Big Brother 14...Hell Has Been Raised

     How does one celebrate such delicious news? I know how it would have gone down in the days before I had a teenage daughter to set a good example for, but these days I will just have to settle for a trip to Barnes and Noble where I will purchase books with reckless abandon ( that means without concerning myself about such trivial matters as cost or where the hell I'm going to put them) and indulge in the biggest white chocolate mocha I can get Starbucks to sell me. Heaven. Absolute Heaven.
     So what, may you ask, has me in such a celebratory mood when what I should be doing is plotting my escape from the pit of despair that Sunday night's episode of Big Brother cast me into? Well, my informant tells me that the newbies are in full on rebellion mode and hell has not only been raised but it is tearing through the Big Brother house with a wicked fury that is delightful to behold.
     Not that I don't trust my daughter to deal straight with me about something this important (I do control her allowance and her freedom after all), but one of my hard and fast rules is to always verify the validity of a juicy rumor before spreading it. So, what should have been a glamorous morning spent cleaning bathrooms and Hoovering an appalling amount of dog hair from the carpets was invested instead in a search for the truth, which, HALLELUJAH and thank you very much, was posted in all my favorite blogs and will be summarized for you here. For all the gloriously gory details check out any of the fine Big Brother blogs scattered about for your entertainment. I will be posting a list of my favorites as soon as I get the Blogger widget thingy all figured out.
     As I understand it, Britney, suffering from diarrhea of the mouth, blabbed to Willie hers and Janelle's theory that the coaches would be entering the game at some point. Incensed over being used by the coaches to further their own game, Willie calls a newbies only house meeting and, faster than you can say Russell Hantz's brother, he has the troops whipped into a coach hating frenzy and ready to do battle for their right to play for a half million dollars without interference from the hasbeens that were foisted on them by a double dealing CBS.
     While it's true that the newbies' shift to DEFCON 2 (that's war readiness for those of you whose fathers weren't in the Air Force) would not go unnoticed by the "coaches" for long, they were alerted unnecessarily early by Joe, who apparently suffers from the same affliction as Britney, and now it's on.

     What happened next was probably the result of one man's crusade to put an end to the newbie rebellion that he opposes for reasons I cannot fathom. Joe attempts to take out its fearless leader by pouring Willie's risky secret plan involving Thursday night's vote into Frank's ear. While reassuring Frank that he will not be evicted this week, Willie apparently does a passable imitation of Wil's southern accent, which then triggers the kind of shitstorm seldom seen outside of anywhere that adolescents congregate and, of course, the Big Brother house.

     I doubt that even Frank knows what drove him to do what he does next, but straight to blabbermouth Joe he goes and tells him, get this, that Willie made fun of Wil for being gay. Joe, Big Brother's resident shit stirrer, can't wait to open his big fat mouth and repeat this blatant lie to EVERYBODY.
     The result is the aforementioned shitstorm. Willie gets labeled a homophobe in absentia (he's up in the HOH room oblivious to the beating that his good name is taking) and the house gets to planning his lynching.

     Once somebody, I think it was Britney blabbing something she should for a change, clues Willie in, it doesn't take long for him to get himself out to the yard and call Frank out for the liar that he is in front of everybody, except for Ian who seems to be living mostly in whatever reality show is going on inside his head. Even Boogie and Dan are present and awake for a change. Apparently what ensued should not be missed by anyone and it is my sincere wish that CBS bless us with it in it's entirety before the vote tomorrow night.
     So tell us what you think. Does a potential rebellion make you want to celebrate in your favorite way? If so, are you concerned that yesterday's drama in the yard will end the rebellion before it even gets going? And what about all the excessive running off at the mouth that these people are doing? Is it bugging you yet, or are you loving the fallout from it? You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.

Big Brother 14...A Twist Gone Horribly Wrong

     Big Brother took a great big whizz in my Cinnamon Toast Crunch Sunday night. My fear that this summer's game would be played by the four returning house guests, rather than the newbies, was confirmed in spectacular high definition as what was supposed to be a mere twist morphed into the main event. The "coaches" have made the game all about them and the newbies are letting them.
     Britney and Janelle have teamed up to avenge the losses they both suffered in their seasons to guys that they attempted to use to get them to the end. The users got used by players better than them at that particular game, plain and simple. But these ladies don't see it that way. They see themselves as victims and, to them, this season is nothing more than an opportunity (that they are entitled to by the way) to take what had been so unfairly denied to them previously. So now we have Team Sour Grapes setting themselves in opposition to Boogie and Dan, who must work together or perish.

     If any proof was needed that the "coaches" are running this game, one need look no further than the two newbies, Kara and Frank, sitting on the Block, victims of a plot hatched by Team Sour Grapes intended to turn Dan and Boogie against each other. Kara is a member of Team Dan and Frank team Boogie and, if they are both unfortunate enough to remain on the Block, their fate will be determined by the brain trust powering Team Sour Grapes. It will come down to whether Britney wants Kara gone, as a step closer to eliminating Dan from the game, more than Janelle wants to settle an old grudge with Boogie, which would send Frank out the door.

     Even more frustrating to me than the self-serving "coaches" is the complacent (because they're starstruck?), almost animatronic newbies who are behaving as though they exist in the Big Brother house merely to do the "coaches" bidding. Willie is just a figurehead up in the HOH room, Kara's and Frank's asses are on the Block because Britney and Janelle wanted them there, and if what I've been told is true (my daughter watches BBAD; she's a teenager, she stays up all night and sleeps all day), the POV winner does exactly what his "coaches" tell him to do. If the puppets, uh newbies, continue in this vein, this season will be unwatchable.
     So I'm taking it back. CBS did NOT get it right. Like a benevolent Santa they bestowed upon us what promised to be a successful twist, but then all Grinchlike they sabotaged our Christmas in July present by dumping "coaches" with their own agendas into the middle of what could have been a great game. Not cool CBS. Y'all need to fix this pronto. I don't care how. Embrace that Nike slogan and Just Do It.
     One last thing. Ian has joined Ashley on my short list of newbies that I would like to see sitting next to that Jeff Probst wannabe Julie Chen ASAP. He is a creeper. He tippytoes around the house talking to himself and behaving weirdly. He lurks pervelike in the bathroom hoping to get a glimpse of naked lady parts. According to my BBAD source, he asked Ashley for a date and she accepted. I knew there was something wrong with her.
     So tell us what you think of this CBS engineered clusterfuck. Do you want to see the "coaches" booted out on their self-serving asses? Or are you enjoying the Team Sour Grapes vs. Team Play Dead show? You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.

***I would like to extend my gratitude to the folks at Big Brother Junkies for the photo of Willie Hantz. It pretty much says it all, doesn't it. HOH indeed.***

Big Brother 14...Let The Hell Raising Begin

     All hail Big Brother. Thus far, this has been the summer of suck. The Closer is airing its final episodes (depressing), the storylines over at True Blood are lame and boring (annoying), and my used to be favorite judge on America's Got Talent forced a zero talent "singer" named Big Barry (who isn't big by any stretch of the imagination) on a very pissed off America who didn't appreciate some of their favorites being sent home to make room for him (depressing and annoying). Howard Stern has it right. Howie Mandel owes us an apology. And until we get one I'm boycotting AGT, which doesn't leave me with much to keep me entertained and out of trouble, unless, of course, Big Brother doesn't suck again this summer. So please, please, please don't let what I saw the other night be just my poor desperate mind playing tricks on me because it showed all the signs of being this summer's one saving grace and my own personal salvation.
     This season is showing some real promise. It began with a great big resounding HOORAY when it was revealed that none of the four returning house guests were--let me see...what did I call her before...oh yeah--that vile woman with a borderline personality disorder and an intensely annoying, whiny teenage girl voice. A Big Brother season without Rachel Reilly is a good season. Period.
     I also have to say that, as far as twists go, having the returning houseguests mentor the newbies has definite possibilities, providing that the game doesn't become a competition between the coaches with the newbies nothing more than collateral damage as the coaches settle old grudges or stroke their own egos.
     It's tough to call after only one episode (I don't subscribe to the Live Feeds, I just don't have that kind of time, and BBAD is on way past my bedtime), but the newbies seem likeable enough, except for Ashley, owner of a mobile spray tanning company, who makes me cringe every time she speaks and the vets, Britney (Season 12), Mike Boogie (Season 2 player and Season 7 winner), Janelle (Seasons 6 and 7), and Dan (Season 10 winner), have proven themselves entertaining in the past, well, except for Dan who flew under the radar in his season by becoming one with the furniture, so I believe we have reason to hope that this season will turn out to be a good one. After the last two seasons, there really is nowhere to go but up, but being Rachelless and possessing a twist with potential has already lifted the current season above trash level (Seasons 12 and 13) and mediocrity (Season 11). I will be practicing optimism (translation: hoping for the best as I brace myself for the worst) as I watch tonight's show.
     So, tell us what you think. Is there reason to hope, or have you seen something that has made you swear off this season already? And what about those coaches? Did CBS get it right? For the record, I think they did and I hope Britney and her team kick some serious ass this summer. You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.

America's Got Talent...I Swear I Didn't Know

     AGT, as it is affectionately known, is currently in its seventh season and, apparently, has undergone some major changes. I say "apparently" because I have never seen the show before this season (I had mistakenly assumed it was a bastardized version of the Gong Show) and had to rely on friends, who have watched the show since its beginning, to verify a statement by the show's executive producer, Simon Cowell, that I read somewhere promising a "top to bottom makeover". According to my friends, swapping Piers Morgan for Howard Stern at the judges table does not a "top to bottom makeover" make. The show looks the same to them, right down to the acts that look suspiciously like slightly modified ghosts from seasons past, and some of them, I won't say who, want Mr. Cowell branded an oath breaker, or worse (I believe one of them muttered something to the effect that drawing and quartering was too good for him). To this I say...THBPBPTHPT! and stop picking on my new favorite show.
     How can anyone not love this show? It has everything. It has ordinary people with extraordinary talent and, in some cases, stories with the power to motivate you or maybe even break your heart. What's that you say? American Idol already has that? Why yes it does. It also has its fair share of talentless hacks, some of them also certifiably delusional, who beg the judges for a chance to prove they really do have talent after they've already proven, often in a way that's spectacularly cringe-worthy, that they don't. But what American Idol doesn't have (anymore) is a panel of judges so entertaining that we hang on their every word.
     Sharon Osbourne has a wicked sense of humor tempered by a gracious charm that cracks me up as it puts the contestants at their ease. She is someone that you could take to your obnoxious, Christmas hating in-law's house for the holidays and a good time would be had by all.
     Howard Stern, her polar opposite and AGT's much hyped "larger than life personality", keeps viewers and contestants alike on edge as we all wait on bated breath for whatever profanity laden or politically incorrect (or both) atrocity that past history tells us he is easily capable of spewing with or without provocation. So far, he seems to be on his best behavior. I credit NBC's fine people in charge of editing for the kinder, gentler version of him that we have been treated to thus far because something (past history again) tells me that once the live shows begin airing we are going to get the rule breaking Howard Stern that should make NBC honchos fear the wrath of the FCC. I, frankly, will be disappointed if we don't.
     And then we have Howie Mandel. There is something about the sound of his voice that makes me laugh as soon as he starts talking, and the things he says never fail to be hilarious. He has a sharp mind, a quick wit, and an impulsiveness that makes him the most fun of the three judges and the one that I hope Mr. Cowell keeps the next time he decides to do a "top to bottom makeover".
     Of course, no show of this nature would be complete without a host, and if there's anyone out there more adorable in this capacity than Nick Cannon I don't know who it is. Whether he's outside amid the crush of hopefuls, backstage with the contestants' families, or onstage with the contestants themselves, he is always interested as well as interesting (not easy to pull off), supportive, caring (all those nervous kids got themselves a great temporary big brother), and, best of all, he's game for anything...check out his turquoise duct tape bikini top wearing self pole dancing with Lulu on YouTube if you don't believe me.

     As for the acts, it turns out that America really does have talent. Among my favorites are musician William Close who played what he called an "earth harp", a giant instrument with strings that spanned the entire length  of the Orpheum Theatre, and escape artist Spencer Horsman who managed to extricate himself from a straight jacket while hanging upside down beneath a giant steel trap being held open by a burning rope with only eighty seconds of life before it was extinguished, springing the trap. Both performances were seriously cool, but the act that made me cheer out loud (and draw unwanted attention of the creepy variety to myself) was Andrew De Leon's. ***Note to self...never watch AGT in the electronics department at Walmart.*** It was amazing. Now, I do not like opera and don't allow it to be played in my general vicinity (it's one of my hard and fast rules), but I was mesmerized by Andrew's performance. It could have been partly due to shock. He confessed to the judges that he was self-taught and had never performed for anyone before, not even his family. Since this is almost never good, I cringed. He looks like he could be Marilyn Manson's kid brother so I broke another hard and fast rule of mine and, adjusting my expectations to his appearance, waited for him to belt out Personal Jesus or Disposable Teens. Then the most amazing aria poured from him as effortlessly as most people talk. It was powerful and filled with raw emotion, and I couldn't have walked away from its beauty if I had tried. It would have pulled me back. I have never heard anything like it before but will get to again on Monday. ***Reminder to self...NOT at Walmart.*** I can't wait.
     So, what do you think? Are you a new fan or an old fan or no fan at all? Have you picked an early favorite for the win? And how about those judges? Are they the funnest bunch of people to watch, or what? You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.

Another Blown Call...Expansion of Instant Replay in MLB Long Overdue

     Memorial Day. Boston. Tigers vs. Red Sox. Bottom of the second. Two outs and a runner on second. Mike Aviles swung with two strikes on him. He missed. It wasn't even close. Tiger catcher Gerald Laird caught the missed ball cleanly. No bouncies. No dropsies. Replays confirm this. Mike Aviles was not called out however. His clean swing was ruled a foul tip by plate umpire Jeff Nelson, and the clean catch wasn't clean because the ball was in the dirt first according to first base umpire Bill Welke. So, what should have been the end of the second inning became a rally for the Red Sox who scored three runs, which, incidentally, was the number of runs that the Tigers lost by that day. All courtesy of bad officiating.
     Jim Leyland, the Tigers manager, wants some accountability. Tiger fans, most of whom are still irate over Jim Joyce's bad call at first base that cost Armando Galarraga his perfect game two years ago today, want what most baseball fans want...Recourse.
     Wish granted. Sort of. While the latest officiating debacle did not instigate next season's expansion of instant replay, it did underscore the necessity driving it and prompted much discussion, as well as speculation, about the specifics of the expansion and how it will impact the game.
     According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, who appeared on the Mike and Mike radio show the day after said debacle, there is a strong possibility that, under the expanded instant replay, appeals of calls pertaining to fair vs. foul balls and caught vs. dropped balls would be decided by a panel of umpires from a central location. It is believed to be a plan that would satisfy its opponents by allowing final determinations to be made by umpires in a system that would create more jobs for them. It would also satisfy arguments that an already lengthy game would be subjected to unnecessary delays since the umpires on the field would remain there while others reviewed the play being appealed. So, the proposed solution to the problem of bad officiating is meant to satisfy the same officials whose inability to make the right calls in obvious situations necessitated an expanded system in the first place? Not exactly the accountability that I think Mr. Leyland was talking about.
     Or necessarily the recourse that the fans were hoping for. Mr. Stark tells us that the expanded system next season will be "introductory" and limited in its scope. It could be further expanded, he says, to cover "all sorts of calls after a year or so" pending successful negotiations. Translation:  A year from now the Tigers will still be getting hosed on the same calls that cost them a game against the Red Sox on Memorial Day and one of their pitchers a perfect game two years ago. BUT they can hope for some fairness the following year, or the year after, should negotiations favor expanding instant replay to include reviewing plays involving clean swings vs. foul tips and runners being called safe when the ball clearly beats them to the bag.
     It's also probably important to note that no amount of expansion of the instant replay will resolve issues involving calls open to interpretation to the satisfaction of everyone. Trapped balls and fan interference, for example, may or may not be ruled correctly initially or on appeal, which makes overturning a correct ruling a distinct possibility. Is it just me, or does it seem like the expansion has the potential to create more problems than it solves? Oh wait. How silly of me. Of course it does. I know this because I see it every fall when Michigan plays football.
     To sum up...It's pretty clear that an expansion of the instant replay is needed, but the expansion being negotiated is insufficient and seems to be tailor made for the people responsible for the mess requiring its solution. Jim Leyland has been preaching "patience" to Tiger fans who had hoped for a better start this season. I guess we're going to need it because, while a sufficient expansion won't solve all the Tigers problems (stranding WAY too many base runners, for example) it would have given them the win that they earned on Memorial Day.
     So, tell us what you think. Are you in favor of an expansion of the instant replay? If so, is the proposed solution sufficient? Or do you want human error to continue to determine the outcome of the game? You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.

Game of Thrones Season 2...TV Series Winner

     Game of Thrones. An epic fantasy bestowed upon us courtesy of the imaginative genius of George R. R. Martin. His series, A Song of Ice and Fire, took us to Kings Landing, Winterfell, The Wall, The Eyrie, Pentos, Vaes Dothrak, Pyke, Harrenhal, and Qarth where he made us care about the Starks, the Baratheons, the Lannisters, the Night's Watch, the Targaryens, the Dothraki, the Greyjoys, and a host of others too numerous to name. Whether we loved the characters or hated them (or loved to hate them), we followed their journeys to places that became as familiar to us as our own stomping grounds and were as eager to learn their fates as we would our friends. And then David Benioff and D.B. Weiss brought those wondrous places and complex characters to life and HBO gave them to us.

     Currently in its second season, Game of Thrones is everything that a true fan of Martin's books could hope for. Except for the gratuitous sex scenes that are a hallmark of HBO and expository conversations that never took place in the books, it is a faithful adaptation in that it mirrors the works that it is meant to represent in a different medium.
     The characters and their places in Westeros and Essos are exactly as Martin wrote them. I had expected to be presented with familiar actors who bore a passing resemblance to my favorite imaginary people and behaved in ways that were merely pale imitations of them. Instead, I was blessed with a gifted ensemble carefully chosen for their uncanny likenesses to the characters they portray and amazing talents that transform them in ways that make believers out of even the most hardhearted cynics.

     My absolute favorite, hands down, is Peter Dinklage who portrays Tyrion Lannister, the only Lannister that possesses a sense of humor or anything that remotely resembles a moral compass. The character on paper often made me smile at his quick witted sarcasm and ability to turn any situation to his favor. The character brought to life by a gifted actor deftly commands every scene, often before uttering a word. And when he speaks, we are immediately rewarded with such acid pronouncements as, when referring to his nephew, "We've had vicious kings and we've had idiot kings, but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with a vicious idiot boy king." It's just not possible for me to feel anything but nirvana every time that sharp tongued, self-serving speaker of truths no one else dares to utter opens his often profane mouth and takes someone down a peg or two. A wonderfully entertaining (because it was perfectly executed) example of this is the following exchange (shamelessly hijacked from IMDb).

"Game of Thrones: Garden of Bones (#2.4)" (2012)

Tyrion Lannister: What kind of knight beats a helpless girl? 
Meryn Trant: The kind who serves his king, Imp! 
Bronn: Careful now. We don't want to get blood all over your pretty white cloak. 
Tyrion Lannister: Someone get the girl something to cover herself with. 
[Sandor Clegane gives Sansa his cloak] 
Tyrion Lannister: [to Joffrey] She's to be your queen. Have you no regard for her honor? 
Joffrey Baratheon: I'm punishing her. 
Tyrion Lannister: For what crimes? She's not fighting her brother's battle, you halfwit. 
Joffrey Baratheon: You can't talk to me like that. The king can do as he likes! 
Tyrion Lannister: The mad king did as he like. Has your uncle Jaime ever told you what happened to him? 
Meryn Trant: No one threatens his grace in the presence of the Kingsguard! 
Tyrion Lannister: I'm not threatening the king, Ser, I'm educating my nephew. 
[to Bronn] 
Tyrion Lannister: Bronn, the next time the Ser Meryn speaks, kill him. 
[Back to Ser Meryn] 
Tyrion Lannister: THAT was a threat. See the difference? 



Educating his nephew indeed. And Ser Meryn too just for kicks.

     The rest of the cast should be commended as well. Most notable among them are Maisie Williams (tomboy Arya Stark) and Sophie Turner (Arya's proper, love struck older sister Sansa) who are perfection in demanding roles, which is impressive as hell considering their ages, fifteen and sixteen respectively, and the fact that (I'm relying on the accuracy of IMDb here) neither of them had any professional acting experience before Game of Thrones. Wow. I'll say it again Ladies. Wow. You should both be very proud of yourselves. And thank you.

     Also a standout is Jack Gleeson who portrays the aforementioned vicious idiot boy king with such ease that one might begin to wonder if there really is an evil heart beating in there somewhere. That is, if one didn't read the kindest things said about the young actor from a variety of sources. Amazing. Thank you.

     I could go on in this same vein, but there are so many rich characters brilliantly portrayed by gifted actors that I couldn't possibly do them all the justice that they deserve. So, with a final thank you to Sean Bean for giving us a Ned Stark that made us weep along with his daughters, Arya and Sansa, when he was executed on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, I will leave it to you to tell us what you think. Did David Benioff and D.B. Weiss get it right? Is Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister the most interesting character in a TV series for the second season in a row? Or is it someone else? You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.

Survivor: One World...Game Over

     Survivor. Once upon a long ago time, twenty-four seasons ago to be exact, it was the ultimate game played by a diverse group of people intent on outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting their way to the ultimate payday in the realm of reality TV. Those people were marooned with nothing but the clothes on their backs and given nothing but rice and water. Filthy and desperate to stave off impending starvation, they dragged their emaciated, crusty bug bite ridden bodies through the jungle to scrounge for rats to eat. A Reward Challenge winning tribe received canned goods and a candy bar and were ecstatic to get it. An individual Reward Challenge winner received a single slice of pizza that he shared with his starving tribe. Those people fought hard for every scrap of food that they could get, and we cheered them on. Why? Because they were Survivors.
     Twenty-four seasons later, no one seems to be cheering. The contestants (I can't make myself call them survivors, no matter how hard I try) are, for the most part, a motley collection of the most unlikable characters ever assembled for a reality show. The only things that could have made this group more detestable would have been yet another appearance by that troll Russell Hantz or for some brain-trust at CBS to allow that vile woman, Rachel Reilly, to wreck another of their reality shows with her borderline personality disorder and intensely annoying whiny teenage girl voice.
     As a fan since the Tagis and the Pagongs ate live beetle larva for immunity in Borneo, I am bitterly disappointed that I haven't been given a Survivor I can root for. Instead, I have HBIC Kim Spradlin, shamelessly channeling Rob Mariano, and her sheep: mean girl Alicia Rosa, desperate to belong Christina Cha, freeloader Sabrina Thompson, and constantly suffering from diarrhea of the mouth to the point of blabbing alliance secrets Chelsea Meissner.
     Really? This is what I'm stuck with? Four of the five people who formed an alliance on their way to camp on Day One because they had seen it work on a previous season are present and accounted for going into Finale Night, and I wish I cared.
     No one else seems to care either. Certainly not the fans who have been vocal, verbally and in print, about their need for their favorite reality show to return to its former greatness. We don't want contestants who simply follow a declared cookie-cutter leader and hope for a free ride to the end as they all feast every third day. We want Survivors who think for themselves and devise original strategies to get themselves to the end. They need to be hungry for a victory and willing to "dig deep", to borrow a Probstism, to make it theirs, not laze about camp waiting for someone else to hand it to them wrapped in pretty paper (or a yacht, as the case may be).
     Speaking of Jeff, he doesn't seem to care either. At the beginning of this wretched season, he seemed to be challenging those poor examples for women who were content to bargain with the men (and then break their word once they had gotten what they wanted), pitifully attempt to use the men by playing the helpless female card, and outright steal fire from the men because those dimwits signed up to do a reality show where, as everyone that doesn't live under a rock knows, the ability to build and maintain a fire is essential to the game...and not one of them could do it.
     Jeff also seemed to try to take the guys, who pretty much treated a survival game like an extended frat party minus the beer, to task for stupidly surrendering their immunity idol to the girls and marching their foolish looking selves into Tribal Council to vote out one of their own. Every single one of those idiots got what they deserved.
     But at some point Jeff seemed to give up trying to salvage this wreck. He has not been Enthusiastic Jeff at all this season, but a Snarky, Ready To Call People Out Jeff was, at least, an Entertaining Jeff, and the only person on that island worth watching. Now we have Going Through The Motions Jeff, who referees reruns of challenges past when he bothers to show up at all. If what I've read is true, and he was off getting a pedicure during one of the Reward Challenges, I can't say I blame him.
     And that brings us to the contestants, who don't seem to care either. Not one of them has fought hard for anything. Kim will probably get the most votes tomorrow night for doing nothing more than what actual Survivors have done before her, but, lucky for her, was more than anybody else was willing to do. I think she might have thrown a few challenges so that she "wouldn't be perceived as a threat". If so, she needn't have bothered. No one was paying attention.
     Season 24 ends tomorrow night, but Survivor, the game that so many have loved for so long, is already over. I won't be watching the finale or the reunion tomorrow night. I'll be waiting for Season 25 and hoping that I'm wrong. Unfortunately, when the most interesting thing there is to remark on over the course of a season is Jeff's footwear, the end is clearly here.
     So, tell us what you think. My day would be made if you could point to at least one thing that has made this mess worth watching, or to any signs I've missed that Survivor will be (hopefully in the near future) the show that it once was. You've seen it. It's fair game. Let's talk about it.