The most recent Survivor castaway hit the interview circuit ... well, online, anyway. They're no longer on Letterman, not even standing over in the Hello Deli. Of course, if you've ever seen the Hello Deli, you might not want to stand inside there, either!
Reality News Online (RNO) has an interview titled They Were Scared Sheep Out There - An Interview with Survivor: China's Ashley Massaro.
In that one, i thought it most interesting how much she talked about how the tribe made a mistake in eliminating Chicken. She seems to take her own ouster as the logical decision for the tribe while Chicken's she can't rationalize at all.
In the Buddy TV Exclusive Interview with Ashley Massaro, I picked up a few more intriguing bits. Hmmm ... she thought Jonny Fairplay was a "funny character." If memory serves, wasn't he a wrestler, too? She once again went on about how Chicken shouldn't have flown the coop -- er, got booted from the coop, that is.
The Reality TV World interview with her finally asked a few different questions. They asked how she got cast on the show and got a rather roundabout answer -- "It was basically a joint decision because I work for WWE. I needed to do some arm-wrenching to go because that meant I was going to be off the air with them for a long time. But it all worked out great and they let me go." Huh? Joint decision between whom? Was she recruited? Did she apply? That's certainly confusing, isn't it? It didn't answer the question "how did you end up being casted on the show" for me.
When asked if she thought she was on the weaker tribe, she defended Zhan Hu saying that she liked the tribe. But she also would have liked to have James on it (probably instead of Dave, I bet). She also said that Jaime told her and Sherea about the clue (existing, not the clue itself) for the hidden Immunity Idol. She says she has a feeling that Fei Long's Todd Herzog is going to do well on the show.
My review of the show tonight is up and running over at TV Squad! I hope you enjoy it!
Keep returning here - I'll update this post as important events happen.
Reward challenge -- for fishing gear and a trip on a fishing boat. Fei Long wins.
Twist -- Fei Long kidnaps one member of the Zhan Hu tribe, they go for Jaime. Jaime received a note to read in private once she's at their camp.
The note contained a clue to the location of the hidden immunity idol -- Jaime isn't privy to its contents, but gets to choose who on Fei Long she wants to give it to. She chose Leslie because Leslie didn't seem to be in with the others on the tribe and might be more secretive (and appreciative).
Fei Long wins Immunity! At one point Zhan Hu was leading, but the puzzle threw them off.
Asley is voted out. Dave received one vote from Ashley, all the rest voted for her to leave.
The link to my TV Squad review of last night's Kid Nation is right here -- it hadn't posted yet when I mentioned it in my last entry.
As for tonight's Survivor 15: China blogging -- I'll be doing East Coast Updates on important events in the show (immunity and the boot), then my review will be posted over on TV Squad later in the evening. If you wish to discuss the show while it's airing, of course you can feel free to jump in the comments of the East Coast updates! I'll be listening ... er ... reading.
Don't forget, fans of Grey's Anatomy, there is a discussion post for you to talk about tonight's episode with your friends right here.
Someone asked in comments if I'll be deleting the build-up of comments in the DWTS discussion post. I don't like to delete comments because once gone, they can't be retrieved, plus some folks get upset when I do. Plus, it's very time-consuming on this end for me to delete tons of comments one by one. We'll see how things go. If it looks like things are getting unwieldy, I might post a new discussion post weekly or something.
Now to the real TV Newsy Bits!
I'm sure there are some folks out there who watch the NBC Thursday primetime block -- My Name is Earl, The Office, and E.R., right? If you're a fan of those shows, NBC has some big doings going on tonight online for them.
For My Name is Earl, after the special one hour episode 8-9 ET, there will be a 30 minute live blog chat with executive producer Greg Garcia. For The Office, after the special one hour episode 9-10 ET, there will be a 30 minute live blog chat with executive producer Greg Daniels starting at 10 PM ET.
ER airs from 10-11 ET, then is followed by a 30 minute live blog chat with star Parminder Nagra and writer/co-executive producer Dr. Joe Sachs starting at 11 PM ET.
Oh, my ... after my writing binge on Monday night (Heroes, setting up new discussion posts), I didn't write not a thing yesterday. Nope, not for here or TV Squad. Although I had to work my day job, I think that's the first day off from writing I've taken in about eight months.
I better not do it often or I'll forget how to type!
Although it looks like I haven't written anything today, I have a review of the latest Kid Nation awaiting publishing on TV Squad.
And, uh ... other than that, there's this! :-)
I think I'm still recovering from BB live feeds, but I'll get over it. I'm glad you're enjoying the show discussion posts -- I've been reading the comments!
Are you a fan of Grey's Anatomy? Do you want to talk about the show or its characters with blog friends?Well, here's the spot!The show's official website is located at ABC.com Grey's Anatomy and your show talk can certainly be located right here.
Yes! It's here! The new season of Heroes! Will it live up to my expectations from watching last season? Well, it's off to a good start, I think.
In Hiro's storyline, he traveled back in time to 1671 and landed outside of Kyoto, Japan. Several mounted soldiers were about to run him through with their swords and arrows when another rider appeared. So, they wanted to get both Hiro and the newcomer. Instead, an eclipse of the sun occurred, so they shot the arrows at the sun.
Ah, but the laws of gravity dictate that what goes up must come down. Thanks to Hiro's powers, he stopped the arrows just before they hit him, then teleported the stranger away from danger.
The stranger turned out to be the Hiro's Kensei idol, but not all was what it appeared to be.
The man is a sham! He's a Brit who's pillaging villages and more of a villain than any sort of hero! Tekezo Kensei is nothing but a fraud, and a nasty man to boot.
All of the legends are either untrue or Hiro must change them into a reality for history to run the course he's known all of his life. According to legend, Kensei married the swordsmith's beautiful daughter. Yeah, she's beautiful. But he burned her home. She slapped him and took his sword. Poor Hiro, we last saw him on the field after being punched, a goat licking his face.
The Bennets have assumed the identity of the Butlers. The family has moved to Coste Verde where the children attend a new school and Noah Bennet has a new job in a copy shop. Mr. Muggles, much to the dismay of Mrs. Bennet/Butler must lead a life of obscurity and not take part in any dog shows. Poor Mr. Muggles.
After being told not to raise any suspicions and not do anything extraordinary, Claire still attracted the attentions of a new young man -- West. She first walked in front of his moving car. In class he asked her if she was a robot or an alien, claiming everybody is one or the other. She asked the difference. A robot does everything he's told while an alien does what he feels like doing.
By the end of the episode, we see that West (or is he Weston?) is one of them. The last scene shows him hovering in the air while looking through the window at Claire's house, then he flies away.
Mr. Bennet/Butler has his own issues. His boss is a young punk jerk bloated with the power of being a retail manager. Oh, that doesn't suit Noah too well. He eventually just flipped the dude by the fingers and told him to get off his case. Now, if anyone knows the paper business, it would be Bennet. Copy Kingdom ain't got nuthin' on PrimaTech, right?
Two new characters, Alejandro and Maya, who claim to be brother and sister (but do we really know that) were introduced. They're running to America through the woods, paying some hustlers to give them a ride towards the border. At one point, as they hid from the cops, we saw a wanted poster for them. The charges? Homicide, of course.
The Latino "Deliverance" type guys who picked them up dumped Alejandro and apparently wanted their way with Maya. Well, she's the killer, not Alejandro. He caught up to her -- all of her captors were dead with blood dripping down their faces. Oh, my!
They continued on in the truck of the dead men, heading to see "the doctor in New York."
And, that doctor in New York? Mohinder was approached after giving a lecture about a virus or plague which could possibly kill off those with special powers. The man who approached him offered him a job -- said that his company tried to get those with powers to use their powers for good, some must be eliminated, though.
