May 22, 2006

Chico: Hey here, I'm Chico Alexander, and it's the middle of spring, as we're thinking about summer, when fall upfronts are coming out... Confused yet?
Jason: No...I think.
Gordon: Meanwhile, most of the original syndicated episodes of game shows are going home for the Winter.
James: Just working out my TV Death Pool right now
Chico: I say the whole of My in 2 years.
Gordon: Are we actually considering that a TV network?
Jason: Some people do.
Chico: Me? No.
James: I don't
Jason: Neither do I.
Chico: And whose network exactly is it? Not mine. I didn't order two telenovelas every night.
Jason: Hey Betty The Ugly (Betty La Fea) is coming to ABC this fall...produced by Salma Hayek, I believe.
Chico: See, I'll take that one..
James: I see that as a possible sleeper hit this fall
Jason: So I am reading in the fall.
Chico: The only downside, it's on opposite Deal or No Deal... and with that, from somewhere in America.... WLTI... is... ON!
Jason: Alright. Did anything happen this week?
Chico: No. And when I told Gordon, he told me I was on crack :-)
Jason: I don't know...this might be a filler show :-)
Gordon: I think some of you need to have that filler adjusted to your head.
Chico: Well, at least start with the filler of the panel. First up, our own resident Hero, Jason Block...
Jason: Good morning.
Chico: Next, a resident of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the newly-married James Dinan...
James: Howdy
Chico: And finally, a first-hand witness of the pilot shooting of "Let's Rob Bill MacDonald"... from the Jeopardy TOC, Bill MacDonald.
Bill: Thank you, thank you.
Jason: Thanks for the non-plug, plug in your first game :-) I believe you were quoting us.
Bill: Thank you for inspiring the quote. I tried to get in as much info about WLTI as the powers that be would allow.
Chico: Hey, it's something. And who knows, someone might run a Google search and bingo bango.
Jason: And congratulations on winning $50,000, and dethroning Dave Madden.
Bill: Both of which were quite pleasing, I can tell you.
Chico: Any plans for the money?
Bill: Hmmm . . . too many plans for the money.  If I'd won the big prize it'd still be too many plans.  :-)
Jason: Got to think big and do one thing fun for your son too.
Bill: So far a trip to visit my wife's family in England is on the agenda.
Jason: Very cool.
Chico: There you go.
James: Congrats
Chico: Anyway, did you have any favorites going into the second week of competition, Bill?
Bill: Favorites -- you mean my favorite people to play or favorites to win?
Chico: Either.
Bill: The problem was that, as I played in the Friday quarterfinal, I didn't get to watch any of the other quarterfinal games. So my only sense of how people were doing was from our practice rounds.
Jason: So its not like normal J! when you can watch the other contestants?
Bill: Right. If I'd seen the earlier quarterfinals and was trailing going into FJ, I'd have known what a safe wildcard bet was. Would have been unfair to those earlier in the week.
Chico: I see.
Jason: Very much so, and I understand why. So you were trapped in the green room. With no TV hookup to the studio.
Chico: How about during the semis? Were you able to see people then?
Bill: We watched the semis from the audience. Everyone who'd made it into the semis was on my list of people to worry about, and I thought any of them could have won. Like a lot of folks, though, I had placed Michael Falk closer to the bottom of the list.
Jason: He had two monster games.
Bill: If I'd seen his quarterfinal, it would have been different. He had a great run on the buzzer in that game -- a harbinger of the second final game.
Jason: When did they tape these two days? The two weeks I mean?
Bill: April 10 and 11. The ToC is a great deal -- they fly you in a couple days early, put you up in a nice hotel, and let you stay the night after the last taping.
James: Cool
Bill: I can't say enough about how great the show people and the other contestants were.
Jason: They are. It's a great staff and crew. Harry Friedman knows how to put shows together.
Chico: Always good times.
Jason: So...any swag bags besides the free hotel and airfare? :-)
Bill: Well, we all got a cool Jeopardy! sweatshirt. Not a lot of occasion to wear it in Southwest Florida, but still . . . it looks nice.
Chico: Have it framed.
Jason: Was anyone surprised in your group that Ken Jennings wasn't there?
James: Was Ken even invited to play in this TOC?
Bill: I have much info on that.
James: Ooh, tell us!
Jason: Dish, man, Dish!
Bill: First of all, I was lucky enough to meet Ken when we both attended the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in March.
James: Wow
Jason: Thats cool.
Bill: We rode the bus together in from the airport, and it was great talking with a fellow champion, let alone KJ.
Chico: Nice.
Jason: Very nice.
James: To be a fly on the wall...
Bill: There was another ACPT contestant sharing the ride with us who asked all kinds of questions about the show.
Chico: Usual questions or anything out of the ordinary?
James: I could imagine...you get recognized from a game show/reality show/etc., you'll be asked MANY questions :-)
Bill: At one point I jumped in to explain the lights that tell you when to buzz in, and Ken remarked that he was so used to having to answer that question himself that he was startled when I answered first. I suggested he hire me to be his front man.
