Chico: Hey gang, this is Chico Alexander, and I want to give thanks to everyone who makes this show possible... Not just the fine folks at AOL or 1&1 or GSN or anything, but ... all the turkeys who keep doing crazy, foolish, and otherwise DUMB things that keep us talking.
Jason: You mean people like all those Bachelors/Bachelorettes?
Chico: .... grrr...
Gordon: Which is why when I asked for turkeys that you put all these pictures up on my wall?
Jason: those people who dont think before they hit the send button on Twitter?
Chico: DON'T PRESS SEND! DON'T PRESS IT! As for the pictures, well you already had an autographed picture of Donald Trump so... it just seemed like the right idea.
Gordon: I guess I am thankful for doing this show with Chico and our special guest this week: Jason Block.
Jason: As I am thankful for being here.
Chico: And we're thankful to have you along board. From Somewhere In America.... Happy Thanksgiving! WLTI ... IS ON!
Jason: Gobble! :-)
Chico: Okay, before we get to the main course, it's time for a little... appetizer. Something we calll.... THEFASTESTFIVEANDAHALFMINUTESINGAMESHOWS. We call it...

THE REPLAY!

Gordon: Jason - start the clock
Jason: You have 5:30. Here's the first recap... GO!
Chico: Let's go Dancing first, shall we? This week is a tribute to MJ, but two couples, the best and the worst.one couple won't even make it there.
Gordon: If you want to call them that this week, sure.
Chico: Kirstie Alley & Gilles Marini, and their respective partners, will be doing the Thriller dance, because they're zombies.



Chico: Meanwhile a NEW leader has emerged. Long live Melissa Rycroft, I say.
Gordon: She'll live for 1 week or so.
Chico: Yep. Meanwhile, a family in the nightcap editions of the Feud made the most of their week. Give it up for the Newkirk family, who go five and out winning a Ford Flex and a total of $42,510 cash money.
Jason: That's about a $80,000 take.
Chico: Give or take.
Gordon: I'll give them one of these...



Chico: Take it, it's yours. Gordon, next up!
Gordon: Numbnuts is won this week by Mike, while Total Fear Factor Blackout was won by Matt and Robert.
Chico: Another pairs game? Where's the originality?
Jason: You didn't get the Xerox Mask did you?
Gordon: They left it in the dark. you can go see if you can find it
Chico: ha HA. We found a $250,000 question on Millionaire this week.
Gordon: Let's hear it
Chico: Only by way of a jump, but it counts. Sal Olivo's question for a quarter-mill...

[$250,000]
True to form, the first piece of fiction Stephen King ever sold to a publisher was a 1965 story he originally titled "I Was a Teenage" what?
A: Grim Reaper
B: Witch Hunter
C: Grave Robber
D: Axe Murderer

Jason: (Guess locked)
Gordon: (Locked)
Chico: Jason?
Jason: C. Grave Robber
Chico: Gordon?
Gordon: E. NHL Executive.
Chico: Again, screw you Gary Bettman.
Gordon: I think the Zombies are coming out of the Newark Swamp and going to the arena.
Chico: Ick. Jason, big Wheel week?
Jason: Well we had a salute to Military Families. 6 days worth... BTW Chico what was the answer
Chico: Oh, the answer was C. Sal bailed with $68,100.
Jason: On wheel we had a 3/5 bonus week. But the big winners were Makeeka and Darren Harris. They are married and are from Fayetteville, NC. She is in Army ROTC and Darren is a SSGT in the US Army at Fort Bragg, NC. They win the main game with $17,500 including a trip to St. Croix. They land on the E in GAME. They are dealing with a THING. With the RSTLNE and their choices of B H P O we have:

