Whine & Cheese

TAR13 Final 3

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. It seems like it has been such a long time since I did anything productive, that it is going to be a struggle to get going again!

I have been pretty mum about The Amazing Race this season.  I stopped doing my weekly updates a couple of seasons ago when I started expressing a bit of fatigue with the show... it is still one of my favorites in the reality genre for sure, mostly for the travel aspect of the show.  Much like Survivor (which I have stopped watching), it seems like we've seen all these folks before...

That said, I still have opinions and figured I would chime in with my thoughts about the teams headed into next week's finale.  But first a farewell to the always painful 4th Place Philimination... mother-son team Toni and Dallas.  Last night's episode was pretty much Todd's absolute, keeps him up late at night nightmare... losing one's passport in a foreign country (and $$$ too!).  While Dallas was a natural for the Race (filling the "dumb jock" slot quite nicely), I was impressed with Toni's ability to keep up with him.  Oh, of course there was the nude self-pic of Dallas that floated around the Web and rumors that he bats for my team (allegedly!) didn't exactly hurt either. (Update:  Or not, apparently the flirtations on the show were genuine as he has been dating Starr!)

This season (as sometimes happens), I am not so much rooting for one team... but rooting against a couple of others...  

Thus, pretty much by default I am "rooting" for the brother-sister team of Nick and Starr (above left)... who have pretty much dominated the Race for much of this season.  While they have been sneaky, they haven't been the incarnation of evil to make you hate (or love to hate) them.  Again, not hurting is the whole gaydar whoop-whooping with the Clark Kent-ish Nick... and this time I feel a bit more confident in my assertion as he does make his living via musical theater (plus Starr was an equally fabulous Dallas Cowboy cheerleader).   Granted it would be a bit of a yawner if these overwhelming favorites win, but they are certainly deserving.

While not the worst couples in TAR history (Colin & Christi, Freddy & Kendra, and of course the mother of all terror couples... Jonathan & Victoria), Ken and Tina (above middle) certainly made this season into one big couples therapy session... and while the cheating, ex-NFL-er Ken was the immediate bad guy in this globe-trotting relationship rescue attempt, we've all seen that Tina is not exactly a prize herself.  Even going into this last leg, if Tina is looking for Ken to "show her something" than I think she may already have her answer... and once she's figured that out, perhaps she can realize that every time she does something nice for someone (anyone!), they don't automatically "owe her"... geez, she must be a horror at gift giving/receiving around the holidays!

Finally, we have the WTF!?! finalists... Andrew and Dan, who have to be the most incompetent team to make it into the final 3... well, maybe since Zach dragged Flo's ass across the finish line in TAR3.  And I can even muster up any enthusiasm for them either being the "underdogs" or that they're my fellow Arizona State alumni.  If I was in this Race and was eliminated, I think I would be kicking myself to see that these guys made it to the end, which okay... I guess does deserve some credit even if it was by scratching, clawing, and hanging by a thread.

The Amazing Race 13 Cast

Since I teased it yesterday, here are the teams for The Amazing Race 13 - returning after what seems like a pretty long hiatus (remember TAR12 champs TJ & Rachel?).  Ok, I looked back at my own blog (duh??) an the last season ended early this year - so not that long ago.. anyhow, here are they are:

Back Row/Standing (from left to right) - ages in parentheses

Ken & Tina (51/48) - Married, but separated, Ken is a former NFL player
Mark & Bill (41/42) - Friends/Comic book aficionados, Mark is Comic-Con CFO
Aja & Ty (25/25) - Dating long distance
Anthony & Stephanie (32/32) - Dating again after a year's separation
Anita & Arthur (63/60) - Married hippies/bee keepers
Andrew & Dan (22/23) - Frat brothers
Toni & Dallas (51/22) - Mother and son
Marisa & Brooke (22/24) - Friends/"Southern Belles"

Front Row/Sitting (from left to right)

Terence & Sarah (35/31) - Dating
Kelly & Christy (26/26) - Best Friends/Divorcees
Nick & Starr (22/21) - Brother and Sister

Although TAR is one of my favorite reality shows, I have to admit I grew a tad weary of it in the last couple of seasons (the same thing happened with Survivor, which I stopped watching altogether - the only thing that might bring me back this upcoming season is that it's shot in HD)... so we'll see if after this self-perceived extended break, if I'll have a renewed interest in the show.  What I definitely will have ... is a new respect for the Racers... having had an Amazing Race travel year of my own - I really don't know how they do it now!

The new season premieres on Sunday, September 28th.

Express Lane: Issue 52

'Amazing Race' Honcho Teases New Season - Seems like TAR has been off the air for awhile (well not that long if it still got an Emmy nod), but TAR13 returns on Sep. 23rd.  As the article title suggests, expect mild spoilers if you choose to click the link. (8/1/08)

Thomas Jane Gets 'Hung' - Not sure if it's a compliment or a curse to be cast as the lead in an HBO comedy about a guy with a big... well, you know...  (8/1/08)

No 2nd Season for HBO's 'Tell Me You Love Me' After All - While it was a depressing and intense show, it was quite good... so a tad disappointed that HBO has had second thoughts about bringing it back. (7/26/08)

`Desperate Housewives' Creator Says End in Sight - Much like 'Lost,' Marc Cherry gives the ladies of Wisteria Lane three more seasons. I like this trend of shows having an end... get focused and get out while the getting is still good.  (7/18/08)

Amy Poehler Says She's Bound for `Office' Spinoff - It's been a big year for Amy - a movie, baby on the way, an Emmy nod today... and now word she'll star in the likely one of the more high-profile shows of the upcoming new TV season.  UPDATE: The show is not a true spin-off, just has the feel/sense of it... ala 'from the creators of...' - and also the show will likely not debut until 2009. (7/17/08)

Express Lane: Issue 43

Broadway's 'The Color Purple' Will Close Feb. 24 - The show comes to an end after a 2 1/2 year run... guess Fantasia really was a big box office draw. (1/24/08)

Amazing Race 12's Jen and Nate are Still Together - Well, knock me me over with a feather!  After a post-Race break, the two say things have "never been better" (though that's was a pretty low bar). (1/16/08)

Clinton Chooses Dancing Over Singing - Asked by Tyra Banks what reality show she would prefer to compete on, Clinton chooses 'Dancing With the Stars' - now once I know where Obama and Edwards stand on this issue, I think I will finally be able to make up my mind. (1/15/08)

Oprah Winfrey Getting Her Own TV Network - Perhaps ticked that Ellen Replaced Her As Favorite TV Star the Discovery Health channel will become her OWN... OWN as in Oprah Winfrey Network.  Yes, that's the name... not making this stuff up! (1/15/08)

Woman Who Made Hillary Cry Votes Obama - A pretty funny footnote... ok, I'll give you "emotional moment," but frick sake she didn't cry! (1/9/08)

'Big Brother' Returns to Showtime - Wasn't sure 'After Dark' would return for the first non-summer BB edition... sinc the premium channels are hurting for programming like the networks, but the wildly addictive (and unedited) 3 hour nightly block returns to ShoToo. (1/8/08)

TAR12: The Final 3

Well it appears I kept to my plan of taking a "vacation" from weekly TAR posts...

This is only my 3rd post about TAR12.  It was nice to not have the pressure of coming up with something for the next morning.  I had felt like things were getting repetitive both with the show and thus what I had to say about the show... so I encourage my fellow bloggers if it stops being fun, stop doing it (and don't apologize for it either!)... if we wanted homework, we'd go back to school right?!

The last thing I wrote about TAR12 was nearly two months ago with a post centering around the two old guys - Grampa Donald and "Who's Your Mean Daddy?" Ronald - and you lie like a rug if you used the either of their names and the phrase "last leg" meaning they would actually be on the last leg of The Amazing Race!

All credit to both of them.  While Nick pulled a bit more of the weight (often literally with those backpacks!) with Donald, we're still talking about a 68-year old man racing around the world.  Ronald has undergone quite the transformation with daughter Christina... or else Nate/Jen were hogging all the "I hate you!" come editing time... and we haven't heard "boo" about the hernia for a couple of continents!   While I believe Ronald always had good intentions, one only hopes this new-found respect (or maybe just improved communication skills) spill over to their post-Race lives... it was nice to see.

Feel good "old man" stories be damned, it is hard not to consider TK & Rachel the favorites going into the final, and usually grueling, final leg.  While Donald is the elder-statesman this season, TK & Rachel's combined age is 13 years younger than Ronald!   Given the immaturity we often see on the Race from folks far older, it is hard to believe that TK & Rachel are 22 & 23 (if you're too lazy to do the math, that makes Ronald 58 years old)... and while one can certainly question their intensity level (they're nice/likable enough... granted pretty bland, but almost refreshingly so, reality TV-wise), they are competitive enough that coupled with their youth and relative fitness they seem have to the winning edge...

... and with the demise of Nate/Jen, we are left with the quite rare villain-less TAR finale.  And for that, I hate them!!!!  I hate them!!!!  I can't even stand to look at them!!!!!  (Just wanted to see what that felt like)... not really, this time around it'll be the nice guys and gals not finishing last but 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

TAR12: Ronald (Mc)Donald

I'll keep to my "maybe" of last week and keep my thoughts about this week's TAR episode "I've Become The Archie Bunker Of The Home" short... well, of the quantity I feel like!

