Tuesday Feb. 28th

"Night Terrors"Air Date 2-1-12

I like the idea of picking a phobia as the base of designing a new horror villain, but the way they went about picking them made it so the picking order had little importance unless they somehow knew these strange phobias.

I didn't see to point of making them stay in the haunted hospital to do their initial design work.  The rooms were obviously set up by production, like the one with the toys strewn all over the floor, and it ended up seeming cheesy and pointless.  All it really accomplished was not giving them space of light by which to draw their concept sketches.

The only one who hasn't turned their phobia into a decent concept design is Tara.  All the rest seem to have some potential to be decent, it will now come down to execution.

They just aired a promo for I heart SyFy month.  In it they showed previews and talked about all their hit shows and original programing.  I know for a fact that the highest rated show on this network is Smackdown on Friday nights.  There was no mention of Smackdown what so ever.  Talk about being ashamed of what you do to pay the bills.

With as many movies are made and how it is a multi-billion dollar business, and the important role makeup and special effects plays in it .  You would think that someone would have come up with a better way to either make molds or get the molds out of the plaster cast.

I do like the way all the contestants are more than willing to help each other out with things like getting the molds out.  it shows that while this is a competition, it is not a cut throat competition.

It's a risky move on Jerry's part to take the face mask to last looks without even looking at it to see if it was better than the first one.

There always seems to be a lot of work that is still being done to their makeup at last looks.

They haven't made much of a point of it this season, but a model can really make of break a design.  Some of the models really get into the character and they can bring it to life, while others seem stiff and can actually take away from what was otherwise a good design.  I wonder if they are still picking the models in a specific order or if it is a free for all trying to get the model that they want.

Jerry's really didn't come together the way that he had hoped it would.

The eye on Titiana's was about the worst thing out of all the different designs.  It just screamed that it was a rubber mask.  And a pretty poorly done mask at that.

I think Brea needs anatomy lessons, or at least facial structure lessons, this is at least the second time she has screwed up the basic placement of teeth and their relationship to the jaw.

Brace got lucky that his design was so good, because his application was pretty poor.  It was also interesting that the judges cared more about the concept and design than actual application and technique.

Brea was the right choice to leave, she has been carried through all of the team and partner challenges by much stronger people.  And her attitude saying that she wouldn't change anything about the makeup job that she did shows that she can't take advise or criticism

.

"The contestants go home for 18 days" Air Date 2-28-12

I don't like the way they end up sending all the contestants home for a week halfway through the show.  It's nice that they get to see their families and learn a little about what its like away from the ranch.  But i feel it takes away for the shock and surprise that used to happen when they would go home after being gone the whole time.  On of my favorite parts of the old show was when someone would get voted off and they would do the 24 hours later scene when they would go home and show themselves off to their family and friends.  They still do it, but it takes away from everyone surprise since they were just home a month or so ago.  They didn't even do it this week since the whole episode was about it.

The 5% makes it more interesting.  It also has the potential to have cause some upheaval in the house if some of the people who feel safe from the political standpoint they have made for themselves are the only ones that don't get their 5%.

In theory the people with eliminated partners should have an advantage going home, since they are getting to see someone who has already gone through the pitfalls of being away from the ranch.  But when you look a little closer you realize the three who are in that situation have partners who are the two oldest contestants and the guy who kind of quit the very first week.

I always feel sorry for the fat friend that is always in the group of people waiting to welcome home the contestant.  If they aren't usually self-conscious about their weight, they would have to be when put in that situation.

I wonder if production made them go to their old favorite hang outs and get the food that they used to eat.

I really don't want to talk about the contestants friends and houses because it seems kind of mean, but I will say this.  Cassandra's house seems like an awful small place to have 9 kids living there.

I liked the scene where Megan was able to ride her horse.  It was nice to see someone reaccomplish  something that their weigh gain had taken from their lives.  That is the kind of thing that the show could do more of when they send the contestants home for a week.

I think if Emily had had someone next to her rowing during the at home challenge she would have risen to the challenge.  I think she was trying too hard to pace herself and didn't realize how the others were going to go, but if she had been next to Kim she would have stepped it up.

Chism seems to be a really good kid.  I kind of feel sorry for making fun of his name earlier.  I also kind of worry about how he will do at home since both he and his father were not able to make the 5% goal.

The way the episode ended, it made me wonder if the contestants pack their bags before going to elimination or if it is done after the person is voted out.  It's pretty standard stuff on reality show to have your bags packed before you go to the voting room, but for some reason it strikes me that this show might be different.

It was interesting that during a season that has had as much drama as this one has had.  This episode came off like something out of a different season.  It was almost jarring either how lacking this episode was of it or how overused it has been on all the other episodes this season.

Recording 2-29-12:


Survivor
The Middle
Suburgatory
Modern Family
Happy Endings
Restaurant: Impossible
Battle of the Exes
Face Off

Monday Feb. 27th

"Summer Loving"   Air Date 1-15-12

They have done a really good job of capturing the heat of a hot and humid Chicago summer.  When watching I can almost feel the sticky grime that becomes reality in the summer.

It must be interesting to send out the casting information for a character called "Butterface".  It would take some real confidence and self worth to audition for a part knowing you will get cast because you have a good looking body, but your face leaves something to be desired. 

It always bothers me when they have scenes in the nightclub.  There is no way that they could be talking and be able to hear each other in any club let alone one that is that packed and has a DJ spinning records.

They cast Molly Price to play Butterface, either she is wearing makeup and prosthetics to appear uglier or she has gone down hill since Third Watch ended.

With the way Frank is constantly breaking into their house and stealing whatever he can find, you would think they would have a better hiding spot for their money than in a coffee can in the kitchen cupboard.

For as hot as they made it seem in the beginning of the show, it was a little jarring that everyone was sleeping with blankets on.  In reality they would be sleeping without even a sheet covering them.

Knowing the way Frank acts, it seemed out of place that he didn't want the change for the twenty at the bodega.

As soon as she started rounding up the old people to take them on their excursion.  I had a feeling that one of them was going to die.  When she let them get out at the park, I started to think that maybe she would lose one of them, but when they were all accounted for it went right back to death.

"The Gunfighter"  Air Date  1-17-12

Wait, I'm confused.  I thought last season ended with Raylan drinking with Mags Bennett, when she poisoned her glass rather than go to jail.  The beginning made it seem that he got shot and went straight to the hospital.

