Episode 20.16
April 27

Chico: Hi, I'm Chico Alexander, and...*plays "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb*...*sways*
Gordon: (shakes head)
Chico: ... Okay, that was fun.
Gordon: You were lonely, weren't you.
Don: lol
Chico: Well, you know...er...Hey everybody, a little thing about American Idol this week... The only surprise... it ended on time.
Gordon: And the crowd went mild.
Chico: Yay.
Don: Indeed, they did.
Chico: We'll try to spice things up as best we can... we'll sprinkle in some Showcases... add a phone... you know, it'll be a party. That said... from somewhere in America... it's time for sexy game show time... WLTI.. is... ON!
Gordon: Yay. Gordon and Chico here, and joining us tonight is Mr. Don Harpwood.
Don: Yo.
Chico: Yo. So did you celebrate Earth Day, sir?
Don: About as much as I could, yeah.
Chico: You, Gordon?
Gordon: You know, I did. And you know how I celebrated it?
Chico: How's that?
Gordon: I watched The Price is Right.
Chico: I betcha they were celebrating Earth Day.
Gordon: We celebrate Earth Day and a pretty strange week on TPIR.
Chico: Strange week indeed... we had Ed Begley Jr. telling us to go green or he'll knock our faces off.... No, not really.
Don: Heh.
Chico: But he did have a green Showcase. In it... an electric bike, a solar-powered golf cart, and a Toyota Prius. Bids up, please.
Don: I'd go with about $23,000.
Gordon: 25,069, for what I think about shows preaching to us.
Chico: Actual price: $35,557. Michael Kovochich got the green and the win with $46,505. On the same show...We recycle a lesser-known host to the role of lesser-known contestant. Whitney Drolen, once the host of the WB's "Big Man On Campus" (the Bachelor goes to college) was one of the first four and didn't get on stage until round 6... when she lost Pathfinder.
Gordon: Aw.
Don: Has she been having a hard time finding work lately?
Chico: Apparently so.
Gordon: And the contestants feel like saving, too. As in saving Studio 33 money in their budget by overbidding on their showcases.
Chico: Oh yeah, the Showcase. Big Bored, please...

Chico: This one's called "Hey! You're Not Doin' It Right!"
Gordon: 4 people overbid this week..which results in a Double Overbid on Monday
Chico: Got them all right here. Overbid #1 (1/2 of the DOB): releasing your inner child on a smart cycle game, a plasmas TV with Wii, and trips to Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. Overbid #2... Gourmet meals for a year, a dining room with dinnerware, sailboat.. Overbid #3... cosmetics, designer wardrobe, and a trip to Paris. Overbid #4: a laptop with GPS & video camera, a murder mystery trip to San Diego, and a trip to Monte Carlo. Now... bid on all four at once for the combined total.
Gordon: $89,069
Chico: Don?
Don: $66,500
Chico: Okay, the actual total lost on overbids this week... $84,394.Gordon... You're over.
Gordon: Yay! I fit the theme!
Chico: How fitting. But we do have a couple of heroes come from this week...First hero is Tara Radley, who ends up taking home both Showcases with a right bid on this... For you two, it's a tiebreaker. The Showcase: cosmetics, a designer wardrobe, and a trip to Paris. PLACE BIDS NOW!
Gordon: $17,069
Don: $19,500
Chico: You both suck at this. It was $16,653.
Gordon: Isn't the point to go over?
Don: lol
Chico: Not with Tara. Her bid was $16,500.
Don: Nice.
Gordon: That would be a double showcase win
Chico: Yes it would be. Second hero was Evan Costas. We call him One Dollar Evan because... 1) He bid $1 on the first one-bid and lost. 2) He bid $1 on the second one-bid and won. 3) He got $1 on the Big Wheel and won $1000. And 4) He bid $1 on his Showcase and won.
Gordon: Power of a buck.
Chico: And that's why Tara Radley and Evan Costas are this week's...


