The first stupid person on my radar
is Adam Jasinski. You may remember him as the person who won
$500,000 on Big Brother 9. He was more infamous for calling autistic
children "retards" while being employed at the United Autism
Foundation in Florida. After said comment, he was terminated. He
claimed he would donate "one-fifth" of his winnings to the charity
organization to make up for his "Freudian slip".
Now, Mr. Jasinski has upped the ante
on stupid. According to reports, he was arrested on Saturday for
trying to sell 2,000 oxycodone pills to an government witness. In
the DEA Agent's Affidavit, Jasinski allegedly stashed the drugs in a
white sock, which he'd hidden in his pants. After pulling the sock
out to show the cooperating witness, Drug Enforcement Administration
agents tried to arrest Jasinski at a strip mall in North Reading,
Mass. where the deal was supposed to go down. He struggled and threw
the drug-filled sock under a nearby parked car.
On Monday, federal prosecutors in
Boston US District Court charged Jasinski with possession with
intent to distribute, after he waived his Miranda rights and
confessed that he'd been using his $500,000 prize money from the CBS
series to buy the pills. If he's convicted on the drug charge,
Jasinski faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million
fine.
Karma is a big fat female dog, isn't
it. On a more serious note, this is another in a series of reality
show contestants who have made incredibly bad decisions. We all
remember Ryan Jenkins from VH1's "Megan Wants A Millionaire" who
killed himself this past summer after being the prime suspect in the
murder of his wife.
The arrest of Jasinski is a BIG
warning bell to CBS and all reality producers. You HAVE to do
incredibly hard background checks. We all want to see fun
characters on reality shows but they need to have SOME set of
moral code, don't they?
Speaking of people with a lack of a
moral code, let's talk about Jeff Kirby. He appeared on Jeopardy on
October 12, 2009 and won $1,000 for finishing in third place. Sounds
pretty normal, right? There's one small problem with his appearance
on Jeopardy.
It was his second time on the show.
The eagle eyes of j-archive.com
realized he appeared on the show on December 8, 1999 and also
finished in third, winning a digital camera. And as a side note, if
you are going to try and cheat the powers that be DON'T WEAR THE
SAME TIE YOU WORE 10 YEARS AGO.
Jeopardy producers released a
statement:
"It has come to the Jeopardy! Producers'
attention that Jeff Kirby, who appeared on Jeopardy! on Monday,
October 12, had previously appeared on the show. As is stated in the
eligibility requirements (listed at Jeopardy.com), "You are not
eligible to be a contestant on Jeopardy! if you have appeared on any
version of the show with Alex Trebek, except at the Jeopardy!
Producers' express invitation." This is a long-standing rule, and it
remains in place. Jeopardy! has a system to make sure that people
who appear on the show have not previously done so. It has worked
well for 26 seasons; however, clearly, that system failed to detect
that Mr. Kirby had appeared on the show in 1999.
In our contestant booking and verification process, we relied on
information provided to us by Mr. Kirby. He did not disclose that he
had previously been on Jeopardy!. His having been on the show before
made Mr. Kirby ineligible as a contestant and therefore ineligible
to receive any prizes from the show. Because Mr. Kirby came in third
in the competition, this decision does not affect either of his
opponents nor their winnings. Thank you to our watchful viewers for
bringing this to our attention."
There is blame to go all around here.
This is not the first time where Jeopardy has been caught. Barbara
Lowe was declared ineligible after her 1986 5-day undefeated run,
when it was discovered she had appeared on other shows under other
names which made her ineligible. The production staff has to be more
careful.
But Kirby has some set of cojones
here. Being a teacher, he should have remembered the game show
scandals of the 1950's. The scandals led to time breaks and
eligibility requirements which are put in place today so that
people like Mr. Kirby don't get on the air. There are an
incredibly limited amount of spots that people compete for just to
get on the show. His incredibly selfish act took a spot away from
a legally eligible contestant who never had a shot at the apple.
Mr. Kirby thankfully is the exception and not the rule.
The next two stupid decisions come
from GSN. The first one comes from the people at High Stakes Poker.
According to multiple sources, AJ Benza has been fired from the show
and is going to be replaced by someone female to co-host with Gabe
Kaplan. Vanessa Rousso has denied being the person replacing Benza.
This is just plain dumb. I don't
watch poker shows for the hot babes. I watch the show for the poker.
I hope GSN comes to their senses on this one.
The 2nd one is that GSN has green
lighted a reality show based on Carnie Wilson. Carnie Wilson:
Unstapled will premiere January 14, 2010. “Carnie’s relatable life
story is a perfect fit with our viewers, who are eager to discover
the person behind the personality,” says Kelly Goode, Senior Vice
President of Programming at GSN. "In addition to being a charismatic
and engaging entertainer, Carnie is a working mother with two very
young children—including a newborn—a business person, and a woman
who has spoken honestly about her struggles with her weight. Our
viewers love Carnie, and she has helped make The Newlywed Game our
#1 rated show, so this is a natural direction for GSN.”
