TV Newsy Bits - Monday, May 7, 2007

Another season of The Amazing Race has ended, Survivor 14: Fiji is down to one show and then the big finale and reunion night (Sunday, May 13 starting at 8 PM). But we're getting closer to Big Brother 8! That should be starting the first week of July.

Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman are still going strong, as is American Idol. And, but of course, tonight is How I Met Your Mother and Heroes night for me!

Here are the TV Newsy Bits for today:

• If you're in the New York City area and, especially if you were around in the 1970s, tonight's 11 PM WCBS2 news (Channel 2) has an interview with Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz thirty years after the killing spree. I know it's a macabre thought, but I won't be able to not watch it. That was such a horrendous and plain old odd case.
• BuddyTV has their interview with Eric and Danielle, winners of The Amazing Race 11: All Stars, online for your perusal.
• Celebrity Spider has mild promotional spoilers (nothing big) for this week's Survivor 14: Fiji episode.
• Heh. Celebrity Spider also reports that the host of Pimp My Ride has lost his license to drive. Hmmm... could he get a new show called Pimp My City Bus?
• After sources said a few days ago that Lost will end after two more seasons, new sources are now saying three seasons.
• TVGuide.com has an interview with Missy Peregrym, the actress who plays Candace (the "illusionist" Primatech Paper morphing woman) on Heroes.
• This article casts doubt on the return of Jericho or The Class next fall, but I haven't seen any official announcements.

An added note: Some of the regular blog readers want to get a real-life meet-up arranged sometime over the summer. Most likely it would be in either New York City or perhaps Philadelphia. If you're a regular commenter here and want to get involved in the planning, send me an email (the contact info is in the sidebar). I'm putting together a mailing list to work on the details. Since this blog doesn't show email addresses, we're doing this off blog. If you want to get involved, yet don't want to use your regular email, send me an email telling me who you are in comments and I'll send you a free gmail invite.

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - Season Finale

Well, the season is over and I have mixed feelings. I've never been too keen on "all star" seasons of reality shows and this season of The Amazing Race did nothing to change my opinion.

When the team announcements were originally released, I was a bit disappointed -- too many teams from the most recent season, one team which wasn't a team at all. After all, Danielle and Eric were originally on competing teams during their season. Oh, I know why they included them -- a TAR love story or whatnot. But there were enough other teams I enjoyed and, as always, I love the concept of the show.

I thought this season was a bit tamed-down in the challenges, too. There didn't seem to be as many risky challenges, although they certainly had more than the Family Edition (Season 8) year. Nonetheless, it was a great glimpse into countries I may never see and into other cultures. I can't call the season time wasted, not at all.

Tonight's finale was only an hour long which always seems too short for a big show event. And, tonight it also seemed they whipped through a couple of challenges, then it was time for the last Pit Stop. I found it to be a bit of a letdown in one of the more lackluster seasons of the show. Mind you, I enjoyed it overall. It's only lackluster when compared to the excitement and thrills of past seasons. Your mileage may vary.

Here's what happened on the finale leg:

The teams left from Guam with the Beauty Queens, Dustin and Kandice, starting at 11:53, Eric and Danielle leaving at 12:55, and Charla and Mirna last to leave at 1:29. It didn't really matter who left when, though, not in the long run.

They had to take a flight to Honolulu where they'd take a helicopter from Kamaka Air to Lanai to get their next clue. All three teams tried for the same flight, but Charla and Mirna found an earlier connecting flight putting them ahead of the other teams by about forty minutes.

The helicopters each could carry one team, first come first served. They left ten minutes apart. So, once again, lead time was narrowed down so no team was at a huge advantage. Once they received their clues, they drove to a harbor where they got the clue to the Detour.

Teams could go Under or Over. In Under, they would have to dive into an underwater cave fighting the currents to get a clue tied to a rock. In Over, they had to "surf" on a paddleboard out to a buoy to get the next clue. Smartly, Charla and Mirna chose Over. This is the short of challenge where Charla's lower center of gravity is a huge bonus. Oh, not such a great challenge for Mirna, though. Eric/Danielle and Dustin/Kandice chose Under, with the girls having a rough time with it and falling behind.

