July 10, 2006

Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper, and I must ask the question that everyone wants to know.
Chico:  What question would that be?
Jason B:   Why is the sky blue?
Alex:   Why are we here?
Joe:    How do you type with boxing gloves on?
Chico:  What's the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?
Gordon: No. The question is...Have you ever had or wanted to have a Black Emperor Scorpion put in your pants?
Chico:  ... in MY pants?
Jason B:   in your pants. (shudder)
Jason H:   Funny story......we were SO drunk....
Chico:  LATER!
Jason H:   Huh? Oh yes... later.
Alex:   There was that one night in the Turkish bathhouse...
Gordon: On that note, from somewhere in Jason Hernandez's Pants, WLTI...is...ON!
Chico:  Hopefully your pants are all animal free... unless you are the animal in your pants... like Jason Block here. :)
Jason B: Hi
Chico:  Or Jason Hernandez...or Alex Davis...or Joe Mello. Hello, gents :)
Alex:   Hey there
Jason H:   Good morning to you all!
Joe:    Hello.
Jason H:   And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
Chico:  Thank you, Truman.
Jason B:   You see the luggage beside me...packed and ready to go!
Chico:  I bet you are. Okay, we've got a lot to cover today and (as usual) not a lot of time. So let's start at the beginning. A beginning... a very good place to start.
Jason H:   There was a man and a woman....
Chico:  Two beginnings... double the goodness.
Jason B:   Are we starting off with the music or the houseguests?
Chico:  Music. Since that was first. Rock Star is back inexplicably for a second season. The concept... still good. The talent... still bad.
Jason H:   the show... unwatchable
Chico:  The hosts... Still Dave Navarro and Brick... err... Brooke Brick... err... Gordon, get me out of this.
Gordon: Brooke Burke, with the emotional display of a brick?
Chico: Yep, that's it.
Alex:   Dear lord she is hot.  The only reason to watch.
Chico:  Yeah, watch. Can't listen to her read though. You notice that the CBS female presentation machine is all about reading cue cards this summer, right?
Jason B:   See Ricki Lake, Julie Chen, Brooke Burke.
Gordon: We can use 'bad' to describe both the talent and the judges. It's obvious that the judges are judging on commercial appeal and not on actual music talent.
Alex:   That show just gives me more of a reason to think that the American rock/alternative music scene has been dead for roughly 10 years.
Jason H:   well put, Alex.
Joe:    I wish it wasn't dead.  I'm tired of hip hop
Jason H:   Woah there. Hip hop still isn't ALL that bad. Granted, the
quality has declined in recent years, but there are still some gems out there.
Alex:   Yes it is. If you want good music, you have to go to Europe.
Gordon: Agreed. The best club music comes from Europe.
Alex:   I hate club music, but beyond that.
Joe:    or Japan.  Japan, anyone?
Alex:   Hey, old school hip hop is awesome.  I am an avid fan of Run DMC.
Jason H:   Hey, before Hip Hop, there was Lindy Hop. :-p
Chico:  You're speaking my language, Alex.
Gordon: Japanese club is nice, too.
Alex:   Even rock music.  The two most influential rock bands of our time, The Pixies and Nirvana, were much more popular overseas than here.
Chico:  *airhorn* Please, people. This stuff is good, but we can argue about it later. :)
Joe:    And boy, can we argue
Chico:  Besides... we all know that BNL rules you all :)
Alex:   And back to the show we were talking about
Jason H:   LOL Yea, let's direct our frustrations towards a show that causes me to have a life. :-D
Chico:  Okay, the show we were talking about... What's there to speak of? The talent is lacking, the host is emotionless, Dave is propping the show himself.. and the voting scheme is back.
Gordon: The really bad voting scheme is back. And did we see the same talent show as the judges?
Joe:    I heard that the judges were really cordial.
Gordon: The judges can be cordial, but it doesn't matter if they can't judge.
Alex:   I never thought I would pine to see Game Show Marathon again.  All this is is a giant publicity show.  They couldn't give two (^_^)s about who the lead singer is, Tommy Lee needs easy and profitable press for his new band, which will most likely blow.
Jason H:   I say we just flush the show and move on to the next item.
Gordon: The less said about this one, the better. What about the debut of another new show - Big Brother All-Stars?
Jason B:   This one intrigued me, because I actually watched it.
Joe:    Did WLTI-endorsed Chicken George make it?
Jason B:   He is in and still alive. May I give the list and their status?
Gordon: Yes please
Jason B:   We have Alison and Danielle who have been nominated by the CO-HOH (which I will get to in a minute) Janelle and Jase....Also in are Diane, Erika, George, Howie, James, Kaysar, Marcellas, Mike Boogie,  Nakomis and the only winner, Will. The twist about HOH is that there is 2 of them. If they do NOT agree on the nominations. They themselves become the evictees. And Danielle overplayed her hand and became the nominess with Alison. A lot of the other cast members see the BB6 cast as a threat. Danielle tried to get Janelle and Jase not to agree on the vote early on to get the BB6 alliance broken. Danielle went hardcore way early. Alison was also in on the plan. And I have one SPOILER:

The spoiler is Janelle won POV = Power of Veto.

Gordon: So you find the hardcore players and put them both up first, eh?
Jason B:   Pretty much. Marcellas is still very gay. And very funny. Julie Chen is well still Julie....and the house is kick ass.
Gordon: I'm surprised Jase did not go after Nakomis yet
Jason B:   Not yet.
Joe:    Don't you think Will is going to have a bullseye because he's a former champ?
Jason B:   He was upset that he didn't have one first week.
Chico:  I'm just happy George's still in it... for the time being.
Jason B:   Everyone is still making fun of him though. He tried to do a rap and crickets occurred.
Chico:  As for Will, if he doesn't have a bullseye on him now, he should
Gordon: I think his strategy is to lay low and take advantage of the situations that pop up. That's how he won the first one, and since, besides Nakomis,
everyone else is as smart is a bunch of rocks, he could win this one, too.
Chico:  Unless people get smart... and really, what's the chance of THAT happening? ... anyone?
Jason B:   Zero
Gordon: Only if they let people who have been on Jeopardy into the house, Chico.
Chico:  What's the chance of a Big Brother house that isn't populated by morons? I mean, you have 14 people who say they can play the game... and only a handful can.
Gordon: I count....2.
Chico:  One handful. There you go. :)
Jason B:   Yup.
Chico:  Pulling a Gordon here... PICK PEOPLE WHO CAN PLAY THE BLOODY GAME!
Gordon: Erika gets a half. James is way too vindictive and plays too hard early. Unfortunately, it was up to the audience, and they picked...well...them.
Jason B:   Not all of them :)
Chico:  Moral of the story. Reality show players...not the brightest bulbs in the bunch. But they'll never be smart enough to see it coming...unless they happen to be Jeopardy! contestants.
Jason B:   There's a segue.
Chico:  I had to reach for that one :)
Gordon: Speaking of which, did you see Jeopardy this week?
Jason B:   Ugly play this week.
Alex:   Yeah
Gordon: Not only ugly play, but more often than not, it wasn't the second place, but the THIRD placed person who won.
Jason B:   Yup.
Chico:  How does one come up with that? I call for Big Board.

