Where have I been?

Hey everyone,

Don't worry, I didn't go anywhere and the blog isn't shutting down or anything. I have been super busy working on a campaign which has taken up literally all of my time. I couldn't even watch last Wednesday's episode. Yes, you heard me correctly. I promise when this election is over I will be back with a vengeance, or at least another blog about CT. See ya all soon...

Cutthroat So Far

I was on the edge. At every point in the season, you make a decision on whether or not the season is quality. I felt going into the third episode that this season was going to underwhelm. There was a lot off with it after two viewings. For one, the cast just isn't that strong. Too many minor characters, I figured. If Abram is your most compelling male on the show, you're in trouble. He's just too hit or miss. Johnny "Domestic Violence" is great when he has a proper wingman to go along with his douchebaggery. But I just didn't see it.

Well, after last night's episode, I'm back in baby!! I'm not saying it was the greatest episode ever, probably not even top 10. But it was entertaining enough to change my opinion on the season. Let's give a quick rundown of the action:

Laurel drunkenly berated Big Easy for being fat, red headed, and small dicked. It was really vicious and below the belt, and completely unprovoked. Yet, she wasn't wrong, right? Objectively speaking, everything she said was correct. I think that's what hurt the most for Big Easy. Laurel just gets ridiculously truthful when she drinks. Maybe next time she'll get plastered and talk about the time her parents had to choose whether she would grow up as a boy or girl.

Johnny "Domestic Violence" falls down the stairs at a bar and gets into a fight with some locals. Or so I thought. Naturally the cameras miss the entire thing and we are left to use our imaginations on what happened. Damnit MTV! If I wanted to use my imagination, I wouldn't be watching the Challenge! I'd be writing for positive reasons. We can all agree that Johnny is one of the few people this season that needs to have a camera on him constantly. So why aren't the cameraman doing so? God this show can drive me "Johnny Bananas" sometimes.

Katie faceplanted on a challenge, got a gnarly black eye (TJ's word, not mine), and almost got into a fisticuffs with both Emily and Ty from Real World DC. Of course, those two wait until after their Real World season is over to do something interesting. Ty continues his goal to become the next Johnny "Domestic Violence" by outright saying he was going to hit Katie. Folks, it is going to happen. We are going to read that Ty got arrested for hitting a female. But have no fear. Because I'm sure Ty will be getting his fair share of hits in prison, especially hits to the butt (yes i made a cheap prison rape joke. I don't care at this point).

Shavonda offered us some brilliant logic at the end of the show. She quit, not even bothering to try to win the Gulag, and then rationalized her quitting by saying it was so her team would respect her. Huh? You know, if you look at Shavonda's history on this show, it's fairly impressive. She got into two almost-fights this season to go along with her genius performance last night. She popped an implant on a previous challenge, an instant all time classic. And she hooked up with CT on a roof in her first season. Is Shavonda a Challenge all star? Hells yes!

All in all, a highly entertaining episode that can sustain at least 3 mediocre ones until CT shows up. Or as I like to call it, Armageddon on steroids, because CT is capable of destroying the show, whilst being on steroids of course. But the best part of the episode last night was the part after the show when cast members wished TJ well after his awful BMX crash (go here for the story). The thing i couldn't help but notice was who they go to do the clip. Chet, Abram, Ayiiia, Cara Maria, and JD all lent their support. Really? That's the best they could get? I get Abram, but every else is either a rookie or just isn't that popular on the show. Where was Kenny, Johnny, and Evan? Bring back Coral or Beth, for christsakes. Seriously, what was Wes doing that conflicted with this shooting? I found this to be quite amusing. I'm sure TJ won't care that they sent out the JV team to wish him well. He's done 10 seasons of this show and doesn't even want to keep in touch with any of these guys except Kenny.

So as I've said before, I'm on board with this season. Unless it takes a significant nose dive, I'm pretty confident this will go down as a pretty good season. Until next time.....

New Blog Up Soon

New blog is coming shortly. Thanks for being patient.

Is Abram good?

Going into Wednesday night’s Challenge episode, I thought I had it figured out. I was all set to write up something on how Abram is actually one of the all time greats, and how we never really knew it because of how he spread out his appearances on the series. He clearly was the leader on his team for this Challenge, and anytime someone can immediately step and take charge, and the rest of the team is fine with this, that signifies that that player is an elite. Or at least, viewed by the rest of the players as an elite. Because after Wednesday night’s episode, I honestly don’t know what to make of Abram.

Abram did all the things that someone may think a leader should do like volunteering to sit out and let the team show what they can do and also yelling a cheerleading the rest of the team. But true leaders recognize their qualities that make them the elite and make sure they are in the battle leading by example. Abram is the best player the grey team has. Regardless of his noble intentions, if he was a true leader, he would have done the challenge instead of trying to motivate others. Would Michael Jordan ever sit out a competition? Would he ever delegate to others to be “the man.” This became the whole crux of the debate with Lebron James’ decision to take his talents to Dwayne Wade’s team. He said he was putting the team before himself and being a true leader. But in that instance, just like with Abram, that was not being a true leader.

Predictably, the decision by Abram to sit out and cheerlead his team to victory failed tremendously. Abram further dumbfounded us by volunteering to go into the Gulag (still can’t get over that they named the elimination round the Gulag). You’re the best player on your team and you are volunteering yourself to go home? What happens if you do lose the Gulag? By trying to be a leader and step up, Abram potentially did way more harm than good. Now, clearly Abram is a good guy who wants to be noble and valiant. But this isn’t what his team needs. They need someone who is, and my sincere apologies for what I’m about to say, more cutthroat. Now I get the show!

But the complete reevaluation of Abram has also made me rethink the entire way I value competitors on this show. As I’ve alluded to a few times, I’m trying to formulate a list of the best competitors in the history of the show. Everything from number of final Challenge victories, appearances, times booted off the show, and record in elimination challenges are being considered. But I’m seeing that there are really two, maybe even three, different types of Challenges that benefit players differently.

The two main types of challenges are the team-based (where it’s good guys vs. bad asses or men vs. women) and the individual challenge (often where you have a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place guy and girl. You could argue that the teams of two challenge is also separate, but for now let’s lump them with individual challenges. Obviously, it is much easier to win a challenge when you are part of a team. As long as your team keeps winning, you don’t have to worry about strategy too much or your own flaws being exposed. That’s why we often see 8 people win a final challenge. Guys like Abram and Johnny “Domestic Violence” do well in those types of competitions. But isn’t the individual challenge really the more accurate assessment of the best competitor? It forces them to make alliances and hope it sustains them to the end. There have been challenges where the final 3 never had to go into an elimination round until the final one. Once you make it to the final challenge, it’s all about you first two other competitors. Then all the strategy and scheming goes out the window. The strongest, smartest, and toughest survive.

Let’s apply this argument to the real world. Or, the real world as far as reality t.v. competitions go. In my analysis, I saw that Adam (RW Paris) successfully made it to a final challenge. However, he was with at least 8 other people (Gauntlet 3). Barely anyone from his team even had to go into an elimination round since they were so much better than the other team. So can we really say that his appearance was based on his skills as an athlete and strategist? I say no. Let’s compare that to Brad. Brad has never won a Challenge, and the conventional thought is he just sucks at them. But hold on a second. Besides making it to a couple of team final challenges, Brad also placed second individually in the Duel 2, losing to Evan and besting Mark. Brad has fewer wins on the show than Tonya, but obviously they aren’t equally valued.

Now we can simply just say that the best people are the ones who won individual challenges, and to a large extent that is true. But the fact is that the vast majority of these seasons are based on the team format. So we are forced to judge the level of greatness on these seasons, as well. And that’s why we see Abram as an elite competitor. He won two challenges, made 3 final challenges, and likely would have won another on the Island had he not asked to leave the show. But now we see that he is on a team of only 10 players. He must step up and show himself to be elite instead of relying on other people to share the load of greatness. And so far, I don’t think he is. There is a lot of season left, but so far it does not look like Abram is on the level of guys like Evan, Kenny, and Mark.