From there, teams had to hike a mile to Shipwreck Beach to find their next clue. Eric and Danielle arrived there first and Charla and Mirna were last even though they originally were in the lead. Running across rocks, unlike the paddleboarding, isn't easy for Charla. After they made it to the beach, each team had to take an inflatable kayak and row (against currents) out to a shipwreck. Nearby the shipwreck was a buoy which contained their next clue.

None of the teams are ever going to be Olympic-class rowers. But Eric and Danielle did the best, followed by Dustin and Kandice and then Charla and Mirna. All finally made it through, even though the Beauty Queens had a brief spat, then made up.

And, once again, all teams ended up on the same flight... this one to the final destination, San Francisco, California. Charla used her heelies in the airport once again -- too bad they don't work over rocks and on beaches!

Then it was a slow cab race to the final clue leading them to the Old Mint. Now, I found the challenge faced there interesting and different, even though it wasn't daring and exciting. One member of each team had to answer questions about the previous teams while in a vault. They would enter the answers and ended up with a code. Then the other team member would come in and try to figure the answers their partner gave. When the answers matched, the code given would open a safe which contained the location of the finish line. It seems that Uchenna and Joyce seem to have attracted the most friends. Danielle, after several attempts, lined up the same answers as Eric. But Charla and Kandice (or was it Dustin?) both took the time limit and ended up being given the clue as they couldn't make all the matches.

The finish line was at the Botanical Gardens, with Phil and all of the previous teams, as we have grown to expect. Eric and Danielle made it there first, with the Beauty Queens not all that far behind. Then came Charla and Mirna.

Oh, well. I'm ready for a real show next season with all new teams for us to cheer on or boo! What did you think of this season? I don't think anyone I've seen commenting ever named Eric and Danielle as a favored team from the start, but maybe someone out there wanted them to win it all along. I only recently began to admire their determination after the two Yields. Although I don't care for Eric's personality, they seemed to work more like an actual team from that point on once the pressure really hit.

'The Amazing Race 11: All Stars' - Season Finale East Coast Update

Eric and Danielle won.
Second place is Dustin/Kandice.

A full review/recap will be posted later tonight.

Tonight's 'Amazing Race' Finale

The show will start on time here in the NYC viewing area (yay!). By 9 PM EDT (6 PM Pacific Time), I'll have the finish order and winning team posted in an East Coast update post. Later tonight, I'll post a full review/recap of the finale. May the best team (take your pick out of the remaining three) win!

Sweeps Pants - This Week on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' - May 7-11, 2007

Well, last week Dave pulled a fast one on us by replacing Amy Sedaris with Toby McGuire. It was an interesting segment, but I want Amy, too!

What's on the schedule for this week as we're heavy into the May Sweeps period?

• Monday, May 7 - Regis Philbin promoting Shrek the Third, but I'm sure the appearance will be a lot more than just Shrek. Darlene Love from Broadway's Hairspray is also a guest. I'm checking this one off as a "best of the week."
• Tuesday, May 8 - Jane Fonda will promote her new movie, Georgia Rule. Author Tom Ruprecht (George W. Bush: An Unauthorized Oral History) and American Idol first season winner now a huge success, Kelly Clarkson (latest CD is My December). An interesting note is that Ruprecht either is still, or at least was, a writer for Letterman. So I'm looking forward to that segment.
• Wednesday, May 9 - Lindsay Lohan (also promoting Georgia Rule), comedian Tom Dreesen, and musical group The Kooks whose new CD is Inside In/Inside Out.
• Thursday, May 10 - Dr. Phil, who has a CBS Primetime Special to promote - Caged. I don't know what that's all about, but his interaction with Letterman is always entertaining. Oh! And Jungle Jack Hanna will be on, too! Woohoo... we have a tie for best of the week. Heck, this just may push Regis off my top list.
• Friday, May 11 - Charles Grodin (The Ex) and comedian Jake Johannsen. Um... okay. I get a bit tired of Grodin's "upset" schtick when on the show, though. How many decades can you act miffed?