I like the angle that he is having problems shooting and has to ride a desk.  It's kind of like on Homicide after Pembleton had his stroke and couldn't be a detective until he passed a gun test.  The difference though is Pembleton had no use for the gun since he was a thinking mans cop and Raylan would not survive with out having his gun.

This show does a really good job of making interesting and scary bad guys.

So, lets see we have the remnants of the Crowder gang from season one, and the sons of  Mags Bennett from season two, and now we are introducing the mafia from Detroit.  It's starting to feel like later seasons of The Wire with the way they are stacking on all the bad guys.  And that's about as high of a compliment as a show can get.

Trouble sure seems to follow Raylan around.  Though it seemed odd that the guy with the ice pick would track him down.  I was also hoping he would last a while longer, he seemed that he could be an interesting mid level bad guy character.

Man, why did I wait so long to start watching this season.  I think I have five more episodes on my TiVo, if they continue to be as good as this one was don't be surprised if almost every day this week there is a recap of this show.

"The Sit Down"  Air Date 2-22-12

Sometimes shows on ABC seem to have the sound mixed poorly.  This episode was one of them.  It's odd some episodes are fine and then every now and then there will be one where the music is too loud and drowns out the vocals.  Parts of this episode were almost unhearable.

When ever a show uses fake named products I always find myself trying to read as many of the different labels as I can.

When Sue checked her locker for her coat, she walked up to it and the lock was all ready unlocked and open.

I liked Brick reading classic books and giving the cliff notes version of them as he goes.  They could do that more often.

"Sex and the Suburbs"  Air Date 2-8-12

I think I have talked about it before, that some times Tessa seems like a with it highschooler who is wise beyond her years and others seems to be at or below average in terms of maturity and there is never any rhyme or reason as to why the switch happens.  Well this episode fell into the immature category.  It seems odd that with the relationship that they have that George wouldn't be able to talk to Tessa about sex.

I liked that all the games they had were little kid games, but the design of the boxes is what you would find if you went to Target right now, not what you would have purchased 12 years ago when Tessa would have been the right age for most of those games.

On a whole not a very funny episode.  Hopefully next weeks is better, because the show is on the bubble of being cut.

2-27-12

That was a great promo by Punk and Jericho.  I wish they would let guys have this much freedom and creativity every week, the show would be much better if they did.

And it leads into another great Punk/Bryan match.  I'll say it again, I would watch these two wrestle every single week.

The ending was brought down by the feuding general managers, but it was still a good match.

There's chaos everywhere, that's how you build to Wrestlemania.

I must say I marked out like crazy for Jericho attacking Punk and putting him in the lion-tamer.  It really has me tempted to try and find somewhere to watch Wrestlemania.  I wont but it has me tempted.

Well after a excellent beginning 40 minutes the next hour and fifteen were completely pointless and a waste of time.

Okay, I watch Raw every Monday, and whenever I have room on my TiVo and the ability to record it I also watch Smackdown on Fridays.  How is it possible I have no idea if Epico & Primo are heels or faces?  I mean they are the tag team champions you'd think they would get a little bit of a story as to who they are and what they are about.

I don't really care about Cena and The Rock but that was an excellent promo to end the show.  It was almost as good as the one that started the show.  I'd like to see the undercard filled out a little more, but they are doing a really good job of building toward Wrestlemania.

 
Recording 2-28-12:

The Biggest Loser
Cougar Town
Top Shot
Justified

Sunday Feb. 26th

"Two Tribes, One Camp, No Rules" Air Date 2-15-12

When ever I watch Survivor, I have to be eating something.  It's just a little thing I do to feel superior to all the idiots on the show as they starve out on the island.  It was more fun to do in seasons past when they made a bigger deal out of how little they had to eat.

I'm not a big fan of twists on reality shows, they almost never work and usually leave me thinking how much better the show would be if it just got back to its roots and let the people play the game.  But the game changing potential for one world is great enough that I'm going to give it a pass and see how things turn out.  All too often when the tribes merge it becomes a us vs. them mentality among the players, and this is do to having never formed any bonds with the other team.  So with everyone living on one beach it makes it so not only do you need an alliance with in your own tribe but you can and should also form an alliance with some people from the other tribe for after the merge.

It always bothers me that Jeff acts like he doesn't know anyone's name when they first get off the arrival truck.  He's the executive producer I doubt a casting decision is made with out his input.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hate Men vs. Women challenges.  It never adds anything to the game except chest thumping and usually ends up taking away for the game in other areas.  But with them all on the same beach, I'm going to have to wait and see how it develops this season.

There is no redemption island this season.  Good, I never liked it anyway.  If you are voted out you should leave.  Now if only we could have a season without any hidden idols.  What would actually be fun is if they did another season without any hidden idols, but never told the contestants that there wasn't any idol to look for.

They said the trek to the beach from the starting point was about ten miles.  Why would you carry fire wood all that way.  There is wood everywhere and the shelter locations always have the necessary items to sustain life close by, it's just a waste of energy carrying all that wood.

So they get to the beach and there just happens to be chickens running around right in the middle of their campsite?  I don't have a problem with production making the surrounding area more liveable and ready for the show, but this seems over the top.

If the girls would spend less time begging the guys and more time working for themselves they would also have fire.  Also, did every single girl expect others to make the fire for them?  The first thing I would do after I found out I was being cast on the show is to meet with a survivalist and learn basic things like how to build a fire with no tools.  It ranks right up there with knowing how to swim, in terms of things you should be able to do before you play Survivor.

Colton would be the very last person I would give the immunity idol to.  It's obvious that he is completely on the outs with his team and more than likely will be the first to go.   You should give the idol to someone that will be able to hold onto it for a while, preferably until the merge, that way it will benefit you.  She had the ultimate tool to forge a secret alliance with and she wasted it on someone who will more than likely need to use it the first time he goes to tribal.

Did any of the women listen to Jeff when he told them how to land in the net?   At first I thought it was a voice over added in after the show was filmed, but continued to tell them how to land after each one took a bad landing.