When Mohinder told him it would cost too much money, the man turned a spoon to gold. So, he has his own power -- the Midas touch, even! The man knew about Molly and Parkman, as well as Sylar. Mohinder said Sylar was dead. After seeing his golden touch, Mohninder accepeted the job, but quickly called Bennet to let him know he's "in." Bennet says they'll bring the whole company down. The plot thickens.
Meanwhile, Parkman is raising Molly, the girl who can find people. He recovered from his bullet wounds and managed to get himself on the police force. But Molly is having dreams -- she's drawing pictures of eyes at school, along with the symbol we've seen on the sword and tattoos. She had a bad dream -- and it zapped Parkman as he tried to awaken her and used his power to read minds. Why, it zapped him and what we heard sounds like ... Sylar!
Ando is with Hiro's father when the father finds a ripped photo of himself with the mysterious symbol scrawled across it in red. "I will be dead in 24 hours." They go atop the Deveaux Building. Hiro's father (who i want to call Sulu for some bizarre reason) decided he should fight his foe for Hiro's honor. Ando goes off to get him a sword.
But then a man with a hoodie sweatshirt arrives. Ando got back just in time to
see both go off the roof to their deaths (yeah, right).
Oh, but then there's the Petrellis! Nathan has grown a beard and drinks a lot now. He no longer looks Presidential. Mrs. Petrelli blames him for Peter's death. He thinks Peter is alive.
It turns out that she also has found a ripped picture of herself with the symbol scrawled across it in red. And, guess what? The picture is the other half of Hiro's fathers ripped photo!
While Ando was gone and the Hoodie Man hadn't arrived as of yet, she met Hiro's father on the roof. He told her he was going back to Japan and she should vanish, too. "All of them dead, now there are nine." He said he sought redemption by trying to help Hiro, how did she help her son?
Claire knows how to get ahold of Nathan despite the fact he doesn't want to talk to her.
But is Peter dead? Of course not! Over in Cork, Ireland, some burglars were after a shipment of iPods in a trailer. No iPods, but there's Peter chained in the corner. He seems very dazed, says he doesn't know his name ... but knocks one of the thieves across the room with a Sylar kind of touch.
Oh ... I'm hooked all over again!
Since I don't watch the show, here's your own forum in which to discuss the new fall 2007 The Bachelor! The official ABC site for the show is located here.
UPDATE 11/01 -- A new discussion post for this show can be found right here (due to requests because of the amount of comments).The new season has started and, although I still only watch the show now and then, I figured I'd get a new discussion post up for those who want to talk about it!
The official show website is here.
I realize a few have started discussing the show in the older post -- it sneaked up on me. I'll copy those replies here for you since I don't have the time to remove each old comment one by one and some folks don't want them removed.
The original blog discussion post is located here.
AOL's feature page for Dancing With the Stars is right here.
The TV Squad reviews for the show can be found here.
The SirLinksAlot page for the show is here (lots of great links).
Heroes returns at 9 PM ET tonight! Yay! Although I certainly can't live-blog it because I'd miss too much, I will surely be posting about it afterwards!
Well before then, a post I wrote for TV Squad should be published. As I post this, I'm expecting that one up before noon ET. I'm hoping it sparks some interesting discussion and will remain mum about the topic right now.
But, go read it! :-)
I hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm looking forward to watching a new Cold Case tonight after roughly goofing off all day. I always give a sigh of relief, although I also miss 'em, when the live feeds for Big Brother end.
Today, I watched some of the rerun recently completed So You Think You Can Dance episodes on cable -- I still adore Hok! And, I watched the finish of the entire first season of The Wire on DVD. It makes me want to get out my Homicide: Life on the Street DVD set and go through that, too. Too bad there just aren't more hours in a day off, eh?
Oh, thinking of work, I completed the work project I had been putting off. Woowoo, I made a DVD. I'm not overly thrilled with it, but it's done and no longer a monkey on my back.
I did a bit of digging around online today and found some interesting Survivor interviews to share with you.
The first one is from Jokers with Yau-Man, perhaps my favorite castaway ever. No, scratch that. He IS my favorite castaway ever, no perhaps about it! While the whole article is worth reading, here are some key points:
- Yau-Man was recruited for the show. He said they were looking for older Asians because they have so few applying.
- The castaways are given a very brief safety course on what they can eat or not on the island (or other locales, too, I would think). I always wondered how Sue Hawk knew about tapioca!
- He hasn't talked to Dreamz since the NYC reunion show. He doesn't want the decision about the truck to ruin his life.
- He says Jeff Probst is only about his height -- he looks taller on the show.
- He said the pre-jury booted were kept in "Losers Lodge" - tents on the island until the last one came in, then they received a vacation.
- The jurors had to stay in Losers Lodge as they had to go back every three days for tribal council. The only entertainment they had were books.
- They can't talk about the show at Losers Lodge.
I also found some Chicken interviews (the first boot on China) --
The most interesting thing in those for me was the fact that Jaime, Sherea, and Peih-Gee had approached him to set up an alliance, then called it off fifteen minutes before the tribal council saying it was too early for alliances. They didn't show that on the show. Hmmm... he also says Ashley (the wrestler) was not only sick, but she's a physically weak person despite her profession. Hmmm...
I wrote an article over on TV Squad about Amber's interview with Buddy TV and my thoughts on her answers.
Check it out!
What a delusional gal she is ...
Now that the Big Brother feeds are over, it's time to get back to normal on the blog! Well, as normal as I get, anyway.
While it's relaxing not to have Big Brother constantly taking over my blog, it does put me in a quandary as to what I should watch tonight. Unless I want to watch repeated live feeds, I have no live feeds! Yeah, I know I could read -- I have plenty of novels in my To Read pile. And, I really should spend some time on a work project I've been putting off.
But I wanna watch my TV! Here are some of the slim pickings at hand this evening:
- CBS has an entire block of reruns for its primetime hours -- Ghost Whisperer, The Unit, and Numb3rs. Bleh.
- NBC has a rerun block, too -- 1 vs. 100, Las Vegas, Law and Order: SVU. Feh. The only show I watch out of those is the L&O one and that episode's much too recent for me to watch again. Feh.
- FOX actually has a new Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader on at 8 PM ET/PT, but I just don't like that show. I know I'm smarter than when I was in fifth grade and that's all that matters. At 9 PM ET/PT, they have a new Nashville on. Never saw it, don't want to. Meh.
- ABC has a repeat America's Funniest Home Videos on at 8 PM ET/PT, then two new back-to-back 20/20 episodes to fill out the evening. Eh.
The cable listings aren't much better (in my opinion) with the only thing catching my interest being a new Meerkat Manor on at 8:30 PM ET/PT on Animal Planet. I don't have premium channels, so I couldn't tell you what's on HBO or Showtime.
So, with Letterman in repeats, I have a whole half-hour of TV I want to watch tonight.
Or, do I?
My birthday was recently and, amongst other things, my brother gave me a gift certificate for Amazon. com. My order arrived today. And, guess what? It's TV on DVD! Yay!
Since I don't have HBO yet got hooked on The Wire (after missing the first episode) on BET, I wanted the real thing without all the horrible BET ads -- so, I bought the first season of The Wire. Woohoo!
The other thing I bought is something I want to see whether it lives up to my childhood memories or not. Y'see, I was a rather strange young child and my parents really didn't monitor my television watching habits (nor my reading ones, nor my movie-watching) much at all. When I was five, my favorite show was The Twilight Zone even though it gave me nightmares. By the time I was nine, I was hooked on The Fugitive -- the original with David Janssen. I had watched it on and off since I was eight or so, often from the top of the stairs as my parents watched and I was supposed to be in bed. The Twilight Zone has been rerun for decades, but I've never seen the original The Fugitive in reruns anywhere. Now I have the first season of the show on DVD! Super YAY!
