Archive for the Survivor Category
Posted by: Ducky in 24, Adam Baldwin, Amy Acker, Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, Caprica, Chi McBride, Chuck, Ducky Does TV, FX, Flash Forward, Fringe, GMMR, Glee, Greek, Grey's Anatomy, Happy Town, Harper's Island, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Human Target, Josh Schwartz, Life Unexpected, Lost, Nurse Jackie, Parenthood, Podcast, Premiere, Southland, Supernatural, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, The Good Wife, The United States of Tara, V, White Collar, Yvonne Strahovski, Zachary Levi

Fall Schmall… The Winter 2010 TV schedule is cuckoo-bananas! Ducky and GMMR sat down, screeners in hand, mapped out all the premiere dates and dished the dirt on all the new and returning shows.
What did we think of the first 5 episodes of CHUCK Season 3? What about the new season of 24 featuring Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff)? What about new shows like LIFE UNEXPECTED, THE DEEP END, CAPRICA, HAPPY TOWN and HUMAN TARGET?
Want to know when DAMAGES, LOST, SOUTHLAND, GLEE and NURSE JACKIE return? Want to know how long you have to wait for Lauren Graham to shine in PARENTHOOD? How many more weeks until the return of TV Talk’s recurring listener fave “2 Idiots Talk LOST”?
Find all this out and more as we pour over everything Winter 2010 has to offer us TV fanatics! Click here to listen to the latest TV Talk Podcast!
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Posted by: Ducky in 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, Bones, Chris Colfer, Community, Cory Monteith, Cougar Town, Dexter, Dollhouse, Ducky Does TV, Fall Preview, Flash Forward, Friday Night Lights, Fringe, GMMR, Glee, Gossip Girl, Greek, Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Ian Somerhalder, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Joss Whedon, Kyle XY, Mad Men, Matthew Bomer, Modern Family, Parks & Recreation, Podcast, Private Practice, So You Think You Can Dance, So You Think You Can Dance Season 6, Southland, Supernatural, Survivor, TV Boyfriends, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, The Good Wife, The Office, The Vampire Diaries, Top Chef, True Blood, V, White Collar

It’s been 7 weeks since our last podcast and 7 weeks since we last saw each other. You totally thought GMMR and Ducky had called it quits didn’t you? How dare you…
An extended gig in the Hamptons originally sidelined the podcast, then a horrible back injury kept this terrible TV twosome apart until now!
For our first big podcast of the Fall, we thought we’d make up for lost time with a huge 2 hour 10 minute carcast full of laughs, tears, a near death experience and even some New England leaf peeping!
Shows covered in this podcast:
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, BIG BANG THEORY, GOSSIP GIRL, HOUSE, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, THE BIGGEST LOSER, THE GOOD WIFE, V, GLEE, MODERN FAMILY, COUGAR TOWN, TOP CHEF, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, FLASH FORWARD, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, BONES, SUPERNATURAL, FRINGE, THE OFFICE, PARKS & RECREATION, 30 ROCK, COMMUNITY, GREY’S ANATOMY, PRIVATE PRACTICE, UGLY BETTY, DOLLHOUSE, SOUTHLAND, WHITE COLLAR, THE AMAZING RACE, SURVIVOR, DEXTER, MAD MEN and GREEK.
We hope you enjoy our ode to Fall TV so far this season and hope you’ll join in the conversation. Leave your thoughts on what we covered in the comments section of this post! We’d love to hear what you’ve got to say about the new Fall lineup.
Click here to listen to the latest TV Talk Podcast!
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Posted by: Ducky in America's Best Dance Crew, Bones, Community, Ducky Does TV, Fringe, Grey's Anatomy, Parks & Recreation, Supernatural, Survivor, The Office, The Vampire Diaries

