Huge got Canceled, Senate Passes TV Bill

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Hulu made the second season of Arrested Development available online. Now, I just finished the second season a week ago, but if you've never seen it, now's as good a time as any.

Huge got canceled. I'm sad, as I really liked that show. Ratings had steadily declined. However, there is an online petition to try to save it. Similarly, I hear that 19 Kids and Counting isn't doing well, so they may be nearing their end, too. Unless an announcement of #20 spikes things again...

The Senate passed a bill to force commercials to be quieter. As in, not louder than the show they are interrupting. It was unanimous. The House has already passed a similar bill (there are minor differences). This could be a law soon... and I have mixed feelings on it.

Um, it's October. But, plans for May sweeps are already underway. FOX plans to have all three Seth MacFarlane shows (Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show) have a giant crossover as a hurricane hits all three. Yes, you read right... it's hitting Washington, DC, Stoolbend, VA, and Quahog, RI.

All sorts of new things are going on with GoogleTV.

This isn't real-time news, but it's new to me: Shredder, the bad guy from the late-80s-early-90s cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was voiced by James Avery... aka Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Crazy.

As if the show wasn't popular enough, Modern Family is considering doing a musical episode.

I don't watch these shows, but premiere dates for White Collar (Tuesday, January 18th, 10pm) and Royal Pains (Thursday, January 20th, 9pm) are up.

The blog "Awkward Family Photos" has gotten picked up as a tv series for ABC.

FOX got the rights to make a series based on Will Smith's Hitch. It's going to be an hour-long format.

You mom being on Facebook is no longer an issue. SNL addressed it, LoL.

Bye, Huge! Where's Cake Boss?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Monday:
Kate Plus Eight (S01E04): the edge of Hades?? Isn't that a little rough? I'm curious as to which train station that is, LoL. Hmmm. they took Amtrak. I always take NJTransit into NYC, LoL. Kate didn't seem to enjoy the train, LoL. Two doesn't seem like enough adults for six kids in New York City. "you have to eat candy to get ice cream" - what kinda logic is that? When one of the twins doesn't like Kate's plan, she tells the girl to shush... kinda strange. Kate sprinting for the bus was funny, too. They were dripping hardcore, tho. Cara wanted a milkshake or bust, LoL. I feel like Kate wasn't keeping a close eye on her kids in Chinatown. And her constant heat complaints got old. haha, Kate didn't know what dim sum was. Seeing the forks at a dim sum place also threw me for a second there, LoL. I wonder if they took subways or taxis to get from one area to another... I doubt Kate walked from Chinatown to Central Park! Pennsylvania is not THAT much cooler than NYC, people. Of course you're going to win whack-a-mole, Kate! Your kids are small and have slower reflexes than you! Why didn't some of the kids want to be in the photo? I wonder if they're calling the kids by numbers now to avoid them being noticed as quickly by others? Watching Kate climb the ladder in heels was strange. I also wasn't sure how I felt about the reference to the Duggars. hahaha, Kate telling the crowd to email her their pictures so they get a good one was funny. If you're not allowed to film at the pedestal, why are they showing "personal footage" ??

The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E13): I think the actress who plays Amy is getting much better at acting, LoL. Henry and Alice are weird. Leo is looking mighty tan. Grant's mom looks really young, and Grace's hair looks weird. Random sleep-speak by Tom. Random that Ashley was sitting outside Amy's room, listening. And I can't believe she STILL likes Ricky! Anne really gave Ricky a chewing-out. This episode is really too Ricky-Amy heavy. What's with all the group-sleeping again?? Ricky acted REALLY weird when he brought John in the next morning.

Cake Boss (S03Exx): not this week

Huge (S01E10): I can't believe Will took Amber to the locked cafeteria! Salty knows she's the only one who knows where the key is kept, so they'll know immediately who it was! Amber chewing the brownie but then spitting it out was gross, and I liked how Will called her on it. At least we see some overweight parents this time. I'm glad that Becca finally confronted Chloe. I wonder why Chloe & Alistair's parents left early... That's a big gap in children... a 15-year-old and someone in their thirties... Alistair cutting his shirt and putting on that necklace was an interesting scene. Again, strange double meanings in most everything Dr. Rand says. I don't know whose face was more shocking when Ian & Amber showed up holding hands: Will's or George's! Impressive that Becca confronted Will, too.
I feel like there were more, shorter segments this week instead of more longer ones.

Tuesday:
Melissa & Joey (S01E04): haha Easter joke. That's a GIANT closet. I like how Joe had to remind Mel to ask who the guy was that she just said Lennox could see the following night. "tall, dark, and neck-deep in law school debt," haha. that closet became GORGEOUS. I want one. I'm ready for a Ryder storyline...

19 Kids and Counting (S05E06): "Life in the Pond" is their cartoon of choice. It's a radio show first, and the Duggars will get to participate. This is their first time voicing characters, but they've been in almost 100 TV programs!! I wouldn't have guessed half that many! I thought it was funny that he knew Jackson was a ham and wanted him to have a big part, and then found out the kid can't read yet, LoL. Funny how they got the littlest kids to be able to participate. I was surprised that they splice together so much of it later instead of having the characters read back-to-back. Although, the guy did say that he thought it would take a lot of "takes" so I imagine that was part of this strategy. Why in the world did they bring a moving truck of that size?? Oh goodness, apparently they did need it! They moved 5 tons of stuff... when I moved to California for the first time I think we moved like 800 or 900 pounds, LoL. I wonder how they decided who to bring to Little Rock to move Michelle and Josie... and SURPRISE! Jana is home!

Teen Mom (S02E06):
Catelynn: her mom sucks.
Maci: transferring with 9 credits, LoL. you mean, starting over, more or less?
Farrah: I kinda want her to be written off, LoL.
Amber: interesting that Amber really wants the diploma instead of a GED. Amber was awkward in that counseling office about her academic future. She wants to get the GED and then GO BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL??

If You Really Knew Me (S01E06): Paris, Texas. Drill team is more popular than cheerleaders? And cheerleaders actually have a leadership role. 900 students. self-segregates. the woman called adolescents "creatures" ....um? really, Jock, you think stereotyping is over now??

Minute to Win It (S02E11): this started at some point before we got it broadcast, because of Obama. They were on that game where they had to organize the cans of pennies by holding/weighing/shaking them. The girls seemed really upset that they cut to a commercial just before they found out if they got the jars all correct.
Game 5: Triple Pong Plop: Team game. Bounce ping pong balls on three dinner plates and into a bucket. Do it FOUR times between the two of you. They got it pretty fast.
Game 6: Separation Anxiety: 50 M&Ms have to be sorted into 5 cups. Use one hand and put them all in the right places in 60 seconds. The cups are now labeled so you can't choose your own order. They both kept saying the colors together and went down the line, "red, orange, yellow, green, blue" so smart. She finishes with 8 seconds left.
Game 7: CD Dominos: 20 plastic CD cases have to be placed around so the last one lands in a bucket. She messes up and knocks some over the wrong direction with less than ten seconds to spare, and coincidentally doesn't have time to fix it. The second try runs out of time to set-up, and it doesn't work, anyway. It doesn't happen on the third try for them, either, and they're out.

Wipeout (S03E14): all ladies tonight. Obama cut in and made it start late, and subsequently I missed the last person in the Wipeout Zone and part of the second-to-last person. All that rain is ridiculous!! awesome faceplant wipeout immediately I didn't realize high school students were ever on this show, LoL. We have twins here, LoL. A famous trapeze artist? How hurting for ratings are we?? The last girl was pretty darn good on the qualifier, LoL. Interest blue-and-white hibiscus wetsuit...err, whatever. Nothing over-exciting about the second round. The real estate woman was REALLY bad.

Wednesday:
Minute to Win It (S02E12): wait, she's a press secretary by day and an ATLANTA FALCONS CHEERLEADER by night? That's original. He's a family man who delivers soda. They're a random pairing, this Natalie and Scott. They are hilarious together. I've also decided to start guessing how far each (pair of) contestant(s) will make it when we first meet them. I put these folks at game 7, and they made it to 7!
Game 1: Candelier: Stack a tower: one can, a plate, two cans, a plate, three cans, a plate, four cans, a plate, five cans. It has to stand for three seconds. Scott goes for it, and finishes with 21 seconds to spare. His technique really was putting an entire layer on the plate at once, so it was never unbalanced: smart.
Game 2: Face the Cookie: both play, put a cookie on each forehead, and get it into your mouth without touching it. You can use another cookie if yours falls. She gets it early on, he struggles and drops quite a few before being victorious with like 6 seconds to go.
Game 3: Yank Me: place index cards between four plastic cups, making a tower. THEN, yank out the cards so the cups fall onto each other. Scott builds it fine. He yanks 'em fast and he's dine fast!
Game 4: Magic Carpet Ride: Scoot around the floor track by inching along on a bath mat. They do it.
Game 5: Bouncer: Team game. Operate a ping pong ball assembly line by bouncing a ping pong ball into each of 24 glasses. That's 12 each. He's much better than she is, but she gets the hang of it after a while and flies for a while. He finishes, she has 4 glasses left, and finishes with 22 seconds to spare!
Game 6: Defying Gravity: keep three balloons in the air for a minute. And stay in a certain area. Twenty seconds in it started getting harder. He had them more organized halfway through. I was worried when he had about 15 seconds to go, but he makes it!
Game 7: High Roller: One cup, one hand. Scoop dice, swirl them around, make stacks of three, four, and five dice by lifting the cup off of them. Stacks have to hold 3 seconds. This game looks insanely difficult! The video clip shows people doing much higher stacks on uneven surfaces, but this is freaking nuts! Although, maybe if I took the time to try it, I wouldn't feel that way. She struggles with 3, I think because she doesn't make a nice circle to get centrifugal force going. Scott cheers her on nicely, but she never even gets the 3. They decide Scott should try next. He gets the 3 on pace. The 4 is harder, he keeps getting only 3 of them. :( He's immediately ready to do it again. He gets the 3 pretty fast. The 4 gives him the same problem: three keep stacking but not the fourth. He gets the 4 with 7 seconds to go, but the 5 just runs out of time.