P O S _ T _ _ E
_ _ B E

Chico: I got it. POSITIVE VIBE.
Jason: You know what my positive vibe says... they add $35,000 to leave with $52,500 in cash and trip! The Military Families took Wheel for $265,100
Chico: That's a nice haul.
Jason: And next week starts the Sears Secret Santa Sweepstakes, where you can win what the players win.
Gordon: That means however, thanks to the press releases that we know one thing.
Jason: Yeah
Chico: no one wins the million in the next month.
Gordon: Bingo.
Jason: SPOILERS.
Chico: But we have one new America's Next Top Model. Congratulations to Laura James, who goes from having to pay for college to having college paid for her in the form of a modeling contract. The prize package includes said contract, a spread in Nylon magazine, campaigns with Nine West & Smashbox cosmetics, and of course, face gives you thrills, but money pays the bills... $100,000.
Jason: Rob?
Rob the Cash Cow: Moo.
Gordon: Very nice. On RuPaul's Drag Race, your final four are Raven, Shanel, Jujubee and Chad Michaels. On Top Chef, we have a surprise!
Chico: I like surprises!
Gordon: Jeffrey is out, but that's not the surprise
Chico: What's the surprise?
Gordon: The surprise is that 3 new chefs show up - but the chefs - CJ, Josie and Stefan, have been on Top Chef before - and 2 of them almost won it.
Chico: OUCHIES!
Jason: OH DAMN.
Chico: Game is on. Staying with chefs for a moment. Jeremiah was a Bullfrog. Was a good friend of mine. He went up against Eddie Canlon in the final round of Thanksgiving Chopped. The ingredients for the dessert round: lavash, kumquats, mulling spices, and chocolate turkeys. Jeremiah went with chocolate ice cream and spiced kumquat reduction. With SOUR cream.
Jason: oops
Chico: You may think so, but he actually meant to do that.
Gordon: And your winner is...?
Chico: Eddie went with Choclate Mascarpone Strudel. Winner... EDDIE! He's thankful for $10,000. He's taking the money back to Staten Island. One more chef item, J?
Jason: The Next Iron Chef: Redemption is in full effect. 10 chefs battle for a spot as an Iron Chef
Chico: Right.
Jason: We are in week 2 of the completion. Week One: Tim Love is gone. Last week
Chico: Last week?
Jason: In the Secret Ingredient Showdown, Amanda Freitag and Elizabeth Falkner
Chico: Please say Freitag. PLEASE SAY FREITAG...
Jason: .... beat Duskie Estes
Chico: .. Damn it.
Jason: the ingredient: WHITE BREAD
Chico: Ironic.
Jason: BTW... This is going to be a fun season
Chico: Yes it is.
Jason: You have some great chefs going for it.
Chico: One more game for you and it's the play of the week. It's from Thursday's Let's Ask America. We're saluting Everyday Heroes with Yvonne from Phoenix winning $8300. How will she play it out in the final question? She bets $4000 of it on this...

Parents said it's most appropriate for teenage girls to start babysitting at which age: 14, 15, 16, or 17?

Chico: Guesses?
Jason: 16
Gordon: If it's Ron Jeremny's house, 80.
Chico: Okay, you say 16. Gordon says 80. Yvonne says 14....... YVONNE WINS $12,300.
Jason: Niiiice.
Gordon: And STOP THE CLOCK
Jason: (hits the buzzer)
Chico: Good Replay guys.
Jason: (hands Chico Water) Nice one.
Chico: (hands Gordon a towel) Okay, you notice we didn't talk about Jeopardy! in the Replay. There's a reason for that. It's tourney time again. It's Teacher's Tourney time.
Gordon: It's a fun time of the year.
Jason: Which has been 10 shades of awesome
Chico: It really has. We have your finalists, but let's see how they got there. Game one: John Hines vs. Whitney Collins vs. Michael Farabaugh. John won his prelim game by a hefty margin, but that doesn't matter anymore. Going into the Final, Michael leads with $18,200 to John's $13,400 and Whitney's $10,400. Whitney's all but done unless she decides to double up. But yeah, it's pretty much a two-horse race at this point. Michael's got to wager $8601.
Gordon: You have to play to win here. $8,601 is the bet.
Chico: John HAS to go all-in, because it's tournament play. You throw any instance of holding back out the window.
Jason: Exactly. Different from getting into the semi-finals and te finals
Chico: Yep. So that's what they have to do. This is the first final, US Presidents the category.

The only 2 presidents never to present a State of the Union address are William Henry Harrison & this man.

Jason: Locks in
Gordon: (Locks)
Chico: Jason?
Jason: Who is James Garfield?
Chico: Gordon?
Gordon: Who is Andrew McKeag?
Chico: .... Sorry, G. Don't follow.
Gordon: He is the lead singer of...The Presidents of the United States of America.
Chico: Ah. Now I remember. The 90s were a hell of a drug. Anyway, Jason's right. He's the ONLY one who was right, but Michael wins enough to move to the finals. Next match: Marion Penning vs Marcia Edmondson vs. Kate Wilson. Kate has the lead with $17,800 to Marion's $9600. Marcia has $8400. Kate only has to do so little. Marion & Marcia have to do a little more. Marion has to bet it all. Marcia has to do the same. Kate only has to bet about $1500. $1401 to be exact.
Jason: Correct
Chico: The subject of the Final: MATH MEN.... Okay, this is an easy one.
Jason: I nailed this.

In 1880, he wrote, "We draw 2 circles and make them include or exclude or intersect one another."

Jason: LOCKS IN.
Gordon: (locks)
Chico: ... I think we'll start with Gordon first.
Gordon: Who are the geniuses behind the Master Card logo?
Chico: GENIUS! Jason?
Jason: He is half right :-) Because they got it from a guy named VENN. Who is Venn? As in the Venn Diagram. You DO remember 6th grade math.
Chico: Correct! I remember Square One.
Gordon: Last semi-final?
Chico: Last semi final.. Colby Burnett vs. Brenton Montie vs. Drew Joanides. Drew... he gone. He bet it all on a late round DD and lost. That leaves Brenton's $7300 and Colby's $13,800 going heads up. Real simple. Brenton needs to bet it all and be correct. Colby needs to bet $601. The subject: Classical Music.

This 1890 piece was named for a Verlaine poem that begins "Your soul is as a moonlit landscape fair".

Jason: Locks in
Gordon: (Locks)
Chico: Jason?
Jason: What is Clair De Lune?
Chico: Gordon?
Gordon: What is the theme for Hellraiser?
Chico: Hmmm.. *hums theme for Hellraiser*.... Sorry, i was thinking about Psycho.
Gordon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAYkH-ESXW8
Chico: Oh.. that makes sense.
Jason: Bingo
Chico: So Brenton's wrong. Colby's right. So we have your final three: Colby Burnett, Kate Wilson, and Michael Farabaugh. Who wins this one
Jason: I am going with Kate. The men don't have momentum going in
Chico: I'm going to go with Colby. He's the only one with momentum.
Gordon: I'm going to disagree with both of you and go Michael.
Chico: This only means one thing... it's going to be close.
Jason: Big time. Can't wait!
Gordon: Something also close - The Voice battles



Chico: It's live show time! And this year's live shows come with a twist.
Jason: (cue serious music)
Chico: First of all, downloads will count toward the final vote total.
Jason: ooooooh. That sounds like trouble
Chico: That's only the beginning.
Jason: Uh oh
Chico: In previous seasons, there would be one player per team eliminated. Not in season 3. This time, you're eliminated regardless of team affiliation, so it's possible that you can have a final three composed of all Team Adam or all Team Cee-Lo. Not all Team Blake or all Team Christina, because Michaela Paige and Adriana Louise are voted out.
Jason: That makes sense...BUT....
Gordon: Hmm...shades of The X-Factor anyone?
Chico: Okay, Jason you said "This makes sense, but..."
Jason: You can vote for the people who suck because...I <3 (insert judge here)
Chico: That's what usually happens.
Gordon: Umm....do you watch voting shows?
Chico: Only all the time.
Jason: I do :-)
Chico: Hence "that's what usually happens".
Jason: I am saying they are going really for the popularity factor
Chico: Pretty much.
Gordon: So going to that other show...



Chico: Okay, I've got the depth chart right here. It's "something that no other talent show on TV does". Thanks, Mario Lopez. Here it is. Should let you know that the subject was "Divas". So yeah, a bunch of guys singing girl's songs. Just as a heads up, G.
Gordon: I understand. I don't agree, but I understand.
Chico: Okay, 1 through 4 were separated by three percent: Tate Stevens, Carly Ringer Sonenclar, Vino Alan, and Emblem3. Tate Stevens went for his target audience. Carly Rose went for... well, what she does best. Vino went for his target, and Emblem3's stock is starting to rise.
Gordon: Each of them have different genres and exploited them.
Chico: bingo.
Jason: Yup.
Gordon: This is how you do well on these shows. And based on the usual popularity numbers, they will be doing very well for a long time, because... Ce Ce Frey jumped from 12th to 5th, right?
Chico: CORRECT. Followed by Fifth No-Harmony and Diamond White. Lots of movement in the middle.
Gordon: So it means one of two things. Either #1. The audience votes in a HUGE swing, or...
Chico: No or about it. They vote to save danger zone candidates, because CeCe Frey was horrible.
Gordon: #2: The Top 4 have such a BIG advantage in numbers (19, 18, 17., 16), that the other 12 are bouncing around like chips in a Bingo machine (5.5, 5.4, 5.3, etc.) but have no prayer of catching the Top4. I vote for that one.
Chico: ... Okay, I'll give you that one. Now for the bottom feeders, and the decision that will perhaps split this panel. If not with each other, then definitely with the judges. 8 was Beatrice Miller. Dodging the bottom three was Arin Ray
Gordon: Not a surprise.
Chico: And 10, 11, and 12 were Paige Thomas, Jennel Garcia, and Lyric 145. The judges didn't get Lyric 145. I don't see where they didn't get it.
Jason: This doesn't surprise me one bit.
Chico: They chose to mash up ET by Katy Perry with We Will Rock You by Queen.
Gordon: 2 reasons why this happened. #1. Obviously the chaos theory. you vote for the people who are in trouble and neglect the people who you think are safe.
Chico: Obviously.
Jason: Yup and the 2nd?
Gordon: #2. If you go out there and do something different, what do you HAVE to do the next week?
Chico: Whatever you did the first week
Gordon: Push the envelope.
Chico: Right.
Gordon: This went from avant-garde to plain old mainstream generic.
Chico: The two songs went together well from a rhythmical standpoint.
Gordon: They took a step backwards and got called on it.
Chico: And you wouldn't think they did.
Gordon: I did. I knew they were in trouble after that performance.
Jason: Can you also say that Lyric 145 was SO different than they didn't appeal, since these music shows go for the safe
Gordon: No I don't say that.
Chico: I'd say that.
Gordon: Different s good. The problem is that they went from different to the same. If they stayed in different, i think they stick around.
Jason: I agree with Chico in this. I dont necessarily disagree with you G. But in this case...I think they were SO different they were OUT.
Chico: I mean, they took a big risk. They're known for taking big risks, but the thing about it is that people saw it coming.
Gordon: But you have to stay there. It's like Sanjaya Malakar. He went out there, sang it well, then the next week he went generic and was booted. You have to make me want MORE. Last week, I wanted more. This week, I didn't want any more.
Chico: I guess the biggest downfall about they're act was that it worked too well together. They needed to do something a bit more different.
Gordon: I don't want any more Paige Thomas and Jennel Garcia either, and fortunately, I'll be relieved of one of them.
Chico: Jennel. After Simon pawned off the choice on Demi (cruel) and Demi chose Paige (even more cruel). But Jennel's uppance comes on a 3-1 vote.
Gordon: It was a no-brainer choice. Paige clearly outsung Jennel in the finals.
Chico: Yeah, even though Paige butchered Paradise.
Gordon: Between the 2 of them, I thought they were going to open up their own deli.
Chico: Pass the ribeye, please. And the filet of Artis Silvester.


INJURY REPORT

Chico: Again, it was a simple task: get rid of Penner.
Jason: Very
Gordon: If youre the newbies, get rid of Penner. If you're Penner, form a counter alliance with the people who know they are going to be targets.
Chico: That would be Carter, denise, Malcolm, and Michael.
Gordon: Correct. And as we have seen time and time again, the counter alliance now is the majority.
Chico: Penner wanted Lisa to be a swing vote, but it turns out that he didn't even need her.
Gordon: He worked on Lisa and Michael and needed one of the 2 to flip. He got Michael to do so.
Jason: And Penner used Lisa brilliantly.
Gordon: Lisa goes from a position of strength to 6th place.
Jason: Even though she didn't flip.
Chico: Ouch. And she was doing so well, too.
Gordon: And now all of a sudden the power shifts to Carter, Denise and Malcolm, who has all the cards. I'll say it now. This is Malcolm's to lose.
Chico: Explain.
Jason: He has an Idol. And none of the people left can knock him out of power position.
Gordon: He has an idol, but more importantly, he's not a target and he has the majority in both the regular alliance and the sub-alliancve.
Chico: He could play this under the radar if he had to.
Gordon: If I'm Penner, I make another deal - with the majority and whittle down both alliances. Will he do it? No. He should and will. He knows Penner wont win this. he can take him and Denise the coat-tail rider all the way to the finals.
Jason: He can take Abi too.
Chico: So there's a scenario.
Gordon: No. Abi is the next one gone.
Jason: I don't think so.
Chico: Okay, I'll settle this...  It's either going to be Abi (strong possiblity) voted out next, or Pete (if and only if Abi wins immunity... HAHAHAHHAHAH!)
Jason: (falls off chair) Yeah, right.
Chico: But the chance is there. Not a small chance. Not even an infinitesimal chance. But the microscopic femtometer's worth of chance is there.
Gordon: Abi and Pete are unprotected. I agree that one of them leaves next.
Chico: Right.
Jason: Nods.
Gordon: And then Penner and Abi can form a team to be on The Amazing Race.
Chico: And then go from Turkey to Russia.