Remember when Thursday night was a bat-shit crazy night of television. NBC owned the night and the counter programming was pretty fierce as well. Last season for some reason, I only watched a couple shows on Thursday’s and while I was happy to have some free time in my TV schedule, I kinda missed the chaos.
Tonight, the Fall Season starts to get really hectic! To make things even more chaotic for me, I’m in LA and can’t watch most of it because tonight I’ll be chillin’ with the final 3 crews of AMERICA’S BEST DANCE CREW!
Last week, The CW premiered THE VAMPIRE DIARIES to huge numbers. It was the biggest series premiere the network had ever seen and I’m happy to report I fucking love the show. Listen to our CW Fall Preview Podcast for more on why I’m totally addicted to TVD! SUPERNATURAL’s Season 5 premiere was crazy good and seriously, having the Winchesters back is like a little slice of heaven (or hell) right here on earth.
Tonight the premieres of SURVIVOR: SAMOA, BONES, PARKS & RECREATION, THE OFFICE, COMMUNITY and FRINGE little the landscape.
I was super excited for COMMUNITY but didn’t love it. It’s got a lot of promise but the pilot falls a little flat and reads quirky for quirks-sake. I’ve always been a huge fan of SURVIVOR so I’m psyched to see the newest castaways battle it out this season. THE OFFICE is always there for a good laugh and I can’t wait to see what expecting parents Jim & Pam do about telling the rest of Dunder Mifflin. I’ve had the BONES season premiere for a couple weeks but have been too busy to watch. Cannot wait! The FRINGE Season 2 premiere is one of the best hours of television I’ve watched so far this fall. Killer shit happens and I’m so glad that the Fringe Science Division is back in action (or is it?)!
What are you watching tonight and are you at all worried about having so many shows up against each other? I hate that the networks have pitted FRINGE against SUPERNATURAL. I love both shows and forcing genre fans to choose between the two is just bullshit. I’m obviously going to watch SUPERNATURAL live and watch FRINGE at a later date as the season plays out but damn… Just remember that GREY’S and PRIVATE PRACTICE are still to debut. Oy Vey!
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Posted by: Ducky in 90210, ABC, Big Bang Theory, Bones, Brothers & Sisters, CBS, Castle, Community, Cougar Town, Dollhouse, Ducky Does TV, Eastwick, FOX, Fall Preview, Flash Forward, Fringe, Glee, Gossip Girl, Heroes, Human Target, Mad Men, Melrose Place, NBC, Parks & Recreation, Premiere, Private Practice, Saturday Night Live, So You Think You Can Dance, Southland, Supernatural, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, The CW, The Mentalist, The Office, The Vampire Diaries
The new Fall TV season is less than a week away and while I’ve been busy trying to watch all the new pilots I have to say that I’m not super excited about the new crop of shows. Bummer huh?
Want to know when everything premieres? Check out our Fall TV 2009 Premiere Date list!
My podcasting partner in crime GMMR and I have been trying to schedule time to talk Fall TV and we hope to have all of the network podcasts up in the next week so hold tight. We’ve posted our thoughts on the new shows for The CW so please listen to that podcast to see what we love and/or hate.
In the meantime here are the shows I plan on watching this Fall. Shows in BLUE are what I plan on watching LIVE or DVR’d. Shows in PINK are ones that I will have to catch online or via iTunes.
MONDAY (click to enlarge)

Monday’s have traditionally been a pretty busy night of TV viewing for me. However, this year it’s looking pretty open.
I’m annoyed that the power hour that started my night of television last year has been split up because BIG BANG THEORY and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER was a partnership made in heaven. I’ll be interested to see what happens to BBT at such a late hour (and I hope to remember its on that late) and if I feel like the vibe is the same without it’s partner.
Another year, another chance to officially drop HEROES. Last year I decided to watch then within 5 episodes I dropped that lame duck for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. Going into Season 4, I’ve vowed to not even give it a single frame of consideration. Will. Not. Watch!
After a brief vacation from the kids on the Upper East Side, a summer marathon has renewed my love for all things GOSSIP GIRL. That doesn’t mean I won’t get annoyed with the repetitive storylines and the lame quick-wrap secondary storylines – it just means I’m excited for the show to return and kick some ass! Let’s not fuck it up Savage & Schwartz.
If you’re interested in ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE starring Jenna Elfman, Ashley Jensen and Grant Show you should watch. It’s a very traditional sitcom and paired with TWO AND A HALF MEN, I think it’s going to be a huge hit. I just don’t see myself watching it week to week. The pilot is cute, Elfman is adorable and the premise is fun. Mark my words, this is one of the biggest new shows in 09.
TUESDAY (click to enlarge)

