Survivor Guatemala

Airdate: November 24, 2005 - - Okay, of all things, they showed a new episode on Thanksgiving, so I had to tape this and watch the next day. The rewards challenge was for a visit to this hot waterfall with cool water below, plus meat on skewers, Mojitos, and massages for the winner and guest. They had to answer Mayan trivia and correct answers allowed tribe members to smash hanging pots with each tribe members name on them. Three smashed pots and you're out. Lydia picked on Stephenie smashing two of her pots just 'cause she thought Stephenie had won food challenges too many times before. Stephenie was pretty darn mad at Lydia. Cindy won and took Rafe with her for the reward, and both seemed to have a real good time - of course, no boy-girl match-up since Rafe has revealed he's gay (no surprise there). Cindy, Judd, Steph, and Rafe are sticking together to be the final four. Meanwhile Gary tried to get Lydia to side with him and Danni and perhaps get Cindy on their side. But Cindy broke two of Gary's pots, making Gary understand he would never win her over. For immunity they had to listen to a story about Mayan mythology, then answer trivia to retrieve flags. Gary came close, but Rafe won immunity again, and Gary was voted out by all. I would now like to see Rafe win. I can't stand Stephenie, and Cindy is a bit of a bitch, so not her.

Airdate: November 17, 2005 - - Jamie began to go really nutty, picking fights with Gary and accusing him of being sneaky. Everyone sided with Gary. For the rewards challenge the tribe had to form teams of two women and two men, then each team had to be tied together by rope and sludge through mud to try and fill this big pot with corn, first teams to fill it winning the reward - a helicopter ride to this estate for an overnight stay and Folgers coffee (obviously a sponsor since they made such a big point of saying "Folgers" several times) in the morning. Team Danni and Stephenie, and team Gary and Judd won. So off went the four who soon were showered, dressed in matching robes, and bonding over goodies and morning coffee - plus they all got teary eyed (par for the course on Survivor) over videotapes from home. They brought back some coffee packets to camp which Cindy, a coffee addict, was extremely pleased about. For immunity, the tribe had to perform yet another type of rope obstacle course - Gary, close to winning, got tangled up, and on went Rafe to victory. It still sort of seemed to me like Gary was going to get voted out but (thank goodness!) at tribal council they voted out Jamie. Hurrah - the creepy crawler is gone. Buh bye.

Airdate: November 10, 2005 - - With nine tribe members left, seven of whom will make up the jury, the push seems to be on now to get rid of the stronger, male players. For a rewards challenge, everyone had to shoot this arrow onto a large target on the dirt - the reward: food. The person who got the closest to the center of the target to win the best meal, second closest to win the second best meal, and so on - the person farthest from the center winning a pretty crummy meal. Judd won first place and his meal was steak and lobster, including an Open Bar - oh boy! Some of the other meals included spaghetti, hamburger, slice of pizza, all the way down to last place prize - a tiny bowl of nuts and cup of water from the lagoon - yuk. Anyway, everyone was so on the case of Jamie after the jerky things he said last week that he felt really guilty, apparently (or he was worried they hated him, and was trying to not be voted off), and he gave up his fourth place meal (the burger) to go down to last place and ended up with the nuts. Lydia would have been last, but instead got the next-to-last meal - a tiny little fish. Judd got to invite two tribe members to join in part of his meal, plus have access to the open bar - he chose Bobby Jon and Stephenie - and the three of them (especially Judd) got really drunk. As winner of the top reward, Judd also won a secret clue to where the hidden immunity idol was located - the clue said it wasn't on the ground - Judd lied to everyone and said it WAS on the ground (he did, for some reason, show Stephenie the real clue). Later for the immunity challenge - they had to walk along these ropes, moving planks on some to walk on, trying to get to the finish the fastest. Of all things, creepy Jamie won immunity, and all were ready to vote out Gary during tribal council. But Gary knew he was going to be up on the block and took an extra effort to find the hidden idol to save himself. Luckily for Gary, dumbbell Judd was spotted looking up in the trees for the idol, showing Gary he had lied about where it was hidden. At tribal council, Gary revealed he had the little hidden idol and turned it in, winning immunity for himself. So they voted out Bobby Jon. Oh well, good riddance. I am rooting for Gary or Rafe to win.

Airdate: November 3, 2005 - - Now one ten member tribe they came up with the new tribe name (a combo of the old tribe names) Xhakum and made themselves a new, colorful flag. The six members of the old Nakum tribe were very unwelcoming to the four new members, especially creep Jamie, being rude to all (like "there's no more room in the shelter, so you four will have to sleep outside") - especially his nemesis Bobby Jon. Meanwhile, the tribe was told that there is a secret immunity idol, only six inches tall, hidden somewhere in the jungle. Anyone who finds the idol can reveal it before tribal council vote if they feel they may be voted out - it will give them automatic immunity that vote. Now for the immunity challenge - those who did not want to participate for immunity could instead sit and watch while eating a lavish feast of foods. Those who did the immunity could not eat, but instead had to balance clay pots on their head while standing and watching the others eat. Four ate, six took the challenge. Jamie ate food and made a complete jerk of himself shouting out rude comments at Bobby Jon. After an hour there were still five people balancing pots, so a tiebreaker was performed - running to the top of a pyramid without dropping the pot, Gary won and got immunity. Poor Brandon, marked by former Nakum members as the first of four to go from the old Yaxha tribe, Brandon was voted out and looked very sad indeed. He was my fave, that poor handsome lad is out. So now I am rooting for Gary or Cindy, or maybe Rafe. No strong feelings on this. Jamie MUST go!

Airdate: October 27, 2005 - - Performing an odd stunt for rewards involving winding four teammates in this rope together, then unwinding them - the Yaxha tribe won and won a prize that some (including me!) didn't think that great - riding on this rope high above the jungle, Amy promoted she was "scared of heights". The second part of the prize was an immense amount of chocolate - umm, looked like bellyache city to me. As it is, Brandon looked a little green in the gills, and they brought some back to give (yeah, so generous, they just couldn't "eat no more") to the other team at a spur of the moment Danni's b-day get-together between the teams (which Jamie didn't like ONE bit - as he put it "cavorting with the enemy"). For immunity, they had to dig huge puzzle pieces out of the sand, then construct a puzzle. Nakum won, the Yaxha tribe eliminated Amy - and surprise! - were told immediately after the ceremony to return to the other team's camp for the immediate merge of the ten players to one tribe. My pick (well, my hope) at this point for the win - Brandon, the handsome farmboy. Dopey Bobby Jon needs to go.

The Amazing Race Family Edition

Airdate: November 1, 2005 - - The teams made their way to Costa Rica where they ended up on this coffee plantation - in order to get the next clue, one member of each team had to rake and dig in a massive pile of lookalike coffee beans to find the one "red" bean. Most of the teams didn't seem to have too much trouble - except the "rugrat" team, mom just could NOT find the red bean. Meanwhile, the Paolo family (cheered on by the other teams) used the "yield" marker on the hated Weaver family who had to wait for an hourglass to run down before they could perform this stunt. When they finally started they still beat the rugrat family, finally rugrat mom found the bean - but now were in last place. The next stunt involved a choice of either picking up 15 HUGE and heavy, apparently, bunches of bananas and hanging them on this wire - OR - cross a high rope bridge into the jungle to find four "relics" and carry them to this hut (most of the teams did this stunt). In the end, the coffee bean stunt put rugrat family too far behind - they were eliminated, and the cute little girl put on a strong front as she bravely tried to hold back the tears (more than some of the other older, yet hysterically crying, teams previously eliminated could do). I am now rooting for the Weaver family, as no one likes them and they don't seem THAT bad to me.

Airdate: October 25, 2005 - - With six teams left, the families finally left the U.S. (hey, I thought the whole show was going to stay U.S. bound) and jetted to Panama City, Panama. A bungee jumping stunt got the Paolo family the fast forward - AND bonded (at least for the moment anyway) annoying yelling mom and yelling son as they took the plunge together. The other teams got involved in choice of playing baseball or gathering up these different musical instruments and putting them in the correct cases. The four "pink" sisters couldn't handle the baseball, and came in last - but anticipating the "non-elimination" week coming (and so did I) the women dressed in layers and layers of all their clothes (one said she was "wearing four bras") so that when they were made to give up all possessions except the clothes on their back - they wouldn't be left without the "pink". Heh. At this stage of the game - I am still rooting for the "rugrat" family 'cause the rest of the families are just way too annoying.

The Apprentice Martha Stewart

Airdate: November 16, 2005 - - This week's task was that each team was given 40,000 bucks (oh how some of those greedy eyes lit up when they heard the words "$40,000 - heh) to open up this coffee shop for one day to push a new, fancy, single serving coffee machine. Team that makes the most money selling the product wins. Well, team Matchstick, headed by Marcela, lost - and I think for one main reason - it came out they were charging $299 for the machine, which had a retail value of $169 - talk about overcharging! They lowered the price severals times, apparently, but by then, I gather, it was just too late. Primarius started with a more appropriate asking price in the first place and ended up selling WAY more machines. Another thing was that Matchstick's team members didn't give much support to Marcela either - they seemed to think she gave too much attention to the free foods she was offering people, which was bringing potential customers into the shop, at least, but they were not interested in buying (hmm - maybe that could be 'cause of the overpricing?!). Well, it seemed like Marcela was doomed to be eliminated, and Jim actually was nice for once, giving her a pep talk before the conference room to encourage her to tell Martha about the lack of cooperation she got from her team. It worked, Martha questioned slacker/stuck-up bitch Amanda on her lack of teamwork and ended up sending her home - hurrah, I can't stand her (and what an expression on her face as she walked out - like "how could this happen to ME, me, me?"). I actually like Jim slightly better since he gave Marcela good advice. I would still like to see Marcela or Dawna as the winner.

Airdate: November 9, 2005 - - The task to be performed by the two teams this week was to pick an outdoor product to sell live on air for 10 minutes on shopping channel QVC. The team that makes the most money selling the product wins. The teams headed for the QVC warehouse to pick a product - now, I watch QVC sometimes and I have purchased outdoor items myself from them - all decorative. The teams both allowed one of the men to pick the product - Matchstick chose a retractable hose, which seemed pretty good, though close to $100 they couldn't expect to sell as many. Primarius chose, of all things, a pump. Now surely they were given demographics on the viewers of QVC (if they weren't, all they had to do was turn it on and watch for a few hours while making their plans) and I can tell you right now that QVC is mostly watched by middle-aged or older women. I wouldn't have chosen a PUMP if I were them - when they picked that pump I knew right away Primarius would lose. Primarius lost - and it certainly hadn't helped that obnoxious Jim and quieter Dawna went on air to present the product and Jim kept talking over her apparently. Amazingly, Jim was STILL not sent home. Me thinks perhaps he is being kept by Martha in hopes of making the show more interesting with this annoying guy and his stuff going on. Jim is up EVERY week, seems like to me. Hmm - what y'all think about that?! Anyway, Howie, who was less than minimally enthusiastic about selling the pump on QVC (I don't know, maybe he thought it was as dumb a choice of product to sell as I did) was sent packing. I like Dawna's quiet confidence and her business-like approach to things - I am now hoping she wins. The other person I kind of like, thus far at least, is the girl who cooks - Marcela.

Airdate: November 2, 2005 - - Conceited airhead Carrie boasts at the beginning of the episode something about the "blondes" controlling the show (meaning her and her best blonde pal Sarah). The task to be performed this week was a mobile billboard with live action performances to be driven around the streets of Manhattan promoting the new laundry product Tide-to-Go. Matchstick came up with a really good idea - a figure named "Tide-to-Go Joe" who fights stains in a boxing ring on the truck stage. With Matchstick members dressed as stains, and Ryan dressed as Tide-to-Go Joe in a superhero suit - this whole scheme worked great. Meanwhile, Primarius came up with, well, no idea at all. They made a non-descript billboard and had the bunch of them dancing around like fools on the truck stage. They weren't saying much of anything about the product - how dumb is that?! Needless to say, Primarius lost - and ha ha on those two blondes - BOTH Carrie and Sarah were sent home. After the conceit of the two of them - that's justice. I am still rooting for anyone BUT annoying Jim to win.

Airdate: October 26, 2005 - - The teams had to compete in a rather dumb stunt, I thought - the good part was it was a celebrity and pet charity auction to benefit dogs, the dumb part is that each team was assigned four celebrities and then had to come up with auction ideas involving auctioning off days spent with the celebrity - ya know, something like "spa day with Fran Drescher" or whatever. Since each team was assigned different celebrities, there seems to me to be a built-in unfairness in the fact that some celebrities are more POPULAR than other celebrities and will bring in higher auction bids. Matchstick lost this task, and young (and apparently too quiet and non-pushy for this bunch) David was sent packing. But Martha did write a friendlier letter to him than usual, showing interest in his internet ideas for MarthaStewart.com. I am rooting for anyone at this point who is NOT Jim. Jim is the most annoying jerk ever - I HOPE he goes next time.