While I like Carnie Wilson as a host,
she isn't that interesting a personality to sustain a reality show
concept. GSN usually bombs when they go out of its comfort zone.
Examples include Big Saturday Night, the 2009 GSN Game Show Awards,
and the reality show "Naturally Stoned" which followed Chuck Woolery
around.
I thought GSN was the Game Show
Network, isn't it? I think the production budget of Unstapled
would be better used to promote and produce GAME SHOWS. I am tired
of GSN trying to break away from what brought them to the dance. I
will predict right now this will be a nuclear sized bomb.
I just have to touch on the same-sex
couple on the Newlywed Game. On October 13, George Takei and Brad
Altman played a celebrity version of the show for charity and won
$10,000 for the Japanese American National Museum.
My opinion about gay marriage or
civil unions means nothing here. What this is about is a major
network using the game show to promote a specific political agenda.
This is not new. For the past two years, Wheel of Fortune has had a
"Going Green" week with "eco-friendly" prizes and ways to combat
global warming. Last year, The Price is Right had an Earth Day
edition where Ed Begley Jr. lectured the audience while giving out
Electric Cars and more environmentally friendly prizes.
When I watch a game show, I don't want
a lecture. I want to be entertained. And GSN lectured me on
October 13th.
Finally, I have a review of Head
Games(SCIENCE CHANNEL). Greg Proops hosts this Whoopi Goldberg
produced show where three contestants answer science questions based
on video clips. Each round consists of three video clip questions
and then a lightning round based on the details of the video clips.
No cash is lost for a wrong answer. After three rounds, the top two
contestants move on to the bonus round.
In the bonus round "Under The
Microscope" the "lens" moves to a group of three scientific figures
and the two have to guess which of the three figures it is. They
lose cash if they guess wrong. The one with the most cash wins.
This is another competent game show
to partner with "Catch It, Keep It." And like "Catch", this begs for
a kids version to be produced. The biggest problem here is not the
questions, it's Proops. He is miscast here. He seems too smarmy and
dirty for the material presented.
That being said the show itself is a
fun half hour. I learned a few things and you should DVR it for
your kids. GRADE: B.
Block Party Quick Hits Time:
--The cast of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
visits Catch-21.
--TVbythenumbers.com reports that Top
Chef Masters gets renewed for Season 2.
--Lance and Keri went from being
eliminated this week on the Amazing Race to married.
--New SYTYCD judge Adam Shankman is
producing next year's Oscar Ceremony on ABC.
--Realitywanted.com posts a casting
notice for a new show called "Honey Please." for players in the NYC
area.
--In international news, Toma Cero
(Hit The Zero) gets a renewal in Spain for Season 2, Italian format
the Guillotine goes into Poland and may come to the US, the
Apprentice will get a launch in India next year.
--Some of the Celebrity Apprentice 3
cast members have leaked. One of which is Rod Blagojevich whose
appearance was cleared by a judge this week. Taping has started on
the third edition this week here in NYC.
--Jillian Michaels of the Biggest
Loser gets her own spinoff show called "Losing It With Jillian".
--Kelly Osbourne is on the injured
list at DWTS. And there is an iPhone App for the show.
--Jeff and Jordan of Big Brother 11
are now a couple.
--Fox Reality Channel goes bye bye as
of March 31, 2010.
--Perfect 10 is now casting.
--In another cool charity moment,
Drew Carey donates $50,000 to the Daily Bread Food Bank as long as
his soccer team the Seattle Sounders beat the Kansas City Wizards,
according to Robert Peters, associate director for the Daily Bread
Food Bank. But it has been reported that Carey would likely donate
the money regardless of the outcome. The South Florida Food Bank's
warehouse was damaged due to a fire that destroyed 93,000 pounds of
food earlier this month.
--Richard Hatch is now a free man.
--Legendary Poker Player Doyle
Brunson just went all-in against the new slate of poker game shows.
On his blog he said, “No disrespect intended, but these poker shows
are awful. Full Tilt’s ‘Face the Ace’ and Poker Stars ‘Million
Dollar Challenge’ are so bad, it’s embarrassing. There is no skill
involved in either show and I can’t imagine getting an audience that
will watch the shows.
--Chris Knight hosts a lottery show
"Make Me Rich! in Michigan.
--Tyler MacNiven, winner of Amazing
Race 9, starts a blog about the hidden treasures of San Francisco.
--Jake Pavelka is the new Bachelor.
--Al Martino and Capt Lou Albano
passed away.
--Heidi Klum gives birth to a baby
girl, Lou Samolo Samuel
--Bob Eubanks will host the final
episode of Season 2 of the Newlywed Game.
--America's Got Talent is auditioning
for Season 5
Jason Block just made you the smartest person in the room. Thank
him by e-mailing him at jiblock@yahoo.com.