Believe it or not, I’m only watching two shows on Tuesday’s but hell if that isn’t four frakkin’ hours of television.
I’m a total sucker for the weight loss and emotional meltdowns of THE BIGGEST LOSER so there’s no chance I’m not watching Bob and Jillian bust some fatties once again. Love that damn show.
Obviously you know I’m a huge SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE junkie so that’s a no brainer – or is it? I’ve been very vocal about how I don’t love the idea of bringing SYTYCD to the Fall. I love having it as my summer obsession because I have less shows to watch in the summertime which means more time for a Paso Doble or two. Pushing it on us in the middle of the onslaught of new and returning shows seems cruel and I hate that it’s going to take up two hours of my Fall TV schedule. There… I’ve said it.
I’m not gonna lie – from time to time I will probably watch The CW’s reboot of MELROSE PLACE. I actually enjoyed the pilot episode. It’s 100% better than I expected it to be and surely my partner Jon will want to pop in and out of that salacious complex.
*If you’re wondering about BETTER OFF TED, don’t worry its coming back after DwtS ends (which isn’t soon enough)!
**ABC’s reboot of V starts November 3rd at 8pm (shitty time slot for a show that is not suited for 8pm) and I’m super excited. I loved the original as a kid and I really enjoyed the pilot for the remake. Plus, it’s got Elizabeth Mitchell, Alan Tudyk and Scott Wolf!
WEDNESDAY (click to enlarge)

Wednesday night is really the only night I’m giving new shows a chance at making it into my live/dvr rotation.
SYTYCD has it’s results show at 8pm and that’s followed by GLEE (which we all know I flippin’ heart). It’s a great one-two punch and I’m really looking forward to Wednesday’s – thanks FOX!
Over on ABC, my favorite new comedy, MODERN FAMILY gets paired up with the pretty good COUGAR TOWN. Trust me when I tell you to tune in to MODERN FAMILY. The pilot has laugh out loud funny jokes throughout and one of the best, THE BEST, things I’ve ever seen in the final few minutes. COUGAR TOWN is fun, a little dirty and honestly who doesn’t love having Courtney Cox, Busy Phillips and Josh Hopkins back on their screens?
EASTWICK is not as bad as you think it might be. The hour grew on me as it progressed and I’m willing to give it a couple weeks which is more than I can say for many of the new shows this Fall.
More Fall 2009 shows after the jump… (more…)
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CBS is making a few changes to their Monday night lineup, taking over some of NBC’s 2nd hand goods and getting into the stone cold fox game with a new show starring Alex O’Laughlin.
The scariest change is moving THE BIG BANG THEORY to 9:30! I loved my comedy block of BBT and HIMYM not to mention it freed up the rest of my night for other shows. Separating them by two lesser shows is going to be annoying as hell. Just so you know. While I don’t like moving BBT, I’m all about moving THE MENTALIST to Thursday night at 10pm. It will make my loyal viewing that much easier. Thank you CBS! Same goes for COLD CASE which is moving from 9 to 10pm on Sunday nights.