Jason: Beauty.
James: LOL
Chico: Heh.
Bill: Anyway, at the time of the ACPT, I had already been told I was in the running for the ToC. So I asked Ken if he thought he'd be invited to the next ToC, knowing that if he had also been told it was coming up, he might have to dissimilate -- just as I would have had to.
Jason: Dissimilate?
Bill: Lie. But he pretty much flat out said No, he'd had his shot. So I believed him.
Jason: Ok.
Chico: So he was invited, but he declined?
Bill: No, I believe he said the UToC was his ToC, and the way he said it made it sound like that was the deal up front. But those details I don't know.
Jason: Which is what the theory was on here for the most part.
Bill: Anyway, I reported the encounter on the Jeopardy! boards, so any of the ToC contestants who read them probably didn't expect Ken to be there, either.
Chico: Makes sense.
Jason: Sure.
James: Understood
Gordon: Si.
Jason: But....did he show up to watch? :-)
Bill: I did not see Ken, but there were several other former champions in the audience.
Chico: Speaking of which, I have to ask this... You and Vik were in the finals.. Did either of you call grudge match on that?
Bill: David Madden used his guest invites to bring in Jerome Vered, Bob Harris, Alan Bailey, and Michael Rooney.
Jason: That's pulling some strings.
James: That's what I call clout :-)
Bill: Ah, Vik. I joked with him about it at the start of the tournament ("We meet again, Mr. Vik Vaz!"), but by the time we got to the finals, I think we were both thinking more about the event than about the past.
Gordon: $250,000 is a good reason to not think about the past.
Chico: Cool. Just thought I'd ask.
Gordon: Thank you for that great insight on the Jeopardy Tournament. And as this week, there was only 1 person remaining, we can say that for a number of other shows.
Jason: A lot of reality show finals hit the air this week!
Chico: Yay! Break for the summer! Although if you were to tell me that Aras was going to take the mill on Survivor, I would've hung you for heresy. Especially given the offshore posting that led to yet another closure.
Jason: Once Danielle won the immunity idol...she was done no matter who she picked. If she picked Terry, he wins. She picked Aras, he wins.
Chico: So it was over for her anyway.
Jason: She was picking the person she wanted to give the $1M to. She knew it herself.
Gordon: Shades of Survivor 3, where Kim J knew she was screwed and decided to give the money to Ethan.
Chico: Same outcome and everything. 5-2 vote.
Jason: And we go to the Cook Islands in Sept.
Chico: I'll pack lunch, meanwhile, hippies rule on the Amazing Race...
Jason: was it close?
Gordon: I actually though this was one of the more enjoyable races. Too bad CBS decided to move it around.
Jason: And CBS is moving it to Sunday I believe this fall too.
Chico: Probably better than Wednesday at 8p, but we'll have to see on that...
Jason: We have another final...Tyra chose another Top Model
Chico: Care to 'splain that one?
Jason: Sure. Danielle, was chosen by Tyra to be the next Top Model. She is the 3rd African-American woman in a row to be picked to be part of the Ford Agency.
Chico: How's that a first, though?
Jason: It's not a first...I said we have another final...first. before we speak of the fall schedule. That's all. Language :-)
Gordon: Since when was Naima African American?
Chico: Oh yeah, that's right. Naima was Latino. :-)
Bill: Naima means "pearl" in Lebanese.
Chico: Apt.
Bill: Who says I can't contribute?
Gordon: lol. Excuse me (Takes Jason outside and smacks him with a red herring)
Jason: OW OW OW sorry. But Danielle won...congrats.  I smell like Fish.
Gordon: Lots of Danielles in the news. None of them were on Idol though, as it's down to Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks.
Chico: Okay, Gordon, give us our daily recommended allowance of Idol, please.
Jason: Soul Patrol! Now...I have to ask...do you think the vote was as "close" as they say it was?
Gordon: Yes, the vote was close...but not really. Let's go by the numbers.
Chico: Big board time?
Gordon: Yes.

Gordon: Do you remember the percentages, Jason?
Jason: Elliott got 33.06% percent of the vote. Someone got 33.26 and some got 33.68% of the vote
Gordon: ok. so out of 50 million people...
Chico: 16.5 million voted for Elliott. Or at least, there were 16.5 million votes for Elliott.
Jason: right.
Chico: 16,530,000, to be exact.
Gordon: Elliott got 16,530,000, while second got 16,630,000 and someone else got 16,840,000. Way to trample over Professor Pepper's explanation.
Jason: (hits Chico with an eraser). LOL
Chico: Professor! Block's throwing stuff at me again!
Gordon: Now when you look at it, a couple of hundred thousand votes is a lot, but it's not much when you...kids, do I have to send Warden MacDonald up there?
Jason: No, teacher!