Gordon: The Current Champion has 2 wins despite not leading at the end of Double Jeopardy
Chico:  Funny.. that happened at the beginning of this week as well. Amazing how the parallels work, don't you think? You have two players who don't lead going into the final, and they win either by getting the final right or by betting just enough to lose without losing.
Jason B:   I hate the way people bet these days.
Gordon: Why? It's part of the game. The way to counter it is for the champion have the balls to bet only little bit of money in Final Jeopardy and force the second placed person to get it right.
Chico:  Yes, but it's a very calculated part, and if you misstep (read: Susannah's $101 disaster this week), you'll lose.
Gordon: Well, Susannah didn't do the math right.
Jason B:   Right. But the aggressive betting era in J! is dead. They are wussies.
Chico:  ... there's the rub right there. Every one of this week's players... is a pantywaist.
Joe:    I still don't see why we're complaining that much about these people.  After all, they won on Jeopardy. Doesn't that mean anything anymore?
Jason B:   No.
Chico:  They did. No doubt. They could've kept winning, though.
Jason B:   I'll explain to you why.
Chico:  It's the principle.
Jason B:   I am tired of people winning and not playing right.
Chico:  You mean as in "backdooring" their way into the championship?
Gordon: But that's a strategy of the game
Jason B:   No it isn't.
Chico:  That's luck. You don't plan on backdooring, it just happens.
Jason B:   And they have "Oh my goodness, I don't deserve to be champ because I played like crap look on their face"
Gordon: Well there's an easy way to stop backdooring - have the person in the lead either blow out the competition or to get the Final Jeopardy question right. If you want to be the champion that badly, make Final Jeopardy meaningless and bet big on a Daily Double instead of relying on the Final Jeopardy Answer.
Jason B:   I wish that happened.
Chico:  I was actually looking at past State Of Plays, and you, Gordon, thought that David Madden played probably the best Jeopardy! over the last couple of years.
Gordon: I did. And this is the reason why. He bet aggressive and smart. his Daily Double betting (when he didn't bet $5) put the pressure on his opponents.
Jason B:   There you go.
Chico:  And we have seen but only a few that can (and did) match up.
Gordon: Another reason why you have the backdooring is the Daily Double bets. If you know a category, you should go for the kill and not wait for Final Jeopardy.
Chico:  So established, play three rounds of game.
Jason B:   Yes.
Chico:  Did ANYONE do that this week?
Jason B:   No.
Gordon: They haven't done it for a long time. People are betting not to win, but to not lose. That's why you have people backdooring - because no one wants to win it as much as they are hoping that someone else makes a mistake.
Chico:  But you said so yourself, if you play to not lose, you will eventually lose.
Gordon: Exactly. Hence, the rotating wheel of Jeopardy champions.
Jason B:   Which is a very bad trend if you ask me.
Chico:  It's sloppy Jeopardy! and I don't need to see it.
Gordon: We need someone who will play the game as it's meant to be played
Chico:  We may have to wait a while for this one...in the meantime, we can talk Emmys here. The primetime nods are up... and surprise surprise, Amazing Race is defending its crown against four oncomers. The four this year: Survivor, American Idol, Project Runway, and Dancing with the Stars. I think the arrivals of Runway and Dancing have leveled off the playing field.
Joe:    They are worthy nominees, though
Chico:  Previous years, you had Idol and Survivor and Apprentice, and they were good... but not Amazing Race good.
Gordon: I do like the mention of Runway and Dancing. The Race, however, had a down year and if there's any show that's primed to knock it off, it's Idol, which had a phenomenal year.
Chico:  Now it's like...Game on. Thoughts?
Jason B:   Should win: Dancing. Will Win: Idol.
Chico:  Should win: Dancing. Will win: Runway.
Gordon: Should Win: Runway. Will win: Idol.
Joe:    Should win-Runway, Will win: Race :P
Jason B:   Wow.
Chico:  Joe's never going to let us live it down if he's right.
Joe:    You can't trust the Academy to make any sense.
Jason B:   We will know August 27....
Joe:    I think I used all my prognostication skills on the Hot Dogs, though.
Chico:  True enough. After all, they did snub Lost... and Omar Epps? What's up with that?  Now snubbing Lost I get, because it sucks.. but Omar Epps?
Jason B:   And Desperate Housewives and Hugh Laurie.
Chico:  Academy folk sure are weird.
Jason B:   No kidding.
Chico:  Ending the opening round on a somber note, as we mourn the passing of yet another legend, host of Treasure Hunt Jan Murray passed away at 89 this week.

(silence)

Chico:  Thank you.
Chico:  He got into the game with the music quiz "Sing It Again"...
Jason B:   And he hosted the original Treasure Hunt...way before we knew it.
Chico:  Not to mention "Dollar a Second.". Interesting game, that. Your clock was basically an event taking place outside, but Jan Murray was typical of hosts of that era, in which they parlayed schtick into audiences.
Jason B:   That was the Beat The Clock era of the late 50's.
Gordon: Yep. He's a great talent that will be missed.
Chico:  Indeed. He's from your neck of the woods, you know?
Joe:    O RLY
Jason B:   Yes. He was a Catskills comedian from NYC
Gordon: And with that, let's start up the news.
Chico:  Yes. Let's do the news! Jackets, mice, all that good stuff.
Jason B:   All that stuff
Gordon: Roll That Beautiful Brain Footage!

Doug:  (impersonating Mark Thompson) From the four corners of your globe to your frontal lobe, this is WLTI Brainvision News, featuring the Award-Winning Brainvision News team.)

Gordon: We start with what we started last week on...
Chico:  Chain Reaction?
Gordon: Yah.

The good news is that it seems like Chain Reaction will be back on track. The bad news - like reported, it will be delayed 2-3 weeks. The new tentative start-up date is July 12.

Alex:   I still think they need a new host, but hopefully he'll get better with the newest run.
Chico:  You were at the taping, Alex. How is Dylan? Not Bill or Geoff... but better than Blake, right?
Alex:   It was really interesting.  He was not good as a host, but he was great when the cameras were off.  He had the issue of reading the teleprompter too much, and yet messing up reading off the teleprompter often. It's not a good sign when you have to retake "Congratulations!  You solved that first chain.  It's time to play our $100 speedchain" SIX times.
Chico:  Yeowza.
Alex:   But to be honest, the show has much more issues than just the host, and I'm blaming this one on Michael Davies.
Joe:    Really?
Alex:   He's VERY close to, on a production level, making this show go down in flames.
Joe:    How so?
Alex:   He's trying to make another Millionaire.  Lingo has perfected the high-tech tense set for a light cheap word game.  Davies is trying to make it a Millionaire clone. In the feeling, cameras, lighting, dialog, set, audience, everything.  The only difference between Millionaire and Chain Reaction is the gameplay.
Chico:  Looked more like Link...With a host podia borrowed from History IQ.
Alex:   It did.  Wait till you see the set decoration at the top.  Remember the Weakest Link half-circle at the top?  It's that, except a full circle version.
Chico:  But I'll withhold final judgment until the premiere date.
Joe:    At least the game itself sounds pretty solid
Alex:   Eh, I have my issues. If you have a lead of about $1100 by the betting round, there is no excuse not to win, but let's move on.
Joe:    And hopefully, I can get my parents to get me there next weekend
Chico:  Next issue... err. item.

If you want to be Set for Life, ABC is holding auditions. Sites include Minneapolis, Baltimore, LA (on July 15!), Houston, St. Louis, and San Diego.

Chico:  Wow.. 1 vs. 100.... or Set for Life... what a choice...
Jason B:   No choice here. :).
Chico:  I'm going to go for 1 vs. 100 if only for the fact that I don't have to do any driving to get there.
Alex:   I cannot wait for this to fail.  More then, I can't wait for the reaction on ABC when they say "Wow, we gave up both Millionaire and Deal or No Deal." I'm sorry, but this show seems absolutely lousy to me.  I give FOX credit for at least mixing it up with "Show Me the Money".  This is just a clone with tiles instead of briefcases. I think NBC is royally messing up 1 vs 100 also, IMO.
Joe:    If I were a gamer, 1vs100.  If I wanted money, Set for Life
Alex:   I fear for these new shows.  Set For Life is going to be a clone of
DoND.  I don't trust FOX with a game show.  NBC is completely messing up 1 vs 100.
Joe:    (God, the CR graphics remind me of Bumper Stumpers)
Gordon: Next article...

Like Trivia? Like Bluffing? Then you'll like Poker Face, the latest creation from Ant and Dec. No poker skills needed.

Joe:    This is an idea I like
Jason B:   I like this one too.
Chico:  It premieres Monday on ITV1, doesn't it?
Alex:   Yep.  ABC's version is getting set also.
Chico:  ABC... get on it, man... Get... on... it.
Joe:    It kinda takes the Hollywood out of Hollywood Squares.
Jason B:   right.
Chico:  So I can't wait to download it off of someplace... and if legal is watching, yes I can wait. I ought to be ashamed of myself... Uhh... who wants to get fully loaded?
Gordon: Me!
Jason B:   Oh yeah!

Got a cell phone? Celador is launching a second edition of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? mobile edition... in Europe.

Jason B:   Cool.
Chico:  Very.
Chico:  Now if only Capcom will release a second edition here. I'm getting kinda bored with the first one. That reminds me... Hey, Gordon, listen to this ringtone... *Area Codes plays*
Gordon: Would that be a ho tone?
Chico:  It would be one of my hoes, yes.
Jason B:   (starts dancing) Area Codes...Area Codes

The ho tones this week include The Donald, who has a TV production studio which is being set up by previous candidate Andy, David Hasselhoff, who may or may not have been thrown out of Wimbledon, and the Food Network, who has a competition show coming out on July 15th based on Ice Cream.

Jason B:   Ice Cream?
Gordon: It's called Scoop.
Jason B:   ok.
Chico:  Yummy

Idol meanwhile has 8 Emmy nods, while a man who did not make the first Apprentice sues for...I don't understand why he would sue. Gordon Ramsay gets an OBE from the queen, Pat Sajak talks on his own owned radio station, and Kellie Pickler and Constantine Maroulis are no longer an item. Awwwww.

Chico:  Easy way to make money. Obviously.
Joe:    Someone should get all Pheonix Wright on his butt
Chico:  Which got me to thinking... You mean Kellie and Constantine were together at one point?
Jason B:   They looked it.
Joe:    If that doesn't inspire bad fanfics, I don't know what will.

Paul Goebel gets out a book and The Big Brother Contestants is Australia, due to their escapades, are in danger of getting evicted form the Aussies TV sets.

Chico:  Let's just say ... they were really drunk one night and... uhh... Pimp Cup, Gordon?
Gordon: Finally, the award goes to, to the chagrin of the ASPCA, Brian Heidik, who claims that he was shooting coyotes. unfortunately, when the police showed up, the coyotes were actually cute little puppies and the former million dollar Survivor winner spent some time in not only the dog house, but the big house.
Jason B:   He shot dogs with arrows. Dumb. Stupid. I was royally mad at this one.
Chico:  Can't we slap him upside the head with the cup instead of the usual presentation?
Joe:    I'll let PETA handle this one
Chico:  I betcha they will.
Gordon: woof woof
Chico:  Finally...

Quiz Bowlers are headed to Tokyo as American, Japanese, and Korean students compete for bragging rights and $3000 in a special international tournament!

Gordon: That sounds awesome. It's great that these kids have this sort of opportunity.
Jason B:   Good job and good luck all.
Joe:    Bring back some souveniers. :P
Chico:  Amazing. How many times can you brag about something like that?
Jason B:   Not much.
Joe:    Ultimate field trip
Chico:  Nope. Good luck to all of the players! Okay, that's Brainvision. Shut it down.
Jason B:   Shutting down.
Gordon: When we come back, we pit people against each other and pit shows against each other.
Chico:  This is WLTI, the show that comes home at 4am reeking of vodka and covered in lipstick.

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