Can anyone else believe they picked up MEDIUM from NBC? I mean, for the Love of Jennifer Hewitt.. let this show die and not haunt other network.
For new shows, there’s the Jenna Elfman comedy ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE, the Julianna Margulies fronted THE GOOD WIFE and MOONLIGHT hottie Alex O’Laughlin’s THREE RIVERS.
CBS’s Fall 2009 Lineup:
MONDAY
8 p.m. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30 p.m. ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE
9 p.m. TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30 p.m. THE BIG BANG THEORY
10 p.m. CSI: MIAMI
TUESDAY
8 p.m. NCIS
9 p.m. NCIS: LOS ANGELES
10 p.m. THE GOOD WIFE
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. NEW ADVENTURE OF OLD CHRISTINE
8:30 p.m. GARY UNMARRIED
9 p.m. CRIMINAL MINDS
10 p.m. CSI: NY
THURSDAY
8p.m. SURVIVOR
9 p.m. CSI
10 p.m. THE MENTALIST
FRIDAY
8 p.m. GHOST WHISPERER
9 p.m. MEDIUM
10 p.m. NUMB3RS
SUNDAY
8 p.m. THE AMAZING RACE
9 p.m. THREE RIVERS
10 p.m. COLD CASE
Come Midseason 2010 there are new shows MIAMI TRAUMA, THE BRIDGE and ARRANGED MARRIAGE to add into the mix.
Have I mentioned how much I love Simon Baker? No? Well I do… lots.
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Posted by: Ducky in 30 Rock, America's Best Dance Crew, American Idol, Anastasia Griffith, Battlestar Galactica, Big Bang Theory, Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, Chuck, Damages, Dollhouse, Ducky Does TV, Eliza Dushku, Friday Night Lights, GMMR, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Kyle XY, Lost, Matt Dallas, Podcast, Privileged, Reaper, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, The L Word, The Mentalist, The Office, The United States of Tara, Top Chef
Ducky’s back from vacation which means it’s time for another TV Talk Podcast! We have almost 3 weeks to cover so make yourself some tea, get a snack and settle in for the soothing cackles and rants we’re about to sling your way.
We start as we always do, Monday nights. BIG BANG THEORY and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER continues to be the best damn double bill on television. CHUCK goes to the suburbs, tests his best friendship with Morgan and breaks up with Sarah, say what? HEROES hits rock bottom and Matt Dallas shows his rock hard… abs!
THE BIGGEST LOSER 7 pisses Ducky off and shockingly Kath watched! PRIVILEGED aired what may have been it’s series finale and is to be continued but when considering The CW renewed a bunch of shows already. AMERICAN IDOL continues to rock on while randomly REAPER returns.
TOP CHEF has a shocking finale while Kath gets a shocker as she realizes she missed DAMAGES last week mid-recap.
SURVIVOR’s getting ugly, Sweeps are in March, 30 ROCK gets political, AMERICA’S BEST DANCE CREW kills it and I might kill Kath for something she says about BURN NOTICE.
Over on Friday’s there’s FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, DOLLHOUSE and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA to discuss before breezing through Sunday’s THE AMAZING RACE because really you just want to listen to…
TWO IDIOTS TALK LOST!
NEWS: We have a permanent home for the podcast, a new site! Visit: TheTVTalkPodcast.com