So, it's a good thing there isn't anything on TV which interests me tonight. I think I have to start a search for a one-armed man.
My TV Squad review of the show is up! I haven't read all of the comments yet, but wanted to mention one I saw -- I never did actually live-blog Survivor. I would do East Coast updates, then around this time of night there would be a review posted. I will continue to do the East Coast updates. I only did one on the boot tonight because I figured we didn't really know the tribes yet. Next week, I'll add Immunity and such.
Looks like NO ONE likes Courtney! Her eyerolls in the temple were as bad as Leslie leaving the ceremony! @@!
Chicken is the first voted out.
I have a spoilers post on the show up over on TV Squad -- beware of boot spoilers for this week and next! Please don't discuss the spoilers in the comments here.
For the season premiere tonight, I'll do an East Coast update on the boot, so check back for that post if you want to know or to talk about it. That should be up around 9 PM ET.
I'm reviewing the show for TV Squad, so my review won't be here. I'll zap a link to you once it's up.
Survivors ready?
Gee, I almost posted that title as TV Squid -- that would surely be a new take on things, huh?
My Kid Nation review is up over there. TVS isn't sure if they want it covered all season, but I'm hoping the traffic and response to the reviews will keep it going. I found the show almost on the refreshing side despite the obvious adult involvement in setting up things.
I also posted commentary on TV Tattler interviews with Dick and Daniele as well as Jeff Probst.
Please check them out and I'd love to hear your thoughts there! If you have problems posting comments on TV Squad, check the email address you're using -- one little typo and you won't get the confirmation mail. When you do get the confirmation mail, make sure you go to the link to activate the comment.
If you're having problems, let me know.
Thinking back over the recently completed season, I find it hard to call it the worst one ever. After all, I was entertained for the most part, weren't you? Technically, that's all we can really ask, I guess.
Since the overall season ratings were very good, I think we can probably expect the show to be renewed.
I want to share some of my thoughts on the season and wonder what's on your mind, too!
Okay, the first thing -- Allison Grodner's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland theme for the show and house. It never really came to fruition, did it? Yeah, the house was in a bizarre decor and there was one comp related to the theme. But I think it fell apart in the long run and have to ask what's up with that? They knew they were going to use the theme, why didn't they develop it more thoroughly? I give the theme an F this season.
The twists ... with the exception of Dick and Daniele, the other two "rivals" fell apart on short order. Unlike the X-Factor season, this just didn't last too well. And, of the rivals, I can't help but think if Joe hadn't ranted on about the STD he claims Dustin passed onto him, would Joe have been more amusing to watch in the long run?
The casting ... I keep going back and forth on this. Although I never condoned a lot of Dick's behavior, his presence kept the show atop the Neilsons perhaps more than in past seasons. I don't think this cast really hit me on a "I like these people" basis all season. In the past, I enjoyed watching folks like Will, Nakomis, even Roddy. I really think a better mix of ages and walks of life is needed for them to bring back my passion for the houseguests. Although I ended up wanting Dick to win this year, had there been a smart player who treated others not as crassly I would have supported them.
The lack of things for the houseguests to do ... what the hell is up with that? This season gave the houseguests almost absolutely nothing to do. In other years there were fun comps with decorating gnomes, something, anything! It's a wonder this group didn't just jump the wall and escape out of sheer boredom.
Your thoughts?
I have two new posts over on TV Squad --One includes a nod to one of the commenters here (and there, too, but mainly here).The other is my season introductory post to Survivor: China.Head on over -- be loud, be proud ... be a Donato!Er, wait ... let me take that back. Please don't be a Donato over there!
Welcome to the last installment of my Survivor 15: China cast introduction and my take on the new castaways! I've had to split this into several parts due to length. You can find the rest of the castaways in Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four. These will remain listed in my sidebar here for easy reference throughout the season. While I'll be doing the show episode reviews themselves over at TV Squad this season, I'll be talking about the show here, too. And, of course, I always welcome your comments both at TVS and here!
Continuing my alphabetical order by first name, it's Peih-Gee next to the plate. I was pretty impressed with her in her video on the CBS site although she seems to be being portrayed as a bit of a wild card in the promos for the show.
Looking at her CBS bio, I can't help but mention she has one of the longest, if not the longest, bios of anyone on the show this season. She has an extensive dancing background appearing in videos from many popular stars and MTV doings. She's well-traveled, too. Plus, she has a roughing it in foreign lands for extended periods of time experience. Not only that, but her educational background is impressive, too. Oh, my.
She says she's free-spirited, witty, spunky, assertive, optimistic, open-minded, outspoken, strong-willed and she thinks like a guy. She thinks her biggest strengths are having a good attitude, seeing the brighter side of things, and having the ability to focus all of attention to the task at hand. Oh, my.
It's off to her favorites! She lists Survivor amongst her favorite shows, good. WHAT? She lists NO cereal. She left the cereal section blank. I don't know what to make of that. This is a first. How can I judge her psychological game without knowing her cereal?
Her chances? I think she just could be the strongest all around player for the women. If she isn't too assertive and doesn't alienate the others, I can see her hanging in towards the end. Plus, she has two cats. I think I like her!
I see this season's show is back down to only a few persons of color. I kind of liked the more diversity in casting, but we'll see how this season goes down.
Sherea focused on her people-skills and herself on a whole in her video. She does seem to be a nice person and her background as a teacher will probably help her cope with the various personalities in the game. Her plan is to get along with everyone and keep focused throughout. She will play thinking of her mother who's a breast cancer survivor.
Her bio is only about half as long as Peih-Gee's. She looks very normal, perhaps too normal to be on a reality show! Her educational background includes a Masters degree. She claims to be sassy, outspoken, and caring. I didn't think she seemed either sassy or outspoken in her video. She just came across as nice to me. What do I know, eh? She also considers herself to be competitive, outgoing, and a leader.
Going to her favorites, I see she lists Big Brother on her shows, but not Survivor! Ack, two very different shows! For cereals, she likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. That tells me that, not only does she have a fun-loving side, she's seeking the luck of the Irish to be on her side throughout the season! (Trust me, I've studied Cereal Psychology for years.)
Her chances? I think I'm going to like her as a person on the show, but I'm not so sure how well she'll do swimming with the sharks. If she indeed befriends people, works those people skills ... she might do well. I'd like to be wrong, but I don't see her making it to the final four.
Todd has the dubious honor of being the last castaway on my list. In his video, he was a bit ... off ... or something. At one point he stopped for an extended period of time looking confused, then repeated himself. He thinks he will do well and everyone will like him. Um, okay.
In his bio on the CBS site, he starts off with the fact that he's an openly gay Mormon. Holy Osmonds, Batman! He's allergic to cats, rabbits, and shrimp. He describes himself as fantastic, amazing, awesome, and super-original.
Give me a break, kid. Keep this up and I'll want you not only booted but forced to jump from the Great Wall head first.
He goes on to say he'll do well because he's very positive, great at social skills and strategizing, and will gather wood and er, stuff. He thinks the Spice Girls are the most significant historical event of the past 100 years.
Is this guy a joke? Onto his favorites ... he does list Survivor in his favorite shows, but that's no surprise. For cereals he lists granola and Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch. Aha, he's living a contradictory kind of life! He doesn't know if he wants to go the healthy route or eat the least popular Cap'n Crunch in a childlike fantasy land! Very telling, indeed.
His chances? I think an early boot, but he might hang in for a while because I don't think the others will see him as a threat. I know if he pulls the "I make everyone happy" bit at the wrong time, he could certainly alienate the others.
The most recent Survivor castaway hit the interview circuit ... well, online, anyway. They're no longer on Letterman, not even standing over in the Hello Deli. Of course, if you've ever seen the Hello Deli, you might not want to stand inside there, either!
