Episode 28.16 - 2011 Year in Review
December 26

Chico: It was a year of champions and challengers....Of underdogs rising and hopes failing...Legends made their return.... and legends made their farewells. And new legends were born... and REBORN. That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?
Gordon: ...Someone's been watching a wee bit too much Thundercats for my liking.
Jason: LOL
Chico: And now, from January to December, it's that thing we do this time every year....
Gordon: It's the YEAR IN REVIEW!
Chico: We've played all year long.. Now it's time to hit REWIND. From Somewhere in America... 2011.... Is... ON!
Gordon: Yay! Gordon Pepper here, along with Chico Alexander. Also here is our special guest Mr. Jason Block.
Jason: Hello there. A pleasure to be here as always.
Chico: We got a LOT to cover, so let's not waste any time. We start as always at the top of the year....

JANUARY

Chico: The big story of January, as it was for the last eight or so years, a new season of the #1 show in America - American Idol. Before this season was announced, people have written death warrants after Simon Cowell decided to take his ball and leave.
Jason: And there was a lot of controversy, as Ellen Degeneres, Simon Cowell and Kara Dioguardi were out, and Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez were in.
Chico: But as the show proved, reports of the death of American Idol were greatly exaggerated.
Gordon: Paula Abdul's new vehicle, Live to Dance, made the bold (yet stupid) move of going up against Idol and getting throttled in the process.
Jason: Ouch.
Gordon: Also painful - a couple losing $800,000 on a RIGHT answer on Million Dollar Money Drop
Jason: Ah...the Post It Controversy.
Chico: The Post It controversy.
Jason: I am surprised they didn't actually sue Fox for the money
Chico: Well, if you look at it, they didn't really have much of a case to go on. Because if you remember, they wouldn't have won the money anyway, because they got the last question wrong.
Jason: But that was news for a long time.
Chico: Yep. Didn't do much for the show as Fox decided to cut their losses, after watching the show limp to the barn on overpromising and underperforming.
Gordon: Meanwhile, we get Oprah Winfrey's game show with 2 winners, and Kara DioGuardi's 2 shows - Platinum hit (which bombed) and her bio, which has yet to hit the airwaves (and probably won't).
Chico: Hmm. no.
Gordon: We also see RuPaul's Drag Race amd Face-Off
Jason: Both of which have since been renewed, if I remember.
Gordon: They have been.
Chico: We'll see new seasons of both in the new year.
Gordon: Something that won't be - Regis Philbin, as he announces his retirement
Chico: It really was sad to see him go. He's been a part of American mornings for what seems like ages, and he's the consummate professional.
Gordon: At least in front of the camera
Chico: Oh yeah. I'm sure we'll see him again. Just a matter of when and where.
Jason: Watch for the Regis reality show in 2012 :)
Gordon: Maybe in February 2012. Let's go to February of 2011

FEBRUARY

Chico: We saw the premieres of Cash Cab Chicago and Jumpcity Seattle, but perhaps the big story out of February...perhaps the story even of the YEAR...The Brainiac, the Master and the Computer.
Gordon: Hello Watson
Chico: The showdown that got everyone and their moms excited about Jeopardy! again can be summed up in one phrase from Ken Jennings...

"I for one welcome our new computer overlords."

Jason: Except for the fact that while the competition was pretty cool...it wasn't PERFECT. Watson was a great button masher.
Chico: Almost inhumanly quick.
Jason: And there were no visual questions.
Chico: So it wasn't real Jeopardy! But it was a sight to behold.
Jason: And it also made a star of Todd Alan Crain, the person who was "Alex" during the practice runs.
Gordon: I sense good things for Todd.
Chico: Oh yeah.
Gordon: Not so good for Russell Hantz, who first doesn't win his season on Survivor, THEN is outed as the person behind giving a spoiler board their spoilers.
Jason: OUCH.
Chico: And perhaps in a fit of karma, he goes to Redemption Island on Survivor... and loses. Redemption Island, being a new wrinkle on the age-old format.
Gordon: His nephew won't be doing much better later on this year
Chico: But we'll get to that. Meanwhile, one of Gordon's favorites returns to the air... en espanol. Arrasa con Todo, The official unofficial reversion of Supermarket Sweep.
Jason: Ah yes :)
Gordon: I liked that: and Top Sot Season 2, and Cash Cab Season 8. The Amazing Race makes it's first of 2 runs in February as well. Cash Cab Chicago...not so much.
Chico: We could make an obvious joke about women drivers, but I'd rather roll on to...

MARCH

Gordon: That goes with Shedding for the Wedding, as well as America's Next Top Model, though we'll have more on them later on this year
Chico: Oh yeah we will.
Gordon: David Archuleta's second album sells 67,000 copies. This would be bad. We'll here more on this also later on this year.
Chico: And Car Warriors which also goes nowhere. It was a good show, but there was no publicity for it. And the first winter season of Wipeout melts into spring.
Gordon: I didn't like it as much as you guys did.
Chico: And once you get around the obvious allergies and the clash of the seasons, we actually had some interesting stuff going on out there. The most interesting being America's Next Great Restaurant. Not so much the show itself, but what came out of it. The show developed on the promise that the winner would win a chain of restaurants in NY, LA, and the Mall of America.
Gordon: Which lasted for...a month
Chico: For that, they delivered, but said nothing about publicizing the dern thing.
Jason: Exactly.
Gordon: But if you want celebrities we had that - Celebrity Apprentice, Season 4, anyone?
Chico: Meh. Basically the audience's reaction to that.
Jason: Meh
Gordon: And if you liked sleaze, we also had Wedding Wars.
Chico: No thanks. TPIR had a grand experiment in interactivity with its Home Viewer Showcase.
Gordon: And a college day of Pay the Tuition. We also had Dancing with the Stars, which went nicely with the All-Star motif of The Amazing Race.
Jason: Unfinished Business. Jen and KIsha redeemed themselves there
Chico: Yep. No more trips to the bathroom. Talking about trips to the bank.
Gordon: That leads us to...

APRIL

Chico: A boatload of launches with Repo Games (which was good)... Drew Carey's Improv-a-Ganza (which was hit or miss at best)... and Love Triangle (which sucked out loud). There were two big stories that month, both happening on the same week. First up, the gods of TPIR speak, and they say,"George Gray, come on down. You're the new announcer of The Price Is Right." Of the people available, they made the absolute correct choice.
Gordon: A very good move, if you ask me. We also had Top Chef Masters season 3
Chico: With Curtis Stone hosting. Miles better than Kelly Choi, but that's not saying much.
Gordon: And the CBC decide to axe Jeopardy after this season and put in 'Canadian Programming'.
Chico: Yeah, give me one season of that, look at the ratings, and then get back to me.
Gordon: We had the debacle that was our good friend Lee DeGeorge. Still love you, Lee. And we have the U.S. Cracking down and taking down all poker sites. That means if you liked a poker show on tv - chances are you're not watching it in 2012.
Chico: That would be the other big story: Poker's Black Friday.
Jason: This was one of the biggest stories of 2011.
Gordon: This, in my mind, is a Top 5 story this year.
Chico: And it managed over the year to take down most if not ALL of TV poker. High Stakes Poker... GONE. Poker After Dark... GONE. The Big Game... GONE. The Million Dollar Challenge... GONE.
Gordon: But we also get good news: We get Season 1 of The Voice.
Jason: With a very killer concept
Chico: Ah, the first of two legitimate challengers to the American Idol throne. It gave NBC a much needed shot in the arm. Not to mention birthed a hit with Adam Levine & Christina Aguilera and "Moves Like Jagger".
Jason: One of the best pure pop songs of 2011.
Chico: If only it could've done that with its winner Javier Colon. Of course it would help if you had radio-ready people on board. Mark Burnett... the TV genius as he is... is not radio-ready.
Gordon: Tell me again how Burnett did with Rock Star, Seasons 1 and 2?
Chico: Point taken. But his genius gets the Voice a second season in the primest of real estate - right after some really big football game in Indianapolis.
Gordon: Very true.
Chico: Everyone'll be back. Adam, Christina, Cee-Lo Green, Blake Shelton, and host Carson Daly. The question, can they catch fire again?
Gordon: Can? Yes. During the Winter spot and not the Summer? I'm not too sure about it. And not up directly against Idol
Chico: That'll be a challenge. I'm hoping they keep the Tuesday 10p slot. Worked for them. No competition.
Jason: right
Chico: That momentum carries into...