It’s TV Talk with GMMR & Ducky #36!
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Interested in catching up on our past podcasts? Head on over to the podcast page where you can listen to all of our previous episodes.
Have a question for us? There are a couple ways to contact us, find out after the jump… (more…)
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SURVIVOR: GABON ended last night and I’m damn pleased with Bob the Physics teacher being the winner this season. The show has been up and down for the last couple seasons but I think Gabon was one of the best they’ve ever done. There was crazy scheming, brutal personality clashes and some of the best backstabbing and strategic gameplay the show has ever seen.
Bob was a lovable waif-ish man that just flew under the radar for the first third of the season. We knew him as the wacky bow tie guy, the workhorse, the friend but never really as Bob-one-day-i’ll-beat-all-yo-asses. As we got into the final stretch that man kicked each and every players ass week after week, it was amazing. I slowly found myself loving the man that would soon look most like Jack Skellington. Hands down, Bob deserved to be in the final 3 and I’m pretty sure he deserved to win the entire shebang.
I will though make a case for Sugar. She was the girl who spent 1/4 of her time on the show at Exile Island. 10 out of 39 days were spent alone, outside the game and it worked to her advantage. Because she was gone so much, people underestimated the once homeless pin-up chik and before they knew it she had a hand in taking each of their heads off. I was pissed that no one showed her some love when it came time to vote. Game-wise Sugar was the player Kenny thought he could be. She was the player Ace wanted to be. She was the player that outplayed most of the Surivors and the one who irked them so much that they couldn’t see past her emotional state during the game to award her for taking them all out. Sugar, my pasties are off to you girlfriend, you deserved better than 3rd place.
Suzy? For reals?
The most aggravating part of any and all Survivor finales (except for that heinous remembrance walk crap) is when the Jury gets to make complete asses out of themselves. I hate how each and every single one of them thinks it’s their time to make television gold happen. Even the sane ones lose their shit when it comes to the Jury addressing the finalists. Case in point, Marcus going off on Suzy. I thought he was a normal dude until that happened. WTF Dr. Marcus Welby MD? Corrine and her crazy ass; I could smell the desperation dripping off her fake titties and greasy perm. Do these people really think they’ll become stars someday? Wake up idiots.
Then there’s Randy. Randy is the unabomber. Randy is the crazy border patrol/survivalist who lives in a bunker kinda crazy. Did he make great television? You betcha. Is he completely unstable and about a week away from throwing a shoe at President Bush? For sure. Watch your asses everyone, that man will take us all out someday.
All in all, I had a blast watching this season of Survivor thanks to all the amazing blindsides and the nut jobs playing the game. Kudos Survivor, you can still kick some major ass.
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How about those EMMY Awards last night? Honestly, I know nothing because judging by the 40 minutes I watched, they sucked donkey dick. I chose instead to watch the Food Network Pie Baking Contest and dream of Pushing Daisies before passing out at 10pm.
If you’re interested in knowing who won some golden statues last night, here’s the list.
Drama Series: “Mad Men,” AMC.
Comedy Series: “30 Rock,” NBC
Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad,” AMC.
Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, “Damages,” FX.
Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock,” NBC.
Actress, Comedy Series: Tina Fey, “30 Rock,” NBC.
Reality-Competition Program: “The Amazing Race.”
Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst – “Survivor.”
Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Zeljko Ivanek, “Damages,” FX.
Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Dianne Wiest, “In Treatment,” HBO.
Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven, “Entourage,” HBO.
Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Jean Smart, “Samantha Who?,” ABC.
Miniseries: “John Adams,” HBO.
Made-for-TV Movie: “Recount,” HBO.
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giamatti, “John Adams,” HBO.
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, “John Adams,” HBO.
Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, “John Adams,” HBO.
Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Eileen Atkins, “Cranford” (Masterpiece Theatre), PBS.
Directing for a Drama Series: “House” – “House’s Head” Greg Yaitanes.
Writing for a Drama Series: “Mad Men” – “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” (Pilot) Matthew Weiner.
Directing for a Comedy Series: “Pushing Daisies” – “Pie-Lette” Barry Sonnenfeld.
Writing for a Comedy Series: “30 Rock” – “Cooter” Tina Fey.
Variety, Music or Comedy Series: “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”
Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program: Don Rickles – “Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project.”
Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: “80th Annual Academy Awards” Louis J. Horvitz.
Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: “The Colbert Report.”
Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “Recount” Jay Roach.
Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special: “John Adams” Kirk Ellis.
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Posted by: Ducky in 30 Rock, 90210, Big Bang Theory, Bones, Brothers & Sisters, Chuck, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Dirty Sexy Money, Ducky Does TV, Fringe, GMMR, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Hidden Palms, How I Met Your Mother, J.J. Abrams, Josh Schwartz, Kath & Kim, Lacey Schwimmer, Lee Pace, Life, Lipstick Jungle, Mad Men, My Own Worst Enemy, Penn Badgley, Podcast, Prison Break, Private Practice, Privileged, Psych, Pushing Daisies, Supernatural, Survivor, TV Boyfriends, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, The Ex-List, The Mentalist, The Office, Ugly Betty, Zachary Levi
TV Talk with GMMR and Ducky is finally back! We discuss the new fall schedule day by day and break down our returning faves and possible new must-sees.
From Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl, Chuck to Heroes and My Own Worst Enemy on Monday. Tuesday’s are Biggest Loser, House, 90210, Privileged to Fringe and The Mentalist. Wednesday’s are all about Pushing Daisies, Bones, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money and Lipstick Jungle. Over on Thursday’s we’ve got Ugly Betty, Survivor, Kath & Kim, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Supernatural, Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour. Friday night is all about The Ghost Whisperer (I kid) and The Ex-List and Life. Sunday’s we’re freaking out that The Amazing Race is back, Desperate Housewives, Cold Case, Dexter and Brothers & Sisters.
It’s a busy season folks, sit back and relax because we talk forever.
You know you missed us… xoxo GMMR and Ducky

It’s TV Talk with GMMR & Ducky #27!
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Have a question for us? There are a couple ways to contact us, find out after the jump… (more…)
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Thursday nights used to be the place to be television wise at least. NBC dominated the night for so long that it became common place to plop yourself down and not move for 3 hours. Now I’m lucky to stick with one channel for 10 minutes let alone an hour or two.
SURVIVOR is entering it’s 400th season and I’m still watching. There’s something great about the mindlessness of it all and I find that comforting. Jon and I can sit down and watch while ripping people apart for stupid things and that makes me happy inside. What can you say, I’m shallow deal with it.
At the beginning of the summer I watched all of UGLY BETTY Season 2 so I’m officially caught up but I’m here to tell you that I won’t be watching that on Thursday nights which means at some point I’ll be having marathon viewings once again. I just don’t have the time to dedicate to another show at 8pm on a Thursday so it will be put on the backburner and viewed on my iPhone at a later date. Sorry Marc and Amanda…
9pm gets a little trickier. Jon and I both like to watch THE OFFICE even though we both wish it would end sooner than later. Regardless, most weeks we laugh our asses of still so it’s all good.
30 ROCK is one that I watch by myself and usually not live so the DVR sits on the brilliance for a day or two because at 9:30 I switch over and start from the beginning of the hotness and horror that is SUPERNATURAL!
I cannot wait to see where Supernatural takes us this season what with Dean getting out of hell and all. The anticipation of finding out what Sammy did while Dean was away is almost too rich with possibility. I love an evil Sam Winchester y’all and I have a feeling he’s had to be real badass since Dean’s been dancing with the Devil.
I’m leaving the 10 o’clock hour free because most Thursday’s we don’t start watching the shows until about an hour late and if I tried to watch something else that night, my head would explode Scanners style.
Gone are the days when I waited anxiously for Grey’s Anatomy to rock my world so you know… don’t have to worry about that anymore! I’m free!
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I know that this so last month but the article that premiered today on Boston.com is brand new and looks at the fallout from SURVIVOR: CHINA’s Lunch Lady Denise Martin’s life changing comments during the Survivor finale last month.
It’s a fascinating article that looks at how her little town of 8,000 has reacted to her live broadcast jittery misspeak.
Denise Martin stood in the doorway of her home and smiled weakly in response to a friend’s solicitous query about her return to work at a local school: “You doing OK? How did it go?”
Martin gave a thumbs-up and replied “Good.” Then she admitted the more complicated truth that was already evident on her face: “It was kind of rough.”
An understatement, that. It has been a wrenching and tumultuous few weeks for the erstwhile “lunch lady” of “Survivor: China” fame, who was thrust into a national spotlight – and then got burned by its glare.
During her stint on the CBS reality show, Martin became something of a folk hero in this small Blackstone Valley community. Residents eagerly tuned in week after week to watch one of their own – a 40-year-old, blue-collar, mullet-wearing mother of three – compete with younger, sleeker, and yuppier con testants on her way to an eventual fourth-place finish. In Douglas and nationwide, viewers accustomed to the deceit and double-dealing of reality TV responded to Martin’s underdog grit and straightforwardness.
Then last month she uttered a few ill-chosen words on the “Survivor: China” live reunion show, and it all went kablooey. Martin erroneously suggested she had been demoted by school authorities after completing her “Survivor” run, when actually she had been promoted before she took part in the show and had returned to that position.
“It was just an honest mistake,” said Martin, her eyes watering slightly as she sat in her kitchen with her dachsund (named Tedy Bruschi) on her lap. “But some people have lost respect for me. They think I’m a liar. . . . I’m not a liar. I’m just a human being.”
(more…)
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EW.com has posted the first pictures of the castaways for SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA which pits 10 Superfans against 10 Survivor Alumni. Survivor 16 premieres February 7th at 8/7c on CBS.
The Superfans

[From 1-10] Michael Bortone, 34 (Writer/Actor – Los Angeles); Tracy Hughes-Wolf, 43 (Commercial Builder – Fredericksburg, VA); Joel Anderson, 32 (Firefighter – Avondale, AZ); Kathleen Sleckman, 45 (Golf Course Vendor – Glen Ellyn, IL); Erik reichenbach, 22 (Ypsilanti, MI); Mary Sartain, 29 (Small Business Owner – Emeryville, CA); Chet Welch, 28 (Beauty Pageant Coach – Ford City, PA); Natalie Bolton, 32 (Personal Trainer – West Hollywood, CA); Jason Siska, 22 (Student Teacher – Fox Fiver Grove, IL); Alexis Jones, 24 (Motivational Speaker – Beverly Hills, CA)
The Survivor Alumni

[From 11-20] Cirie Fields, 37 (Panama); Jonathan Penner, 45 (Cook Islands); Amanda Kimmel, 23 (China); James Clement, 30 (China); Ozzy Lusth, 26 (Cook Islands); Yau-Man Chan, 44 (Fiji); Eliza Orlins, 25 (Vanuatu); Johnny Fairplay, 33 (Pearl Islands); Parvati Shallow, 25 (Cook Islands); Ami Cusack, 34 (Vanuatu)
Ducky’s Thoughts: I really enjoy the idea of Super Fans taking on the returning Alumni but some of these Alums suck ass. Johnny Fairplay is a total twunt and deserves no more screentime on any show other than a blurb in the not so far future where a talking head reads his lame obituary. Yau-Man, I know everyone loved him but yawn city. Amanda from China sucks, she thinks she’s hot shit but really she’s just cold diarrhea (thank you Margaret Cho).
Now I also love some of these contestants! I’m super psyched to see the lesbian Ami Cusack back! She was one of my favorite competitors from Vanuatu and this is as good as seeing someone like Burned Hands Mike back. Ami kick some ass girl, oh and while you’re at it please drop Johnny Fairplay on his face like Bonaduce did. I beg of you. I also really like Jonathan that actor turned Survivor. He’s an ass but in a good way. Cirie, girl you know I got a soft spot for you. Glad to see you back in my life!
As for the newbies, I don’t have much to say other than HELLO BEAUTY PAGEANT COACH! I can only hope he passes his time using pigs blood to rouge the girls cheeks, sticks to tease their hair into unfathomable designs and makes them practice catwalking.
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Probst is kicking it into overdrive this season with all the extra work he’s doing to promote CBS’s long running reality hit SURVIVOR:CHINA. Here’s the most recent video intro by the waifish host.
Watch Survivor: China Preview

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Probst is a hard working man and this year CBS is putting his hosting skills to the test even more so than they already are. Ducky brings you a special preview of SURVIVOR:CHINA from host Jeff Probst.
Watch a Special Preview of SURVIVOR: CHINA From Jeff Probst

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Week 1 of the networks premieres is coming to an end and while there haven’t been many new or returning favorites launched, that’s fine with me because honestly I don’t have the time in my schedule yet to dedicate to a ton of television.
Tonight, CBS reboots their flagship reality series SURVIVOR: CHINA.

SURVIVOR: CHINA features a cast of 16 Americans who will begin the series amid the bustle of downtown Shanghai before moving to Huangpu Mountain’s Mi Tuo Temple for a Buddhist ceremony where they will be instructed to leave all of their worldly possessions behind. The castaways will then be marooned with the clothes on their back at two separate islands on Zhelin Lake (translation: the Land of 1,000 Lakes) located in the Jiangxi Province.
They will split into two tribes, Fei Long (translation: Flying Dragon) and Zhan Hu (translation: Fighting Tiger), and will each be given a copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War for tribe motivation and assistance throughout the game. SURVIVOR: CHINA will once again afford each tribe the opportunity to obtain a Hidden Immunity Idol which may save someone from elimination at a future Tribal Council. This time, two Hidden Immunity Idols will be in plain sight (one at each camp), although the castaways will not realize this at the start of the game.
Each week, the winning tribe of the Reward Challenge will be allowed to kidnap someone from the losing tribe. The person who is kidnapped will receive a note from host Jeff Probst before departing for the enemy camp and will be instructed to give it to one member of the enemy tribe (the kidnapped victim will decide who receives it) in private. The clue will inform this person of the Hidden Immunity Idol located somewhere at their camp. This person must then decide if they wish to share the information with their tribe or keep it to themselves. The kidnapped victim will return to their original tribe at the following Immunity Challenge.
I’m still torn on whether or not to watch Survivor again, but you know I probably will tune in tonight. I’m a sucker.
Get caught up for tonight’s premiere. Read more about SURVIVOR CHINA
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