This episode will most be remembered for the two patriarchal figures on this season's Race. 

First, we've have dad Ronald who provided the title of this episode.  My guess is that it would be easier to run the Race with Archie Bunker rather than Ronald.  But I am sure many of us have experienced instances where a parent just won't shut up and/or commits a verbal faux pas.  Granted Ronald did each of these a dozen of times in this one episode... and it became fairly cringe-inducing.  Poor Christina... though I suspect it was her idea to go on the Race.

Next up, we have grandpa Donald who is being more of a physical (vs. Ronald's mental) drag on the team.  While it is nice to see someone not running around with their head cut off, Nicolas is going to have a tough time if he can't get his gramps out of mosey-mode... and I'll save you from the visual of Donald in his ditch-vaulting outfit... which provided the LOL moments of the night... pretty much anything involving animals or mud is comedy gold (and that includes next week's previews... milking a camel?).

On a nicer visual note, I read a re-cap somewhere that visually compared Jason to Mark Wahlberg. I'm lazy and didn't feel like screen-capping and pix of the Jason and Lorena are lacking on the TAR site... I see the resemblance (more on the show than in this particular picture below)... but let's say Mark's physically skimpier cousin.

Lastly, one of my huge pet peeves on TAR (and any reality show) is the invocation of God... so I sent up a big 'ole "thank you Jesus" when someone finally said “We are religious people, but we have no illusions that God cares whether or not we win the Amazing Race.”

Ummm, God...  not funny, not funny at all.

Express Lane: Issue 39

Laila Ali Steps in 'Gladiators' Ring - DWTS continues to get folks new jobs!   Last season's female dancing "star" stand-out is set to co-hosts (with Hulk Hogan), NBC's re-introduction of 'American Gladiators.' (11/9/07)

'24' Postpones Season 7 Due to Strike - And we have the first major casualty of the writers' strike!  With only 8 episodes in the can, Jack & Co. latest day has been postponed indefinitely until the show can provides its trademark uninterrupted run of 24 episodes. (11/8/07) 

ITF to investigate suspected poisoning of Tommy Haas before Davis Cup match - The German suspects the Russians of allegedly poisoning his 'dessert or a Latte macchiato' - with doping and match fixing allegations the tennis tour is sounding more like a spy novel everyday. (11/8/07)

Showtime Grows a Fourth Season of 'Weeds' - Though we're still waaay behind on Season 3 (and thinkin' it's not as good as S1 & 2), Mary Louise Parker & Co. will be back for another season (as will its 'partner' show David Duchovny's 'Californication). (11/5/07)

Sabrina Bryan Confirms 'DWTS' Romance - Although it seemed obvious and probably still will not squash folks wanting him to be gay, the Cheetah Girl confirmed that she is dating her dancing partner, Mark Ballas. (11/5/07)

Food Network's Giada Pregnant - Mamma Mia! Congrats to one of my FN faves (and her hubby Todd!) on their upcoming first child due in April... one thing's for sure the kid will eat good! (11/5/07)

HBO Sets Up 'Treatment' Program - Interesting premise and cast for this upcoming HBO series about therapy... but 45 half-hour episodes for 5 nights a week over 9 weeks seems like more than I (and our TiVo) would be able to keep up with.  (10/31/07)

Dovolani Takes on Dancing’s Inaba - Drama on the DWTS set as Carrie Ann Innaaaah-ba allegedly gives Tony the finger after he gives her a rulebook, highlighting what defines a "lift"... while I agree Inaba has been a bit cranky lately, sounds like Tony got what was coming to him. (10/29/07)

Big Brother 8's Eric and Jessica are still together - The show-mance lives on even outside the BB8 house, heck even Danielle & Nick still seemed cozy at the Fox Reality Awards. (10/29/07)

Viva Laughlin's cancellation moves Amazing Race 12's debut up to Nov. 4 - Well, that was a pretty easy prediction I (and many others!) made over a month ago. (10/22/07)

TAR12: Kiss My Irish Ass

Before I begin this TAR entry, a warning that these "recaps" might not be the weekly feature it has been in the past.

I don't want to burden myself  with an "assignment" type entry.  In general, it doesn't end up working well, either here on  W&C or many other blogs.  So while it's nice to have a guaranteed topic to blog about, I'm not going to force it.  If I have something to say, it'll be here... if not, I am confident the world will go on without my insight(s). 

This year marks the first season I have skipped Survivor and I don't miss it the least bit.  For me, the strategy part and challenges have played themselves out... and even with this first TAR episode, I kind of feel the repetitiveness of the "cast"... the dysfunctional dating couples, falling down old people, extremely likable African Americans (I know, I know... politically incorrect, but true!), etc.  However, what does keep the show fresh for me is the travel aspect... so I have absolutely no plans to stop watching... and I still got goosebumps when Phil said "the world is waiting for you."

And while I am quite sure teams have had to leave from the International terminal at LAX in past seasons, I finally recognized it/paid attention last night... always fun to recognize some place on the Race (which doesn't happen all too often for me).  It served as a reminder that I should travel internationally again some time!

Surprisingly enough, the Freaks were pretty fun and likable, though no creativity awards for the other couples who immediately dubbed Team Goth as such.  I couldn't quite keep track of the all-woman teams other than the Lesbian Ministers (did some other team actually say of them "those bitches are behind us?")...  but there are blond friends and brunette sisters, but indistinguishable to me beyond that.

As far as the dysfunctional dating couples, in order of good to bad shape we have:  TK and Rachel (dreadlocks guy)... Jason and Lorena (only one major squabble in the car)... and Jennifer and Nathan where the verbal abuse immediately commenced upon landing on the quite rainy Emerald Isle (re: Jen's lack of running... "You are the worst person at this I have ever met"  Yikes!).  Likewise, I'm sure Nathan just loves the fact that everyone in America now knows he's was unfaithful/cheater.

Speaking of asses, having watched enough Cesar Millan/Dog Whisperer... I am guessing there is a correlation between the mental health of couple and their ability to move a donkey.   I'll keep this entry relatively spoiler-free, but it would have been "good riddance" for me to the two couples who had trouble with their donkeys... which brings us full circle and to the title of this episode (as noted by Christina, running the Race with Dad Ronald) "Donkeys Have Souls Too."

Amazing Race 12: Teams Unveiled!

In case you missed it on my sidebar, as expected by many (myself included), Viva Laughlin has been canceled after two airings allowing The Amazing Race to slip right back into its Sunday night slot.  The new season kicks off on November 4th.

Here are the teams... 8 of the 11 hailing from the Los Angeles area:

Ronald & Christina (58/26):  Father/Daughter
Kynt & Vyxsin (31/29):  "Dating Goths" (Can't wait to see them try to catch a cab!)
Lorena & Jason (27/33): Dating
Azaria & Hendeke (27/27): Brother/Sister

Kate & Pat (49/65): Married Ministers, TAR's first all-lesbian team (first lesbian ever?)
Shana & Jennifer (32/32): Friends
Donald & Nicolas (68/23):  Grandfather/Grandson
Nathan & Jennifer (24/23): Dating

T.K. & Rachel (22/23): Newly dating
Marianna & Julia (25/26): Sisters
Ari & Staella (21/23): Best Friends (Yes, it's spelled Staella and Ari is described as "catty" which I am guessing means he's gay)

UPDATE:  Ah yes, my TAR buddy Gail reminded me that there has been an "out" lesbian on the Race before ... and not too long ago, Father/Daughter Duke & Lauren from TAR10.   Boy, my mind really is starting to go!?!?  Though they did only last 3 episode (4th team Philiminated... that was the season with the surprise first leg double Philimination).

Express Lane: Issue 34

'Conchords,' 'Entourage' Keep Flying - In the post-Sopranos world, no huge surprise that HBO renews these two critically acclaimed comedy series -- look for more "sometime next year." (8/17/07)

Derek to "Tales" and Chad to "Boyz" - Contestants from NBC's "Grease: You're The One That I Want" continue land some decent theater gigs. (8/16/07)

Casting: 'Housewives' Get New Neighbors - It was only a matter of time before Wisteria Lane had a gay couple, I can vouch for one half of the couple - Tuc Watkins - who is a quite fun actor to watch given his work on the ABC soap 'One Life To Live.' (8/15/07)

Dr. Will: ''I'm the P.T. Barnum of reality TV'' - An EW interview with the delightfully self-loving and original "Evil" of Big Brother... and find out which BB8 houseguest is a Chilltown plant.

Kelly Osbourne to join cast of `Chicago' - Has stunt casting on this show finally gone too far... even if it is for the London production?  But don't worry too much, she's not playing Roxie or Velma... but the admittedly more appropriate Mama Morton. (7/30/07)

Non-elimination legs dropped from Amazing Race 12 - It's going to be a more streamlined (aka shorter) TAR season with a "tough" and "younger" group of contestants.  TAR is NOT on the fall schedule, but will return mid-season (or more likely when a new show tanks). (7/25/07)