Episode 22.16
December 28

Chico: From Game Show in My Head to a Nota on my tongue, if it made news in 2009... we were all over it.
Gordon: We were. And unfortunately sometimes, we wanted to run over it.
Chico: Repeatedly.
Jason: And Backwards
Chico: From the return of the network daytime game show to the final bow of primetime quizzers... for now...We had winners and losers... and those we lost too soon.
Gordon: 2009, for me, has been more of an evolutionary year. We saw the end of some trends, but the beginning of others.
Jason: 2009 had two major stories, but it is going to be the foundation of things to come. We as fans, if things go the way I see it, are going to be VERY happy in the years to come.
Chico: And now, from January to December, all the headlines that we... and you... were talking about... From somewhere in America... 2009... is... ON!
Jason: (tosses confetti)
Chico: Thank you for joining us for the We Love to Interrupt 2009 Year in Review show. He's Gordon Pepper... *points*
Gordon: Hi.
Chico: I'm Chico Alexander. :) And for the next few moments, you're going to hear names like... Philbin... Brady... dioGuardi.... and Allen. You're also going to hear names like Rothenberg... Pawson... Jih.... and... well... Allen.
Gordon: But we first start with a name connected with Allen, and that's Dioguardi.
Chico: We first met Kara dioGuardi on the VERY short-lived series "The One: Making a Music Star". A few years and a few hits later, she was tapped to join the panel as the fourth judge on American Idol.
Gordon: Kara Dioguardi is the new judge on American Idol as that show once again starts January. Some people believed that it was to ape Canadian Idol. Others, like myself, thought it was an insurance policy, which it wound up being. Later on this year, they wound up cashing on said policy.
Chico: But that was just the beginning. We had judges saving voteouts... We had a top 13... And we had judges playing shuffleboard. Seriously.
Gordon: All of those changes last year...are going to be scrapped this year as they go back to a Top 24. 12 people get in, no Save format.
Chico: Kara came in... and for a while, she was good. She ended up being... well, have you ever seen "A Star Is Born"? It ended up kinda like that.
Jason: Yeah. But the biggest story of Idol happened later in the year.
Chico: Yes, but right now it's all about Simon, Randy, Kara, and a yet unnamed new fourth judge (we'll get to that). And it all came to a head in a final that was unlike any other... We'll get to that, too.
Gordon: We will, but in January, we also see Million Dollar Password win it's time slot...and get the hook.
Chico: Only to be replaced in the CBS firmament by... Game Show in My Head. That DIDN'T win its time slot OR get the hook. It was a great show, well put together... Talking about Password, by the way, not GSiMH... but it didn't get the numbers that CBS was looking for, apparent-LY
Gordon: It ran it's course and got around 25% of Password's ratings. Apparently, it's all about the 18-35 demo.
Chico: Well, any new game show, that is. Millionaire... MIGHT'VE. It did win its slot a few times. But Game Show in My Head ran its course, then ran off the schedule. Never to be seen again.
Gordon: However, there were some good shows in January.
Chico: A couple of good ones. There was Chopped on Food Network. Probably the best game show on the network since ICA... or Pressure Cooker, if you want to go old school.
Jason: Ted Allen surprised me. He is a very good and competent host.
Chico: He's basically the ringmaster to this three-ring circus. Could you cook a three-course meal using pumpernickel... bell peppers... and strawberries?
Jason: Hmmmm. Let me get back to you.
Chico: If you couldn't... you were going to be CHOPPED. We've seen some pretty gnarly stuff come from that kitchen... some of which was not meant for human consumption.
Gordon: And some stuff that never got plated in time.
Chico: And all for $10,000.
Jason: And judges that were honest and good.
Chico: Yep. Something that was neither honest NOR good, though... Tool Academy, which also bowed in January.
Gordon: Enter Jamie Grubbs, who found that that her boyfriend was cheating on her. But what we didn't know was that she also cheated on him with someone a little bit more high profile.
Chico: I don't want to point any elbows or nothing, but his initials spell Tiger. But back to the show...Tools go through the wringer to become better boyfriends. Some times it worked... most of the time not.
Gordon: Some of those relationships ended. Also ending was 2 of our favorites; The Money and The Power and Hole in the Wall.
Jason: Favorites? ROFL
Gordon: Favorite to make fun of
Chico: And to poop on. There. We said poop.
Gordon: Don't forget Momma's Boys for January.
Chico: Believe me, I'd LOVE to.
Gordon: No relationships. No second season. Next up; February, and FOX started it's 'let's put the Summer shows on not during the Summer' with Hell's Kitchen, which did do very well in it's own right.
Gordon: Then they had a second season in the Summer, which ALSO did well.
Chico: Scheduling helped a lot there. We were introduced to the likes of Paula daSilva and Danny Veltri, who would go on to the final battle at the end. One wanted to stay classy, while the other... well, was Danny. But the story that season was one Robert Hesse's heart problem. He was asked to join the brigade on the next season, but he would be held to the same standard as everyone else. Turned out to be a not so good move, as he had more or less the same problems that plagued him from the season prior. He at least was shown the door on his own terms this time.
Gordon: Something that was not shown the door - HGTV's Design Star. It gets renewed for a few seasons. The next season will be helped by Mark Burnett.
Chico: That'll be a BIG help.
Jason: That will make at least four shows Burnett will have on the air.
Gordon: That's the good news. The bad news is that we also got The Girls of Hedsor Hall and For the Love of Ray J.
Jason: ACK.
Chico: Wonderful.
Gordon: And Ray J gets renewed after the couple breaks up because - ironies of ironies - RAY J was caught cheating.
Jason: There you go.
Gordon: This is the year of the unfaithful man getting caught.
Chico: I betcha Joey Greco must be soooooo pleased.
Gordon: I think he won't be looking for work for as while.
Chico: No... Really?
Gordon: Really. And we see for the first time, 32 American Idols come out of their shells. The results...underwhelming.
Jason: Yup. Most of the changes...FAIL.
Chico: So much so that we're back to 24 NEXT year. Moral of the story... don't mess with perfection.
Gordon: No reason to change something that's not broken.
Chico: Yep. And yet they still did. Go figure.
Gordon: Instead of working on the format next season, can we work a little harder on SELECTING GOOD TALENT? You knew at the get go that none of the women had a shot, and that even the guys weren't great. A significant level drop from last season.
Jason: Big time.
Chico: Got that.
Gordon: So that ended February. We now proceed to March.
Chico: And the start of the actual sweeps season. And that means... Tourney time. This particular Jeopardy! ToC would take place in Las Vegas on Jeopardy!'s new HD set.
Jason: DROOL!
Chico: You know the previous set was just retrofitted for HD. This was the for-real-deal right here. And 15 of the best of the year broke in the set before it was moved to SPS later that year. In the end... only three would remain: Dan Pawson, Aaron Schroeder, and Larissa Kelly.
Gordon: It was a well done tournament.
Chico: No doubt we were in for a match.
Jason: Larissa...one of my fav players this year.
Gordon: I want to see a rematch or Larissa Kelly Vs. Dan Pawson.
Chico: She was a stellar information regurgitator... but Dan had something she didn't. a killer instinct.
Gordon: Well, no, Dan had something Larissa didn't - the right final Jeopardy answer in the final question. Larissa was the better player for 59 of those 60 minutes. If she gets the Final Jeopardy! answer right, she wins.
Jason: But the last minute is the one that counts.
Gordon: Sure is. So that was some great gameplay on Jeopardy.
Chico: Very great play.
Gordon: We had much less inspiring gameplay on The Price is Right. Jack Wagner, anyone?
Chico: That was a headdesk if ever I saw one.
Jason: Grrrrrrrrrr
Chico: Umm... let's see.. he does absolutely nothing for the show... And that show ends up being one of the stinkers of 2009. You do the math. Coincidence or conspiracy?
Jason: Both
Chico: The correct answer is... "Yes".
Gordon: Speaking of Math, We have our American Idol Top 12...er...13. Now WITHOUT CHEATING, name me all 13.
Jason: Scott Macintyre... Adam Lambert
Gordon: (ding)
Chico: Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud...
Gordon: (ding)
Chico: Megan Joy, Alexis Grace, Lil Rounds... That's... ten right there.
Jason: Thats all I got.
Gordon: Now do you remember Nick Mitchell?
Chico: Norman Gentle.
Gordon: And the psychic lady? You remember her name?
Chico: .... Can't remember.
Gordon: Tatiana Del Toro.
Chico: I remember her.
Jason: Yes.
Chico: She of the ponies, one trick.
Gordon: Btw The 3 you missed: Michael Sarver, Jorge Nunez, and Jasmine Murray.
Jason: If you also remember Alexis Cohen also auditioned that season
Chico: That's right. Unfortunately, she was met with a tragic end.
Jason: She was run over by a car in Atlantic City later in the year.
Chico: Another tragic end... Jason Mesnick and Melissa Rycroft. He went from the single dad everyone loved to the single dad everyone loved to HATE. And all he did was ask for a do-over.
Jason: Because of HOW he asked for said do-over.
Gordon: Well it worked out for him. It seems like him and Molly are going to be engaged.
Jason: And it worked for her.
Chico: And Melissa... she's not doing too bad for herself.
Gordon: Nope. she got her ring.
Jason: She went on to gigs on Good Morning America and Dancing with the Stars.
Chico: She scored on Dancing and she got married to a friend of hers.
Jason: So it was all good, yo.
Gordon: We also had some good quality programming with WCG's Ultimagte Gamer.
Chico: That became an office favorite. We like video games. We like competition. And this show had both.
Jason: Although the drama in the house was a little meh.
Chico: What do you expect for gamers. Specifically of the no-drama kind. Well... there was that one kid who kept having destructive crushes on her opponents. Yikes.
Jason: Very yikes.
Gordon: So that was good. Chopping Block and Hot Girls in Scary Places...not so good.
Chico: mmmmno.
Jason: not really.
Chico: And what was REALLY not good... a scandal that threatened the very existence of University Challenge. It all had to do with one person's question.... of eligibility. Sam Kay of Corpus Christi (the same team with human Google Gail Trimble) won the final match, but the team was DQed because he wasn't a student at the time. Oops. The trophy was awarded to Manchester... and strangely, that's where the story ended. Weird.
Gordon: And that ends March, though we did get Pretty Wicked...
Chico: ...Wasn't pretty either. But April WAS pretty... Two big events. First, the return of a classic with Michael Davies' take on "The Newlywed Game". With Carnie Wilson at the helm.
Jason: One of the biggest successes of GSN in 2009
Gordon: well sort of. The Goldywed innovation lasted only the first season.
Chico: And while Bob Eubanks played the oft-shocked father-in-law, Carnie played the sister-in-law that wanted to start s(^_^). She was the sister-in-law ENABLER. And thank goodness for that.
Gordon: I believe the word is instigator.
Chico: Either or.
Jason: Yeah. But the editing made her in the first season not as funny as she was live in studio.
Chico: But she had the chops. She's proved herself. The second big event... the return of a legend... Mr. Bob Barker joins Drew Carey on stage for one day only
Jason: To promote his book, "Priceless Memories". He also went on WWE Raw. To the point where he was named Best Host of 2009 on the "Slammys" recently.
Chico: It was definitely a keeper for TPIR fans. Ain't that right, G?
Gordon: Sure was. So was the April Fool's episode.
Chico: That was just classic.
Gordon: So was the Donald's decision to drop a Kardashian due to a DWI that had nothing to do with the show.
Chico: That was just the Donald being the Donald...
Jason: April Fool's was amazingly cool.
Chico: So would you say that the Apprentice is a little bit harder to take seriously?
Gordon: I would think so; you have to judge base on the challenge, not information not pertinent to the show. We also see The USA Vs. the UK on The Ultimate Fighter. Both titles this season go to the UK.
Jason: But Bisping got his behind shut up in the coaches fight. Dan Henderson knocked him out
Chico: Right.
Gordon: True. But we'll get to pure domination later on in the year.
Chico: That ought to be fun. Speaking of, more fun in the form of the Phone and the Cougar.
Jason: Oh no.
Gordon: Yep. Chico's favorite new show of the season.
Chico: now the Phone was pretty good. The Cougar... was pretty good to look at.
Jason: There is a bigger thing that happened on April 11, 2009. This is when a 48 yr old single woman from Scotland blew the world apart with her voice. This was when we first saw the audition tape of one Susan Boyle. The biggest reality show success story of 2009. And..... on April 1, 2009, CBS announced the cancellation of the long running soap opera Guiding Light, which led to bigger and better things later on in the year.
Gordon: I think we found Jason's new game show hussy.
Jason: But come on... When you first saw that tape...what did you think back then?
Chico: She was a little cheeky.
Gordon: It's a nice story - from rage to over 2.5 million units sold. Let's move on to May.
Chico: The conventional rise of champions. Let's see... Victor and Tammy Jih on The Amazing Race...
Gordon: and rise of EPIC FAIL. Starting with a million dollar pee break.
Chico: HA HA HA! That was just the epitome. Kisha & Jen were on pace to join the final three in The Amazing Race 14 when.... Jen had to answer a call of nature.
Jason: The Million Dollar Pee break
Chico: That led to Victor-y...
Jason: As in Tammy and Victor
Chico: ... Bad joke, I know.
Gordon: Boo, Chico. Yay, Tammy and Victor. And yay for Kris Allen, who gets the major upset in winning American Idol.
Chico: After the judges all but gave the crown to Adam Lambert.
Jason: Still think the wrong guy won.
Gordon: The right guy won. Sorry, Jay.
Chico: And you know, you could make case after case for controversy after controversy, but in the end... one had a wider fanbase than the other. And one was more of a creator than the other.
Jason: Yeah. People like milquetoast safe wimpy music instead real creative stuff...I understand.
Gordon: I prefer it when my Idolist doesn't has a scream that shatters glass and can do something besides glam rock. Kris was more diverse.
Chico: For one, G and I agree on something.
Jason: I have his album and I actually like it, thanks.
Gordon: I like it too. Makes a good soap dish holder.
Chico: Hey-o. And then there was JT Thomas winning Survivor.
Jason: In an unanimous vote. And got the fan vote too
Gordon: Well deserved. Shawn Johnson wins Dancing With the Stars.
Chico: Also well deserved. She had the moves.
Gordon: Helen Phillips wins The Biggest Loser.
Chico: Patrick Tucker wins College jeopardy!.
Jason: In another great tournament.
Gordon: Not so great: The Fashion Show, which showed up this month.
Chico: The first attempt to replace the lost Project Runway. Not the last, but we'll get to that.
Gordon: We will. Also appearing in May: 4th and Long, a decent show for the Dallas Cowboys.
Jason: That was a good show
Chico: Yep. Hopefully one we'll see more of in the future.
Gordon: So that ends the Spring. now we more to the Summer season.
Chico: And we start with the beginning... and the beginning of the end. More the latter, really. Deal or No Deal... Don't Forget the Lyrics... Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader... they would all be gone by summer's end.
Jason: On primetime that is.
Gordon: Bye bye.
Chico: And don't even get me started on the one-two punch that GSN gave us.
Gordon: We got the GSN Game Show Awards and Big Saturday Night. Both of which turned into a Goose Step worth of crap.
Chico: Now the award show was good when it was playing it straight. But then there were a) the producers playing fast and loose with the vote and just giving awards out to whoever showed up, and 2) those DREADFUL games...
Jason: and 3) Bob Barker and his fight with Betty White
Chico: and 4)... the show was basically a pub piece for Big Saturday Night.
Jason: and 5) Howie Mandel telling NC-17 jokes on a PG show.
Gordon: 6) The ratings were terrible.
Chico: We could really go on and on.
Gordon: We could. Let's go on to Saturday Night and rail on that a little.
Jason: Unfunny.
Gordon: Starting with 1. The games were terrible.
Jason: 2. The cast was dreck.
Gordon: 3. Ross the Intern.
Jason: 4. Ross the Intern
Gordon: 5. Oodles. 6. Technical difficulties.
Chico: 7) Ross the Intern.
Gordon: The whole point of a Sabado Gigante clone is to PROVIDE ENTERTAINMENT. They sort of somehow lost that part.
Chico: Yeah.
Jason: You mean there was entertainment there at all?
Gordon: Unintentional entertainment.
Chico: Well, what they lacked in entertainment... they made up for in... product? The block gave us 2 shows... 20Q and the Money List.
Jason: Which were...ok
Chico: They would've worked better as stand-alone pieces... really. And maybe as half-hours.
Gordon: It would have worked as an hour block for both shows with half hours. Bigger and more isn't always better.
Jason: Exactly.
Chico: It's just... more... and bigger.
Gordon: You could have had a nice 2 hour daily block with those shows coupled with Newlywed Game and Catch 21.
Chico: And we would've been cool with that.
Jason: But this....not so much
Gordon: Nope.
Chico: And as predicted, Big Saturday Night was eventually cut down to size.
Gordon: And because it's the Summer, we have a plethora of new shows. Some of them work (Top Chef Masters, Brainrush, Destroy Build Destroy)... Most of them don't (Superstars, 20Q, Money List, I'ma Celebrity, Get me out of here, $250,000 Challenge)
Chico: Now the ones that work we'll see more of later on... Destroy Build Destroy and Top Chef Masters.
Gordon: We also have MTV's new game show, Silent Library, which did get renewed for Season 2.
Chico: Can't wait for that. But it wasn't all fun and games as we manage to lose a plethora of talent in the scope of a MONTH. Walter Cronkite... Gone. Ed McMahon... Gone. Farrah Fawcett... Gone. Michael Jackson... Gone. It was just a LOT to take in.
Jason: HUGE.
Chico: We're not going to forget them soon enough...
Gordon: No, they are all icons in their own right.
Jason: Exactly.
Gordon: We'll probably be forgetting The Next Great American Road trip soon enough. Especially since Jason forgot that it debuted in JULY
Jason: It was so bad I didn't remember the date
Chico: And we'll get to road tripping, shark tanking, Hollywood banking and all that... AFTER THE BREAK. This is the WLTI Year in Review Special.

(Brought to you by 4th and Too Long. Who wants a job for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? 16 athletes compete...oh what the heck, give all 16 of them a job n the starting roster. Can't get much worse than what's currently there.)

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