Finally, this whole issue of different types of challenges is stupid. Every other reality competition has it where there is one winner. Because this is such an athletically-based competition, it is justifiable to have a male and female winner. But the team competitions tend to not be so interesting. There is something about seeing 10 people declare themselves winners and wind up getting only $10,000 after taxes that just doesn’t do it for me. I would love to see this go to individualized challenges. With the egos in place, could you imagine how competitive it would be with Johnny, Evan, Derrick, CT, and Kenny battling it out year after year to see who is really the best? Or Evelyn, Laurel, and Sarah (Brooklyn) seeing who is alpha-female? I’d love it. The only problem is this type of game dissuades some marginal players and just awful players (Katie, Casey) from considering to play. These are surely entertaining personalities and we want them to be a part of it. But something in my gut tells me that offering these social rejects a month in a luxurious location and all the booze and Subway they can consume probably takes care of the incentive issue.

Now, I’m not complaining. I still thoroughly enjoy the show the way it is now. But for the sports nut in me who loves to compare athletes, I would definitely enjoy a switch in format.

I think Brad wins it this year. Mark it down.

P.S. After I finished this blog, I learned that TJ Lavin, the greatest host the Challenge has ever had, injured himself during a BMX competition and was put into a medically-induced coma. My thoughts are with him and his family. The prognosis looks hopeful, and let’s all just hope he fully recovers and is back to TJ Lavining it in no time.

Looking Back: Real World Hawaii

I love almost every season of the Real World for different reasons. I love Seattle because it was the first season I truly watched. I loved Chicago because Tonya was such a polarizing character. Ditto for Back to New Orleans, times 100. I loved Real World Hawaii for many reasons, to be sure. But chief among them is that I thoroughly enjoyed the show even before it began. MTV ingeniously decided to have a casting show that ended with the host of the show, Colin, surprisingly being told he was the final roommate. Great drama, and episode one hadn't even occurred yet.

But the cast wasn't satisfied with a great casting show. They immediately upped the ante with a terrific first episode that involved two cast mates skinny dipping within minutes of meeting each other. The viewer immediately understood that these people were not like them, but rather insane people who just wanted to have fun being exhibitionists. This is exactly what the show needs. We are voyeuristic as a society, and part of that need as voyeurs are subjects willing to embrace our needs by being insane exhibitionists. Teck and Ruthie were the perfect people for it.

One of the great thing about this season was that the cast tackled every Real World cliche head on and amplified them. Alcoholism? Where an average season has a housemate who gets a little aggressive when drunk, this season had Ruthie constantly drunk and eventually driving home clearly blasted. More on that defining moment later. Nudity? Well, we had that in the first ten minutes, and then it continued throughout the show thanks Kaia. Outrageous personalities? That was Teck, who would eventually go on to star in crappy National Lampoon movies (Actually, Van Wilder was good. I did find it very odd that they didn't bring back Teck for the two sequels. Did he say no to them? Can't imagine Teck saw a higher ceiling than 4th lead in a National Lampoon movie).

This season had the confident guy that was the glue to the season, Colin, and the ditzy blonde whose cuteness quickly gets overshadowed by her craziness, Amaya. It even had the evil gay guy, Justin (he is always overlooked when we talk about most evil or hated Real Worlder but man this guy was an awful person) and the hippie-nature girl who is also judgmental and a bitch. It even had the random guy who wasn't interesting at all, Matt. While there weren't any hot girls, it wasn't necessary for the season. It was just a quality cast based on personalities, not looks. A stark contrast from the show Real World would become in just a few years.

There were great moments a plenty in this season, but the big ones all centered around Ruthie and her drinking. We all remember her drunk driving incident. A truly great season has to have at least one show-defining moment, and this was not just season defining, but top 5 show defining. To this day, I can't understand how the producers let her drive home. At some point, you have to break down the fourth wall and prevent a serious crime from happening. This was one of those times, and the producers chose to chase the good television rather than do the right thing. Ultimately, it worked for them since no one got hurt and the episode was awesome. But they took a BIG chance there.

Things got so bad for Ruthie that her family flew in and the entire house gave her an ultimatum: Go to rehab or get kicked off the show. Ruthie was very combative, but eventually agreed. That was great real television. It wasn't easy; Ruthie was vehemently opposed to rehab. And it strained her friendships with the housemates, but eventually it all worked out. Now if only we could send Ryan to rehab. How great would that be? Or CT in anger management??

