Amazing Race 17 - episode 10...

I'm still sad that I Survived A Japanese Game Show didn't survive to a third season. But the plastic food task this episode was a little reminiscent of a Japanese game show (even though this was actually in China). The task itself wasn't something that would have been done on that show, but the feel of it certainly was.

My one main thought during this task - was the cameraperson a female since they followed Claire right into the women's restroom?

My other thought during this episode - when you have an option, never look for random signs along a street! Jill & Thomas went for one of the hardest things to ever do on the race.

Seeing as how this is a holiday weekend and a lot of people might have missed this episode, I'm not going to reveal anything else that happened. Visit the CBS website to watch it - this was a good one you don't want to miss!

The Apprentice 10 - episode 11...

An all new episode of The Apprentice on Thanksgiving night? What?!

And to make matters worse, this was a super important episode with a cliffhanger ending. Why throw this away on a holiday?

The task was selling an item live on QVC. They've done this before on The Apprentice and I always love this task - the live nature, the view from the control room, and the QVC hosts dealing with the Apprentice contestants always make this a fun one.

If you missed the episode Thanksgiving night (which I sure did), you can see it on the NBC website (for some strange reason, it's still not available to watch on Primetime On Demand on Time Warner as of tonight).


UPDATE 11-29: I'll be talking with Steuart later this week on Star 102.5 about his Apprentice experience. If you have any questions for him, e-mail me and let me know.

Amazing Race 17 - episode 9...

It happens frequently on Amazing Race, but last night proved it in a very big way. When you stop and relax in the midst of an Amazing Race leg, you're probably going to regret it.

Chad and Stephanie took the travel agent's word that their flight was the earliest and went for a nice lunch. Jill and Thomas kept pushing for a better flight and ended up with a seven-hour lead. Nick and Vicki did the same thing and ended up with a giant lead too. Smart move with a double U-turn still to come!

Good thing for that airport excitement and the double U-turn, because there sure wasn't much else during that leg. That looked like a super easy leg of the race that went by very quickly.

More than one team mentioned it and I could practically smell that city of Dhaka through the TV. There's a place I would never want to visit and I feel bad for all those people that live there.

Jill and Thomas played the game and used the double U-turn in a very smart way trying to eliminate a strong team. Nick wanted to use it on Chad and Stephanie, but Vicki convinced him there wasn't a point since they were so far ahead. Even though they didn't use the double U-turn to their advantage, it does make me like Vicki even more when she was talking about why at the pitstop. And in the long run, Nat and Kat did the dirty work for them anyways.

I like the fact that two teams can be punished with this and not just one. In a situation like what happened, it created more tension having Chad and Stephanie and Brook and Claire both U-turned.

For just getting engaged in the last leg, Chad was sure nasty towards Stephanie. And Brook seemed overly annoying to Claire. I'm guessing it was the heat and horrible smell of Dhaka that finally got to them.

In the end, I was happy to see Chad and Stephanie go since Brook and Claire are one of the teams I'm rooting for to win (along with Nick and Vicki).

It looks like next week might be a bit miserable for Nick and Vicki though. I hope the preview is more hype than what really happens...

The Apprentice 10 - episode 10...

First off, I have to say, this has been my absolute favorite season of The Apprentice so far. While the tasks haven't been as entertaining as they usually are, the contestants have made the show. This was a great bunch of people for the most part. The ratings might not be as impressive as they used to be (based on what I've read at least), but that's definitely not indicative of the quality of the show.

It was kind of saddening to see the full show opening last night. All those awesome contestants and unfortunately not many of the stand-out ones are left. But hopefully some of my favorites will return to help with the final task.

At this point, I think it's Steuart's game, but we'll see in a few weeks.

The highlight of this episode - Stephanie's Director of Photography and his annoyed expressions, which increased as the task went on. I couldn't help but laugh every time he was on screen as his expression became more and more agitated. I felt bad for the guy, but it was funny.

I also feel bad for Liza, as she always seems to be unhappy with what her team comes up with. And it is true that her opinions are almost always disregarded. She had a chance to show off her skills as project manager a few episodes ago in the Broadway task, but her team lost that time.

And it was yet another loss for her team this time. While both commercials were impressive considering the extremely limited time they had to put them together, it was kind of obvious which one would win. The one with a family atmosphere, an AT&T Store, and even an NBC Today Show logo was the easy winner.

The boardrooms are getting more interesting as Donald Jr. and Ivanka are expressing their opinions a lot more often. Maybe they always have been and it just wasn't getting shown. But their questions to the contestants are sometimes the best parts of those segments. I'm sure happy that's being included now.

Mahsa also got a mention this episode when Steuart made fun of Stephanie trying to shut Liza up with "Mahsa hands". That was entertaining and made up for not hearing "we had no choice" this time.

I was very surprised when Donald Trump fired Stephanie - I really didn't see that coming. I thought for sure she'd make it to the final two. And Donald Trump must have been impressed with her as she's now working for his company. Firing her was a strange decision on his part.

Don't forget to listen to Tyana's RealiTyana Talk podcast to hear more from Stephanie later this weekend!

Survivor Nicaragua - episode 10...

The fire that destroyed part of the camp was big.

But far bigger was what happened on the volcano. NaOnka pulled Jud / Fabio aside and shared her strategy with him. She absolutely 100% hates him and has made that very clear to him and everyone else throughout the entire game. Of all people, why pull him aside and confide in him?!

Fabio seemed to just go along with the whole thing too. If someone hated me that much and voiced it so often, I'd be a little surprised that they suddenly want to talk to only me and share their strategy. Either he's completely clueless or maybe we haven't seen something - a secret bond between the two maybe. That was just strange.

Something we definitely didn't see was the group that won the reward returning to find the camp had burned. I thought maybe I missed something when the commercial ended and everyone was back at camp strategizing, with no mention of the burned stuff. Granted, there's only so much time in the hour, but I think a little should have been devoted to that.

At the immunity challenge, Jane was unbelievable. That challenge looked so hard! And she beat them all. But I think it was a bit unfair when Jeff interceded and ended up changing the outcome of the challenge. Jane said she was ready to let go, which would have given Chase immunity. Jeff then goaded her into not giving up. Had he not done that, Jane would have given up as she wanted and Chase would have won it.

In the long run, it didn't matter though. Brenda ended up leaving and that was a surprise. It looked like she was waiting for and expecting Sash to use the hidden immunity idol on her. But he didn't and after seeing that Sash and Chase voted for Brenda, it looks like she was doomed no matter what she tried.

Next week looks like NaOnka goes crazy again. But no, that incident they showed and the comments as well are all from when she snuck the food into the woods a few weeks ago. So it appears next week's night before Thanksgiving episode will be a recap of the game up to this point.

The Apprentice & How The Producers Caught Anand...

Exactly how Anand was caught cheating on The Apprentice is the big question online this week. One major detail has been left out of most interviews - once you know that, it becomes clear how the producers caught him. Jenn Hoffman from season 6 of the show reveals that detail on The Wrap.

Knowing now how he cheated makes it clear how Donald Trump and the producers found out about it too (the other giant question this past week). When you realize how far the producers have to go to make sure the contestants stick to the rules and how little privacy they have when on the show, it all makes sense.

Tyana, who was fired a few weeks ago, goes into detail on that on her latest podcast (for the record, she also pointed me to Jenn's website).

In episode 7 of the podcast, Tyana talks to Anand and Poppy who were both fired this past week. Anand talks more about the cheating, Poppy reveals a surprising romance that happened at Ponderosa (the sequester area they go to after they're fired), and Tyana talks about some things the producers do to keep the contestants following all the rules.

Subscribe to the RealiTyana Talk podcast and keep up on all the latest Apprentice news. Clips that aired on Star 102.5 came from the latest podcast with permission (thanks, Tyana).

Mahsa on Fox News...