Tara Radley & "One Dollar Evan" Costas

Don: Congrats to Tara and Evan!
Chico: That's how you play the game.
Gordon: True. Now what if you wanted to play Millionaire?
Chico: You'd have to hunt down a contestant coordinator, beg them for an interview, OR go to New York and sit through a test there, right?
Don: Pretty much.
Gordon: OR...
Chico: OR...
Gordon: Maybe once again use a 1-800 number, as Millionaire is coming back to ABC Primetime.
Chico: No doubt this was THE news this week. ABC's got Millionaire for its 10th year in America... and it's also got Regis.
Don: Yay!
Gordon: It will be showing up in August of 2009. Is it a worthy TV stunt or is it too little, too late?
Chico: No way. I think the timing's just right. Especially given all that's going on in the summer.
Don: I like the timing. It debuted in August 1999, so if they're going to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show, why not have it in August 2009?
Chico: And why not do it like they did it 10 years ago? Not just some sad little stunt. (hey, we all liked Super Millionaire, but keeping it real...)
Gordon: I like the idea. I don't think they will get the numbers they want unless they do something with the show. I don't know if they make first 10 million or if they make it a tournament, but they have to do SOMEthing to jazz it up.
Don: Well, they said it would be a hybrid of the original ruleset from 10 years ago and the current one from this season, so there will definitely be some differences.
Gordon: The clock has actually grown on me. They will need that for a prime time run.
Chico: Hopefully, the first thing Regis will do is turn to the game operator and say "I've got your shot clock right here!" But one thing they have to include...Absolutely HAVE to...It's written...You have to have it...Bring back the Fastest Finger.
Don: Yes, definitely.
Gordon: You have to give anyone a chance to win. You wont have it if you just introduce people. And bring back the call in aspect as well.
Chico: Agreed
Gordon: So overall, we like the idea. We just hope that the execution works out just as well. and PLEASE NO CELEBRITIES.
Chico: For the love of God no.
Gordon: Especially if they are Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul or Kara DioGuardi
Don: Agreed 100%.



Chico: This week's Morons on stage is brought to you by four morons... off the stage. Here to explain what happened is Gordon.
Gordon: That would be the judges, who used the save last week to bail out Matt Giraud. As a result, Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds are kicked off this week.
Chico: Again, no surprise.
Gordon: No surprise - but a nasty gamble by the judges. Keep in mind that this week would be the last week they could use the save - which they now can't use.
Chico: So next week, we're faced with the very real possibility of one of the two favorites being kicked off.
Gordon: 3 favorites, if you look at it - Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen have never been in the bottom three.
Chico: This is true. And now there's nothing stopping the Chaos Theory from rearing its ugly head.
Gordon: Correct. To make matter worse, the theme is Rat Pack Week. Who does this help?
Chico: Adam... for one. Danny... maybe. Sure doesn't help the other three.
Gordon: Wrong and wrong. Rat Pack week is all about old standards and revivals and crooner songs. Who does this help?
Chico: Kris and Matt.
Gordon: Thank you. Matt is Mr. Crooner. If there's any week that's his wheelhouse week, it's this.
Chico: As long as he doesn't have an identity crisis.
Gordon: Right, I think this week could be especially dangerous for Allison.
Chico: You think so? Allison's been teetering on dangerous ground as of late.
Gordon: And Adam. If Allison's fan base votes for her because she was in danger last week, those votes will come from Adam's fan base. I'll say this as a warning. No. One. Is. Safe. You better vote until your fingers fall off.
Chico: And then vote with your toes.
Gordon: Just to make sure your favorite contestant doesn't get blindsided.
Chico: You mean like Tyson?
Gordon: Just like Tyson. Who, like the Turkey Dinners of the same name, can consider himself cooked.
Chico: With cranberry sauce. MM!



Chico: Seems like the plan was to breakup the warrior alliance with JT, Coach, and Tyson.
Don: And since Tyson had won the first 2 individual Immunity challenges, I thought it made sense for the others to want to get rid of him when they had the chance; otherwise, he could breeze through plenty more challenges to get that Immunity necklace back and keep it.
Gordon: When you have a strong adversary and you have the chance to eliminate him, you do it.
Chico: We're probably the only ones who saw that coming.
Gordon: True, and a good move by the group to do it...but...Tyson and Coach could have both prevented the move.
Chico: What would've prevented the move?
Gordon: Tyson is a moron because Survivor is a Social Game. Tyson's failure to make nice nice with Sierra forced her to move to the JT/Stephen/Taj alliance, and they now have a 4-3 majority. If Tyson made Sierra think that she was still in good graces with the group, they could have faked it and then blindsided her. Instead, she knew they were going to make a move against her and she countered it perfectly. Coach and Debbie went from Kings to Pawns in one shot.
Chico: So now Coach's the one with the target on his back.
Gordon: Yep.
Chico: But what about... Erinn?
Gordon: She's in an interesting spot. She could align with Sierra and become floaters, moving back and forth and picking off people from both alliances. Or she could align with JT/Stephen/Taj to eliminate Coach. Are they smart enough to pull it off? we'll find out in a few weeks. But Sierra and Erinn could become a team, not unlike 4 teams we know on The Amazing Race.
Chico: The last four teams in the Race. Not amongst them... Mike and Mark Munoz...