There are four reasons why the men deciding not to finish the challenge was the right move.  First, the whole name of the game at this stage is to keep your team strong and not going home first.  This gives the men the opportunity to sit out a player that is lacking in the next challenge, this in and of itself is enough reason.  Secondly, there was nothing more to gain from competing.  If they stopped right there, they won immunity.  If they played it all the way out, they would still only win immunity and nothing more, but they then had the risk of losing.  Why would anyone take on those risks with nothing else to gain.  You might say it would be the gentlemanly thing to do.  To that I say this is Survivor, not who wants to be a gentleman.  When they get to the wrap party the guys can open the car doors and hold the buildings doors open for the girls and that will be the gentlemanly thing to do, but for right now they are playing a cutthroat game.  Thirdly, part of this challenge was crossing a balance beam.  If you look at the history of Survivor, crossing a balance beam has to be the greatest of all equalizers.  The team had never worked together before and no one could know who would be good at crossing the beam.  All you need is one person who can't get the hang of it, and you can just sit helplessly and watch the other team catch up and pass you by, while you wait.  If the men had chosen to continue and had someone get stuck o doing the beam, it would go down as one of the biggest bone headed moves in all of Survivor.  And lastly, there is no way that if the tables were turned the other team would have wanted to continue.  No matter what they say, deep down everyone know they would have taken the easy victory because it's the smartest thing to do.  The only possible downside is it could fire up the women, who now feel they have something to prove.

Sabrina is playing a little to fast and too loose, if she keeps it up I could see her not lasting much longer.

I liked that Jeff stirred the pot at tribal council before letting the girls know that Cortney would not be coming back.  But what idiots must the girls have been to air all that dirty laundry after they got there and saw that Cortney wasn't there.

All in all I think we could have a good season of Survivor on our hands, the one beach and male female split both seem to be working the way the producers wanted them to.  It made the the guys seem arrogant and cocky, but it also made the girls seem whiny, selfish, and untrustworthy.  Just about the only thing that I didn't like was that she had to give the hidden immunity to the other team so soon.  If she had had more time to get to know everyone I think she would have made a different decision.  It would have been nicer if the instructions had said you have two tribal councils before you must give it instead of before the next one.

"Amsterdam"  Air Date 1-15-12

The cast just keeps getting better and better.  Adding Richard Schiff to any cast instantly makes it a better cast, it's kind of like adding Andre Braugher to a cast.


I usually don't like celebrity's playing themselves in guest rolls.  Especially when it serves no other purpose than just being there (Entourage).  But the way they used Cat Deely really worked in this episode.

When was the last time an arena was still named after the sports team that played in it?  


I love the dynamic between the team.  The constant ball busting and one-upmanship that goes on leads to them seeming like they have an actual friendship between the four of them.


I don't think that in real life the owner of a sports team would let someone walk on the court in high heels.  It would have to damage the floor.


The show did a better job than most shows do in regards to showing actors playing video games.  Most often they spazingly push any and all the buttons as fast as they can, but here it almost seemed like they were actually playing the game.  Although if they were his son would have been throwing all his grenades as fast as he could of.

"The Way of the Fist"  Air Date 1-15-12


If the first episode of this season was all about where are they now, then this episode was all about setting the gears in motion for all the plots of this season.


Lets see if I can guess all the major plot points of this season:  Hank will try and break up Bekah and her boyfriend.  Hank will try either to, or not to sleep with Samurai's girlfriend.  Charlie will have sex with the new nanny.  Maybe the girl Hank dumped in the first episode will show up.  And there will be one crazy plot that comes out of left field that no one will have seen coming.

I just hope this isn't another season where all Hank does is work on a project that he doesn't want to do.

"You Know I'm Not as Smart as You" Air Date 2-26-12


It looks like they have replaced the metal boxes that hold the clues with a red and yellow bag.  I wonder why they changed it?


I think it would be amusing if a local lied to all the teams and they ended up standing around all night because of some bad advise.


If the border patrol guys want to hate Brendon and Rachel, it won't take long before they have more than enough reasons to do so, they don't need to get all upset over Brendon taking an envelope before they got to.  It was a mad house of people scrambling to get the clues from the mailman and the mail man did put the clue in Brendon's hand.  It just seems like sour grapes to complain about something so trivial especially when it was only a few second delay before they got their clue also.

It has to be nerve wracking  to be the only team to do one half of the detour.  In this type of game where you are never really sure where any of the other teams are I would have to think its better to keep an eye on your competition than to go off on your own.  For all the border patrol guys knew, they could have gotten back to the pottery lady and found that all the other teams had already left.


An 18 hour bus ride would have to suck, it would be even worse since it's in a foreign country.  At least the bus seems really nice, but you know no matter how nice it is it's going to have that sickly sweet clean smell that buses always have.


Uh-oh Rachel didn't get everything to go exactly her way, here comes the waterworks.  And by waterworks I mean a lot of crying noise and one single tear.  I have never seen a person who could make so much crying hysterics without shedding a single tear.


The clouds in the background at the pit stop seem very foreboding.  It didn't have an effect on this leg of the race, but I wonder if the next leg will be impacted by bad weather.


The girls on the last bus to depart couldn't work together at the roadblock due to them not knowing where they stood in the player positioning.  I think that would be the thing that bothered me the most if I was running the amazing race.  It wouldn't be the strain of travel or the tough challenges, it would be the constant unknown of where you were in regards to the other teams.


Half the teams have already checked in before the last bus arrives.  If there isn't a stop gap on the next leg this could lead to a huge separation between the teams.


How crazy is it that he had never seen a cow before.  It's like people in Florida who have never seen snow.  It just goes to show you that no matter how much you do on some level most everyone is still leading a very sheltered life.


You can tell Phil likes screwing with the teams that think they are in last place.   I suppose he has to do something to keep himself entertained while he waits at the mat all day long.  

It's pretty harsh to make an alliance to work together while standing only a foot away from the person you are now working against. 

I don't understand why neither of the last two teams didn't decide to work with the clowns instead of each other.  The clowns are obviously the least threatening of all the teams there, why wouldn't you want to bring them along as far as you could take them.  They would always be your safety net.


Is she going to say "tears of a clown" every single episode?


Part of me was really hoping that the twin that did the jumping spin onto the mat would wipe out.


I thought it was pretty cool that the soccer player twin knew who the welcomer was.  It also seemed to make the welcomers day.

"18 Miles Out"  Air Date 2-26-12


I understand the desire for the scene leading into the opening credits to have a good hook so you want to stick with it. But this week it came off as just confusing, especially when after the credits they made no mention of what we had just witnessed.  All they would have needed to do was add a little tag to the screen saying three hours earlier.  The way they did things just made it less scary when the zombies started coming out of the building.

I'm glad that they are finally starting to come up with some strategies for dealing with the zombies.  Both using the knifes instead of their guns and Rick's smart thinking in hiding under a dead zombie so the others would pass him by.

If they are going to start using silent weapons to kill the walkers, they are going to need some bigger knifes.  They could also use some walkie-talkies.  


I don't know why Rick would throw away a knife to that kid after just minutes ago deciding that knives should be their primary weapon choice.


Are the walkers skulls weaker than ordinary human skulls.  It seemed that no one had any problem sticking their knives all the way through the front of the skull.  And if it is the case that the walkers skulls start to deteriorate wouldn't then it be safe to say that other bones in their bodies like their legs should be deteriorating the same way.


Why was Rick wasting bullets shooting at the zombies by the bus when they were in a car.  He should have just yelled to Shane and saved the ammo.


Well, I'd have to say that this was one of the weaker episodes of the show.  It seemed that everything that happened could have taken place in about half the number of scenes that it did.  Also did half the cast decide that they needed the week off.  Where was everyone?

Recording 2-27-12:


Alcatraz
Being Human
Monday Night Raw
Caged

Saturday Feb. 25th

"Cafe Hon" Air Date  2-24-12

Everything I know about Baltimore I have learned from watching "Homicide: Life on the Streets' and "The Wire".  So, by that logic if Gordan Ramsey isn't sold drugs and then immediately shot and killed I doubt he is actually in Baltimore.

You'd think the town would have a bigger problem with the three story high flamingo than with her trademarking a phrase.

Those hologram earrings that she is wearing are very distracting, and she seems to be wearing them every day.

Her food costs have to be ridiculous with the way she is 86ing everything on the menu and then throwing it out.  Also everything that she is throwing out has already been prepped for service so in addition to her food cost she is also throwing away labor cost as well.

Gordon is wearing a necklace, I don't think he has ever worn any jewelry on the show before.

I'm surprised that she would let them remodel her restaurant without having creative control over it.

If I were her I'd keep the trademark, but allow anyone who wanted to use it have free use to it.  That way no one else could copyright it and make her stop using it.  It just better protects her interest.

There was no relaunch night segment of the show.  I wonder if there were no problems or if they decided to focus more on the trademark issue and less on the cooking.

"Street Arrests No. 2" Air Date 2-25-12
"Dazed and Confused No. 4" Air Date 2-25-12

The only tasing on either episode and the camera misses it because it is done over the fence.  BOO!!!

The guy they caught in the second act was amusing just for all the excuses he came up with trying to get out of going to jail.  "I was on my way to the strip club", "That cup full of crack isn't mine, I must have grabbed the wrong cup",  "I was going up to that persons door because I'm trying to start a neighborhood watch."  I did laugh at the neighborhood watch comment.

I've never knew that just saying that you are racist is a justifiable excuse for being a racist.

I didn't know you could get out of prison and not be on parole.

So, this guy just got out of jail for assaulting a black guy with a knife and the time before that he was in prison for burning down a church.  He's not just a racist, he's a super racist.

The kid in Las Vegas is wearing a Bulls hat, the guy they arrested in New Orleans was wearing a White Sox hat.  I wonder what city's sports teams sell the most merchandise outside of the home team area.  I'd have to think its either New York or Chicago.  This is all I need, one more thing to try and pay attention for while watching TV.

When the kid called 911 he said his mother had a plastic knife.  I was picturing either a little plastic knife that would go with a spork, or a plastic cutting board knife that you would buy at Target.  What never crossed my mind was a giant Samaria sword in its sheath.

The cop never answered the guys question about the fake marijuana, and I would also like to know how it can be sold in stores,yet be illegal to have.

Lady, that's why you keep your plates up to date.  If you had had you new sticker on the plates you wouldn't have even been pulled over, but now your going to jail for having a gallon bag of pot in your trunk.  I also think it's safe to say that you are now single.  It's cases like this one where I wish Cops would follow up with what happens to the people.

Recording 2-26-12:

The Amazing Race
The Walking Dead
Worst Cooks in America
Eastbound & Down
Life's Too Short

Thursday Feb. 23rd

I didn't have time to post this on Friday, but I also didn't watch anything on Friday night.  So I'm posting this on Saturday and then tomorrow everything will be back to normal.

"The Follow Game" Air Date  2-9-12

I thought that Deeanna, the girl Vinny picked up at the bar, was cuter than they were making her out to be.  But the lesbian was definitely the prettier of the two.

Pauly loves to goof off when he is at work.  I think he probably doesn't do any more work than the rest of them, but because he is constantly goofing around behind the counter instead of sneaking off he ends up getting a free pass.

If Pauly is 31, I wonder how old Danny the store owner is?  It's possible that he's younger than Pauly.

If you know they are going to be trouble and feed off of each other, why would you schedule Nicole and Deena to work together?

It did make me laugh that both times Pauly pointed out the girls had disappeared he was sitting on the counter doing nothing.

If you have lost your phone how can you call in to work sick, or better yet why would losing your phone have anything to do with going to work?

You can tell that Vinny and Pauly have become truly good friends by the way they were busting each others balls and trying to pick up ugly chicks for each other.

The bench chair by the Scarface poster reminds me of the footlockers in the College of Winterhold in Skyrim.

"The Landlord" Air Date 2-7-12

In the beginning of the episode when they were fighting over the parking space, the ford logo on the other guys truck was covered up.  It reminded me of 24, and how Jack only ever drove Chevys and all the bad guys only ever drove foreign cars.

I liked that the landlord called Winston "Coach" it was a nice callback to the original casting of the show and also made the landlord seem oblivious to who was actually living there.

I laughed when Schmidt was tackled and he squeaked out "I tap out".

The threesome chicken was funny, but if it had been about 15% more awkward it would have been one of the funnier things that the show has done.

 
"Tarot Cards"  Air Date  2-7-12

I wonder if the Chubby who owns Chubby's pest control is the same Chubby from My Name is Earl?  That could be a fun little guest spot in a future episode.

The license plate on the pest control van didn't have a state on it.  I like that, it makes it so the show could be in any backwater part of the country without giving the negative connotations to a specific state.

It amuses me when the Chance family miss quotes words this episode had "the Fortunate 500" and "gentle mutilations", both were not given any more of a pay off than having them be spoken and that's the perfect way to do jokes like that.

"Chatterbox"  Air Date  2-15-12

Were they a family of cooks before they opened the restaurant?  If not its an awful risky venture to undertake.  Especially if you are using life insurance money to do it.

How can you have no training and somehow think that all your food is going to be great. 

Her three sons all seem very young to be working all day in the kitchen.  Don't the younger two have to go to school?

I wonder if the families ever peek into the dining room as the crew is changing it, or if it is truly a surprise when they see it during the reveal.

The dining room was in decent enough shape that the $10,000 seems like more than enough money to do all the things that needed to be done and to do them without having to come up with any creative ways to stretch the dollars they were given.

I thought the restaurant was a breakfast and lunch place.  Why are they learning and serving all this dinner food?

Recording 2-25-12:

Cops X2

Wednesday Feb. 22nd

"In the Trenches" Air Date 2-21-12

Greg has an awful big ego/attitude for someone who just squeaked by in that elimination challenge.

They have finally found a way to hang the eliminated players targets that actually works and doesn't seem awkward and out of place.  I like that when it get done it will form a target.

Chee is awful tiny to have been a marine.  Isn't there a height requirement?

This show does a very good job of using slow motion to its fullest advantage.  It's always fun to watch the various thing blow up in slow motion.  They also do a good job of filling containers with things that will look good when they explode.

Before the challenge started I would have said that the red team had a far better strategy and was more focused, while the blue team seemed to be all over the place.  But it just goes to show that the best of strategies gets thrown right out the window when someone can't perform.  

I like that after the challenge they show a stat sheet breakdown of the challenge and how well each player on the losing team did.  I wonder if that is information that is given to the players before they cast their vote to eliminate?

Gabby almost lost her gun while shooting at the target in the elimination picking.

How awesome would it be to get to shoot a six shot grenade launcher?  I bet everyone was kicking themselves that they weren't able to try it.

If I had been on the blue team I would have wanted to come and watch, just to see them play with the grenade launchers.

I prefer the head-to-head challenges to the timed ones where each contestant has to take a turn.  It has a better payoff than Colby announcing who the winner is.

Both girls seem to be wearing very short shorts.  I wonder if that was what they were given to wear or if they chose to thinking it might help them to stay around longer.

It always seems that the practice contains foreshadowing to what will happen during the competition, and who ever is shown making a mistake in practice, the other player will make  the same mistake during the actual competition.  And if a player tries a risky strategy it will always bite them in the butt.

Recording 2-23-12:

30 Rock
Parks and Recreation
The Office
Archer
Jersey Shore

Tuesday Feb. 21st

"A player gets to rearrange the teams"  Air Date 2-21-12

There is so much risk involved in rearranging the teams.  Even if you put yourself on a stacked team, it doesn't mean that they wont send you home the first time that they lose.  Its a much better play to just try and be a team of one.  As long as you are always the highest percentage you have no fear of going home.

I don't really see what Daphne gained by switching the green team.  I understand her desire to stay with Bob, but what was the point of switching Jeremy for Conda.  Unless she thought the other black team members would want to get rid of Conda before her.

If she really wanted to not look like the one who switched the teams.  She should have switched both boys to the red team.  That way the red team would have seemed so stacked that everyone would have thought that it must have been a male stacking the odds in his favor.

I do feel sorry for Jeremy, he is getting the brunt of his sisters misdeeds.  He's not my favorite contestant but it does suck for him to be separated from his trainer and team mates.

I don't understand how Conda has so much power.  Even Bob said that she is the most powerful in the house.  I don't see how this is possible, she acts like a spoiled child, is constantly rude and disrespectful to everyone that says or does anything that she doesn't like, and when ever there is a problem in the house she is always at the center of it.  That's the kind of person who should be deemed a cancer to the house, not treated like the leader.

As much as I felt bad for Jeremy.  There is something to be said for having a second different trainer for part of the season.  All trainers are going to train people differently and it's possible that while you were doing fine with what your first trainer had you doing, what your new trainer wants you to do might click even more with in you and you might see even better results.  If nothing else you are learning even more things that you can incorporate when you get home.

So, they have a challenge in a shipping yard, and all the contestants are talking about it and mentioning what it reminds them of, one person says SVU, another says Diehard, yet no one brings up The Wire.  I can't see a shipping container and not immediately think of the second season of The Wire.

It's strange that this show is never presented in such a way that we know where anyone's head is at in terms of alliances and strategy.  Most reality show focus on nothing but the inter-workings of the competitors, yet on The Biggest Loser  I'd be hard pressed to tell you more that two or three alliances and the show has had over 13 seasons.

I'm starting to feel like a broken record when talking about the "no excuses" concept.  So I don't think I'm going to talk about it anymore.  But let me just say constantly saying "control" a lot doesn't  do anything to dispel an excuse.

I found it funny that after Subway spends about two years constantly promoting their new breakfast line of sandwiches.  Half the red team had no idea they even existed and Dolvett basically had to shush them while they were filming.

Okay, here's some advise for anyone who is even thinking about applying for any reality competition show.  NEVER THROW A CHALLENGE!  If there is someone that you want to get rid of and there are enough people are in agreement with you that they should go that you could throw a competition, then there are also enough people that will vote them out.  Let that person stay and be your safety net, sooner or later you are going to lose something, get rid of them then.  There is no advantage to losing on purpose,  look at Rupert's team on Survivor Pearl Islands, or Russell's team on Redemption Island if you need further proof.

If Daphne gets blamed and harassed for not fessing up to changing the teams, then everyone who threw the weigh-in should get the same scrutiny for not admitting they were losing on purpose.

Chris does herself no favors at the elimination by not voting with the group.

I don't understand how Conda takes no blame for the argument in the elimination room.  The only person who was telling her to keep quiet was Chism.

Well that ends the Aqua team,  they never really had a shot.  Both teams were too tight knit and they were always treated like outsiders.  I hope Daphne can take solace in knowing that after Kimmy and Chris I don't see a way Jeremy or Conda wouldn't be the next to go on the two respective teams.

One more minor thing, that is a gigantic back yard for a house in Chicago.

Recording 2-22-12:

The Middle
Survivor
Suburgatory
Modern Family
Happy Endings
Restaurant: Impossible
Battle of the Exes
Face Off

Monday, Feb. 20th

"Pilot/Ernest Cobb" Air Date 1-16-12

If you are already on Alcatraz would you really need a ticket to get back off.  I strikes me as odd that you would need a ticket to leave.  Is it just a trap to get people to pay more money? It's not like you can stay there if you don't want to pay.

I don't think cops get to pick their new partner.  That seems like more of the kind of thing that is assigned to them.  Maybe it has something to do with her last partner dying, but even that seems far fetched.

I don't think a cop would care if they just arrived at a murder scene and then the feds showed up and took over.  It just means that the cop has one less case to clear.  It's not like she had been working it for months and was invested, she got there before the feds by like five minutes.

And would she really steal something from the crime scene.  Why does she care about this case?  And even if she does care is it really worth getting indited for interfering with a federal investigation?

As much as it seems that I'm ragging on the show, it was alright.  It's the kind of show I would normally watch in the background while doing something else like reading or doing things online.  The kind of show where you don't really have to pay attention to still get what's going on.

I did think about pointing out the "lost numbers" in the show. IE: The code to the jail at the end of the episode was 6323 63 is the year they went missing 23 was Jack's number from Lost.  There are 46 missing guards, there were 46 original survivors from the plane crash on Lost.  But I decided that I didn't want to pay that close of attention to this show.  But if you pay attention I'm sure you can find them, and watch for the number 47 JJ Abrams loves the number 47.

Okay, now on to the second half.

Why would they be called to a sniper shooting? At that point they had no way of knowing if there was any connection to the 63ers.  It's not like on Fringe where they know to go because something unworldly has happened.  As far as anyone knew this was just a crazy sniper shooting.

Wouldn't the people coming back have some crazy culture shock?  They have been gone for almost 50 years, so much has changed and so far they are just running around like everything is normal.  Did they have surveillance cameras in the 60's?  Would Jack even know that the thing in his cell was a camera, or would the whole concept of a video spying device be foreign to him.

You'd think that Rebecca would dress more like a professional.  It's basically her first day on the job and she's running around in a low cut top that looks more like the kind of thing you'd bum around in on the weekend then something you would wear to work.

The blood on this show seems too fake.  I don't know if it was the coloring or the amount that came flying out, but every time someone was shot all I could think about was how fake the blood looked.

Sam Neil's character is named Emerson Houser, this episodes bad's last name was Cobb.  All I could think about was Emerson Cod, and all that did was make me miss Pushing Daisies.

I was kind of thinking that one of the good guys was going to have been among the 63s.  But I didn't think it was going to be the Indian girl.  I wonder how well accepted a foreign female doctor  would have been in the early 60s.

"Going Global"  Air Date 2-19-12

What would you try and write down in your notebook about making those noodles?  I think I'd see him spin the dough around a couple of times and just sit down and cry, because there would be no way that I could do it.

Why did they learn how to prepare both noodle dishes if they were only going to have to make one of them?  Usually they go off with their coach and learn the dishes separately.  It would have to give an advantage to one of the teams, I'm just not sure which team it would be.

Sherrill seems unteachable.  She seems to think that she is a decent cook and above learning anything from Bobby and that if she just does what she always does she will impress him with her cooking skills.

Is Anthony this seasons Joshie?  Anne seems to be treating him in slightly the same light.

It's only the second week, most of these contestants are having enough troubles recreating a dish, should they really be trying to make an inspired dish on their own?

The baskets with all the different spices and seasonings seem to give the contestants more than enough rope to hang themselves.

Wait I'm confused was there a recipe to go with the different country that each player was assigned?  Some of them seemed like they were winging it on how to spice up their meatballs, while others turned in the exact same thing, like the two that had Sweden and they both made a pink sauce.

If there are only two judges and each judge is also the team leader for the two different teams, you would think there could have been more problems with each judge wanting their respective team to win. 

It seems that winning the first challenge got them nothing.  You'd think they would have let the winners pick which country they wanted for the second challenge.

Bob got a hat.  That's a good thing he must have been getting hair everywhere.

Sending both Rachael and Sherrill home had to have been easy choices for the chefs.

2-20-12

I didn't pay much attention to raw this week, but there were a few things I wanted to mention.

Hell in a Cell make HHH/Undertaker slightly more bearable, even though it almost certainly cements it as the main event.  And adding Rock/Cena as co-main event means both heavyweight championship matches will be mid card matches, and WWE wonders how why they don;t have any new young stars.

C.M.  Punk will have a nice long career as an announcer after he is done wrestling.  More than likely it could rival Jesse Ventura or Bobby Heenan if given the leeway to let him be himself.

Another thing about Punk, when he was coming out to do commentary, there was a girl in a punk shirt standing right by the announce table.  He went out of his way to go over and shake her hand, and she was so star struck you would have thought she had just met the Beatles.  It was a nice touch and you could tell it had made the girls year.  I rewound and watched it a couple of times because it was so nice.



Decided to find a video of it.
Starts at 0:45 ends as 1:20

    
Recording 2-21-12:

The Biggest Loser
Cougar Town
New Girl
Raising Hope
Justified
Top Shot

Sunday Feb. 19th

"A do-or-die bidding war" Air Date 2-7-12
"The buyers are in for a fight"  Air Date 2-14-12

So, for the majority of the season they have been teasing this mysterious backer that the Taylor boys have, and all through the episode they keep playing clips that at the end of this episode it will finally be revealed.  At the end of the episode the scene is starting, they have just about shown all that they showed in the preview and....my TiVo stopped recording and cut off the last minute of the show.

Yes that shipping container appears to be full of TVs, but the boxes all seem to be opened.  I would be far less trusting and pay a lot less for a TV that came in an open box.

If there are rats in the container, it would be safe to assume there have been rats all over the furniture.  Who knows how much damage they have caused while this container was in shipping.  I don't see how they wouldn't have chewed up all the table legs and burrowed into all the couches.

The Taylors come to the auction as a group of three, and then they have the audacity to be the ones to complain when the other three pool their money to get a unit.

I was going to say something about spending $26,000 on a box that could hold anything in it, but then it turned out to be a $100,000 sports car, so it just goes to show what do I know.  But if I did just win a hundred thousand dollar car. I don't think I would be putting miles on it and if I did decide to drive it I don't think it would be in that dirty gravely lot.

Getting them to pay $42,000 for a bin full of head bands has to be the most perfect example of dumping a unit on someone else.

"Tears of a Clown" Air Date 2-19-12

If you watch Big Brother you already know the potential epicness that could await us.  If you don't let me explain it to you.  Rachel is one of the most horrible people you will ever see on television.  She's mean spirited, catty, delusional, she constantly says thing trying to get a rise out of people and then doesn't understand why they get mad at her for saying these things, is able and willing to fake cry at the drop of a hat, can dish it out but can not take it, and an all around spoiled little princess who thinks others should just give what ever she wants.  She is actually very smart, but it is all book smarts and it comes at the expense of any possible social interactions or graces.  But the thing is as soon as you can come to terms with all of that, you will realize what incredible TV she can be, as soon as you start laughing at her utter lack of redeeming qualities she will become your favorite person on the show, and with the amount of pressure the contestants seem to always be under it won't take long for it to happen.  I only wish there was some way to get raw footage of the show because there is no way they will have enough time to show all of her quirks.

Also I hope before the show is over she goes into a bush and cries.

Now, with that all being said about Rachael.  I could see them going very far in the show.  They are both good competitors and when she gets focused she will not quit.  Also the last time they were on Big Brother, they did it with Jeff & Jordon, and I believe that they remained friends after the show.  This in and of it self could give them the edge to go far.  I'm sure no one else had personal access to anyone who had played the game before, and there has to be lots of tips that they could teach you, learning from their mistakes.

All right enough about Brendon & Rachael, on to the show itself.

The balloon challenge while not physically taxing, could have been a real time consuming nightmare.  After you check a balloon it goes back up into the sky it could be easy to miss one and have no idea which ones you have already checked, as opposed to the famous hay bail challenge where at least you have destroyed the hay bail before you move on to the next.

This show always has a ton of foreshadowing.  If you pay attention to what the people say you can usually tell who is going to stumble later in the episode by what they show them saying in the beginning.

Okay, this is the twentieth season of The Amazing Race, if you don't know by now that you need to have at least some basic understanding of how to drive a stick shift, you have no business even applying for the show.  And on top of that to have someone willing to teach you how to do it before you left, and you turn them down because you don't think it will be needed just shows you are not long for this game.

I wonder if the crimping was the only thing that was being judged in the empanada challenge, or if they had to be well made besides having the correct edging?

It seems pretty apparent that the second plane got the B-team of jump instructors.

In case you were like me and sixty minutes going long mad you miss part of the show Dave & Rachel were the first team to finish and won the express pass.  I'm pretty sure they are the Army Vet and his wife, but don't hold me to it.

The clues don't seem to be in the metal clue box this time.  At least twice during this episode they have been hanging out of a wicker basket.  I wonder if that's something new or if I just missed a time when they were in the box.

The amount of flies around the empanada mix is nauseating.  I'd be wary about eating them because there has to be a few with flies in the middle.

The clowns have roller bags.  I don't think a team has ever done well that came into the race using roller bags.

Okay Joey, you can be called "Joey" or "Fitness", but I will not refer to you as "Joey "Fitness"".

Well it looks like Misa and Maiya will be the first team in line when it comes time to cast Unfinished Business II.

"Triggerfinger" Air Date 2-19-12

It seemed that when those guys entered the it was still daylight.  How is it possible 10 minutes later and pitch black outside?  I get that making it dark made it scarier for the Lorie scenes, but they could have juggled a couple of the scenes around and not been so screwy with the continuity.

The bar fight had an Assault on Precinct 13 feel to it.  I liked that and kind of wished it had gone on a little longer.

Why didn't they just sneak out the back door instead of trying to defend the bar?

When are the survivors going to realize that guns attract the walkers and therefor should only be used as a last resort?

They need to take on some new people in order to bolster their numbers, so the show can start killing people again.

But the way its going I don't see how they will increase the number of characters.  In the books it took a lot of very bad things happening before they lost all trust in anyone new that they met.

I'm still squeamish about that kids leg on the pole.  Most things don't bother me on TV shows, but being impaled on something and then having said thing stuck there always gives me the willies.

I never thought the actor who plays Carl looked right for the part, but now that he has started wearing Rick's hat he seems perfect.

If earlier in the season they were going to town on horse back because it was so close, how did it take them over night to get back to the farm?  See they should have defended the bar overnight a la  Precinct 13 and then made a break for it in the morning.  This would of made the amount of walkers drawn to them because of the gunfire even more believable and explained why it took them so long to get home.

It's almost like they didn't care about the day and night cycle in this episode.  If they wanted Darryl to be talking to someone at night, it was night, and then if the next scene needed to be during the day, it was magically daytime. 

That's a big tent.  It seems oddly big, there are only three of them, so I don't think they would have owned it prior to the walkers, and if they got it at a store you'd think they would have gone with a smaller one just for storage reasons. 

It seems that the show is building to a faction warfare scenario, where there is not two groups going against each other but more like three or four smaller groups, each with its own agenda.

Recording 2-20-12:

Alcatraz
Being Human
Monday Night Raw
Caged

Saturday Feb. 18th

"Charlie's" Air Date 2-17-12

It should go without saying that you shouldn't risk more than you can afford to lose, and you should never use your house as collateral. Especially if the risk you are taking is on someone else where they have less to lose than you do.

When Gordon sits down with the family you could see an earpiece in his ear.  I wonder how much of what he says is fed to him through it.

How was Tatiana able to talk her mother and sister into risking so much when she put up next to nothing.  If she has always been a screw up and they thought this would be what righted her ship, its an awful big risk on someone who has always been a screw up.

If you buy a business that is currently failing and then change nothing, how can you expect it to not continue to be a failing business?

When Gordon was trying the food all of the owners were standing about ten feet away just staring at him.  That had to be odd and uncomfortable.  Usually the owners try and hide somewhere where they can watch him but not be so obvious about it.

I don't understand why Tatiana is championing her head chef the way she is.  It's like she doesn't want to hurt his feelings about anything that has gone wrong.

What this restaurant needs is a good manager. Someone who would keep everything in check.

Man, how quickly she turns on her head chef.  It went from him being a great cook who could do no wrong, instantly to he was the cause of all the problems and should be fired.

Although I did like that she went ahead and fired him.  It's too often on this show that the chef needs to be fired and the owner won't pull the trigger.

Here is some advise to any restaurant that is thinking about applying for this show.  Scale back your menu.  It happens every single episode that one of the keys that is always implemented is to go from cooking 60 things to cooking 15.

Again there was no remodel.  They have to be looking to save on that cost, or they are trying to distance themselves from all the copy cats.

I wonder if the producers told her that they would get her kitchen help if she was willing to fire the chef.  I'd almost think that they would have to because there is no way she could have stayed open with out some one to cook.

"Summertime" Air Date 1-8-12

The opening credits should end with Frank coming back into the bathroom and passing out.  That way it would seem like it was a constant cycle of their life.

They did a really good job of moving time forward without it feeling too forced.  It felt like there lives had just continued to go on and while there were minor changes, nothing felt like the audience was going to have to figure out why things were different like it was on the season premiere of Californication.

With the amount of jobs that Fiona has and all the other scams the family pulls, even with Franks constant interference, I don't see how they can't afford to survive.

The dog cage as a time out spot was pretty funny.  I had a friend once who thought making a mask out of pins, where if the child moved they would get poked with a pin would be a good tool for unruly children, but I think a dog cage might work better.

I like how Lip has slightly corrupted the SAT overseer.

Of course they have an illegal ice cream truck to sell drugs and take bets out of.  Why wouldn't they have an ice cream truck.

"Back to Where You've Never Been"  Air Date 1-13-12

I like episodes of this show when they are set in the past and everything that is in the opening credits are things that didn't exist in the time period when the episode was set, but do exist currently, but they all have the same sci-fi quality that it seems almost unbelievable that they currently exist.  It makes me wonder how many of the things that are in the normal credits will exist in thirty years time.

How did they think there plan to see the other Walter would work when they didn't have any show me IDs?  The other universe is built around the show me.  I'm surprised they even made it to the pier without them.  Actually how did they make it to the pier without them? They couldn't have taken a taxi or the subway, they would of had to walk all the way to the statue of liberty.

In the alternate universe the fringe division is about the most important government agency out there, right?  So why when three fringe vehicles are driving down the street with there lights flashing, does not other car pull over or get out of their way?

I hope the rest of this season doesn't become all about who can you trust due to all the shape shifters.

Recording 2-19-12:

The Amazing Race
The Simpsons
Once Upon a Time
Family Guy
The Walking Dead
Eastbound & Down
House of Lies
Californication
Life's Too Short
Shameless
Worst Cooks in America

Friday Feb. 17th

"Spin a Yarn"  Air Date  2-10-12

I've found in life that any project you undertake everything costs more and takes longer than expected.  But to spend over a million dollars on a remodel shows that she not only didn't care about the budget, she didn't even try to reign it in after she found out the prices of some of the things she ordered.

Mikayla, the daughter is the only one with any common sense.  They should just put her in charge and everything would be fine.

Jennifer says you can point the blame, but for me there's no excuse and then immediately  starts to blame her husband.

Another episode where there is no makeover aspect to the  show at all.  I wonder if they are looking for restaurants that are in better shape to keep the cost of doing the show lower.

It looks like they gave them a new sign but they never aired it.  You can see it in the background when Ramsey is talking to the camera at the end of the episode.

"Makin' Changes!"  Air Date 1-18-12

I laughed at the magazine hoarder married to the man addicted to eating magazines.

I also laughed at the farmers v, but found the whole concept of Max and Alex thinking Dave is addicted to V-necks kind of lame.

So the character of Jeff is from Chicago, has a soul patch, and talks like he's a 21 year old frat boy even though he's in his mid thirties.   I wonder who on the writing staff watches Big Brother?

It was nice to see Ryan Hansen guest star on the show, although it did take me a minute to recognize him.  It seems like this show is working its way through the cast of Party Down, and that is a good thing.  Here's hoping Martin Starr is next.

"Best of the Worst" Air Date 2-12-12

The basic concept of this show has to lead it to be rife with cheating.  I mean anyone with half a brain could pretend to be a much worse cook than they really are, and slowly get better as the competition goes on and end up making it all the way to the finals.

I like the idea of having last seasons returning champion vs. a new challenging chef.  It gives Anne more motivation since she is defending her crown.

If you are auditioning for a show called worst cook in America, you really cant get upset when the judges criticize your food.

Hey, that girl Tiffany was on The Amazing Race, she was one of the poker players from two or three seasons ago.

Sabrina sounds like a cartoon character, it's almost to the point that I think she is just doing a funny voice.

All these cooks seems to fall into one of two categories.  They are either completely clueless involving anything related to cooking, or they are okay cooks but are lacking any pallet and try to make up for that by going overboard on things that they think belong.  That's how you get half a bottle of soy sauce dumped into a dish.

I like the way the teams are picked on this show.  Its an interesting concept to let the chef pick one person for themselves and then one person that they want to saddle their opponent with.

She really shouldn't have been upset with being picked last.  The way the picking goes, it means that she is actually the middle of the pack.  Because the worst would have been given out in the first few rounds as the player each chef was giving to the other chef.

As soon as Anne said to pay attention to how all the eggs were made, everyone there should have realized that they were going to have to make more than one type of egg.

I'd be worried about eating Bob's food just because of the possibility that his hair would be in everything.

I think Richard left due solely to his attitude.

"The Casino Trip"  Air Date 1-18-12

I like Jay Mohr as a recurring character.  Not needed for every episode, but brought in from time to time to add a little punch to the show.

The scene where Mohr gives the inspirational speech to Chris Parnell and tells him that this is an opportunity to make himself better than what he was and then without a moments hesitation tells the strippers that they should stay exactly the same,  was one of the funnier things I saw this week. And then right after that the stripper saying she's going to go confront her step dad, that has to be the most perfect horrible stripper joke possible.

If the whole premise of the show was they moved to the suburbs because George thought Tessa was having sex when they lived in the city.  I don't think he would leave her alone after he found out she was home alone with her boyfriend.

"Ally; Mike"  Air Date 2-9-12

Most of the chefs on this show work in higher end kitchens, you would think they would know the quality of the food that they would get at a fast food restaurant, and avoid it for that reason alone.

Mike isn't even hiding his cheating, that's a boldness not usually seen on a diet show.

I wonder how much the trainers are around.  It doesn't seem like they are meeting with them more than once every couple of weeks.

Mike's mom wouldn't give her first name.  That seems odd....

Again with the same results, that's three weeks in a row.  Is it just happenstance or is there something about this diet that clicks with the males and leaves the females struggling to get it to work?

I think I'm going to cancel my season pass for this show.  It's not a bad show but there is nothing about it that is special and that's too bad because with some minor tweaking it could be a decent show.

"Gambling Again" Air Date 1-31-12

It slightly saddens me that when they showed the flash back to 1992 and Burt held up the toys he bought for Jimmy, my first thought was "That transformer is a knockoff of Jetfire from Transformers Energon.  And Energon toys didn't come out until 2003, there's no way he could have bought it in 1992."  This was only made worse by my next thought which was" There are bootleg Energon toys out there, I guess I'll have to start checking out the dollar stores to try and find them."

I love all the call backs to My Name is Earl,  it's amusing to think that they only live one county away from Earl.  Patty the hooker being the leader of the gamblers incognito was a great example of this and if you listen closely you can hear her talking about why she goes to meetings here even though she lives in Camden County. 

Later in the episode when they pull Patty out of the car to get her to go gamble with them i was waiting for the gag of who she was in the car with, but I never thought it was going to be TV's Tim Stack.  Another great call back to My Name is Earl.  It makes me wish I could find a copy of Tim's old show Night Stand with Dick Dietrick.

Recording 2-18-12:

Transformers Prime
An Idiot Abroad