The Apprentice's Mahsa made an appearance on the Mike Huckabee show on Fox News this past weekend. Sadly, it only lasted about ten minutes. They should have bumped some of the politicians to make way for some real news! :)

She went after Donald Trump again and did a lot of cringing when the clip of her being fired was played. Nothing major was revealed that hasn't already been said though. But it was still a great interview. See the video here.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few weeks. I'm really hoping Donald Trump responds, as the show's integrity is at stake now. Why leave something major like this out of the show?! The ratings haven't been that great this season and addressing these incidents would absolutely bring people to the show. Leaving out how they found out about Anand's text message was a massive mistake. That could have been a compelling five-minute must-see segment right there.

Something else I don't get: how so many people prefer the celebrity versions over the regular editions. This kind of drama never happens on the celebrity editions. Many of the stars are already friends with each other and Donald Trump in some cases. The stars are also more careful to not anger Donald Trump.

That's absolutely not the case with the regular editions, as we've seen this season. That makes it more fun to watch. Plus, we see new breakout reality stars emerge.

The Apprentice launched Omarosa's media career in 2004. This season, I think Mahsa will be the standout thanks to the controversy with how she was fired. And I think it will only get bigger after this season ends.

Anand and David also seem to have a good shot at repeat reality show appearances (Anand thanks to the cheating and David because he's David). Tyana seems to be making the most out of her time on the show too (more about that in my next post later today).

There might be more controversy too - it's still a few weeks until the season finale. That's plenty of time for another incident.

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Amazing Race 17 - episode 8...

The only Arabian Night reference missing from this episode was flying carpets. It was a cool backdrop to an exciting episode.

Chad & Stephanie waking up almost two hours late began the episode. What a nightmare. Waking up late freaks me out to begin with, but when a million dollars is on the line, ouch. But thanks to another clumping up of the teams, they all ended up together just before the clue that lead to the Roadblock.

If that wasn't stressful enough, along with just being on the race, Chad had the added extra stress of proposing to Stephanie later that morning! That'll be a day they'll always remember for sure. Not to mention how the day ended.

Then there was poor Nick and Vicki (or the punk rockers as Brook and Claire call them). When reality show contestants complain about their bad luck, it's usually just whining. But Nick & Vicki actually have a reason to complain. First, the giant judging mistake two episodes ago at the piano challenge and then the tire going flat in the desert in this episode. That's like the ultimate in Amazing Race bad luck.

One thing I've definitely noticed this season is if you're going to go on the Amazing Race, do not go on the show with the person you're dating. All other teams have their problems, but dating couples seem to get the most stressed out.

Chad & Stephanie, Jill & Thomas, and Nick & Vicki are constantly snapping at each other, sometimes viciously. It gets uncomfortable to watch. Although they all made it far into the race (and between these teams, they took up the top three this leg), so maybe that's good. But will the relationships last after the race, that's the big question.

A double U-turn next week - what's that?! Two teams are getting U-turned maybe? That should be crazy.

Sarah Palin's Alaska...

Sarah Palin is without a doubt one of the most polarizing people in the media. It seems you either love her or hate her.

I know a little about her political career, but I don't care. I don't really pay attention to politics. What I do know is when you just look at her as a person, she seems fun and friendly.

One of my grandfathers always used to talk about Alaska and his time being stationed on the Aleutian Islands during World War II. So I grew up hearing all these stories of how awesome Alaska was (the state itself, not the military part obviously).

Hearing all that from him made me want to visit. I love the cold and snow - Alaska's got both. And the sky there at night (sometimes during the day even) has got to be amazing with a full starscape and the aurora borealis.

I wouldn't want to live there, but visiting would be cool. At the moment though, that's not going to happen for me. But at least I can see some of it on this series. And being on TLC (a part of the Discovery Networks), the show looks incredible.

While a lot of the first episode focused on Sarah Palin and her family, about half the episode did show off the beauty of Alaska. And honestly, how can anyone be offended by this show when that moronic 19 Kids & Counting is on before it. Now that's one reality show I could live without.

Some of the Alaska portions in this first episode included fishing near bears (watching the bears would be fun to me, the fishing not so much) and glaciers and Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park. I can't really describe these parts of the show - you just have to see it.

One of the parts about Sarah that was interesting involved some guy moving next door to her family. All he does is watch what goes on at her home while writing an expose on her. No matter who you are, that's just wrong. I put him in the same class as paparazzi. But I like how it seems he'll be a joke throughout the show.

Another part showed where she does many of her TV interviews. That was cool because I always thought that Alaskan view was just a backdrop - how awesome is it that that's the real thing back there.

It's an eight episode series and it continues next Sunday night at 9pm on TLC. Or catch it as it replays about 487 times throughout the week.

Mahsa talks about cheating on The Apprentice...

So last night, Anand was revealed as the cheater on The Apprentice.

I wanted to find out more about these cheating accusations, but NBC isn't allowing Anand to do radio interviews yet (they usually wait until a day or two before the next episode airs).

So I figured we'd bring on one of my Apprentice favorites who was voted off a few weeks ago to talk about this. And she's someone who's also been involved in some Apprentice ugliness recently.

And that would be Mahsa! Here's the full talk I had with Mahsa earlier today.

The Mike Huckabee show she mentioned airs on the Fox News Network Saturday (November 13th) at 8pm Eastern time.

Here's the links that go along with this...

Mahsa's Apprentice FaceBook page

The TampaBay article we talked about

The Apprentice 10 - episode 9 (The Cheater!)...

So that promo for this episode was an absolute masterpiece. Edited to the extreme. This didn't occur immediately after David's firing as the promo suggested and it didn't even go down the way the promo made it seem. That's actually impressive when you think about it.

What actually happened was impressive too. Donald Trump didn't bother wasting any time and just went right after Anand. Rightly so - that was a major rule he broke.

The most shocking part about the whole thing was something I never saw coming - it actually seemed like Anand thought there was a chance he could stay. He just must have been in complete shock that he was caught. Two tasks had gone by at the point and he had to feel like he was in the clear.

I just wish it would have been revealed how they finally found out about his cheating. And where was the video of this? Or at least video of Anand being suspicious during the task! Between this and the incident that resulted in Mahsa getting fired, I'm starting to wonder how much the contestants are actually filmed.

At least there was some great footage of the post-boardroom conversations after David was fired. I love how it focused mostly on Anand and Clint (both the people everyone online suspected was the cheater).

An article on TampaBay.com goes into more details on some other shady things Anand says happened during the taping of this season of The Apprentice (Anand is originally from the Tampa, FL area). In addition to that, there's a recap of some of Mahsa's complaints of the show.

The rest of the episode was a bit of a letdown. It was obvious almost right from the start of the task that Poppy's team was going to lose. And the task itself was dull.

And to make matters worse, my favorite Apprentice phrase ("we had no choice") didn't get mentioned. Which is crazy, since it really would have fit this time. While Poppy seems like a nice person, I don't think she could pull off being The Apprentice winner.

It appears David's interview that was pulled from the NBC website was accurate. Not only was Anand mentioned as the cheater, but it seems his statement about who made it to the final two might be true too. Oh well.

At this point, I'd have to say Steuart would be the best person to win the game. He really hasn't messed up at all yet. As the game starts to wrap up, it will be interesting to see if he can do well leading a team again. His one win so far was marred by a terrible presentation that he did.

Stephanie would make a good finalist too, but I can't see her winning - the promo for next week being one of the reasons. But I'll wait to judge her on that until after next week. As we've seen, the promos sometimes distort things quite a bit (as they should).

Survivor Nicaragua - episode 9...

Not much can be said about this episode as not much happened. Until tribal council that is.

I'm happy they left extra time for that. NaOnka absolutely showed her true self during that. And that's kind of refreshing seeing someone just being themselves. The same can be said for Jane too (but in a good way for her).

NaOnka would definitely be the perfect person to take to the end now - no one in their right mind would vote for her to win. Jane unfortunately is the exact opposite.

That preview for next week sure left me wondering. They all looked so sad! I can't imagine a destroyed camp would get that reaction. I wonder what happened? This is a Mark Burnett show, so the previews are usually phenomenal.

Proof of that is the amazing preview for The Apprentice last week (another Mark Burnett show). That's got everyone talking online - and they're talking about a show that really hasn't done that well in the ratings so far this season. But I'm sure the ratings will pick up thanks to the "cheater" promo.

So here's that mysterious promo for next week's Survivor...

Amazing Race 17 - episode 7...

There's two important things needed to stay in the race - patience & attention to details. The attention to details is what knocked Kevin and his father right out of the race.

I would imagine they got so excited by the first part of the clue that they failed to read the fine print (or in this case, the final details of the clue). It happens so often to one or two teams on a leg of the race, that that would seem to be the most obvious explanation.

I was confused by Nick and Vicki last night. When they checked in, I was waiting for Phil to say they forgot to do their Speed Bump (for coming in last in the previous leg and not getting eliminated). But that didn't happen and they definitely didn't do a Speed Bump.

I went back and checked and it wasn't mentioned in the last episode that they had to. I just kind of figured they would since that's lately been the standard penalty for coming in last but getting a second chance. Looks like they got out of that one easy.

Or maybe not. Looking around online, I found this post that might explain why Nick & Vicki didn't have to do a Speed Bump. If true, that would also spotlight the fact that it's not just the teams that make mistakes during the race. That's completely understandable though as there's so many different things going on at all times and mistakes do happen.

Here's Nick & Vicki's FaceBook page which as of now doesn't mention this. He might have mentioned it on his personal page (as referred to in the above post about this).

There's also the chance that they did do the Speed Bump and all mention of it was edited out to make room for everything else going on in this episode. I'm sure eventually someone will post online what really happened there.

After finishing this post, I looked on RealityBlurred and it looks like he had the exact same thoughts I did on this! That's why I absolutely love that site. There's someone else as obsessed with reality shows as I am (actually, more so than me). I actually waited until this morning to watch the episode as I was out last night when it aired. Plus I always know that if I should miss something, chances are he's caught it. Bookmark that page if you also love reality shows.

Overall, that was a jam-packed leg with lots of stuff the teams had to do, lots of moving from place to place, and lots of vague clues that don't completely give things away. That's the type of stuff I love on Amazing Race, so this was a great episode.

Nat and Kat are definitely the team to beat at this point. Brook and Claire seem to be their main competition. I really think this is going to be the first season with an all-female team winning the race.

The Apprentice 10 - episode 8...

"We had no choice." Yes! The ultimate Trumpism returns as the virus gets the boot. And even David agreed that Donald Trump had no choice. Especially since David admitted in the boardroom that he did 90% of the task. When you say something like that, you better expect to be fired if you lose.

Watching this episode, I was still annoyed over Mahsa leaving last week. And they sure edited those first two or three minutes together to really make her look bad. I wish we had a chance to learn more about what happened there. Mahsa is insistent that Donald Trump knew she wasn't at fault and that he did know who was for that incident that got her fired. I'm sure there's got to be a little something to that.

But that will probably never be revisited after what was shown in the preview for next week. This looks gigantic! Cheating on The Apprentice. And unlike Mahsa and Clint's incident, I sure hope this was caught on camera.

Which makes me wonder - why isn't just about everything they do on camera? This is a major network reality show. I'm sure they have the money to have cameras following each of them just in case something crazy happens. Even if it's not high quality cameras, at least something! Something like what I hope we get to see next week.

Now there is a chance that the cheater has already been fired and Donald Trump is just letting the others know about it. Going along with that train of thought, the "you're fired" in the preview could have easily been edited in from the end of the episode. Or if the cheater has already been fired, maybe he'll fire someone who knew about it and didn't say anything.

But the ultimate will be if the preview is accurate and someone really does get fired for cheating right at the start of the episode.

Here's the preview - let's hope there's a lot more to see than what's here...



If someone is fired for cheating, I've narrowed it down to two possibilities (if the cheater is still in the game). Highlight the blank space below to see my thoughts on who is the cheater (done to avoid spoilers in the crazy chance that I'm right)...

So far this season, the only tasks that involved collecting the most money were in episode 2 (ice cream) and episode 6 (pedicab). Since it's the project manager that did this, that leaves Anand or Poppy as the only two still in the game.

They're "getting close to the top" was also mentioned - that makes me think it's not the task from near the start of the game.

Knowing someone in New York City would be key to this too. According to the NBC website, Poppy lives in Richmond, California. Anand lives in New York City, where the show is filmed.

Then there's Clint in the preview looking down. Maybe that's out of disgust or shock that a former teammate of his did this.

Putting all that together, it's got to be Anand who will be fired for cheating.

And for anyone who's thinking Donald Trump is looking in the wrong direction for that when he says "you're fired" in the clip, I'm thinking that's been edited in from another firing.

We'll see next week. But even more than who's the cheater, I'm curious to know why this wasn't caught earlier. They went through two additional tasks after this happened (assuming I've got the episode right). This all goes back to how often they're filmed. That will definitely be a question I ask the next time I talk to one of the fired contestants.

UPDATE: GG just e-mailed me. Highlight the missing text below if you want to see the MAJOR spoilers...

Nice prediction. Here is a part of David's exit interview:

Q) 3. What moment or moments on the show were surprising to you?

A) The double firing in week 5 was a surprise, as well as Anand cheating and being fired. But what I was most surprised with is how that Cowboy from Texas can be in the final 2...

I am surprised that they gave two valuable pieces of information like that!

Thank you for letting me know about that, GG! Here's David's exit interview Q&A and here's his exit interview video. This isn't mentioned in either one, which leads me to believe NBC has figured out what was there and removed it from the website.

I've now posted the comments below, but keep in mind they contain SPOILERS!

Annoyed with overpriced concert tickets?

I think the people that created this video are too.

On top of that annoyance, there's also the fact that the best seats are usually only available presale to select fan groups. So you better research online bigtime long before the concert goes on sale if you want any shot at a really good seat.

The video goes on and on, but the end is worth the wait. And while they picked on Bon Jovi here, this definitely applies to a lot of acts...

Reality TV...

I was so traumatized by Mahsa leaving The Apprentice, I couldn't even post the past few days.

Or maybe it was just the crazy weekend I had with a visit to the awesome Iron Island Museum, a final weekend of the season at Knoebels with my friends, and trick or treating with my niece and nephew in Rochester.

But I am saddened by Mahsa getting fired. And she's sad (and mad) about it too. Read all about it in this article on the New York Post's website.

I finally got around to watching Amazing Race the other day. It was a fun episode.

I loved the Detour with the pianos. That should have been an easy one if teams just went one at a time searching for the songs. Only Nick and Vicki realized that - after switching tasks twice. That was their fatal error - but they got lucky and were saved at the end. I'm happy about that as they're one of my favorite teams. It would have been awful if all my favorite players disappeared from the reality shows I watch.

Then on Survivor, it was the merge with about 2,102 people left in the game. Now I guess it makes sense for Dan to not get voted out.

And finally, Hurricane NaOnka hit. But her strategy totally baffles me. She reveals her thoughts to Alina (but says it's the tribe that feels that way), she steals food and shares it with Alina (her so-called enemy), then she reveals she stole the food. All while having a really great alliance that might just turn on her now. Does this make any sense to you? Sure doesn't to me.

Jane proved herself an amazing player and I sure hope she makes it to the end. This season now has a lot of fun players - NaOnka's a crazy villain, Fabio / Jud is nuts, and Brenda is an awesome strategist.

Marty would have been the obvious choice to send home. He even proved why with his brilliant speech at the tribal council. So why Alina?

And the even bigger question - why did she deserve this crazy statement against her? "You are a 100% grade-A dirt squirrel." Hysterical, yes - but I don't think we saw the full reason behind this.

Maybe the merge now was a great idea as this season has definitely picked up. And the whole NaOnka vs. Fabio thing looks incredible next week!