MAY

Chico: Jeopardy! held its first Teachers tournament. Charles Temple won that. But the big story to come out of May comes from across the pond, where we get a very high-profile failure. And it comes, of all people, courtesy of Simon Cowell.
Gordon: That would be Red Or Black, where we get a winner under scrutiny and ratings that dropped faster than a boulder in a marshmallow pit
Chico: Now a Roulette wheel is good if it's on a Sony stage or it's in a casino where it comes up on one particular number of my choosing, twice in a row. Winner under scrutiny for being a criminal, a format weaker than Mr. Punyverse, and ITV wanted more of it? WHA?
Jason: Who would have thought 1M pounds would be boring
Gordon: Its not about the money. It's about the format
Chico: Altogether now...
ALL: IT'S THE GAME, STUPID.
Chico: So while they had that to look forward to, we get new seasons of So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent.
Gordon: And if you want money, we'll give you it as Scotty McCreery wins the Idol prize
Jason: And had a pretty good year overall
Chico: Not only that, he becomes the first Idol since Jordin Sparks not to suck out loud.
Gordon: We also get Chopped Season 7 and the end of Don't Forget the Lyrics and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader.
Chico: Mercy kills. Don't Forget the Lyrics was a 10 minute game stretched to fit 30, and 5th Grader was changed too much.
Gordon: We also see the summer premieres of The Bachelorette and Platinum Hit. yuck. And, most importantly, we survive the Rapture.
Chico: Which gets us ready for...

JUNE

Chico: Cooking goes EXTREME! with EXTREME!!!! Chef.
Gordon: That would be a good show
Chico: Also good: Expedition Impossible.
Jason: Um...no.
Chico: I thought for an Amazing Race clone it was well put together.
Gordon: It's middling. But I think Food Network Star and Baggage are better, as well as Masterchef, which survives a very rocky start to be a summer hit.
Jason: Jeff Mauro wins TNFS
Gordon: We also had Lingo, which polarized the panel.
Chico: That was the big reboot of the year, as Lingo gets all 2010s on us. Bill Engvall was adept as host, When he actually hosted. The game stuck to its guns, but something didn't really feel right to me.
Jason: I am sorry...it was amazingly BAD. Bad casting, bad gameplay, bad contestants.
Gordon: I liked the game, but I did think the hosting and contestants hurt. America is not as dumb as the network executives would like us to think, though we did have a few $100,000 wins
Chico: Those were exciting
Gordon: Cupcake Wars: also exciting.
Chico: Cupcake Wars, we see game show star-in-the-making Justin Willman... we'll see MORE of him as the year goes on.
Jason: right.
Gordon: The Paranormal Challenge...not so much. We also have 101 Ways to Leave a Game show, The Challenge: Rivals, The Marriage Ref, The Glee Project, and Rocco's Dinner Party. We have an all star cast for next year's tournament of bad game shows.
Chico: Can't wait.
Gordon: And let's not forget Love in the Wild
Jason: Do we have to?
Chico: We have to... Gordon would prefer we don't. Next up, it's daytime television's biggest night, as Alex Trebek & Pat Sajak win a lifetime achievement award a piece. Their shows get hardware as well.
Jason: Well deserved.
Gordon: Very
Chico: But the king of games for the second year running... Cash Cabbie Ben Bailey. And the big winner on Wheel... Jim Thornton. Sony announces that he will replace the late Charlie O'Donnell as permanent announcer. ANOTHER good decision.
Jason: He fits like a glove.
Gordon: Well, he does. Right now, let's break.
Chico: Got it. coming up, the return of the revenge of summer of suck, followed by a birthday that the folks at CBS will make CERTAIN you remember.
Jason: OH YEAH. I remember :)
Chico: This is the WLTI 2011 Year in Review Special. And it's always... ALWAYS... happy to see you.

(Brought to you by Cash Cab Triangle. Two beltlines, a toll road, and three highways in the fastest growing market in America... Just don't ask us about our hockey team.)

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE