Secrets Revealed Could Send Someone Home on “The Amazing Race”

One team musters up the courage to reveal a personal secret to the others, and another Racer breaks down in tears as the stress of the Race mounts, on THE AMAZING RACE, Sunday, Nov. 1 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

(courtesy of CBS)

Can Big Brother 11 Save Itself From the Impending Crash and Burn?

Big Brother 11 Heads Towards the Worst Ending Ever

We are at the point in the Big Brother season where I usually write my “Player’s Fatal Mistakes” piece. You know, the one where I review each house guest that’s been evicted to date and tell you where I think they sealed their fate. I’m not doing that this year.

One of  reasons there will be no “Player’s Fatal Mistakes” is because the set up of the game  in the early part of this season excluded certain people from eviction for the week. If a member of your clique won Head of Household, you were safe as well. It worked well when it saved people from being evicted for personal reasons instead of game play. It worked poorly when it saved underhanded game players from the fate they deserved.

But each Big Brother season is an experiment. Each season there is a theme that changes the rules of what is essentially a human chess game. CBS doesn’t know how the game will shake out in the end, or if the house guests will find a glitch in the game that can change it fundamentally (like the “six finger” plan made up by Nakomis in season 5, which later came to be known as “back dooring”). The entertainment  factor of Big Brother is based on the fundamentals of all competition reality shows: rules + personalities = good ratings.

And up until  last Thursday,  the ratings for Big Brother have been greatly assisted by the personalities of some of the house guests this season. Despite whatever Ronnie thought about his game play, viewers saw that he was playing too hard too soon, and honestly couldn’t get far in the game because of his strategic errors and social handicap. He would have been evicted much sooner were it not for the protection of the clique. We couldn’t wait to see him get his.

Jessie’s power in the house was really an illusion. He automatically had a built in alliance because of his clique, and others who clung to him did so because he came in as Head of Household and a former player. He was still the arrogant  meathead he was last season, and to make matters worse he showed the kind of man he was in his interactions with Lydia and Natalie. We watched to see if either of the women would wise up.

Chima’s brand of mean-spirited, man-hating, crazy added a big boost to the ratings. We knew it couldn’t last, but we hung in there to see how far her destructive personality would take her. And Lydia. The thing about Lydia’s personality in the game is that sometimes she was funny, and occasionally she had moments of clarity. Sometimes I wanted to pat her on head and say, “you poor thing; get some help.” And sometimes I wanted to throw a bucket of ice water on her and tell her to get a grip.

Everyone else, including  Russell, was kind of a throwaway. Russell played hard, and was a great competitor. And I thought he was cute, cauliflower ears aside. But I really didn’t miss him when he left. And I knew I wouldn’t miss Michelle, but she played a good game.

I could say how much I enjoyed Jeff and Jordan as a showmance, and Jeff as game player and a hottie, but I would be saying what most people are saying out there. Let me just say this, because it has been driving me crazy for weeks: TECHNOTRONIC is a proper noun. Doesn’t anyone remember the song, “Pump Up the Jam”? The  performers derived their name from the music genre known as “techno”.

But Russell screamed and screamed about technotronic not being a word. And sadly, in America these days the rule is that if you scream loud and long enough about something, it must be true.

But I digress. The bottom line is that once Jeff was voted out, America knew the face of the game was going to be ugly.  I don’t know what the ratings were for Big Brother last night, but I  could only bear to watch ten minutes of the show. We knew Michelle was going to get the boot, and Jordan can’t really hold her own.

Which leaves us with the possibility of a final two that actually make Maggie and Ivette of season 6 look popular. Evel Dick of Big Brother 8 sums the situation up in words that mirror my sentiment:

“The final three is so f***ing horrible this year that they are going to have a triple eviction and tell them all to kill themselves…”

It might boost ratings.

A castaway’s chances are in jeopardy when her identity is revealed on Survivor: Tocantins

“The Poison Apple Needs To Go” – An Exile Island twist opens the door for the castaways to play the game like never before, meanwhile the quest for a hidden immunity idol goes terribly wrong leaving two castaways in a tight spot, on SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS – THE BRAZILIAN HIGHLANDS, Thursday, Feb. 19 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT)

Shaun Cassidy is developing a missing persons reality show

Former teen idol turned television producer, Shaun Cassidy is currently working with CBS on a missing persons reality show.  The show, called “Missing You”, would take on one missing person case each week, and a team of investigators would attempt to solve it.

The former Tiger Beat cover boy’s production credits include  American Gothic on CBS,  and ABC’s Invasion,  which he also wrote episodes for.

Mark Burnett’s “Jingles” Show Shelved by CBS

Remember the ad agency reality show that I wrote about back in October? Sure, you do. You remember: the one developed by Mark Burnett, where contestants would be making up jingles for real and imagined products for a cash prize and a job at an ad agency? Now, do you remember? No? Well, that’s what CBS was afraid of.

“Jingles” was supposed to hit the airwaves on July 27, but CBS has decided to postpone it indefinitely because they didn’t have enough time to promote it. The question is: If they knew they were planning to air it on the 27th, what stopped them from promoting it?

To read more about it, click here.

Secret Talents of the Stars Premieres April 8 on CBS

CBS will put celebrities to the test to see if they are multi-talented in their new show, Secret Talents of the Stars.

The competition show, hosted by John O’Hurley, will have stars such as country singer Clint Black performing stand up comedy, Olympic ice skating medalist Sasha Cohen as a contortionist, singer Mya as a tap dancer and actor George Takei as a country singer. Their performances will be judged by the legendary Debbie Reynolds, singer Brian McKnight, and film producer Gavin Polone. Viewers will also have a vote.

The show is set to run for seven weeks, starting April 8 at 10 PM ET on CBS. Here’s a sneak peek: