Fun Shows and a Finale

The competition reality shows are rolling.  I see a lot of different opinions about the shows on Facebook but not as many as there used to be.  Is it possible people are tiring of reality shows?  Maybe they've run out of ideas.  All I know is, I'm still watching but have to admit, I see a lot of repeating of stunts and challenges.  Maybe the real art of reality TV is figuring out how to be original after 10 seasons.

The Amazing Race was in Indonesia again.  This time the roadblock involved one person carrying 20 dishes of food and placing them all safely on the table.  The real hiccup in the race was the taksis trying to find the restaurant.  I was impressed w/ the racers because very few dropped their dishes but when they did, it was hilarious.  What you didn't see was the poor person who had to clean up the mess.  Then the racers had to hop a train to the next place.  Of course, that staggered the teams more.  One team was just finishing purchasing their tickets when the train pulled away.  They got their clue to the next place from a vendor on the train.  The racers pounced on each one asking,"Do you have a clue?"  Those poor guys.  Most couldn't speak English so were quite taken aback.  The clue notified the racers of an anonymous double U-turn.  Oh boy!  I was thinking, maybe now we'll see some action.  Since a U-turn is a great delay tactic, I would think all of the teams would utilize it not just to delay teams from getting to the finish mat but to delay their starts for the next leg of the race.  When they got off the train, the detour was a choice of either putting on huge costumes w/ big heads that they held in place w/ their teeth.  Ick!  Then they had to parade w/ people down streets and do some dance moves periodically.  This is what I call the dum dum task because it takes no skills and yet will probably take the same amount of time for each team to complete.  The other choice was, the teams had to pick up 4 eggs from a vendor, bring them back and have them scrambled in a pan over a fire held on the head of one of the racers.  Oh boy!  Then the team had to eat them.  In this kind of task, the teams can alter their time w/ speed.  Since it was only 4 eggs, it wasn't that hard.  I would've thought the teams would've picked the eggs since it was also free food.  The long hair don't care team was the only team to pick the eggs.  Then the teams found the double U-turn sign.  The double means 2 teams can be U-turned.  That's dumb.  Why only 2?  Whatever.  So team after team stepped up and declared they're not using it.  Boring!  People say it's because they don't want to make enemies.  Really?  It's anonymous and the racers can't respect each other to realize it's a competitive move?  The only team to use it was the Monster Truck couple and they u-turned the tall/small sub teachers guys team.  Luckily for the tall/small team, the 2 blonde girls were having a heckuva time w/ their transport guy.  The racers weren't in car taksis but in bicycle taxi things w/ the people riding in a huge seat in front.   The tall/small team had to do the egg cooking thing and while they were at it, the blonde girls arrived and ran around the area looking for the finish mat.  Did they not recognize their fellow racers?  Did they think that was the pitstop and they were having dinner?  So needless to say, the very last racers were literally racing side by side to the finish mat until they hit a fork in the road.  The blondes' bike taxi went left and the tall/small team's bike taxi went right.  Right it was and the tall/small team lived to race another leg.  What a finish!  What great luck!  Bye bye blondes.  See you in the finale episode.  Oh and that white young couple hit the mat first.  No not that young white couple, the other one.

Face Off still had 5 artists.  This time the challenge took the artists to a junkyard.  They were told they had to make humanoid robots like Terminator, using items from the junkyard.  The artists proceeded to throw all kinds of stuff into their shopping carts reminding me of homeless people who have snuck into the yard.  None of the artists seemed to gather things w/ any real look in mind.  Sarah started w/ the excuse that she was raised Mennonite and didn't know Terminator or robotic humans.  Really?  Are you still living at home?  Have you not studied stuff pertaining to your career?  Isn't she dating Ian from last season?  I'm sure they've rented videos or seen other Sci Fi stuff on TV.  Didn't she even watch his season?  Well, if not, then I figured she oughtta pack her bags.  So everyone proceeded to the workroom and started on their looks.  I loved the back stories they gave their people.  Of course Roy was amazing and did the whole body prosthetic thing again.  He worked on a jaw that opened and closed electronically.  Uh oh...  He never has much luck when it comes to stuff like that.  Sarah was bemoaning the fact that her person looked like a mechanical mish mosh.  I was thinking she should go for a Frankensteiny human thing.  Derek stuck a flashing thing w/ wires to his person's chest.  Laura's model got sick in the chair taking up her time but she pulled it out.  Nicole's look resembled a borg w/out all the tubes everywhere.  It looked like Star Trek makeup and really well done.  Nicole was declared the winner and Sarah got the boot.  This time, you could really tell Sarah's look didn't look pro at all like the other looks and the ouster was deserved.  Maybe she was overly fatigued and couldn't think anymore.  Oh well. 

Survivor showed the teams trying to survive the rain.  The blue team of 2 people looked like 2 lonely drowned rats.  Finally, they got off their duffs and searched for the HII and after many camera shots of it, I think they got the hint and found it.  I'm thinking that camera guy got tired of the game and practically pointed out the HII to them because dude lady and long haired guy looked in, under, and around that rice container.  Finally long hair Malcolm swiped at the box w/ the machete which knocked the HII off the top.  OMG, that was frustrating.  So then the tribes came together in front of Probst where he told the blue team they were to be split up and placed on the other teams.  Instead of the dramatic picking of the buffs, they could've just flipped a coin.  It was only 2 people.  Anyway, Malcolm went to the yellow tribe and dude lady Denise went to the red tribe and they proceeded right to a luxury challenge.  Yay!  It consisted of 1 player from a team trying to knock a statuette off of the hand held platform of the other team's player.  They went one by one.  When the teams learned it really depended on who's statuette hit the ground first, Skupin came up w/ a brilliant move to throw his statuette high into the air while simultaneously batting the other guy's statuette right to the ground.  After that, everybody tried the tactic.  Abi Maria had to compete for once and was all whiny about getting her hair pulled.  Awww...  Ok, so the yellow team pulled out the big V w/ Malcolm being the hero of the day.  The prize was all the stuff to make coffee and a huge platter of pastries.  Did we get to see the team enjoy the prize?  No.  Oh come on!  So back at red camp the people were trying to survive the rain.  The skinny blonde pierced chick fell ill.  So much that she finally had to quit the game.  Johnathan had much empathy for her.  Awww...  Meanwhile, at yellow camp, Abi Maria is being mean.  What else is new?  For the immunity challenge, the teams had to navigate a short obstacle course, chop a rope to release big painted sticks.  Some of the painted sticks had letters on them and they had to gather only those and then unscramble the letters to make a phrase.  The beauty queen on the red team couldn't get her feet under her and really held them up.  Yellow team w/ Abi Maria sitting out again, sailed through to the letter unscramble.  I think when the other team is right beside you and has the same words to unscramble; you probably shouldn't shout out the answer.  It helped, but not enough and yellow team pulled out the big win again.  At camp, the red team really showed it was men against women.  Denise wisely joined the men and the 2 remaining ladies were left in the cold; literally.  Everybody pointed at the beauty queen.  Mr. Baseball realized the black chick on the team could blow his pro cover and suggested her to go.  Red team went to Tribal council for the first time.  Probst seemed to be getting tired of trying to pull stuff out of the survivors and everybody seemed really tired.  People are tending to keep stuff under their hats better this season.  It must be frustrating for the editing crew to have no footage.  Hee hee hee  So on to the vote.  The black chick was blindsided completely and had the creepiest torch snuffing I've ever seen.  She stared at Probst while he was snuffing out her torch and then proceeded to lay a long hard kiss on him after.  Ew...  Even Probst was in shock.  I was really in shock to see everybody voted for her.  Even her friend the beauty queen.   You could tell she wasn't expecting it cuz she didn't have her backpack w/ her.  I guess the former blue team members aren't such big sitting ducks as I thought.

The Challenge:  Battle of the Seasons started out at the arena w/ the Brooklyn team against the Fresh Meat team.  Devyn and not Chet vs. fatty Eric and ugly Camilla.  The game was mental and the teams each had to solve a memory puzzle.  The girl would be at the puzzle in a harness being lifted into the air by how far the guy could descend into a vat of water.  It was fun to watch Camilla get frustrated w/ Eric, yell at him, Eric give up and Camilla really verbally letting him have it between the eyes.  OMG!  It was good she was in the harness cuz I think she probably would've scratched his eyes out.  So thus was the complete demise of the Fresh Meat team.  On to the challenge.  It consisted of a trivia contest w/ one person from each team sitting in chairs.  When they answered wrong, they were unceremoniously dumped into the sea.  It was hilarious but probably a bit painful for the players.  Trishelle had to be medically treated for dehydration so didn't help her team.  Maybe she should drink something other than alcohol.  I can't remember who won but I know it wasn't Brooklyn, Cancun or Las Vegas.  The bottom team was a really young team who I have no idea who they are.  Brooklyn was thrown into the arena once again.  How come nobody likes Brooklyn?  This time the game was endurance which is the pushing the balls to the other team's side.  All I can say is, the couple playing against Sarah and Chet were a tall thin gay black guy and a blonde chick who didn't try that hard.  Guess who won.  Yep, Sarah and Chet are really showing their stuff.  You go people!

Project Runway had it's finale.  Since the judges weren't that impressed by the mini show the designers gave them in the last episode, they were given more money to buy material and told to rev up things.  I loved all the cute shots of Swatch at Mood.  Awww...he's adorable.  Melissa seemed to be the only designer to make a whole new look for her collection but it was just her same high collared dress in bright orange.  Then the usual model picking, fitting, last minute sewing, styling, etc.  was shown.  I could've sworn I heard a designer complain models were too small for his clothes.  Really?  A model too skinny?  Whoda thunk it?  Fabio and Christopher lost their dumb wigs but Fabio stuck w/ his dumb shoes.  No big drama like going overbudget or cheating.  Onto the runway show.  Dmitry's collection looked really cool but started to look all black and white until he showed some good pops of yellow.  It was innovative and chic.  Christopher's collection had that weird mud colored x-ray print.  He cut down on it and everything he put w/ it looked dark and simple.  he had a couple of innovative pieces but why no bright color?  It looked like a fancy funeral collection.  Zzzz...  Maybe he was a one way monkey ha ha ha.  Fabio was next w/ his watercolor skimpy resort clothes.  It looked like some weird cult collection but it was innovative and refreshing.  Melissa showed us her collection of looks she made during the season but in different colors.  Most of her collection was black and white too.  Was that a bathing suit I saw?  Jennifer Hudson was the last guest judge.  Didn't she do that another season?  So the judges argued the good and the bad of each designer's collection.  The editors have adopted the Chopped way of judging.  First the judges say how much they like the collection but...  Then they proceed to say what they thought was hideous, boring, cheap or ill fitting.  After all the hashing and rehashing, Dmitry was declared the winner.  Awww...he was so cute and gracious about it too.  Yay! 

I think I've been forgetting to tell about The Dallas Cheerleaders: Making the Team.  The girls have gone through boot camp w/ some girls surprised to be sent home and some girls not surprised to be sent home.  It was interesting to see how mirrors, space and proximity to other dancers affected the girls in their performance.  This week, was the final week for Kelly and Judy to decide the team.  They told us they had 37 lockers and 39 girls.  Hm...  The girls did some more practice on the field and then gathered round.  No girls were eliminated and there are 39 girls on the team.  Well, that was... unexciting.  Then they showed the photoshoot for the the whole team picture.  Finally they showed game day.  I didn't see any major mistakes or mishaps and the fans always love the DCC.  I was very surprised to find, this was not to be the last episode of the season.  That means the show has changed from competition to voyeuristic.  I wonder how many episodes are in the can?  The DCC girls are so nice to each other, they're kind of boring if nobody gets eliminated anymore.  I love when they have facebook scandal and Kelli calls them on it.  Hee hee.  I'm just wicked that way.

America's Next Top Model had the girls go on go sees.  They went in pairs to different designers.  Each designer would choose to hire 1 girl but each girl could be chosen by more than 1 designer.  I was more impressed by how well the girls got from place to place in such a timely manner.  That was good driving in L.A.  The tall basketball girl bragged about playing basketball and her walk.  The redhead shorthaired girl was shy and looked like a deer caught in the headlights.  Victoria thought outgoing personality meant interrupting and talking over people in an annoying nasal voice.  Also, she walked like her feet were too heavy.  Meangirl Kristen did good in her first go see and then you could tell she was over it.  Curly haired superskinny girl seemed a little scatterbrained but she was with Laura who was all put together.  I was surprised to hear a couple of designers say the 2 skinniest girls were too small for their clothes.  Really?  I didn't think those words existed in the world of modeling.  All the girls made it back in time.  The only girls not chosen by 1 designer were the red short haired girl and Victoria.  I guess she was more annoying than outgoing ha ha ha.  2 designers picked Laura and she was the winner of the challenge.  She won a pile of designer clothes which made the green eyed monster come out in Kristen.  For the photoshoot, the girls did mugshots in a prison.  I thought they were more funny than fashion but oh well.  In the judging, Tyra seemed to contradict all the other judges.  What was up w/ that?  Laura was declared the winner of this photoshoot and the 2 girls who didn't get picked by a designer at the go sees were in the bottom.  For some odd reason, Victoria was liked more by the web viewers.  The red short haired girl was in tears.  Then Tyra announced a girl would be brought back in to the competition and picked by the online voters.  This episode was called, "The Girl Who Came Back Into the Competition."  Yay!  I can't wait to see who it is.  The eliminated girls come in and that's it.  How very disappointing.  They should've saved the title of the episode for next week.  Bad Tyra!

I've been watching Dancing with the Stars but only the elimination shows.  They always recap the dances a bit and we know all the dancers are pretty good cuz they've been on their own seasons before.  A highlight was hearing Donny Osmond and Susan Boyle sing This Is the Moment from Jekyll and Hyde.  The poor lady was so nervous, she was stiff as a board and clutched Osmond's hand w/ white knuckles.  Actually, the real highlight of the show was Bristol Palin getting the boot.  Bye and take your mother w/ you.  Brooke is still the worst hostess ever.  She's monotone, dull and boring.

Well, that's about it.  I'm writing regular show reviews one by one on Hubpages too at tvjunkiejantina.hubpages.com  If you want quick recaps of competition reality shows, stick right here.  So keep watching and until next week, stay tuned.