Episode 22.11
November 23

Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper, and you know during this time, we have the famed November Sweeps, right?
Chico: Yep
Jason: Of course.
Gordon: Well this week, it was more like November sleeps, because this was a total snooze fest.
Chico: So I've heard.
Gordon: Last week was sponsored by the letter I. This week may be sponsored by the letter z, as in ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz.
Chico: In that case, let me grab my teddy bear.
Jason: I need a blankie.
Chico: Because from somewhere in America... the November Sleeps Edition of WLTI... is.. ON!
Jason: (Snore.)
Chico: Chico Alexander with you, great to be here, along with special guest Jason Block.
Jason: Always fun to be here with the gang.
Chico: Always great to have you. Okay, material... a lot of. Time... not so much. Let's get it going with what I think is the worst. November. Sweeps. Finale. EVER.
Gordon: Let's hear it.
Chico: That being Millionaire's Tournament of 10. We know what happened to get to this point... ten of the season's best come back to risk their winnings on one question for $1 million. The highest seed to go for it and succeed wins it all. Last week, Sam Murray was the only one to go for it, putting him in the catbird seat. Fast forward to Friday, where we have Jehan Shamsid-Deen, who is risking $225,000 for one shot at a million. She... didn't pull the trigger. Didn't even bother to entertain it. Or rather, she did, but in the end, she let the clock peacefully run its course.
Jason: Not only was Sam Murray the only person to get it right...he was the ONLY person to go for it.
Gordon: We have been talking about this for weeks on how this format doesn't work. The advantage is not with the higher seed. It's with the lower seeds.
Chico: The less money you have, the less money you have to risk. And therefore the more apt you are to go for it. Gordon... Bore me.
Gordon: I have all of season 1 of For The Love of Ray J. That boring enough?
Jason: Damn. That's a high bore factor.
Chico: I was thinking about a baby yawning, but... what the hell, it's a party.

Gordon: The Subject: The Tournament of 10: What went wrong. #1. The advantage goes to the lower seeds, who have less to lose.
Jason: This is * * * * city
Gordon: #2. There's no reason for the higher seeds to go for it. Granted, all of them would have been correct if they pulled the trigger, but I think Michael Davies underestimated the economy and the lack of greed factor by the contestants.
Chico: Correct. We went through all of this.
Jason: This has been reported in many stories across all game shows. People are going on game shows to help their economic situation.
Chico: Not so much to show off.
Gordon: #3. This is no longer the greed era of game shows. The economy, which has been battered by a 10.2% Unemployment rate, has people not willing to give back the money they have earned with no safety net, and the play has reflected that.
Jason: You are not going to have someone who has a GUARANTEED six figure check to risk it.
Chico: Even with an inkling of an idea, it's still "an inkling." Are you going to risk tens of thousands... if not HUNDREDS of thousands on an inkling?
Gordon: Not a chance. If you REALLY wanted to make it a tournament, then you give them a free guess at it with no financial penalty. THAT would have been fun to see, because that check would have been bouncing around from player to player.
Chico: Yep. And as long as you're correct, you're still in. Make it like Uncle Jim's Question Bee. Going old old OLD school.
Gordon: It's sort of like Hey Jason, you know that $32,000 you won on Jeopardy? We'll invite you to the Tournament of Champions, but you have to give $16,000 of it back to play.
Jason: Thanks, no. There is NO BUY IN in game shows, to use a poker term, except on High Stakes Poker.
Chico: There you go. And the third, and possibly the most damning outside of the fact that this shouldn't even happen in the first place...The REVEAL. There was not a right way to do it.
Gordon: There actually would have been a fun way to do it.
Chico: What would the fun way to do it be? Because I can't see it.
Gordon: You had all this time, and the players answer wouldn't be revealed until time ran out. So instead of a verbal cue, per se, there's be 5 letter choices in front of the contestant, A, B, C, D, or Q for Quit. Then you could have the contestant milk the clock and then after 0:00 hit, reveal their answer.
Chico: Yeah, that would be a lot of fun, but not really in the spirit of Millionaire, where you're in the chair and talking out the answer struggling to find something.
Gordon: I don't think the Tournament of 10 is in the Spirit of Millionaire either, but I digress.
Jason: It isn't. This is EPIC FAIL in the Millionaire history.
Chico: I'm hoping beyond hope that we NEVER see another Tournament of 10. I think, in my opinion... this was just another way to force a win out of a franchise that may very well be on the downslope.
Jason: We have been through this before.
Chico: This is a giant blight on the franchise. And I believe when the ratings come out, we'll have proof of how big a failure this is.
Jason: Who was the last show who tried to do this?
Chico: Deal or No Deal.
Jason: And where are they now? Cancelled on NBC and fighting for their syndicated life.
Gordon: Speaking of Deal or No Deal, let's do some repeat shopping.
Chico: Yay repeat shopping.

Gordon: Let's see what we had for DOND so far in November. 1. Infrared Case Week.
Chico: *raspberries*
Gordon: We see where the big money is. Unfortunately, no one selected had a big money case, so we knew 2 minutes going in that you weren't going to see a big money win. That's anti-climactic at its worst.
Jason: pffft
Gordon: 2. Family Reunion Week
Chico: Yeah. That was a bore.
Gordon: We not only get the same family for 5 days in a row, we get a family who can't play the game for 5 days in a row.
Jason: Yawn.
Chico: And then there was ... #3. Audience participation week.
Gordon: Someone from the audience gets to play the game for 1 episode. They don't get selected and I don't understand why you'd even do that when it means absolutely nothing to the home audience.
Chico: Agreed. We see one person from the audience go to the gallery, and none of them get called up to play the game. That's it.
Jason: So we have three gimmicks no one gives a rats rear end about.
Chico: Right. And this week is Nurses Week. I'm already looking forward in bated anticipation about that one (no, not really) I'm allowed that evaluation. I'm a lab tech :-)
Gordon: Unless they will be doing scenes from Animaniacs, I'm not too enthused about this.
Jason: HELLO NURSE!!!!!
Gordon: But if this is November Sweeps, where's the WWE shows? (Unless they are saving those for February)
Chico: I believe one aired on MNT... and the rest will air in February.
Jason: Could be.
Chico: And we're all looking forward to that.
Jason: Um...honestly no. I am not.
Chico: Okay, Jason's not looking forward to that.
Jason: Deal or No Deal is relying SOLELY on the gimmicks.
Gordon: I agree with Jason. Let's see some gimmicks that affect the gameplay in a good way. Another thing I am not looking forward to - talking about this next subject. On November 15, 2009, the entertainment world lost a very, very underrated host, and someone who, if you lived in my generation, was a major player in the game show world.
Jason: Amen.
Chico: We all remember Ken Ober from Make Me Laugh... Smush... but the show that put him on the radar...Remote Control.
Jason: Remote Control is one the shows of the 80's for many reasons.
Chico: Yep.
Gordon: Big Board Please

Gordon: The Subject: All about Ken Ober. #1. Ken Oberding (who changed his name later to Ober) got his first break by getting to the Semi-Finals in the Comedy Competition of Star Search in 1985. Of course, he's hosted a number of shows after that.
Chico: Of course. And the one thing I liked about him... he was the no nonsense straight man.
Gordon: We was a straight man, but he was also very snarky when he had to be.
Chico: He let the show, or his co-stars, or everyone, just have all the fun. He understood the role.
Gordon: #2. He co-hosted a revised version of Make Me Laugh for Comedy Central.
Jason: That was a fun show too.
Chico: Yep. Again, playing the straight man to the comic guests.
Gordon: #3. Ober hosted a very underrated game show which still has a following called 'Smush'
Chico: Amen to that.
Jason: Smush is a GREAT show. Still is.
Chico: Great concept. It was WAY before its time.
Gordon: #4. Ober hosted another short-lived show called Perfect Match for ESPN. Now this one was special for me, because I worked as a freelance question writer for the show.
Chico: Did you ever meet Ken?
Gordon: Not on the set, no. I was freelancing in NJ while the show was being taped in Florida. However, I did have the opportunity to meet him in person and he was a class act.
Chico: So you should have the final word on this then.
Gordon: Ken Ober, in my mind, was not only a very underrated host, but someone who I thought should have gotten more credit in the game show community. He put game shows for MTV on the Map and helped spark the careers of people such as Adam Sandler, Colin Quinn and Denis Leary, among others. Ober passed away way, too soon.
Chico: Thanks for the memories, Ken... Fellas?