Gordon: A 4 hour penalty which made them miss the flight all of the other teams took sealed their fate.
Chico: Yep. But really, after all that went on the previous leg, you had to see it coming.
Don: Indeed. They dug themselves a hole, and had no way of getting out of it.
Gordon: You did. And the other teams are too strong. For the first time, you have 4 teams who are worthy to be there. Big Board please?

Gordon: The subject: Ranking the Amazing Finalists.
Chico: Ranking the finalists... got it.
Gordon: We start with...Margie and Luke
Chico: The legitimate threat to win the whole thing
Don: They've been a strong team throughout, Margie's dehydration scare from earlier notwithstanding.
Gordon: They've played the best. They deserve to win the money. Next up...Victor & Tammy
Chico: I think it's going to be a close one between them and Margie & Luke
Don: Despite Victor's major screwup in an earlier leg following red and white markers instead of red and yellow, they've done quite well. They'll certainly give Margie & Luke a run for their money.
Gordon: I think they have gotten a lot stronger as the leg has progressed. A definite threat to watch for.
Chico: How about Cara & Jaime?
Gordon: if any female team could win this, they could. They have the aggression that other female teams have lacked.
Don: Indeed. I don't know if they will win considering who they're facing, but who knows...
Gordon: Finally, Jennifer and LaKisha
Chico: Kisha & Jen? Umm. the less said about them the better
Don: Yep.
Gordon: Unless they improve quickly, they are looking at 4th place.
Chico: And that fight they had with Margie & Luke didn't help any.
Gordon: No. All it did is make a good team angry.
Don: It's just going to further motivate Margie & Luke to win.
Gordon: And that could be a problem for the sisters.
Chico: This is true.
Gordon: And while one show with teams draws to a close, another show with teams premiered this week on MTV. What if you were minding your business and you got a call to play a mysterious game for $50,000?
Chico: I'd be game
Don: I'd be up for it, though I'd be kinda freaked out as well.
Chico: Well that's the premise behind "The Phone". It's really simple. One person gets a call to play a game. Later, another person gets the same call. Ultimately, they're teammates in an action-adventure type Fear-Factor setting to win $50,000.
Gordon: 4 individuals called up to make teams. The teams compete against each other, then the members of the winning team compete against each other for a pot of up to $50,000. The winning person then can decide to keep the money for themselves or split it with their teammate.
Chico: There's the rub. It's based on a Dutch show.
Gordon: So lets talk about The Good.
Chico: It's an interesting premise.
Gordon: I like the idea of the show. I also like the execution and some of the twists they put into it.
Chico: And the stunts are again, something direct out of Fear Factor, if you miss watching the show.
Gordon: With no icky food. Yet.
Don: Interesting.
Gordon: The bad. not enough team competition. You have enough task and time that it should be 2 out of 3 instead of sudden death.
Chico: Another thing about this that irks me... Seems like the players don't know what they're doing. People, there's such a thing as controlled chaos. Look into it.
Gordon: Also: The host is just ill-fit for the show. You wanted a foreign accented mysterious guy. Instead we get a clicheic host which deosn't deliver either the smarm or the dramatic impact that's needed for such a role.
Chico: I would've gone with a B-level Trey Farley.. at LEAST

	THE PHONE - MTV
	CHICO	GORDON	DON	EVIL AVERAGE-O-MATIC
	C+	C	NO GRADE	C+

Gordon: True. So all in all, not a bad show, but it doesn't execute up to it's premise. C.
Chico: Agreed. C+
Gordon: Meanwhile, Eve is running her own version. House and Goodman are one team, and Fluffy and Cheeseball are the other. The task is to plant New Jersey Devils clothing all over Chico's house.
Chico: Yeah, and the result of that, if they are caught...four dead hamsters. Do you want THAT on your conscience?
Gordon: ...no. No I don't. Roll that Beautiful Brain Footage.
Chico: Rolling.

(Doug: Live, local, and latebreaking... From the four corners of the globe to your frontal lobe, this is WLTI Brainvision News, and now here's Gordon Pepper, Chico Alexander, and the award-winning Brainvision News Team)

Chico: Thanks, Doug.
Gordon: We start off with a Datebook.

April 27 has Pros Vs. Joes: All-Stars, More famous athletes. Less sports and smaller budget to make up for it. That same day... Time for Big Money Time on the Feud.

Gordon: It's Return of the Big Money Tournament! Though I think they already did one this season where The Teagues won it.
Chico: They're doing another one.
Don: Seems weird to me that they decided to do 2 of them in 1 season. But hey, I'll still watch.
Gordon: You remember the last season of Street Smarts, when the whole season was a $100,000 tournament?
Chico: You saying they need to do that?
Gordon: No, but could you see a whole season of FF where it's a tournament and the winning family grabs a million?
Chico: Maybe seven years ago when they didn't have returning champions.
Gordon: Maybe. Could be fun. Though I doubt that's going to be a Greenlight.
Chico: Nope. But I'll tell you what will be.
Gordon: Do tell.

BET has a new game show in the works. It's called "Pay It Off!" It will have contestants competing to pay off their bills.

Gordon: Debt 2009, Anyone?
Chico: I'll watch.
Gordon: I'd take in an episode
Don: I wouldn't mind checking it out.
Chico: As for the baseball bat...

The following shows have been renewed: the Next Iron Chef, Ultimate Recipe Showdown, The Next Food Network Star, Sunday Best, Tool Academy, and I Want to Work for Diddy.

Gordon: Some of those shows are quality. Others - not so much.
Chico: Diddy we can do without.
Gordon: But can you do without Smart Cake?
Chico: no
Don: Mmm, cake.

Are YOU Smarter than...Dan Yandis, who makes a brutal error on the Deal or no Deal board.

Gordon: Here's the board:

$25, $7,500, $50,000, $250,000
OFFER: $41,000.

Chico: You got to play it
Don: I'd go another round.
Gordon: You have to go one more. he deals for $41,000. Next case: $25 and he sees $101,000 go away.
Don: Ouch.
Chico: eww
Gordon: Oopsie. Now who wants Haterade?
Chico: Me!
Don: Me!

We start with The Price is Right, where John Hoke, on a spin-off, gets a dime. Mercer Thomas lands on...a nickel.

Don: Wow.
Chico: That's pretty vile
Gordon: So is this...

Natalia Pack is dismissed from America's Next Top Model. In revenge, she goes off on the show, calling her edit 'Almost Disgusting.'

Chico: Hmm. I can't help but think that that's not the edit talking
Don: Seems like a typical case of sour grapes.
Chico: No joke. How about something sweet...

The next stage in GSN's W3 Games kicks off this week... The game... Bejeweled 2.

Don: Nice.
Chico: It's a little addictive. And Bob Barker's a little old.
Gordon: He's an old Media HO
Chico: Really, Gordon. Say it like you mean it. *playing "Pimpin' All Over the World"*
Gordon: In This Week's Hodometer...

Howie Mandel performs in Philly, Rod Blagojevich is denied a shot to be in I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here, Julie Chen gets a baby son...Vin Scully gets onto the Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Susan Boyle gets a makeover and Jennifer Hudson is pregnant.

Gordon: But none of them are the ho of the week.
Chico: And big Gordon's gonna tell us who it is
Gordon: The ho is...Simon Cowell, who has given a laundry list of things that have to happen for him to stay on American Idol. I'm surprised that a tongue bath by Paula Abdul was not on that list.
Don: Ew.
Gordon: And those...are your hoes.
Chico: And finally, we go global...

This week, we're going to India, where the next season of "Du ka Dum" is set to roll. Du ka Dum is the Indian version of "Power of 10"

Gordon: Ah
Don: Cool.
Chico: If you ask me, a show that's ahead of its time
Gordon: And that's Brainvision. Shut it Down.
Chico: Alright, so what's next, G
Gordon: Next up - we get to give out opinions - with a twist. But first, we do some infiltrating.
Chico: This is WLTI. You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you an overbid

(Brainvision has been brought to you by Slumdog Supermillionaire. If you think we got good stories now, just wait until we come up with doozies for eight figured wins.)

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE