Episode 22.4
October 5

Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper, and we welcome you to the October. The leaves are falling. The contestants are falling, and the tv ratings are falling.
Chico: *trips, falls*
Gordon: And the Chico is falling.
Chico: Ah.. my toe! Again!
Gordon: How's that toe doing?
Chico: Fine. It just hurts when I soak it. I'll be fine in a bit. I'm ready to do this, though
Gordon: We'll get to who rises and falls this week, as from Somewhere in Chico's Toe Water (ew), this week's edition of We Love To Interrupt...is...ON!
Chico: How's it going? Chico Alexander here, and It's fall time. Fourth week in, and the premieres just keep on coming. We're going to go over a couple of them right now. How's that?
Gordon: We have 3 this week, I believe, right?
Chico: Yep. Two of them shows that we've NEVER SEEN BEFORE. No, Really! First, we celebrate Nickelodeon's triumphant return to the world of game shows with... Brainsurge!
Gordon: Nickelodeon, who hasn't had a new game show on since Lindsay Lohan discovered that undergarments were an acceptable form of clothing, gets a daytime show on the air.
Chico: If you've played Brain Age or seen Hit Man, you know what BrainSurge is. We start with six kids, and six mental puzzles.
Gordon: You get points on how well you are paying attention. To either the video screen, what the host tells you, or memorizing squares on a path.
Chico: Three rules... Look. Listen. Remember.
Gordon: So let's start with The Good: This format has worked well in the past. Brain Age and to an older crowd, HBO's BrainGames did well with this same concept.
Chico: Not to mention that this was a very popular Japanese concept.
Gordon: Very true. They Americanized it well. I also like the host.
Chico: One Jeff Sutphen is a ball of frenetic whimsy. I mean, he's really in tune to the contestants, and that's the earmark of any good host.
Gordon: I like not only the host, but credit the producers for incorporating him into the games, the stories, and some of the opening round games. Very clever. He knows when to be crazy without being over the top. I also like in the first round that he allows the kids to be kids, making silly faces, talking silly trash, and letting this be a kids show with a nice game behind it.
Chico: And let's not forget the piece de resistance, the Nick trademark, if you will... Slime and lots of it.
Gordon: I do like the slime and the Brain Drain, It adds to the gooey kids factor and takes away from the fact that it's a game show, which in this case is a good thing.
Chico: And it's easy to say, hey, round 1's Brain Age. Round 2's Hit Man. Round 3's the second season of Dog Eat Dog UK's head to head. But the fact of the matter is that we've never seen them incorporated one after another like this. Everything about this game just... works, you know?
Gordon: That's true, but that also leads us to...The Bad. We've seen this before. Maybe not presented in this way, but it brings nothing new to the table.
Chico: Now I'll agree that we've seen everything before. But at least they all intermesh. It's not like we have three things we've seen before and they don't relate to each other in some way.
Gordon: Going back to The Bad, I also don't like the bonus round. It's good in theory, but 90 seconds is too long. 75 seconds works and would ratchet up the difficulty level.
Chico: Or keep it 90 seconds, but don't stop the clock.
Gordon: I think you need to stop the clock there. It takes too much time to reset the board.
Chico: But other than that, it all works together, and the fact that we've seen everything before doesn't take away from the whole package
Gordon: I agree with you. Not only is this a fun game, but this is a fun game that I would tape to save when my kid comes home, watch with him, and have him play along. And that's the whole point of why Nickelodeon put it on to begin with.
Chico: And it's a great playalong.