Chico: ... We'll be good.
Bill: Damn, no spanking today.
Jason: Hey, now.
Chico: Anyways, first and third separated by 310,000. Continue, Gordon.
Gordon: It seems like a lot - which it is. The question of who wins Idol will partially be answered by who gives the better performance on Tuesday - but it will also be answered be this simple question - where are the displaced votes from Elliott going to go?
Jason: I honestly don't see them going to Katherine.
Chico: Me neither.
Gordon: Make it a trio. Elliott's vibe is much closer to Taylors
Chico: By the way, I have another X-factor here! Can I share?
Gordon: Please share.
Chico: It was revealed that Taylor has elected to sing SECOND.
Jason: For all songs?
Chico: Yep. History lesson: three of the four seasons, the person who sang second won the season. Only exception to the rule: Clay Aiken. He sang second, but didn't win.
Jason: He wants to close the show...very smart.
Chico: This is clearly the action of someone who knows what he's doing. So when you put all of these together... It's Taylor's to lose.
Gordon: It is - but I could see him lose it should Katharine knock it out of the park on Tuesday. However, she also sometimes has the tendency to bean herself with the bat.
Jason: She is a streaky hitter.
Chico: Not a consistent primetime player, as we would say.
Jason: No, but Taylor is. It is going to be a very interesting final. I see the Soul Patrol being very happy Wednesday night.
Chico: I'll probably end up getting both CDs. Cause you know Kat's getting a sweet kit off of this as well.
Jason: Sure. and I definitely will buy Chris's wherever he turns up.
Gordon: I think the Top 5 will be doing very, very well
Chico: Anyway, while Jason and Gordon have fun with finalists, we have fun with fall. Returning alongside Survivor, Race, and Top Model are Deal or No Deal... YAY! And the Bachelor... BOO!!!
Jason: And we have some interesting scheduling.
Chico: to say the least.... Race moves to Sunday, Deal goes TWICE instead of once, Top Model returns for more hotness.
Jason: And Dancing with the Stars goes to Tuesday/Wednesday...when Idol isn't around.
Chico: And we get a new entry in the form of "Set for the Rest of Your Life", which ABC picked up before even looking at the format.
Jason: I have to see it before I judge it.
James: At least the show gets a few-week head start before facing off with the Idol juggernaut.
Jason: Do you think DWTS4 (when it happens next year) will be moved to Thursday or do they want to split the Idol vote?
Chico: I think they'll move it.
Gordon: When does DWTS3 Debut?
Chico: I don't believe they'll crack their golden nest egg before its time.
James: I'm surprised Stars wasn't placed on Thursdays this fall...it bruised up *Survivor*.
Chico: We're looking at September.
Gordon: If it starts in September, it should end right around November Sweeps - which means it won't go near Idol.
Chico: To end in November sweeps, giving us Set in December at the earliest.
James: And those two sitcoms ABC plans on airing Thursdays will get killed.
Chico: Yep. Thursday was not a good ABC night since Millionaire ended. Until Dancing moved in, of course.
Gordon: I don't think they will get killed. Only Survivor is the powerhouse at 8, which means that something else should be able to survive in that slot.
Chico: I vote for Earl and The Office :-)
James: My Name is Earl and The Office will survive, not what ABC has on at 8. We started seeing chinks in Survivor's ratings armor this past run, courtesy of AI and Dancing
Gordon: Yes, but Earl/The Office is not AI or Dancing - or anything close.
Chico: True, but what is?
James: Which is why I think ABC should have put Dancing results show on Thursdays...also a perfect lead-in to Grey's Anatomy, which will move to Sundays or Mondays by January, IMO
Gordon: And I expect Survivor's ratings to improve this Fall.
Chico: I'm thinking they'll hold flat. I mean, they're high, but they're not getting any higher. Anyone who loses a finale to Desperate Housewives... And besides, if NCIS can compete against Idol, then anything can happen. We'll just have to wait and see. Interesting, though, nowhere on the list: 1 vs. 100... time for a Follicle Feud update!
James: It'll get the Deal-esque five-night premiere...either just before the fall season starts or in December.
Chico: Back in ep. 99, Alex and I made a wager as to what would happen vis-a-vis 1 vs. 100 and NBC's fall schedule. He said it would be in September... It isn't. James' scenario looks like the more plausible one. Ergo, Alex, if you're reading this... I believe you're going to be going under the clippers soon...
Gordon: Poor clean shaven Alex
Chico: But it's hair. It grows back.
James: Also, if America's Got Talent in Germany :-) screws up this summer, NBC will have a big hole to fill on Sundays...1 vs. 100 may fit the bill.
Chico: How Regis can screw up is anyone's guess...  Let's DO THE NEWS!
Gordon: Sounds good to me. Get that mice and jackets
Jason: Mice! Jackets! Let's rock and roll...Gordon....
Gordon: Roll that Beautiful Brain Footage!

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