(silence.)

Chico: Thanks. From a moment of tragedy we go to a moment of triumph. Last night was the big finale of Next Iron Chef. And if you're a Tetsujin fan from way back, ah-thank-you, this was a long time coming. On one side, you have Jehangir Mehta, a pastry chef from New York by way of Mumbai. On the other side, you have a classically trained Latin American chef from Philadelphia by way of Chicago, Jose Garces. Two quality chefs... each one with three victories in the tests, but as you know, they mean NOTHING if you don't win in Kitchen Stadium. The final test: bring the American culinary experience home to Kitchen Stadium Arena. The theme ingredients... Racks and ribs.
Jason: I am hungry already.
Chico: Already an edge to Garces, as Mehta hasn't had much in the way of red meat. But that's what being an Iron Chef is all about. You have to be ready to cook whatever, whenever. Both of them were, but it all came down to one aspect... Creativity. If you're an Iron Chef, what does creativity mean?
Jason: Using the ingredient in such a way that either no one had seen or tasted?
Gordon: Avoiding the urge to serve Fugu :P
Jason: ROFL
Chico: Fugu doesn't even get past the door. I believe that rule was put in place due to what happened the LAST time someone ate fugu in Kitchen Stadium.
Gordon: Or in the Japanese Version of Iron Chef, where Chairman Kaga 'passed away' by eating bad Fugu.
Chico: We miss you, Kaga.. Anyway...You have the ability to be creative because you have a grasp of fundamentals that you can bend to your will. You can't be creative AND a failure. Here, one chef was a follower... and one chef was a creator. And in this battle, when everything counted.... Mehta followed Garces.
Jason: How do you mean?
Chico: He was being creative, but due to a few missteps, mostly in the adaptability aspect with the failing pressure cooker, he wasn't able to follow through on some of his planned dished and had to improvise, but he's not good at that, as you saw during the series... Three words... Ice. Cream. Maker.
Gordon: And I think Garces had a huge edge there. If you're an Iron Chef and you need to be creative, you have to make it pay off.
Chico: And Iron Chef Jose Garces... we finally get to say that... made it pay off. This is actually his SECOND win in KSA. He fought Iron Chef Flay once upon a time and won.
Gordon: It's not like Top Chef, where you get points for trying. If you try something creative and it fails, you usually lose the match. You can't have that coming from an Iron Chef.
Chico: Correct, G. You either win or you lose, and that's it.
Jason: Congratulations to the new Iron Chef. Wear the chef coat well.
Chico: I think we're going to see good things from the new Tetsujin. He's already got the stamp of approval from the three Iron Chefs who were judging.
Gordon: I think he will do quite well in his role. What about the next Project Runway winner?
Chico: ... I'll plead ignorance on this, since I'm not an accurate judge of fashion. I am, however, an accurate judge of a season that just bored to tears and was WAY.. WAY... too predictable.
Jason: I think (even though the ratings were huge), the delay hurt it from a time perspective. Season 7 Will be better.
Chico: they should hope so.
Gordon: The problem here wasn't the lack of talent. The talent was good. But it was B+ level good, instead of A level good. There was no one who came out, either from a talent or personality standpoint, to try to grab the reigns and win the competition. You didn't have a Christian Siriano, Jay McCaroll or even a Leanne Marshall or Kenley Collins.
Chico: There was no standout talent. There was just... Okay, she's the best of it. But no real "wow" to it, you know?
Gordon: Hopefully, you'll have someone who wants to WIN it next season, instead of people who don't want to lose it, if you understand what i mean.
Jason: (Herman Edwards) You play to win the game! (/Herman Edwards)
Chico: So we are NOT going to be talking about how great Irina Shabayeva was this time next year.
Jason: I don't think so. She may be a success...but she won't be in the same breath as say a Siriano. Christian is EVERYWHERE.
Gordon: The other part is that Christian had a giant personality. You liked him and you wanted to see him succeed. All three finalists this year didn't have that same persona.
Chico: That would require the evidence of a persona, which I personally didn't get.
Jason: Ari, the woman who had a personality was the first person who got eliminated. She was weird. If her designs succeeded, who knows?
Gordon: True. But again, its a competition based on talent, not personality. That being said, if you're the producers, you're hoping that the winner is someone with a personality that you can edit throughout the show and catch lightning in a bottle. Unfortunately, it didn't happen this season. Maybe next season.
Chico: Maybe. Speaking of personality... I think we can all agree that Scott Hostetler is a character.
Jason: Oh yeah.
Gordon: Absolutely. And he knows how to play the games he's on TV for. I believe as of right now, he's been on 18 of them.
Chico: You believe correctly. And he's a character who did something that NO ONE in the history of Catch 21 has done. Here's this week's...



Jason: Yup.
Chico: He made history in more ways than one. Let's go to the Bonus...Your opening deal... Q, 3, 2. Remember that. First card.. 9 Where does it go?
Jason: On the 2
Chico: Correct.

Q, 3, 2-9

Chico: Next is a 6. Now if you're playing by the book, you know it's easier to get cards that add up to 11 than it is to catch an ace. Hence, it goes on the 10.

Q-6, 3, 2-9.

Chico: Next... an 8.
Jason: On the three
Chico: Speaking of easy to catch cards that add up to 11.

Q-6, 3-8, 2-9.

Chico: Now you just need two faces.. Next card... a 5. If you don't know where this goes, I will hurt you.
Jason: On the 16. Easy $1,000.
Chico: Correct.

(Q-6-5), 3-8, 2-9.

Chico: Still looking for two easy faces. Hey, here's one, a Queen!
Jason: Thats $5,000.

(Q-6-5), (3-8-Q), 2-9.

Chico: Now he has FOUR chances to catch another. You would've saved a good 30 seconds just cutting him a check because next card... is a jack!

(Q-6-5), (3-8-Q), (2-9-J)
$25,000!

Chico: Six cards... no power chips. Easy breezy lemon squeezy.
Gordon: THAT'S the way to play the bonus round. We've discussed this a few times, but Scott is the first person to actually execute the strategy to perfection.,
Chico: And for that... Let's give him this...



Jason: Huge MVP
Chico: We're hoping to have an interview with the man soon. Fingers crossed.
Gordon: And Galu needs to keep their fingers crossed as they are going from an 8-4 advantage into the merge to a 5-4 disadvantage as Shambo and John cross over to Foa Foa's side.
Jason: Uh oh :)



Gordon: We have a ton of morons.
Chico: Foa Foa is making a comeback to end all comebacks, and the Probst is attributing it to three things... One, Russell. Obviously.
Gordon: Of course. Russell deserves to win this season, hands down.
Jason: He is making Survivor people go Richard who?
Chico: Two... Foa Foa sticking together. And yes, two crossovers from Galu don't hurt either.
Gordon: Sure don't.
Chico: And three... Galu being... well... morons.
Gordon: Complete and utter morons. Here's how NOT to deal with a tribal split. Big Bored please?

Gordon: The Subject: Surviving a Merge. If you're in the majority, it's simple. #1. Pagong the minority tribe. You can't think end game this early in the game and start cutting off your own.
Chico: Nope.
Jason: Not at all
Gordon: Getting rid of Erik was a huge blunder that will cost Galu dearly.
Chico: Yep. If there's a Galu left in the final vote, you can bet dollars to doughnuts that he or she is not getting Erik's vote.
Gordon: #2. If you're going to kill off one of your own, kill off a straggler who's most likely to defect. This is why Erik's elimination was ridiculous. He wasn't going to defect anywhere. The person you should have gone after was Shambo, because everyone knew she was going to switch over if they ever get the numbers.
Chico: And she should've been gone straight away, too.
Jason: Exactly. Shambo was the bully victim.
Chico: You know, were it not for the whole winning thing early on, she probably would've been gone. Survivor is, after all, a social game.
Gordon: Once you merge, you would have to consider Shambo one of Foa Foa and she should have gone quickly.
Chico: And Shambo... not so social.
Gordon: #3. If you want to split, split so you have the numbers. If you're 4 in a group of 8 and want to grab 2 of the Foa Foas, that's fine, because after the other pagonging, you'll still be up 4-2.
Jason: Right again, G.
Gordon: But for 3 Galu to start to bring all 4 members of Foa Foa into play? Um...you're going to be down 4-3 in numbers after that.
Chico: Umm.. Yep.
Gordon: #4. One of us, one of them. To keep Foa Foa honest, you had to get rid of one of them. Then as you whittle everyone down, even on a split, if you got them down to 2 Foa Foas and 3 Galu, you still have the majority. Instead, they chopped their own off first, and that's going to wind up costing them big time, because I don't see Foa Foa being so stupid as to allow Monica, Brett and Dave a second chance.
Jason: Not at all. And Russell found a third idol correct?
Chico: Correct. Didn't play it. Didn't feel a need to. Wasn't at risk.
Gordon: Definitely not at risk. And he's now in the driver's seat.
Chico: On the other hand, if you're Galu, and you wanted to get rid of Russell quickly... this would've been the round to do it.
Gordon: The time to get rid of him was with 12 people. Now he has control of the majority alliance AND a hidden immunity idol.
Chico: He's unstoppable. Unless they finally come to a realization that he's the one pulling all the strings... yeah, like that'll happen
Gordon: Even if they do, they need his vote right now.
Jason: He is in the catbird's seat and I will be shocked if he doesn't win the whole thing
Gordon: I'm not going to anoint him just yet. I think people realize that he is a threat to win the whole thing. They still need him, but when you get down to 5 or 4, look out.
Chico: Stranger things have happened.
Gordon: Then the game shifts from 'how do I get to the end' to 'who do I want to go to the end with me', and I think that I want Shambo there, so bye-bye Russell.
Chico: He's actually going to have to do some elbow work there, but that's down the line.
Jason: But now is he in control
Chico: Yep... like we're in control of the hamsters... who are so bored this week that they're sleeping in. Gordon... the airhorn, please.
Gordon: But they look so cute nestled up against the logs.
Chico: you want Jason to run the Choppler this week?
Jason: I wore the flight suit :)
Gordon: ....I'll wake up Fluffy and Cheeseball.

(AIRHORN)

Jason: DAMN THATS LOUD!
Chico: Alright. Here. We. Go.
Gordon: 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: That's some nice spieling, Doug. First up, the calendar. Big honking finale this week, eh, G?
Gordon: Sort of...

We have finales in the realm of Dancing with the Stars. We also have Nurses on Deal or No Deal and more celebrities on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader.

Chico: One word... Sanjaya.
Jason: Ah.
Gordon: I got another one. Omarosa.
Chico: I better call the local priest to see if hell hasn't frozen over yet.
Jason: It hasn't
Gordon: But I know that Chico can't wait to see it...or use this (hands Chico the baseball bat)
Chico: Thanks, G. Let's talk renewals.

Scream Queens gets one next year.

Gordon: Aaaah!

Singing Bee gets one in January, and so does Project Runway... and Models of the Runway.

Gordon: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Chico: That's some nice screaming, there.
Jason: Models, I am shocked at.
Gordon: I'm not. The ratings warranted it.
Chico: True. But even so, there's a shopping mall missing its mannequin stock. I'm ready for the Bee to return myself. But I gotta say it.. Melissa's gotta get into the role. I'm not asking for Joey Fatone again... I'm just asking that you try.
Gordon: So since the Bee got renewed, any doubt that 5th Grader will as well?
Chico: Nope.
Jason: Nope.
Chico: That's coming back. You better believe it. As for new things, which we shine an extra special extra large green light on...

We have top chefs... we have chefs winning their own restaurants.... now how about chefs winning their own restaurant CHAINS? Enter NBC's "United Plates of America". This from the creators of Top Chef and Project Runway.

Jason: I don't like the chances of this
Chico: Because... all together now...
All: "This worked so well the first time."
Gordon: And the second time.
Jason: And the third
Chico: Et cetera... et cetera...ALSO...

BBC America has picked up "Britain's Missing Top Model" for an off-broadcast run.

Chico: That would be the show with models who are disabled in some way.
Jason: This was a controversial show in 2008. Glad BBC America has the guts to show it.
Chico: It starts NEXT week, December 1.
Gordon: It sounds pretty cool. If I had BBC America, I'd watch it. All I get though is Idiots of America. Who wants to watch that?
Chico: Pass. :-)
Jason: NO thanks

Are YOU Smarter than...Aaron Carter, who allegedly owes the IRS over 1 million dollars in back taxes.

Jason: Yipe.
Chico: Holy...
Jason: Bad Aaron
Chico: No home game. He can't afford it.
Jason: Yeah
Chico: You're going to show me something else, aren't you?
Gordon: I got some Haterade for you.

'As Seen on TV', will no longer be seen on TV. The UK quizzer has been cancelled. Hence we get this...



Jason: Ah!
Chico: That always scares him.
Gordon: He's scary.
Chico: Yep. He needs to get loaded. Take the edge off.
Jason: (HIC)
Chico: This week, it's game show hosts and blogs thereto.

Pat Kiernan has a contest on his blog, Pat's Papers. Just visit, answer his questions, and you'll be entered to win a nifty prize, $25 at Amazon.com. He posts questions at 11:30a ET.

Jason: Nice.
Chico: It's all one word, patspapers.com. Hey... if he's willing to give me $25 to spend at Amazon.com I'm all for it.
Jason: I will give it a shot
Chico: Patspapers.com, 11:30a ET.
Gordon: What about gordonsmediahoes.com?
Chico: You'd LIKE that wouldn't you?
Jason: He would.
Gordon: I would.
Chico: (plays "Pimpin' All Over the World")

In this week's Media Ho Report, Julianne Hough may or nay not go back to Dancing with the stars, Adam Lambert tells Out Magazine to chill, Scott Mednick shoots a movie based on American Gladiators...

Chico: Proving once again that Hollywood has run out of ideas.

Alex Trebek visits Detroit, Mike Sexton Shuffles up and Deals on a New Game Show for MNT, and Jordin Sparks has her appendix removed.

Chico: Feel better, Jordin.
Jason: Ouch. Not fun. Get well soon.
Gordon: But none of them are your ho of the week.
Jason: Who is it, kind sir?
Gordon: It's of course Ken Ober, who does pass away this week. Ken, you will be missed.
Chico: Yes you will.
Jason: You will.
Gordon: And those...are your hoes.
Chico: Now, let's go global to... the Philippines.

The Biggest Loser will arrive in the island nation and host contestants from all over Asia in their pursuit of better lives...

Jason: Very cool
Chico: Of course $100,000 and a new car doesn't hurt either.
Jason: Nope. Not at all.
Gordon: And that's Brainvision. Shut it down.
Chico: Done and done.
Jason: Shutting down.
Chico: Still to come, we're time traveling to 2003 this week as we continue our special series of 10 Years in 2 Months. But first, I say something stupid. Or maybe smart. We don't know. That's for you to figure out.
Gordon: You're reading WLTI. You give us 22 minutes, and we'll give you 22 people who will not risk $475,000 for a Million Dollar question.
Chico: Because they're not greedy.
Jason: Or stupid

(Brainvision has been brought to you by TCPMTA (The Committee to Provide More Thanksgiving Alternatives) Instead of Turkey this year, go for Emus, Llama, Ostriches, or other healthier meat. Co-sponsored by Zonks Provided to Let's Make a Deal)

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