Survivor sure has come along way. In the second season of the show Kucha and Ogakor jumped off a 35 foot cliff into a lake down below. Fast forward eleven years and the contestants now slide down slides. I’m not saying the slide wasn’t epic but I find the whole thing to be pretty comical. Survivor has become a parody of itself over the years. Just take a look at the product placement from this episode. I know I sure wanted a 7Up by the end of the episode. I’m probably not the only one who wondered what 7Up would taste like on my steak. It was so over the top and in your face…and we haven’t even gotten to the Sprint reward challenge yet. The show has almost always had product placement. It just hasn’t always been shoved in our faces like it has been over the last few seasons. Early on there was product placement for Doritos, Mountain Dew, and the Chevy Aztec. It was a bit more subtle back then…the show sure has changed since it started. Product Placement is up in general with the rise of DVRs…but I just found the whole reward challenge to be slightly ridiculous.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Mike. He just wasn’t really on the show. When he was shown he just didn’t seem like that great of a person. He seemed smug and self entitled. I think Mike thought he really understood the game. He might have…but we sure didn’t see it. Yea his axe stealing started the gender war but that’s about all he brought to the table. So I’m not really sad to see him go…because it’s not like he was really there. He didn’t make much of an impression.

We got another great Tarzan moment this week. This time he confronted Chelsea about her ill feelings toward him. Tarzan thought that Chelsea didn’t like him because she had a bad plastic surgery experience. He thought she had some deep rooted hatred toward him because she didn’t like her plastic surgeon. It is really weird and really odd that he thought that. But it was hilarious. Tarzan’s antics (rantics Kat?) have now become one of the highlights of this season for me.

Can Kim just ditch Chelsea now? Chelsea is not only being more irritating than last week but almost screwed up the vote. Yea I get it Chelsea, you hated to see the other team get so excited when they won…but you won the reward last week and I’m pretty sure I saw you cheer. Plus she’s such an idiot. Why on earth would you ask Jay about the vote in front of Alicia and Christina? Even if the two are aware that the new Salani women are dragging Jay and Troy along why make Jay suspicious. I’m glad Kim thought it was “asinine.” It was. It was so stupid. Not only that but Chelsea pretty much admitted she had multiple alliances at tribal council. I thought Chelsea was going to be the female version of JT. Clearly that isn’t the case. If she does make it to the end, I hope she has pissed off a few too many people and doesn’t receive any votes.

Sabrina has been notably under the radar the last few weeks, so it was nice seeing her come back and talk some strategy with Kim. She tells Kim that she wants to go to the end with her and Chelsea and they are all on board for taking out the guys. I just hope that Sabrina realizes just how good of a player Kim is. I don’t think Sabrina can win against her. Her only hope is for Kim to be taken out at some point.

I’m so confused about Jay. The whole episode Jay kept talking about how important it was to get rid of a girl. Troy and Jay even talked about evening out the numbers. He was even about to tell Mike that he was being targeted… but when the vote was revealed Jay voted for Mike. We know why Troyzan voted for him but why did Jay? Why did Leif for that matter? What is Jay up to and why does he think this is a good idea? I’m sure Troy went to him and explained why he was voting for Mike…but I feel like we missed a scene or two that really explained what was happening.

The same thing can be said about Alicia and Christina voting for Tarzan. Was this just to throw off Jay and Troy? Alicia and Christina knew about the vote for Mike…Jay knows that they knew about the vote for Mike. So what happened? I hope the next episode explains that.

What a relief to not have Colton in anymore. I feel like everyone else got a lot more camera time. The dynamics of the merge were so much more interesting without him around yelling at people and screaming. It was also refreshing to have the tribe already merged when the episode started. We didn’t have to waste a lot of time during the reward or immunity challenge handing out new buffs. However it was pretty clear though that the merge was meant to be after the reward challenge considering how that was set up.

Poor Jonas though. I liked him. He ended up being the sort of quasi-strategist. He was that sort of contestant that looks like a front runner but is taken out because the others are scared of them. Erik from Survivor: Samoa and Jim from last season were sort of similar players. I didn’t think Jonas was going anywhere anytime soon. They set him up to be this rising star with Colton gone but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

This episode was all about Troyzan. I wasn’t sure whether to like or dislike Troyzan at first. I wasn’t that fond of him at the beginning…because of his stupid nickname. But he’s been growing on me ever since. He seemed like a big excited kid this episode. Not only did he pick the new tribe name, but he found a hidden immunity idol and won immunity. He was kind of “adorkable” when sheepishly explaining the tribe name to Jeff. Now I know I lose some credit saying a 50-year-old is “adorkable” but he just was in this episode. I can’t explain it. I’m rooting him to take down Kim.

Please go pout some more Chelsea! That girl is driving me crazy. I know Tarzan is obnoxious…he’s gotta be if everyone thinks that. But Chelsea cannot seem to let it go and he is definitely affecting her more than everyone else. She got way too upset about the dirty underwear. Yea it’s gross but calm the hell down. That stupid glance she made after she walked away was just so obnoxious. She also wanted to change the vote to him just based on that. I used to think Chelsea was smart but she is letting her emotions take advantage of her. I hope she goes soon. If the men do rise up next week I hope she is their target. I’m just kind of sick of her.

Tarzan is a really weird character. He’s definitely the Phillip Shepherd of the season. But he’s just so different and obnoxious in his own way. I don’t even really want to say obnoxious. I don’t dislike him. I think he is pretty entertaining. I love that he pisses everyone else off. I love that he at least pretends he can’t remember anyone’s names. It’s just so weird and such an oddball. How can you not love someone who uses big words? I wouldn’t even say they are big words…it’s just that everyone else has a limited vocabulary…including. But I kind of like him on the show hobbling around and getting into arguments over the stupidest things. Jonas came up to him to simply get things straight and figure out what Mike was talking about and Tarzan just exploded on him. It’s just so hilarious it doesn’t make any sense. Even after he accepted Jonas’s apology Tarzan still said how much he hated him at tribal council. What a kooky character.

Please Survivor, I want to be wrong. I want Kim to lose. I want her to get backstabbed and betrayed like Ami was in Vanuatu. When Survivor: Vanuatu aired I didn’t like Ami…cause she was controlling the game. I wanted her out and her elimination was a highlight of the season. After seeing the season a few times I realized her brilliance and just how much power she has. Kim’s the same way. Kim is playing a masterful game but I want her to lose. I don’t want it to be this easy for her. You saw her just lounging about on the boat when Alicia approached her about the vote. Kim isn’t worried at all. With Jonas gone, Kim can do as she pleases. Get rid of the men or get rid of the new Manono Tribe. I really like Kim…I just don’t want her to cakewalk to the end. I hope the show isn’t that obvious.

So it looks like Jay and Troyzan realized that they might have made huge mistake…Jay has proven to be a fairly smart player over the last few weeks. I hope the two can figure it out and send a woman to the jury. Otherwise they are just as stupid as the Lopevi men during Survivor: Vanuatu. An original Salani member needs to go. They really need to push for a Christina or Alicia vote…or Troyzan needs to use his idol. Either way they have some work to do.

Stray Thoughts

-Hey! We got an intro! It’s gotta suck to be one of those first six out.

-I loved how the editors made Merge Tribe change into Tikiano at the bottom of the screen. Nice little touch right there.

-I wouldn’t make the mistake of drinking coffee I didn’t win…but come on Jay you’re a merged. Let Tarzan have some coffee.

-Probst: “Leif is like a turtle birthing out of the sand”

-Tarzan: “Hey I got a few pieces”

-“This is my island.” – Ok Troyzan don’t become Rupert

-Mike seemed awfully smug this entire episode, dude you haven’t jack in this game…calm down.

-“Troyzan’s balls haven’t moved in a long time.”

-Whatever camera man got the shot of Tarzan’s dirty underwear plopping onto Chelsea’s deserves a raise

Is this for real? Is this real life? Somehow Colton, of all people, got sick and got pulled from the game. This is the best thing to ever happen on Survivor! Better than Russell Hantz being eliminated on Survivor: Redemption Island. I didn’t foresee this coming at all. I thought they were building up Tarzan last episode because of his elimination here. Clearly I was wrong. I think Colton’s appendicitis makes him the youngest person to ever be medi-vac’d from the show. Colton was someone you loved to hate and then became this horrible bigot nuisance. We should all be really happy he is gone and if Probst is right we’ll never see him again.

Of course since this is Survivor nothing is as straightforward as it seems. Apparently it wasn’t his appendicitis at all but a bacteria infection. Colton says he still has his appendix and after a couple of rounds of antibiotics he is all better. That actually makes me even happier knowing that Colton’s appendix could still attack him at any moment. Editing also played a few tricks on us if Colton’s exit interviews are to be believed. He said he wanted to give his hidden immunity idol to Jay, but that was not allowed because he was on the other tribe. Apparently he also was planning on getting rid of Alicia and was just harassing Christina to keep people away from her. Apparently his whole “woe is me” at the beginning of the game was also strategy. I’m not sure I buy all of that or his empty apologies but it makes you rethink what’s been shown this season.

Whether it was strategy or not to berate Christina, I still found it a bit harsh. I’m all for fighting and over the top moments in reality shows but I think Alicia and Colton went a little far. I also don’t buy that it was completely strategy either. Go check out this secret scene and tell me that Colton isn’t a bit racist. Alicia isn’t much better than him at this point and she’s now my new least favorite contestant on the show. She wouldn’t let Christina sleep in the shelter, she tried to call Christina out for strategizing, and she killed Kat in Kat’s dream. I mean what a horrible person. I’m glad she got screwed over by Colton’s removal from the game. I hope she gets what she deserves.

These medi-vac’d episodes are always weird. It’s like the editors don’t know what to do with all of the extra time without strategizing for tribal council. Something always seems a little off. Even going back as far as Mike falling the fire, the show just doesn’t know what to do. There is just too much time spent on certain moments. Did we really need an extended scene about games you play in your backyard…when nobody I know ever played that reward challenge in their backyard. That ice cream reward also went on for a really long time. Also it was obvious nobody was going home at tribal council, did we need to see all of their last minute speculation? The episode just seemed a little off.

I guess the good thing about this episode was that we kind of got to know the contestants a bit more. I mean we got to see a few more weird and non-strategy moments. For instance Kat. I like Kat but she is really dumb and should’ve been voted off a long time ago. She’s gross, weird, and really stupid…from what they’ve shown us. Everything Kat says might not be dumb…but the editors love the dumb things she says. I mean we got to hear about her dream, we learned she ate the dirt from under her fingernails, and that she has no idea what an appendicitis was. We also learned this episode that Jeff shares our hatred for Alicia and that he is also now randomly part of the medical team. Of course Jeff Probst was looking for a Russell Swan Emmy winning moment here but still it was a bit much dude.

So with Colton gone that gives everyone else a little bit more breathing room with the game. I still think it is Kim’s to lose at this point. Jonas now seems like a front runner again but definitely seems more of an Albert type than a winner to me. I’m still super curious about this Kim, Chelsea, Jay, and Troyzan alliance though. I’m kind of excited that they merged. I know only four people have been voted out but the tribal portion shouldn’t go on for too long. Seven episodes at the most and that can be pushing it in a lot of seasons. Six episodes and then the merge is the perfect amount of time if you ask me.

Ugh, I don’t want to talk about Colton anymore…but I have to. After last week I was done with the guy. Why give a bigot anymore attention? But Colton has been integral to the entire season. Every episode centers on him and his horrible personality. If I don’t mention Colton at all this entire article would be really short. It would be like writing about Survivor: Samoa and not mentioning Russell Hantz. Sure you could mention Laura, Natalie, and Shambo but that wouldn’t be very detailed analysis.

Actually it’s not that bad. This season has been fairly balanced as far as editing goes. We get a lot more of Colton than I’d like but that doesn’t mean we don’t get to see anyone else. Actually at this point Michael and Leif seem the most underdeveloped…and we’ve gotten a few interesting moments from them as well. At least a few interesting moments from Leif…Michael hasn’t done anything noteworthy since the first ten minutes. It’s actually pretty refreshing. The last two seasons were all about the returning contestants so it’s nice seeing some new people come into their own and becoming reality stars in their own right.

We’ve known about the impending tribe swap since One World’s first preview. You can clearly see both the water barrel reward challenge and this week’s immunity challenge. Men and women were working together. So this was no surprise at all and I’ve been waiting for it. Tribe swaps can make for very interesting episodes because contestants scramble. It forces new alliances and I think usually makes for a much more interesting game. After the last two seasons I’m hoping this tribe swap will cause an interesting merge. I hate seeing one tribe get picked off. It is a solid strategy but not fun to watch at all. At first I was disappointed that the producers got rid of the One World twist. I thought that kind of defeats the purpose of the season. But I think separating the tribes will once again work in the show’s favor. If both tribes were still on the same beach, then everyone could still plan to stick together. By separating people it might cause some new and interesting alliances…like Kim, Troy, Chelsea, and Jay.

The new Salani Tribe is pretty much the Greek Gods tribe. They have all of the strong people, minus Monica. They don’t really have anything to worry about either. The most interesting development is Kim, Troy, Chelsea, and Jay teaming up. It puts Kim and Chelsea in a really interesting position. When the merge comes they can continue on with the women or go along with this new group. Jury votes wise it would be smart to stick with the original Salani women…but Alicia, Christina, and Kat aren’t exactly the most dependable people from what we’ve seen. Troy and Jay made a smart decision teaming up with them. The men’s tribe is in shambles and they know that Colton is a volatile player so working with other people might benefit them.

I want this season to prove me wrong about Kim…but the writing is on the wall. Nobody says anything negative about her. She is coming across as strategic and positive. She is having a good time and now she has the hidden immunity idol. I just don’t see her getting voted off. Part of me thinks it is almost too good to be true. That someone will get wise to her and see her as a threat; much like Brenda was in Nicaragua. The last time I felt that way was about Rob in Redemption Island. It just seemed way too obvious that he was the winner I kept waiting for the rest of Ometepe to realize he was in control. But it never happened. I want the show to prove me wrong. I want Kim to be the Onion Alliance in Gabon or the Exile Island alliance in Tocantins. I want to be really surprised when her plan falls apart.

Manono isn’t as well off as Salani. Colton is right. They do suck and they don’t know how to play Survivor…but I don’t think they are as bad as we are meant to believe. Alicia might not be very good at puzzles but she has proven to be a decent competitor in other challenges. I don’t think Jonas is that bad either…plus Monica was probably the strongest contestant this season. I think Colton just wanted some camera time…and he wasn’t with his best friends on Salani so he got all upset.

Poor Monica…I really liked Monica. I thought she was a great contestant. She was smart and athletic. I think she was also a little sneaky and cunning. I wish we had gotten to see her play the strategic aspect of the game more. Monica would’ve been a really interesting player if she had made it to the merge. In her post show interviews she said that she had wormed her way into the Salani women alliance and wasn’t in as much trouble anymore. We also saw that she could plan ahead when she voted for Christina at her last tribal council. Colton just saw her as a threat. I hate to give the guy any props but he kind of made the right decision. If they were going to lose the next immunity challenge anyway why not get rid of someone who is going to be a threat when the merge comes? Now Colton doesn’t know when the merge is coming. There are still 13 people left, so it might not come for a few more rounds but why not. If he thinks he can get by losing challenge after challenge and if all of his allies are on Salani why not take the risk?

Next week someone gets medi-vacced out on Manono. It’s obviously not Christina who now must deal with Colton and Alicia berating her. I kind of feel bad for her. Yea she comes across as obnoxious but I would hate to have those two screaming at me and telling me to jump in a fire. Unfortunately I think it is going to be Tarzan who gets taken out. He got a lot of screen time this episode with his nominal aphasia so I think it could be him…he’s a weirdo but I’d hate to see him go.

Fringe has been particularly strong after the lukewarm fall half of the season. Every episode since “Back to Where You’ve Never Been” has been great and “Welcome to Westfield” is no exception. While the standalone case of the week wasn’t particularly original it was still intriguing and fun. I guessed early on that it had to do with the two universes colliding, and the opening recap pretty much revealed that David Jones was behind it. The whole episode reminded me of The X-Files. I’m also pretty sure the whole unable to leave town plot is taken straight from The Twilight Zone. Despite all of this it was still really well done and developed on Peter’s current dilemma. Maybe he doesn’t have timeline to go back to. Maybe he is already there and just needs to fix it.

Olivia, Peter, and surprisingly Walter find themselves trapped in Westfield after trying to figure out why a magnetic anomaly caused a plane to crash. After an encounter with a bewildered diner employee the group tries to leave with an injured man only to realize they can’t. Every time they drive out of the town they drive right back in. They eventually team up with the remaining townsfolk and figure out that the two universes are merging here. That is why the townsfolk are losing it and coming up with new memories…they are combining with their alternate universe selves. The group realizes they need to get to the eye of the collision and arrive just in time as the rest of the town implodes and disappears behind them. It’s eventually discovered that David Jones is behind the whole thing using the amphilicite he got a few episodes ago.

The whole episode is really creepy. It felt like an X-Files homage. The airplane that eventually crashes, even looks like a weird blue UFO at first. Throw in an abandoned creepy town and a diner and its hard not to see the similarities.

I think we are about to enter a whole new arc in the ongoing alternate timeline story. Olivia is now acting like original Olivia. She’s been having dreams about being with Peter and at the end of the episode she is particularly comfortable with him, kissing him. Peter is confused but Olivia acts like nothing is wrong. The same can be said about Walter this episode. He’s much more like the Walter we’ve come to know in the first three seasons. He actually joins them on the case and is out and about interacting with people. He isn’t as weird or reclusive as he usually is. Peter is really starting to affect the two. So does he really have anywhere to go back to? Or does he just have to remind everyone that they know who he is. But what are the ramifications of that? Will that affect the altered timeline? Olivia is now much closer to Nina Sharp, will Peter’s return change that? Plus I’m sure the Observers aren’t that happy. Peter’s return is kind of screwing with everyone else.

This was definitely one of the best episodes this season. There wasn’t a particular emotional point, but it didn’t need one. It was just a strong standalone story with an interesting development in the Fringe mythology. This season may have had a slow start but it is definitely picking up.

I’ve been waiting patiently for Awake for quite some time. I won’t gush about Kyle Killen and the canceled way to quickly Lone Star…but come on. I know the second episode wasn’t as great as the pilot but that got two episodes and Pan Am got 14? Something just seems so wrong with that. But seriously I am psyched for this series and the pilot just made me even more excited.

One of the most common complaints I’ve seen about Awake is that it will be too complicated for people. But I honestly don’t really understand that. The premise isn’t that weird or that complicated. At least not to me…I actually pity someone who would think this show is too complicated for them. Michael Britten, played by Jason Isaacs, gets into a car accident with his wife and son. After the accident he is apparently stuck in two worlds. In one world his wife is alive and his son has died. In the other world the opposite is true, his son is alive and his wife has died. Michael is seeing a different therapist in each world and also has a different partner at work. While Michael tries to figure out what is going on and why he is experiencing two different timelines he is also solving a crime or two every week. It really isn’t that confusing. Now I’m sure down the line it might get a bit more complicated as the stories start to progress but nothing a regular viewer couldn’t handle.

The only thing I’m not that excited about is the procedural aspect. As everyone should know, I’m not a big fan of police procedurals. I just have such a hard time getting into them. I like my shows serialized. If there are cases of the week I want them tied into the main plot like Fringe. These first two cases on Awake seemed a bit to distant from what was going on in Michael’s life. I was much more interested in his therapy sessions than what happened to the little girl that was kidnapped. I have faith that they will begin to tie together a bit more but right now it really isn’t drawing me in.

I’m very pleased with the serialized storyline. Why is this happening and how will it affect Michael? Will his therapists continue to give him different advice? Hannah, his wife, seemed ok that Michael was seeing their son in the alternate reality by the end of the episode. But will she continue to be ok with that? And what about Rex’s tennis coach Tara? Michael is a widow in his son’s reality, will she further complicate things? I’m very interested in all of that and really want to see that play out.

The cast is also really strong. I’ve really enjoyed Jason Isaacs in the Harry Potter series and especially in his recent BBC series Case Histories. I think he is an incredibly strong actor. I’ve also enjoyed Laura Allen in the short lived, but amazing, series Terriers that aired on FX. Plus how can you go wrong with BD Wong and Cherry Jones playing Michael’s dueling therapists? I’m not as impressed by Wilmer Valderrama who plays Michael’s newbie partner in his wife’s reality. I’m also waiting to see more Dylan Minette before I decide whether he is good or not.

Overall I’m impressed with the show. It’s an interesting concept and I’m excited to see how it plays out. It is on NBC and it didn’t get off to a great start so I’m a little worried about its chances.

I’m so glad that Community is back! It has been a cold and rather scary few months. I honestly thought NBC was going to burn Community off over the summer. I also thought that this was it for the show in general and we’d be lucky to get a fourth season. But it looks like the worst is behind us. 30 Rock didn’t do so well in its timeslot. Community also got a 2.2 rating…putting it second behind American Idol. Not to bad. It was also right up there with The Office and snagged more viewers than 30 Rock or Up All Night. I’m still worried about the show’s renewal but I’m a bit more hopeful than I was at the end of December.

I’ve been spending my Community-less time watching Community. I’ve done my part introducing the show to potential new viewers and went back and watched the first two seasons. I also lost count how many times I re-watched “Remedial Chaos Theory.” I think I’m more in love with the show now than I was before the break. I was so excited when the epic trailer came out during The Soup and couldn’t wait for the premiere.

“Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts” was an ok episode of the show. Definitely it was a great way to draw in new viewers. Community obviously has a tendency to do stunt or special episodes so I was glad to see something a bit more “normal.” It’s not that I don’t like the special episodes I was just worried about the show struggling to draw in new viewers…because unfortunately television viewers need more of the same every week. Yea I know what I’m saying. Isn’t that what a sitcom is all about? People watch sitcoms to see the same characters get into different situations every week and those sitcoms work better when you are familiar with the show. Yea I know, I’m just saying I like the special episodes but not all the time. They aren’t special if every episode is a parody of another genre. This episode also seemed to be commenting on how weird it can get through Abed and Troy. The two were warned by Shirley to not do anything weird at her college study room wedding. Eventually the two realize that there is nothing wrong with them and they should just embrace their weirdness…I feel like that is what the show has done in generally. It started off as a fairly run of the mill sitcom and has finally found its own weird voice.

The episode mainly revolves around Shirley and her struggles with Andre. Ever since the divorce Shirley has become this strong and independent woman. She went back to school so that she could get her business degree and start her own company. But now that Andre is back in the picture he wants to be the only one providing for his family. Britta encourages Shirley to not give up on her own goals and tells her to open up a sandwich shop in the school cafeteria. After her business proposal Shirley ends up being late to her own wedding rehearsal. Andre isn’t to happy about this and things don’t look to good for the couple. That is until they step in and stop Britta and Jeff from fighting. The two realize that a marriage is about change and working with each other. So the two kiss and make up.

This first episode back was all about finding new viewers. No it wasn’t one of Community strongest outings but it was an easy one to get into. It showcased all of the characters in some way and I think showed new viewers what this show was about. I’ve been reading cast interviews, It seems because of the hiatus NBC gave Dan Harmon more creative liberties so I’m sure the show is going to get a lot weirder over the coming weeks. The best thing was to ground the show right at the start of its second half so that viewers can figure out the differences between a “normal” and a “special” episode.  You don’t want to start with a paintball episode that would only confuse stupid new people. I’m so excited this show is back. I cannot wait to see what happens. This show remains one of the most creative and different shows on network television. Hopefully the ratings will hold and we’ll see a fourth season of the show.

GCB could eventually be a decent Desperate Housewives replacement but it is not quite there yet. The commercials promised an outrageous, over the top, dramedy, but didn’t really deliver. It showed signs that it could eventually be….but it isn’t there yet and it isn’t going to get a lot of time to prove itself. GCB premiered with pretty okay ratings but if this television season is any indication, it is going be struggling in a few weeks. So it needs to act fast and needs to start pushing itself quickly. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure all of its episodes have already been written and shot. So GCB can’t exactly take the criticism and improve until a potential second season.

First of all, I need to get this out of the way. I hate writing GCB. It’s more  than Good Christian Belles which is even more lame than the original title Good Christian Bitches. It seems there was some controversy and now you can have the word bitch in your show title (See also The B in Apartment 23). I guess that is still to vulgar for network television in 2012. Ok now that I’ve said that lets move on.

I didn’t hate the premiere. It actually wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t memorable. Clearly ABC knew that as well. Most of the scenes, like Annie Potts cocking her shotgun, are from future episodes. The pilot didn’t have anything exciting like that. I don’t want to say it needed to be over the top, but it kind of needed a water cooler moment. I understand that a pilot needs to lay the groundwork and introduce the characters…but it struggled to keep me wanting to come back for more. Next week’s ratings will be telling. We’ll see if the show can bring people back for week 2.

Now that the show has introduced everyone it needs to quickly move on to more sudsy storylines. We know that Amanda has issues with most of her old classmates. We know that Carlene has some issues with her and wants to ruin her life. We know that Sharon likes to eat and Cricket’s husband is in the closet. Now that all of that is established we need to start throwing in some problems and conflict. I think it can be done and there is enough here to make it interesting.

Overall the acting was decent….except the Vaughn children. They aren’t exactly great and hope they disappear quickly. Plus some of the over the top Texas drawls kind of drove me insane (especially Marisa Nichols). I surprisingly liked Leslie Bibb more than I thought I would. Kristin Chenoweth was also great as usual. It’s nice to see her play a much different character from Olive Snook. Plus Kristin always looks like she is having fun and is a really nice person so how could you not like her? Nobody else really made that big of an impression on me so time will tell.

Again GCB needs to start pushing the envelope fast or it will just be forgotten. Sunday is a really hard night to succeed. There is a lot of competition. But I’m not sure GCB could succeed any other night. I’m going to watch for now, and I really hope it will improve.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Bob’s Burgers when it popped up last year. I wasn’t planning on watching it at all but iTunes offered a free download of “Human Flesh” and I thought why not. I still wasn’t that impressed and wrote the show off. About a month later my two roommates at the time had discovered the show and told me it was the best thing they had seen in awhile. They were already fans of other FOX animated programs but were growing tired of Seth MacFarlene and his hold on Sunday nights.

I still didn’t believe them but they insisted that I give the show another chance. Well I did and once again I wasn’t that enthralled. I plodded through the first few episodes and was about to give up again by “Sexy Dance Fighting.” But something piqued my interest in “Hamburger Dinner Theater” and I discovered the rhythm and charm that my roommates had with the program. I quickly marathoned through the rest of the season disappointed to find out that the show wasn’t coming back until the next year.

Well it finally came back and it has been well worth the wait. I was worried for a few seconds that Allen Gregory or Napoleon Dynamite would really take off…but fortunately they didn’t. Bob’s Burgers doesn’t have to worry about being replaced, at least not right now. Plus FOX has ordered additional scripts after the initial thirteen episode order for this season. So a lot of things are working out for the program. It has also started to develop a small cult following. Hopefully we’ll get a few seasons out of it.

It isn’t that Bob’s Burgers is always amazing. Some episodes are better than others. This first one back is a decent offering but not my favorite episode by any means. But the show is different. Seth MacFarlene isn’t every single voice, and that is a huge plus right there. It has a different rhythm and a different sense of humor. It is refreshing and a nice change of pace…and besides The Simpsons it is really the only other show to find a place for itself in the Animation Domination block that is related to Family Guy. I also just really like the cast and all of the characters. H. Jon Benjamin continues to impress me. I wasn’t a big fan of him at first but the more I see his work the more I appreciate him. Kristen Schaal also steals the show from the rest of them with Louise. But how can you not love Linda, Tina, and Gene? These three usually get some of the best lines of the episode.

“The Belchies” wasn’t the best episode of the show, but I was just excited to have a new episode of Bob’s Burgers. The strongest part had to be Louise bonding with the taffy man and the family coming together to rescue her. But there wasn’t anything that memorable to really write about and probably wasn’t the best episode to introduce new viewers too. I hope this show continues to find an audience. I’m glad I got all caught up so I can watch it this year.

Every week before an episode is shown, I try to predict who is going to get voted off. Since I’m such a Survivor dork I’ve been recording my predictions ever since Survivor: Amazon. Sometimes I’m pretty good at predicting a season like Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Other times I’m completely off base like in Survivor: Nicaragua. Oddly enough I predicted that Bill was going to be voted off…but for all the wrong reasons. As soon as Manono won the immunity challenge I knew I had screwed up this week. That was until they decided to go to tribal council in one of the weirdest and perhaps most controversial moments in the series of the show.

I’ve said it season after season. Survivor has been running a long time and it has to continue to adapt in order to surprise its viewers. I know Survivor fans love the formula but there are only so many ways someone can get blindsided or voted off. So the show looks for interesting and new dynamics. I’m sure as soon as Colton approached the producers with the idea they realized they had quite an awesome moment on their hands. So they changed the rules to make some great television. Yea was it controversial? Definitely. Will it go down as Survivor’s “jump the shark” moment? Maybe. Was it fair? For sure. Survivor’s producers are allowed to change the rules at any time. It is in the contract that they can pretty much do whatever they want. So they made the rule that a tribe can now give up immunity if they all want to go to tribal council instead.

So first of all I understand Colton’s reasoning behind it. When the tribes merge, it only takes one deserter to screw your game over. We saw that just last season. You aren’t strong with numbers if one of your guys is willing to flip. But it’s still a ways before the merge. Why would you give up your lead and give the Salani Tribe any indication that there were problems. It’s kind of the same scenario with Zapatera voting out Russell Hantz. There is plenty of time to toss the guy. Why did they have to go to tribal council so soon? Why throw a challenge and hurt your tribe? Why not work with the guy. I just don’t understand why Troyzan or Jay didn’t put their foot down and knock some sense into these people. I know I wouldn’t have agreed. I wouldn’t go to tribal council unless we had to. Even if Colton was bullying everybody. I’d never voluntarily go. Yea I’d probably be voted off down the line but I wouldn’t care. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Since this is Colton’s World, I of course have to give him a whole paragraph and ignore pretty much everyone else… I’ve despised some people on Survivor before. Especially in these last few seasons as the casts get trashier. NaOnka, Russell Hantz, Shannon, and Ben have truly been loathsome and disgusting creatures. But Colton takes it to another level. I don’t want to defend him at all…I know Colton thinks he is being clever and funny but he just went too far. His comments about Leif were uncalled for. His tirade against Bill was disgusting and definitely had racist undertones. As someone who grew up in the southeast, I’ve met my share of Coltons. Horrible guys who live off of their daddy’s money and just fool around. They haven’t done a lot of work and think they are special and entitled. They don’t realize how much work their father did to provide for them. Since then I’ve moved to California and have met plenty of people like Bill. Struggling actors, writers, and comedians who just love to entertain people. Yea a lot of them are a little delusional but you have to love their passion. Good for Bill for standing up to Colton and telling him he didn’t have a backup plan. I thought it was a little inspirational considering I’m in the same boat as him.

What’s sad about that tribal council is that we didn’t see anyone stick up for Bill. Tarzan actually defended Colton of all people. I like Tarzan but he has got to be kidding himself if he thinks we’ve moved past racism in the United States. It’s still very prevalent. I also don’t understand how Colton is running this game. Yea Colton has the hidden immunity idol but why not blindside the guy? He’s pissed off Leif, Bill, and Mike. Throw in Jonas who seems to be barely tolerating him and Jay and you could take the guy out. How does he have all of this power?

Next week, everything changes. The tribes are swapped and that usually means for a good and entertaining episode. Let’s hope it won’t be so charged and crazy this time around.