	BRAINSURGE - nick
	GORDON	CHICO	AVERAGE-O-MATIC
	A-	A-	A-

Gordon: Mission Accomplished. A-.
Chico: Welcome back to the fold, Nick. A-. So a great start for a great game. Do you feel the same about BET's new Friday night entry... Pay It Off?
Gordon: We'll see as we review the show. The premise is simple. Contestants come in with around $10,000 worth of debt and play games you'd see on Playmania or any other call in and win show to pay off the debt. Should they do that, they get to play a bonus game to win a bonus $25,000.
Chico: For example, could you tell the difference between Kareem Abdul Jabbar and ... Paula Abdul? The player who got this game amazingly couldn't and left with a $250 gift card.
Gordon: We had 2 players. The first player didn't get a single question right. The second player got to the end and paid off her debt for $10,000, though bombing out of the Bonus Game.
Chico: But let's go over the show. The good.. Games are easy to play along with.
Gordon: Kim Coles is also a very capable host.
Chico: She engages the game and the contestants without being overbearing. You know what I mean? This is her show, to be sure, but it's more the contestant's show. And that's important. Because that's why we watch. We want to root for the player.
Gordon: Kim is a sterling example of how to be a conduit without taking over the show. I also like that the show knows what it is. It's not a big money show - it's a show designed to help people get out of debt,
Chico: It just happens to look like a big money show. Which is okay in 2009
Gordon: And hence, why it's more laid back. Also, you don't have to give back any money in any game if you lose it. It's not a lose once and everything you worked for goes away. The only exception is the bonus round, but even if you screw that up, you still win the $10,000 in the main game. It knows it's role and atmosphere.
Chico: Which is not just okay, it's to be desired.
Gordon: The Bad: It's 2009. All of these games we've seen before in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2001, 1875, etc. And the Bail Out Buddy is not only not necessary, but we saw that on the game show 21.
Chico: Not only that... it's another one of those "It's the game stupid" shows. Where the contestant coordinators feel like they have to cast characters instead of players (see player #1).
Gordon: Your game will not work if you have people there that can't play it.
Chico: Almost like you want to say "We get it, you're in trouble. Newsflash, Einstein... So is everyone on this stage." You can set yourself apart from everyone else without resorting to the hard-luck story. (see Millionaire)
Gordon: I don't mind hard luck stories, but the first contestant put himself there is he keeps buying clothing.
Chico: Ties mostly. He's gotta have the bowtie. So the question...would you watch this show regularly or "if nothing else was on?"
Gordon: If nothing else was on. But I would watch the show. It's a fun little show with likable characters and a likable Kim Coles. You've seen everything done before, but it's done better than another game show we saw on BET before. Take the Cake, anyone?

	PAY IT OFF - BET
	GORDON	CHICO	AVERAGE-O-MATIC
	B-	B-	B-

Chico: There you go. I'll go B- on this.
Gordon: I'll respectfully agree. B- also.
Chico: So we're 2 for 2. Good stuff. Now our third premiere.. you have to go back to last week for this. Last week, we saw a sneak preview of the new season of Iron Chef America, but one of our favorites around here, Iron Chef Batali... noticeably absent. Enter the second season of the Next Iron Chef. Ten chefs. One goal: achieve greatness.
Gordon: This is how Michael Symon got his big break.
Chico: The journey will take them from Los Angeles to the birthplace of the Iron Chef... Tokyo, Japan.
Gordon: And if you look at this roster - it's loaded. They were not kidding around here. Big Board, please?

