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Paying homage to shows such as "Pardon the Interruption", "Around the Horn", "The Best Damn Sports Show Period", "Best Week Ever", and "The Soup", We Love to Interrupt is a weekly raw, frank, red-blooded, two-fisted, full-bodied look into the world of game shows. Comments are always welcomed here!

Hosted by Chico Alexander and Gordon Pepper, and featuring the editors/contributors to GSNN


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Web design by Jason Elliott. Logo by Chico Alexander. 

January 24, 2005

Gordon: So this is season 6, eh?
Chico: I lost count after season 4 :-)
Gordon: Ah. Well...Happy New Years - This is Gordon Pepper, and I am hoping that everyone is enjoying their snow - even in California!
Chico: Snow? What snow? All we get is cold!
Gordon: We've gotten snow - and we're getting a dumptruck load this weekend!
Chico: I'm Chico Alexander, and from somewhere in glacial America... WLTI is on! It's been a long month since the last show, hasn't it?
Gordon: Lots of stuff to go through, as usual. Let's start with giving reviews of shows that have premiered since we were gone.
Chico: Starting with the beginning... Fear Factor Couples... Not bad.
Gordon: It's cool and funny - I like it, but I've always been a Fear Factor
fan. They know the formula and they don't screw it up.
Chico: Point taken. Then comes SI's Swimsuit Model Search. Can you say
"completely unneeded?"
Gordon: It's cute for what it is. Unfortunately, what it is...isn't much. I think that Tyra doesn't have to worry about that show - or about Missy Elliot's show.
Chico: The Road to Stardom is, like Misdemeanor herself, okay in small doses.
Gordon: Here's the difference between Tyra and Missy. Tyra comes off as
someone who acknowledges that the business is tough, but who tries to help in any way she can. Missy comes off as just unlikable and you are wondering why these people would want to tour with her even if they win the competition. Plus 'The You May Be Going Places' catchphrase sucks.
Chico: I sense there are more vast difference between the two...
Gordon: I sense you got a Big Board brewing.
Chico: Hey, you put the idea in my head, man.
Gordon: It doesn't matter if we've been off for a month, I can still read
your thoughts.
Chico: Yes you can. Now stop it.
Gordon: I'm not going to read the naughty bits, though I am curious as to how the goat and the matador's costume got in there.
Chico: Again, you know that I was random. Today's subject: Tyra vs. Missy. Obviously, you have the likeable factor....
Gordon: Yep - and I think Missy is a great artist - but she does not come off as someone you'd want to watch weekly.
Chico: True. I'm sure she's a cool cat, but thrust into this sort of
situation? Yeah...
Gordon: Next difference - the talent level of the contestants. Top Model 3 -
The contestant's talent might not be there yet, but they clearly have potential. RTS - You have to wonder what some of those people are doing there to begin with. You do a talent search and this is the best you can come up with?
Chico: All the RTS crowd seem to be interested in is making profit... The Top Model crew seem to work harder.
Gordon: That's true as well. At least 3 or 4 of them have no right to be on
that show and the contestant level, as a whole, is worse than (shudder) Fame.
Chico: Harlemm wasn't THAT bad =p
Gordon: He's a man. He sang women's songs. Even worse, he sounded like a woman and I was wondering if instead of Fame he should have been auditioning for The Mikado. Only 500 CDs sold for Mr. Lee dictates that yes, he was that bad.
Chico: Okay, he was. Now comes the push factor. Little odds and ends that
make the show worth watching. Top Model: when chicks go crazy. I cite the Amanda dance. When she lost her crystal, and blamed "a certain bitch. Certain bitch, certain bitch."
Gordon: And the best part was that she lost the crystals instead of the 'certain bitch'. making her the instant villain of the series.
Chico: D'oh!
Gordon: Which leads us to the next point - the likeability of the contestants. Top Model 3 had a lot of likeability to it - all of the characters were compelling. RTS...not so much.
Chico: You can't tell me you don't like someone named Yelawolf.
Gordon: Good name. Not a lot on the talent meter. In the words of Simon Cowell - So What?
Chico: We're getting there, we're getting there!
Gordon: In Top Model, you could have seen 10 of the 12 people winning the show. In RTS, I can only see 4, at most.
Chico: Back to the premiere bit that was supposed to swamp the first act...
Wickedly Perfect. It's the kind of show that my sister would watch.
Gordon: I thought it would be the type of show that I would watch - especially with the Marc Summers interview that said that this would be a show focusing on the talent and less on the drama. WRONG.
Chico: It's reality television. 75% of what you see is dramma.
Gordon: I don't mind drama. I do mind watered down generic competition that focuses less on the talent and more on the drama. This is a show that is supposed to be looking for the next Stylemaker.
Chico: Yeah... but they have to find an audience somehow... They found one... and then steadily lost it.
Gordon: I want to see tips and hints that would blow me out of the water in terms from people as they show that they deserve to be the next big-name stylemaker. The audience, like me, aren't happy that instead of getting something that would be similiar to that, we're getting 'Survivor Retread, Martha Stewart-Style' instead.
Chico: That would've been about it, yeah. We'll see what happens when it
moves into the death row called Saturday. Speaking of which... The Will. So bad that it was spanked, and then yanked, after one episode.
Gordon: Its called 'The Death Row' for a reason - and it claimed another
victim earlier on this year.
Chico: Clubhouse. Sorry... "What is Clubhouse?"
Gordon: I'd like to take it out and spank both Clubhouse and The Will. At least with Clubhouse, some of the characters are likeable and the plot is promising. The Will, to be frank, was awful. The plot was cheesy, the contestants were even cheesier and unlikable, and add the Fleiss Factor, and you get...yuck.
Chico: I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Mike Fleiss... Never think of another TV idea again... EVER.
Gordon: Or at least think of something original.
Chico: No... NEVER think of another TV idea again... No more...
Gordon: So I take it you're not watching The Bachelorette 3?
Chico: No.
Gordon: Not even to see the gay man try to win Jen's heart?
Chico: If I wanted to see jackasses fawn over a pretty girl, I would've spent more time at Medusa's on the Carnival Legend. And that's all I'll say on the Bachelorette 3 lest I wish to incur the spoiler drive.
Gordon: Fair enough. Let's go back to Wickedly Perfect - or should I say, the show that does everything perfect that Wickedly Perfect should be - Project Runway. Now THIS is a show that does everything right. You get drama, but you see their projects and how talented they truly are. This is a great and underrated show. Going back to returning shows, we can't forget about Mr. Cowell.
Chico: We're GETTING THERE! We still have a calendar sequence to follow :-)
Gordon: Is it much further, Papa Smurf?
Chico: Just a little further.
Gordon: OK - next show?
Chico: That Friday we had the second season of Ultimate Film Fanatic. I happen to be a fan of the second and third rounds where fisticuffs are involved. It's a movie trivia buff's wet dream.
Gordon: This is the first time that I got IFC and was able to see it - it's a fun show that has a high play-along factor. This is a cool studio show - now
why can't we have more shows like this?
Chico: Because not everyone sees cable as the last bastion. Oh well. Staying on cable, another good studio show... Iron Chef America. I had high expectations after the micro-series Battle of the Masters... and Food Network failed to disappoint.
Gordon: It was a great start, and although I still have no clue why they put
it against Desperate Housewives, the translation is an excellent one.
Chico: But still, holding a decent audience opposite Desperate Housewives,
but we're getting there as well.
Gordon: Next?
Chico: Monday: the Ultimate Fighter. Anything with violence and Willa Ford
can't be THAT bad.
Gordon: Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be - and
I think it's hardcore enough to keep the audience that it's going after.
Chico: Oh yeah. Now to Tuesday... and Gordon... we're finally there. American Idol... Could this be the best season yet? After last year, we're kinda owed. Although we're starting out focused on the VERY VERY bad of the auditions while we don't see that much of the good. I guess that's a by-product of extending the audition series.
Gordon: I think what they are doing is giving us more of a back story of the final 24, which I think is warranted. I didn't see any difference in terms of the amount of bad singers between this and any other season - I just saw a greater development of the people who did get in - and I think that's important. Regina Brooks, the person who sold her rings to get the audition, will have a HUGE edge if she gets into the top 24.
Chico: Not around here =p
Gordon: Fantasia Factor. Girl coming from nothing to get to the final 24 -