Chico: So let's review what we had to do. We had to organize a Russian card catalog. Which is hard enough to do when you don't know Cyrillic.
Gordon: I do, but I'm not in the race.
Chico: I do too, but ... again, not in the race. We had to synchronized swim with e a national developmental team.
Jason: Somewhat.
Chico: Then we had to talk to a couple of Ivan the Terrible's guards... Get a banner from the Trees of Love... and figure out that a 100 ruble note was a clue to the pit stop... because Russian's don't use rubles anymore. But what happened next was truly... a turkey. James & Abba are the fourth team to arrive... HOWEVER... They're missing something. Something rather important.
Jason: Their stuff
Gordon: Would that be their passports?
Chico: That would be their stuff and passports. They cant' check in without their passports.
Gordon: ..Oops.
Chico: So they have to figure out where their stuff is before the other two teams check in (no chance)!!!
Jason: And we got a TO BE CONTINUED
Chico: So ... I guess the question now: do they find their stuff in time?
Jason: I don't know. I am guessing yes.
Gordon: I'm pretty sure they will, from the good graces of...(Hamsters point to a package)...the BrainVision menagerie. Uh...sure, Cheeseball, sure.
Jason: Uh oh.
Chico: I don't like the look of this..
Gordon: Roll that Beautiful BrainVision 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 up, let's get into the business. *grabs hockey stick*
Jason: Again? :-)

170 episodes down, and Let's Ask America is a modest hit. Now we're talking about SECOND season.

Jason: (applause)
Chico: And with that, we're talking about EXPANSION. We're talking to 200 markets next season.
Jason: Really?
Chico: This from Scripps VP Brian Lawlor.
Jason: The quote?
Chico: The quote...

"Every day I ... open up the overnights, and usually there’s a couple of surprises where we may see big market like Tampa or Cleveland for us to be outperforming and beating “Wheel” and “Jeopardy” on many days."

Chico: So their station group is seeing bigger ratings... the people who pick up Jeopardy! and Wheel from them are seeing bigger ratings. This is what you call a win-win.
Jason: So this season...to use an inside baseball term...was "proof of concept"
Chico: You know I love proof of concept.
Jason: And it works.
Chico: What also works... Thanksgiving. We have two special episodes and one premiere. Here comes the Datebook.

The premiere is Killer Karaoke on November 23rd. Of course, we have all sorts of Thanksgiving themed Music and chef competitions during this time.

Gordon: Give us some of those special episodes, Chico
Chico: Well here's two of note: TPIR is celebrating Thanksgiving on Monday with prizes designed to being family and friends together, and to celebrate, they're bringing back YOUR MAN. The OTHER Boston Rob, Rob Wilson is coming back for this ep. I think it was shot back to back with his week on the show. And there's also a trip to Turkey involved.
Jason: Of course :-)
Chico: And Cat Cora is presenting a Showcase. We're a BIT familiar with her work. As for LMAD, they're doing it up family style this week. At least on Tuesday. Cars, trips, gift cards, and stuff for the entire family.
Jason: Family Style on LMAD is AWESOME. They had a great show last year.
Chico: It's gonna be awesome.
Gordon: Nice. Then maybe they can get Fully Loaded.
Chico: Oh, you're gonna love this..
Jason: HIC.

There's a website for the Museum of Television Production Music. It's at TVPMM.com. If you go there and purchase a membership, you will get... and I know this because JVG got it... the soundtrack to "WHEW!"

Jason: ooooooh
Jason: (drool)
Chico: Joe played it before we recorded a show for CLW this week. And I'll tell you... it was worth it.
Gordon: That's a smart purchase. We have dumber moves this week.
Jason: (rolls in the whiteboard)
Chico: Here we go.

Are YOU Smarter than...Maino, who thinks that Halle Berry is a famous Hip Hop artist?

Jason: Sure.
Gordon: Well she did do the Monster's Ball.
Chico: You saw that movie.... Copiously.
Gordon: For the $2,500 Bonus question, we get this:

In 2010, what hip-hop star attempted to run for the presidency of Haiti

Gordon: JB Smoove gives us Wyclef Jean, which is the right answer. Bam Magera gives us Will.i.am, which is acceptable. Maino gives us...Halle Berry.
Chico: Desiree, the day's champion, goes with JB's answer.
Jason: Desiree...smart girl
Chico: She leaves Brooklyn $4200 richer.
Gordon: She gets $2,500. Maino (and the writer that gave him that answer) gets a dunce cap. Who wants Haterade?
Chico: I DO!

So Kim Kardashian, in response to the violence in the Middle East, tweets, 'praying for everyone in Israel', which of course, sets off many angry responses from her 17 million Palestinian based Twitter fans.

Chico: Oh man.. the out-of-context celebrity comment.
Jason: Yes.
Gordon: She adds 'And praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world!' also, but by then, it's way too late and both messages are eventually removed. And for those who like the Turkey Trot...



Jason: I wont get into the fact she is geographically challenged either.
Chico: Undead turkey! Make it into sandwiches!
Gordon: And undead dancing.