Gordon: The Subject: Iron-Clad Resumes. I've heard of most of these chefs before.
Chico: And you should.
Gordon: Many of these chefs have historically been on Iron Chef America. Some of them have also been on other culinary contests.
Chico: Let's go over the challengers.
Gordon: Nate Appleman: Appeared on Iron Chef America and lost, but he won 'The Rising Chef of the Year' from the James Beard Foundation
Chico: Amanda Freitag... Appeared on ICA and lost... to Iron Chef Flay no less.
Gordon: Freitag is also one of the judges on Chopped. So there's a lot of pressure on her to do well.
Chico: Jehangir Mehta fought against Iron Chef Morimoto and lost.
Gordon: By 1 point.
Chico: Jose Garces fought against Flay...He WON. So already he's a favorite.
Gordon: So is Brad Farmerie, for the same reason, defeating Cat Cora. Roberto Trevino fought and lost against Mario Batali on Iron Chef. The rest of them are first time players. Eric Greenspan will have some time to find a second show, as he's cut after the first episode.
Chico: That leaves the KSA returnees and rooks Dominique Crenn, Holly Smith, and Seamus Mullen. Now last season, there was a bit of contention as we had John Besh, who won in KSA, lose to Mike Symon, who lost. The question... will we see a repeat of THAT?
Gordon: We could. You know how I feel about The Food Network's history of selecting people who may not be the best person, but who are the perceived as the best TV People.
Chico: The same way I do. That is... not too darn positively. We went over this when Melissa D'Arabian won NFNS.
Gordon: John Besh was the better player, however, Michael Symon has had a string of success at Kitchen Stadium, going 8-2-1 for a 77% win rate.
Chico: Including last week, which was a good battle to watch. Overall, though, this ought to be a good season, especially with such talent competing in the hangar.
Gordon: Absolutely. What was also very interesting to watch - especially if you're an MMA fan - this week's Ultimate Fighter, which may have been the most easgerly anticipated non-finale episode ever.
Chico: Two words. Kimbo. Slice. Arguably the biggest... baddest... craziest sumbitch to ever grace the series. And it seems that this series was made specially for him. So then he goes on to fight... and he loses! Did I MISS SOMETHING?
Gordon: Yes, actually. I dont think it was made for him at all. Let's get some history here. UFC head Dana White has repeatedly said that the only way Kimbo Slice would ever show up on any UFC card would be to prove himself and go through The Ultimate Fighter show. Well, Kimbo does that and looks less like Kimbo and more like a bimbo.
Chico: Needless to say... Slice got sliced... and battered... and fried... and served as a Kimbo tempura by one Roy Nelson
Gordon: Does that taste good with ketchup?
Chico: Oh yeah. Now it was common knowledge that Kimbo didn't like his team OR his coach. Was that a factor?
Gordon: I think so. The coaches are there to coach and guide you. You have to follow their advice, because they are there to teach you. Kimbo is not exactly a grade A student.
Chico: NO...You're kidding.
Gordon: You haven't noticed this from his speech in the previous episodes, have you?
Chico: I've... had SOME idea. It's one of those things you just have a feeling about...
Gordon: Granted, the editing is there to tell a story, but Kimbo is coming off as dumb as a bag of rocks.
Chico: I think that would be an insult to the bag of rocks, but I digress. What I find interesting, though... the sheer magnitude of the awaitedness if that's even a word of this episode. You know how many people watched Kimbo Slice get his ass kicked? 5.2 million. Cable shows would kill for those kind of figures.
Gordon: They sure would, and it's well-earned. The show did themselves a favor by hyping the fight on the last episode before this one, like they knew the audience would show up to see it.
Chico: Let's face it... This would be the Kimbo episode, and Spike knew it. UFC knew it. That's how they wrote it... and that's how it ended up.
Gordon: Exactly. You may see that from CBS when we have The Russell goes packing episode. But for now...



Chico: The Russell goes to work. AGAIN. Let's go over the events. Russell tells Ben that Ashley wants him out. Ben tells Ashley about her plot, but would not say anything more other than Russell didn't tell me about this. Now ... if that were me... that would be a red flag to watch Russell.
Gordon: That would be a BIG hint that it was Russell. Fortunately for Ashley, there are too many people on the tribe who are upset with Ben and his comments, including Jaison, who threatens to mutiny if Ben's not booted next.
Chico: So for those of you hoping for a mutiny... Keep hoping. Ben leaves in a rout. Sorry, folks. Now you're probably wondering... How?
Gordon: Russell may be an evil bastard, but he's not stupid. You don't go against the group's wants to get rid of someone, lest they pick on you instead. You can't call people ghetto trash, etc. and get away with it.
Chico: Nope. They frown on that. Russell picks up on it and signals for the hatchet. But if you were Ashley... would you be concerned that perhaps you may be next? I know I would be. Because the girl-power gambit seldom works.
Gordon: It seldom does, and it won't work here. See Survivor 9, where Chris, the only guy in a cadre of women, got through to win the million.
Chico: There you go.
Gordon: Russell has the pulse of the tribe, and that's a good thing for him. Over on The Amazing Race, Ron and Marcy have the pulse of...Losers Lounge



Chico: Let's explain how this works really quick. We started with 12 teams. Got rid of one at the outset. That would be Eric & Lisa. That leg turned out to be an NEL. The rest of the teams... EAT WASABI! Just wanted to say that once. Second leg went to Meghan & Cheyne, while Garrett & Jessica were Philiminated. Fastforward (no pun intended) to last week, when we say Marcy & Ron eliminated in Vietnam.
Gordon: The problem Ron and Marcy had was simple: They were not only too slow in racing, but they make a vital error of not asking people for help in translating a word in Vietnamese.
Chico: There you go. Ask the locals. They know best. The word, by the way, was "independence"
Gordon: And Ron and Marcy now have independence from continuing in the race.
Chico: They secede to the nation of Elimination Station.
Gordon: They do. The Hamsters set up their own elimination station, complete with tinfoil TV screen, wading drinking pool and pellet bed station.
Chico: Pellet bed station?
Gordon: ...oh. Chico, you may not want to be sitting on your sofa for awhile.
Chico: .. yyyyeah. That would be bad.
Gordon: While Eve cleans up, Roll that Beautiful Brain Footage.

(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. First, a bit of a change up. I usually put Going Global into the Brainvision report, but it's getting its own special treatment this week because of MIPCOM. So I'm starting with... a greenlight.

The great game show wars of 2010 have been joined. NBC picks up Perfect 10... and one day later, a favorite of ours, the Cube, goes to Fox.

Gordon: Both formats are eerily the same in shape.
Chico: Yep. One features household chores played for money, while the other has seemingly simple tasks done within the confines of a Lexan cube.
Gordon: We've seen dual formats fight before. Usually, it winds up with both shows being cancelled quickly. (see The Chair and The Chamber)
Chico: But I like the Cube. I can't wait to see how Fox treats it. I hope they treat it better than they treated Temptation.
Gordon: FOX can either leave it alone (Worked well with American Idol) or toy with it (did NOT work well for Hole in the Wall)
Chico: Nothing about Hole in the Wall worked well :-)
Gordon: True. Would anything work well on the Datebook this week?
Chico: I know one thing that MIGHT work well. You've been waiting for it...I'VE been waiting for it...
Gordon: Wait for it...
Chico: The whole damn country's been waiting for it..

October 5: Let! Make! a Deal! (Spoken in Jay Stewart style)

Chico: Jonathan Mangum kinda looks like Jay Stewart.
Gordon: We'll see what they do with it.
Chico: I'm kinda confident. I mean, if Monty's cool with it, then I'm cool with it.
Gordon: I am too. There's a lot of good game show people working on it. I look forward to seeing it - 5 hours before Chico does :D
Chico: Yeah, you only have to wait until 10am, you little hussy. The rest of us have to wait until 3. Well, you watch 5 minutes, and tell me if it's good
Gordon: I will then.
Chico: Good. First, let's get loaded.
Gordon: Hic!

TPIR 2010.. You've seen it on TPIR... Family Feud 2010... You've seen it on Family Feud. Now they're both at a store near you.

Gordon: YAY!
Chico: I suggest you make your way to a video game store and get it.
Gordon: I've already heard people talking about it and I've seen some of the screens. It looks good.
Chico: They do. Very pretty. Usually, you get a game based on a game show. and it turns out that people don't do their homework on it. The folks at Ubisoft and Ludia have done their homework (the first Hasbro Interactive Family Feud comes to mind). Then there was the DOS edition of TPIR... let's not go there. But TPIR, actually a sequel to the original... This is magic right here.
Gordon: The DOS version wasn't bad, for what it was. Technology has gone much further than where it's been.
Chico: I bet.
Gordon: But stupidity's been around forever.
Chico: Yep. *wheels out chalkboard*

Are YOU Smarter than...Kimbo Slice, who first shows us that he's not smart to begin with, then tells us about how he's not listening to his teachers, then shows us all why you need to listen to your peers as he gets spanked like a sorority pledge girl.

Chico: Yes. Yes. Oh God, yes! Seriously, though, stay in school =p
Gordon: Please do. We need youth and brains, not YouTube Videos of people being idiots.
Chico: And haterade?
Gordon: Here it comes...

Ben, on being booted from his tribe, calls his team a bunch of sissies. Combined with 'Ghetto Trash', there's a reason why Ben was described as a 'Bully' and a 'Mental Plague' on his way out the door.

Chico: One of those things where you have to say "Don't we screen these people first?"
Gordon: I don't think as much. As we all know, stress does different things to different people.
Chico: Fair enough. Meanwhile, I need a baseball bat
Gordon: (Gives Chico the bat)
Chico: Now it should be noted that this is a rumor at best and should be treated as such until someone comes out and says it. Now... Simon Cowell just turned 50...

And it looks like he's getting a hell of a gift from Fox to the tune of $100 million and the right to bring X Factor to the US, so sayeth the Mirror in the UK

Gordon: Happy Birthday, indeed. So this would be fitting for Simon to be looking for Media Hoes.
Chico: (plays "Pimpin' All Over the World")
Gordon: But First - how would you like to be on a Donald Trump show?
Chico: Umm.. depends. Apprentice or ... actually, that's it, isn't it?

Donald Trump is looking for a partnership, but it's not for An Apprentice. It's to be a partnership...for love. Love with a TV personality. If you're an eligible bachelor and want to fall in love with The Donald, love-style, Go here:
http://www.realitywanted.com/call/5615-new-trump-show-now-casting-ultimate-merger

Chico: ... love.
Gordon: And now, for hoes who aren't as rich as The Donald.

In this week's Hodometer, Gordon Ramsay gets his own animated series, Padma Lakshmi is expecting child, Ant & Dec does Name That Tune... Flava Flav pitches a show about him going to high school, Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom are NOT married yet, everyone is ok in Samoa, despite an earthquake hitting there during the end of Survivor filming...

Chico: which is good. The everyone-being-okay, not the earthquake.

Kathy Ireland is out of Dancing With the Stars, Bianca Richardson is out of America's Next Top Model, and Louise Black is eliminated at Project Runway.

Gordon: But none of them are your hoes of the week.
Chico: Plural.
Gordon: Part 1 of your hoes are Bethenny Frankel, Christian Soriano, and Fabio Viviani, all of which doing well in reality competition shows, and all of them getting their own reality shows thanks to BRAVO.
Chico: Thanks, Bravo! Just what I don't need.
Gordon: Soriano won Project Runway, Viviana won most popular player on Top Chef, and Frankel, featured in real housewives in NYC, also came in second on Martha Stewart's Apprentice. Also being a co-ho, Jake Pavelka, the latest leading guy on The Bachelor, one of Chico's faaaaavorite shows ever.
Chico: Whatever.
Gordon: I must check your DVD recorder. I think you secretly tape it on the side.
Chico: You'd love to think that.
Gordon: I would. And those...are your hoes.
Chico: Okay, shut it down, Bachelor-boy
Gordon: (Shutting Down)
Chico: Okay, still to come, we're going Global with MIPCOM, but what do we have first, G?
Gordon: First, we get wrong, in a fun sort of way. You're reading WLTI. You give us 22 minutes, and we'll give you 22 pounds of slime that Nickelodeon used this week.
Chico: *dumps a pound on Gordon*
Gordon: Ugh...why is this slime smelling like mint?
Chico: No idea.

(Brainvision is brought to you by Let's Make a Let's Make a Deal Costume! You have a pretty good costume already (everyone likes a chicken), but will you keep it or trade for what's in the closet? It could be GI Joe... or a llama. Literally)

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