and we all know what happened after that. That carried her last year, as her voice certainly didn't.
Chico: They actually had this on the radio, and they said that she didn't
deserve to be in the contest.
Gordon: And you're telling me that the people who don't deserve to be there won't get the compassion vote?
Chico: Well, I think back to Carmen Rasmussen and have to think about that...
Gordon: Every year, there's at least one person who gets much farther than they should because of it - Nikki McKibbin. Josh Gracin. Jasmine Trias. And a certain red headed kid named John Stevens who forgot his words...
Chico: Just remember. Regina Brooks has only gone to Hollywood at this point. We'll see how she does on her own power.
Gordon: True - but what I'm saying is that Fantasia was clearly not the best singer - but she had the best charisma and that plays a HUGE part in the competition.
Chico: But over all, a pretty good season based on the two shows we saw? And the information that we've gathered?
Gordon: Excellent so far - as the singers who did get there deserve it.
Chico: Okay, moving forward... Distraction. Cute if not blissfully insane. Or.. just blissfully insane.
Gordon: I don't know if putting clothes pins on my face, getting my vertebrae damaged by furniture or seeing my $15,000 prize getting mangled is 'cute'.
Chico: One, I happen to know that fakey glass doesn't crack vertebrae.
Gordon: Fakey wood can. Ask any pro wrestler.
Chico: It's Fear Factor... if trivia was involved.
Gordon: I'm waiting for the eels and balut. I don't think it's as good as Fear Factor - and the contestants overacted so much in that episode that I am wondering if they were all actors and if this was actually the pilot episode being shot. Still, I think the show has potential, even as a 'car wreck', and it did hook me to see the next episode of it.
Chico: Guess we'll find out next week. Thursday saw another favorite of
yours...
Gordon: You're fired!
Chico: This season, it's Mark Burnett's original vision: book-smarts vs.
street-smarts.
Gordon: It is a favorite of mine, and I already like this version better than
Season 2 - and I liked season 2 a lot.
Chico: I didn't think season 2 did it for me. Not compared to season 1, at
least.
Gordon: I've always liked this show, and I think the premise is going to be a fun one. The first half of season 2 was better than season 1.
Chico: We're not talking about half-seasons, though.
Gordon: the second half degenerated from 'I want the job' to 'I want to sabotage other people from getting it'. If the people keep the eyes on the prize, then this could be the best season of the show, as the personalities are already the best of the three seasons so far.
Chico: Yep. I like Danny. I was scared for him.
Gordon: I also thought the first challenge was well conceptualized - take a
product and run with it - and it really showed who wants the prize and who will be leaving quickly.
Chico: I'd have to say so, yeah.
Gordon: We'll see if they can keep this up.
Chico: Then finally... Casino Night on GSN. With two new entries for WSOBJ and Poker Royale.
Gordon: A great start for them too. I wonder why you are sticking it on Fridays, but I liked both new shows that came out of that night.
Chico: Don't really know, to tell the truth. I think Mondays or Tuesdays would've worked out well, but as it is right now... I don't know.
Gordon: Monday would have been a nice fit for the show - unless they are
using it to cover a GSN show that hasn't been getting the ratings...Dream Derby.
Chico: Started strong, but got lame quick. I blame the fact that aside from
horses... It looks like everything else.
Gordon: It goes back to the characters. I thought the ideas were pretty cool - but there's no reason to get behind any of the characters as they are all caricatures of people and there's not a likeable one in the bunch.
Chico: No one like caricatures.
Gordon: I like them in my newspapers. Not in my TV Shows.
Chico: Can you name one series with a LIKEABLE caricature. And Garfield and Friends doesn't count.
Gordon: Donald and Simon Cowell as as caricaturish as you can get. Chico: Doesn't count. Simon's a judge, not a player, and Donald's the host.
Gordon: There are no good series with caricaturish contestants
Chico: Exactly. But there are some thing as good commercials with caricatures.
Gordon: And with that, it's time to see one.
Chico: Here's an example of a few. We'll see you after the break with more We Love to Interrupt.

(Brought to you by Jackie Gleason's One Hit Wonder Emporium. Come see all of the failed series, starring the host of You're In The Picture'. Guest Starring Mike Fleiss).

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