The recurring plot line for the season was Colin and Amaya's relationship. At first, it was great between them. They were really connecting. Then, shockingly, it all went downhill. Turns out Amaya is batshit crazy and annoying as hell. Funny, it took Colin 2/3rds of the season to realize this. You know what, though? I was fooled for at least half the season. Amaya wasn't my type, but I got it as a guy why Colin was into her. I realized she was one of the dumbest and most irritating people ever a little bit before Colin, but I'll give him a pass. I mean, she did have nice breasts. You can't underestimate their power.

In case you thought that was it, no. There's more! Some of the other notables from the season:

Ruthie had a twin who Matt (you know, that other guy there) hit it off with. That was...interesting, especially since this all played against the bigger issue of Ruthie being an alcoholic. I was wondering when that was going down if Ruthie's twin acted as a stand in when Ruthie was too hammered to wake up.

Kaia was a rambling mess of bullshit. She was very left of center and free with her body. She portrayed an aura of self confidence and smugness. In fact, she was very insecure with herself and hypocritical. Overall, she was full of it. I personally couldn't stand her. What could you expect from someone who went to Berkeley.

Amaya was hated by pretty much everybody by the end of the show. She was a little girl trapped in a adults body. Her insecurities and constant talking behind others back made her really easy to root against.

Then there was Justin. He was an openly gay Harvard student. Good for him, for real. The problem with him is he describes himself as a child prodigy. Translation: pompous, arrogant, smug douchebag. Add on the fact that he tried to break up Colin and Amaya and cause other drama in the house and you get a pretty shitty person. Eventually he left the show in part because of a family emergency, in part because he thought he was above everybody else. The truth is anyone who goes on this show can't be acting superior to anyone else; not a CEO, not a lawyer, not a garbage man, not someone on public assistance, not anyone. It is about as low as Danny Bonaduce currently is.

Last thoughts:

While thinking about this season, I realized there are a few things that are quite coincidental. The best one worth mentioning is the "Friends" parallels. I have seen almost every "Friends" episode mainly because they show at least 3 a day on TBS and Channel 11. And the show is pretty funny, I'll admit. I've noticed the following parallels between Real World Hawaii and "Friends."

1. Amaya is very similar to the character, Phoebe. Both are blonde, ditzy, and a tad annoying. More interesting, they both believe in astrology, auras, chakras, and other bullshit of that nature. In fact, Amaya went on the host two astrology-related shows on "Karma Air."

2. Matt winds up dating Ruthie's twin. Joey did the same thing with Phoebe's twin, Ursella.

3. There is a character on "Friends" called " fun Bobby" who was only entertaining when he drank. Ruthie was also an alcoholic, and a fun and entertaining one at that. Since she quit drinking, she has been pretty dull on the Challenges, just like fun Bobby was when he quit drinking. The lesson is alcohol equals people like you.

4. Teck actually appeared on "Friends," one of only a handful of roles in his acting career.

Finally, Justin was a scheming gay guy who seemed to bask in drama. This falls in line with other gay cast members on the Real World, including Tyler and JD. I've come to the conclusion that there are three types of gay guys on the Real World:

1. The evil gay: He wants to cause drama for his own entertainment, acting like a puppet master. He holds contempt for the others for being so shallow and stupid, yet he also is on the show. This type of gay guy should avoid glass houses.

2. The flamboyant, girlie gay guy: Derek from Cancun and William from Pennsylvania. They are fun and accepted by the other guys, but very flamboyant and sometimes are just used to be the stereotype and amusement of the others. They are really more of a novelty.

3. The jock gay guy: There is a big issue with when they come out to the roommates because they don't seem gay. Think Karamo from Philly, Davis from Denver, and Mike from DC. They are athletic and most people would be surprised to learn they are gay. Incidentally, they wind up hooking up more than anyone else in the house.

Unfortunately,this is all we see from the show. In the actual real world, gay people are usually EXACTLY like straight people. You can't pigeonhole them as a type. Sure those types exist. But the majority are just regular people who act completely normal and being gay is just a part of them. It does not define their lives and personalities. Once again, the Real World show does not accurately reflect the real world. I suppose I shouldn't complain. That would be a fairly boring show if it was exactly like the real world.

That's all there is. Hawaii was a game changer of a season to be sure. It probably most bridged the old school, personality driven seasons with the new school, alcohol and over the top behavior season. But it was definitely a classic and one I won't soon forget.

Finally! Episode 1 of Cutthroat Review

The anticipation was worth it. Or maybe I was just so pumped for the premiere of The Challenge:Cutthroat that no matter how good or bad the episode was, I was going to love it. There were so many great moments, but I won't bore you with all of them.

The main highlights are Laurel and Shavonda fighting over literally nothing. Laurel wanted to wrestle Shavonda, I think, and she didn't. I have to say Laurel is a tad weird when she drinks. How does one respond to a wrestling request, as a woman? Then Shavonda actually hit Laurel, yet nothing was done about it. Five years ago, Shavonda gets kicked off for that. Now, it's not even mentioned again. Love it!! There was also some type of competition where they had to go into a gas-filled room and remember things. That was something I probably could not do, so kudos to those guys for pulling it off.

So far, through one episode, Abram is really impressing me. I forgot that this guy is a legit competitor who can take over the competition. He's definitely going to be around until the end. I also think that Johnny and Derrick's team is fairly stacked and they will both make it to the end.

Then there is Brad's team. Ugh, I really feel for the guy. But it isn't going to end well, as always. At least he has Tori, who he has since married. I suppose she made peace with the fact that he will never hold a real job and is a lovable loser in life. I personally would have no problem with him going on these challenges until he's 50. I wonder if Brad receives public assistance since he doesn't seem to generate any income on his own.

But onto the best part of the show; the preview of the season featuring CT!!! I love how they reveal the big plot twist of the season in the previews. Doesn't that just ruin the whole point of the plot twist. As always I have a theory. CT is such a great character that the producers couldn't keep it a secret any longer. They figured the best way to keep the audience invested in the show is to let the secret out that CT and his craziness is going to show up at some point. I wonder why they included Tina as part of the whole "we just are going to bring the baddest and biggest former challengers ever onto the show to flip the show upside down?" Is she really that intimidating? She's really just a bitch. But that works for me.

But the bottom line is based on the first episode, I think we are in for a good season. Or at least we know we get a good payoff with CT at some point.

On a separate note, I haven't been posting as frequently as I want to, not necessarily because I have more to say on the current season of the Challenge or Real World. But I do want to post more "special blogs" like profiles in courage and more on my favorite seasons. So I'll make a deal with no one in particular. I will have a new post on one of my favorite seasons of the Real World. Make sure to read tomorrow to find out which season...

Thoughts on the Challenge premiere coming soon.

Hopefully tomorrow.

TJ Lavin on the Bill Simmons Podcast: Recap

In case you missed it, my idol Bill Simmons and the czar of reality television, Dave Jacoby, had on their podcast the incomparable T.J. Lavin to dish on the Challenge. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I saw that posted on Simmons’ twitter. Imagine a 10 year old being informed they were going to Wrestlemania and then just getting more excited as it got closer to the event. Eventually, the kid gets so excited he tears up and maybe wets himself a little. That was me waiting for the podcast (and yes, I am joking. I only wet myself after bad dreams).

TJ seriously TJ Lavined it on the podcast. He was funny, engaging, dished on all the good dirt, and only went slightly overboard on the number of gnarlies he threw into the conversation. But most importantly, he answered quite a few nagging questions I’ve had since the show debuted. Below are some of the highlights:

-TJ proposed to the producers that if someone goads another into punching them, then the puncher should not get thrown off the show. He used the Darrell/Brad fight to illustrate this point. And he is absolutely correct. Everyone loves the Jersey Shore in part because of the fights. The roommates are allowed to brawl without fear of being sent home. The Challenge needs to incorporate more of this. Considering all the ego and steroids involved in a given season ( and craziness, can’t forget that. CT comes to mind, obviously), preventing these people from letting out their aggression on each other is downright criminal. Or maybe it actually saves lives. I can’t be sure.

-Along those same lines, TJ suggested they put a “rubber room” in the house so that if two people have serious issues and agree to fight, they can go in this room and brawl. Once they enter that rule, neither can get sent home for throwing a punch. I also like this idea, but think it’s a bit counterintuitive to how fights actually happen. Generally, there is a lot of talk and then suddenly someone overreacts. Then we have a good old tussle. When you stop the guys and ask them if they want to go into the room, it allows for rational thought to take over and calmer heads to prevail. It is no longer an impulse move. Besides, people fight differently. Some people prefer to get in the cheap shot as opposed to squaring up against someone else ala boxing. I think the idea of a room is smart and overall I support it.

-When TJ was talking about how he calls out competitors, he mentioned Evelyn and said she was an “alpha-male…I mean, alpha-female” and then proceeded to crack up. The great thing about TJ is he gets the stupidity of the show and the contestants. He could live in a bubble and treat the show very seriously, but he chooses to make fun of the players. Part of that can be explained by this next tidbit.

- TJ has no real interaction with the cast aside from the actual challenges. He does not know about any of the drama from the night before until the following morning when he receives updates from the producers. Simmons suggested they turn that into its own show, just have TJ reacting to the craziness. I’d watch. Hell, I’d Tivo also. TJ also does not keep in contact with anyone from the show aside from Kenny. First, of course he talks to Kenny. Kenny is just the only one cool enough and self aware enough to hang out with TJ. Second, I think this allows TJ to stay objective about the whole thing and even rip on the competitors. He isn’t beholden to anyone to keep certain things secret.

-TJ has never hooked up with any cast member, not that he didn’t want to at times.

- There has never been any documented drug use on the show, as far as TJ knows. Although everyone was highly suspicious of Luke on Fresh Meat 2.

-Kenny works on a dock when he isn’t filming the show or going to club promotions. Rachel runs a fitness-related business. Aside from that, the rest of the casts’ professions are a mystery to TJ. I’m a little disappointed that we couldn’t find out more about how these guys can do these challenges and still maintain regular employment. TJ suggested that they all do the club circuit. Really? People are paying $1,000 for Adam from RW:Paris?

-Simmons or Jacoby suggested they have the Challenge All-Stars go up against the Jersey Shore crew. Friggin’ AWESOME idea!!! It begs the extremely important question: Who do you put up there if you need to win a challenge. Let’s dissect this, shall we?

Jersey Shore crew:

The females do not seem to athletic, with the very notable exception of Sammi “Sweetheart.” JWoww smokes too much for any long distance competition, but can definitely “beat a bitch up.” Angelina arguably needs to lose a few pounds before she is in game shape. And Snooki, bless her pint-sized heart, doesn’t seem to be the most athletic and graceful person in the world. The guys, however, will be tough to beat. The Situation is a big dude in his own right, and even he isn’t as roided up as Ronnie. The big negative on Ronnie is he is only 3 feet 6. The weak link is Vinnie, but he probably could hold his own.

The Challenge crew:

Obviously, they hold a significant advantage in that they’ve all done these things a hundred times. Also, the top 4 girls are head and shoulders above the Jersey Shore girls. Something about being able to wake up before two pm, I think. Rachel is physically imposing. She would match up very well with JWoww. Evelyn is pretty much a man ( she has beaten guy competitors in elimination challenges, by the way). Laurel is the newcomer but just based on size alone, she is intimidating. Finally, I’m going with Ruthie. She won a challenge by herself and is sneaky strong.

The guys need to bring out the big guns to have a chance at matching up with The Sitch, Pauly D, and Ron Ron. You have to include C.T. He scares anyone, with our without the juice. I also have to include Evan. Physically, he can match up with the Situation. Kenny is a beast at these competitions and just a dynamic personality who can get under his opponents’ skin. Finally, and what may surprising to some but not loyal readers of this blog, I’m going with Frank from Vegas. He is physically there with the other guys, although a bit smaller. But he is relatively smart, and you know any challenge would include a spelling bee and Sudoku puzzles. You need a smart guy on the team.

Prediction: Real World Challenge All-Stars and it isn’t close.

Over all, the podcast exceeded my expectations and even furthered my excitement for the new season of the Challenge, Cutthroat. TJ said that CT does something so incredible that it is in his top 3 of all-time moments. If anyone wants to give a listen and learn some interesting things about the show, and have some laughs, here is the link.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/

See you all after the premiere on Wednesday!