ex-Casaya the winner even if Terry deserved the win more. It's time for all the ex-Casaya to think that Terry's their best choice to be with in the Final Two.

Remember - the finale is Sunday May 14. Mark it on your calendars!

'Survivor: Exile Island' East Coast Update 5/04 - Tribal Council

Shane was voted out.

The Final Four are Cirie, Aras, Danielle and Terry.

'Survivor: Exile Island' East Coast Update 5/04 - Rewards/Immunity

Terry won the Reward Challenge. He chose his wife to accompany him on an overnight and then chose Shane and Boston to go with them. He chose HB - Cirie's husband to go to camp overnight with her. He chose Aras to get a hug from his mother. Danielle went to Exile Island and got nothing except a 20 feet apart talk with her mother.

Terry won Immunity. Again!

A full recap/review will be posted late tonight. I'll post the boot as soon as it airs in the East.

'The Amazing Race 9' - Ep. 10 -or- "Warning! Crocodiles bite. They also move quickly."

It's down to the Final Four teams. Who will be eliminated next?

Last week we left our amazing teams in Perth (Australia) at the 9th Pit Stop of the race. Since Eric and Jeremy were the first to arrive there, they were the first to leave after a 12 hour long mandatory rest period. At 11:47 pm, they opened the clue which directed them to the Swan Bells Tower located about 15 miles away. The last team to leave, Ray and Yolanda, left at 12:23 am. So, we're talking a roughly a half hour between first and last - that's not a heck of a lot in a race around the world.

Oh, but of course, that doesn't stop the show from having yet another one of its infamous bunching points where the teams have to wait for a place to open! Sure enough, all the teams gathered before 1:00 am awaiting the opening of Swan Bells Tower at 8:00 am. As the race nears the end, teams are definitely a bit more stressed. Monica and Joe seem to have a few nasty words about everyone, but mostly directed at BJ and Tyler. Meanwhile, BJ tried to instigate Joe's jealousy by hinting that Eric was flirting with Monica. Hey, he flirts with every woman he sees. Of course, he's flirting with her. Ray and Yolanda got a bit away from the others, most likely to preserve their own sanity. Eric/Jeremy and Monica/Joe are now considered the "pretty teams." Um. Okay. Me? I still like BJ and Tyler the most with Ray and Yolanda running second. I find Monica and Joe pretty...pretty annoying, that is!

Why annoying, you ask? Well, here's one example: All of the teams called taxis to meet them after they found the clue in the tower. What did Joe do? He schemed with Eric and Jeremy to impersonate both Ray and Tyler canceling the taxis! What a lowdown dirty sneaky thing to do! When the time came to catch the cabs, BJ and Tyler had entered one believing it to be the one they ordered only to have Joe go into a thorny snit about it being his cab. BJ and Tyler got out and it wasn't long before the dirty deed was exposed. I may have missed it, but it looks like Joe even canceled Jeremy and Eric's cab although they were in on the scheme to cancel the others.

Ah. but once again, it didn't matter as all the teams ended up on the same flight to their next destination - Darwin, Australia. At the airport, Joe and Monica once again tried some sneaky moves by trying to get the ticket clerk to keep their flight a secret. Monica promised to kiss the clerk when he asked what it was worth to them. Obviously, that didn't work.

If the teams didn't bunch up enough on the same flight, once they arrived to their destination in Darwin, Crocodylus Park, they bunched more. It was closed with an opening time of 9:00 am. Okay, let me get this on record. While I understand the bunching points to keep the racers at least a bit close to each other (remember the team some seasons back stuck days behind in Alaska while the other teams finished the race in the finale thousands of miles away?), but I feel that for the past few seasons there are too many places where the teams gather for the night. It's become overdone. I realize that when they plan the show, they have no idea whether the teams will arrive during the day or night. But I suggest fewer time-restrained venues for them. There has to be some sort of happy medium. This season seems to have more than a few in each leg.

Once they entered the park, the warning sign read: "Warning! Crocodiles bite. They also move very quickly." Well, yeah...they're crocodiles, mate! That's what they do! Both team members had to don special wade-through-crocodiles garb and walk across croc-filled pools to retrieve their clues. No one got bit. Argh. I was hoping one would at least nip at Monica to freak her out.

The clue picked up in the Croc Pit led teams to an airstrip in Batchelor and warned that there would be a Yield ahead. (Now, you know what team I want Yielded...!) Once at the airstrip, teams faced a Roadblock - a task only one member of the team can complete. Skydiving, woohoo! BJ and Tyler got there first and completed first. All the teams seemed to get a kick out of that one, even Monica. Yes, she's the one who did it and unlike any fishy escapades, she loved skydiving. But, before she and Joe could get to the airstrip, BJ and Tyler rightfully Yielded them. Like sand through the hourglass, what comes around goes around. Heh.

After the Roadblock, teams had to drive 20 miles to the Magnetic Termite Mounds in Litchfield National Park. Have I mentioned recently how much I love learning new things watching this show? I've never heard of "magnetic termites" before. Their mounds always face to the north, such the name. Cool. But I wouldn't want one in my yard.

That clue led teams to a Detour - a choice of two tasks usually having something to do with the country or culture at hand. Teams had a choice of Wet or Dry this time around. In Wet, they had to swim a mile down a shallow creek amidst poisonous spiders and plants to receive the next clue. In Dry, teams had to drive 6 miles on a dirt road, pick up a painted diggery-do, track down an Aborigine playing a diggery-do with the same markings and each learn to play a note. Here's where both BJ/Tyler and Jeremy/Eric messed up. While it sounds easier to hike/swim a mile, the other task took less time. Ray and Yolanda got through the Dry task with ease and earned themselves first place at the Pit Stop for the first time. The other teams were literally in a footrace to the mat almost to the point of pushing and stumbling to get ahead.

Here's the order of arrival at the Pit Stop:
1. Ray and Yolanda - each won a year's lease on a Mercedes
2. Eric and Jeremy
3. Monica and Joe
4. BJ and Tyler - only saved as it was a non-Philimination leg. Phew!

What's really bugging me about Monica and Joe is that they think BJ and Tyler were so wrong to Yield them, yet it was okay to cancel the cabs of others to get ahead? The Yield is a part of the game and can be used. Canceling the arranged taxicabs of other teams is just a sleazy sneaky thing to do. I can't share in their sense of outrage over it. As Judge Judy would say, "You didn't come in here with clean hands." I felt bad when Dani and Danielle got needlessly Yielded by Lake and Michele earlier in the season. That was just Lake being mean. This time, BJ and Tyler had reason to use it and they did.

I want Joe and Monica to go away next week. Please!