Thursday:
Futurama (S06E12): season finale and 100th episode. Heart medicine via souffle?? The "running start" thing was stupidly funny. I did laugh at the "I'll take it here, under my fork." What was with the ton of dalmatians??!? (This was kinda funny for me to watch, as I had DVR'd it and watched it right after seeing some of Titanic on TV.) Funny cut at Safeway ice cream. hahaha, "Landboat." The way the Astor storyline fit in at the end was weird, but I think my favorite part of the episode was when they added in a random demand just so they could drop it in the negotiations.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
Little People, Big World (season 6 {the final season!} starts next week!)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)
How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)
Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Burn Notice (back November 11)
Hot in Cleveland (back in January)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
16 and Pregnant (unknown)

Are Your Ready for the Huge Finale??

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I've been watching Huge since it premiered, and I've really enjoyed the program. I'm thinking about picking up the books this holiday season (I've mentioned before that I read a lot when I travel, and the holiday season is super-high-travel for me). I was a fan of Nikki Blonsky (Will on the show) long before this show came around, and I took a quick liking to Raven Goodwin (Becca) and Ari Stidham (Ian) as well. I'm anti-Amber, and not a big fan of Chloe (although I believe that viewers are not supposed to side with those two!), and I find the whole Dr. Rand storyline peculiar at best. I've read all sorts of interesting things on other blogs about the show (my favorite discourse is over at The Feminist Spectator), and one of the most compelling episodes (for me) is the episode with the Talent Show. I think there were some great moments, and I totally loved Ian's song.

Well, luckily, in getting psyched for tomorrow night's season finale, I wanted to hear it (Ian's song from the talent show) again. GOOD NEWS! It's going to be available to download on ABCFamily's website TOMORROW as part of Free Music Mondays! So be sure to go check it out! I'll send out a reminder from my twitter account (@TheTalkingBox) tomorrow, too.

Update: here's the link to download Ian's song, today (Monday the 30th) only!

And, speaking of music, here's a little featurette made about the music that will be featured in tomorrow night's episode!

Summer is Ending...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Monday:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E12): Ashley's hair has gotten longer. I had not realized that nobody did anything for Amy's birthday. At least Ricky knew that not knowing Amy's birthday was pathetic. hahahahaha, Molly Ringwald (Anne) making the 16th birthday joke was PRICELESS! Haha, Ben has to get a different job. Betty has a random fake book of stuff in the library. Um, the random sapphire was also interesting Jack and Madison's dad was a weird scene. Grace wondering if there's an oral sex club was incredibly naive. "Gateway sex" is funny. Another young doctor? Betty's wordplay bothers Leo... hmmm... Madison and Jack have been together for a YEAR?? Wow... no phone and no computer AND it's summer?? haha, love how Jack keeps paying off Tom. And tricky thoughts on Jack trying to keep everyone abstinent just because he can't see Madison. And, strangely, Amy returned home early.
[I believe the season mid-finale is September 6th]

Cake Boss (S03E15): a cake for an ice cream company is kinda funny. Do they feel the need to show that the shop is constantly packed for a reason? Ground coffee in the cake and coffee instead of water... interesting mix. The lemon something-pastry (pustachuk?) sounded kinda weird. And I wonder where this rumor came from that it was Frank Sinatra's favorite... Anthony didn't seem very concerned that the oven wasn't working correctly. Juan, the new decorator who is a friend of Ralph's, must have spent all day on making those dots of light on the silhouette! Getting the new location must be really far out if we're going to go swapping two floors around at this point. The ice cream bars on the sides of the cake looked pretty neat. Great save making the strawberry look melty, too!

Huge (S01E09): ...and Dr. Rand lets it slip that Chloe and Alistair are related. Will has a "scathing" plan to yell at her parents? No wonder they didn't show up. "feelings aren't facts" was a great point by Rand's dad. The "Love Handles" thing they watch is weird. I was seriously just starting to think Will's parents must be exercise trainers when she opens the package and pulls out the CORE jacket. I found it a little strange there weren't more "large" parents. Ian's parents getting along are seriously weirding him out. Now I'm really confused on Becca's living situation. Amber's mom is WEIRD! No wonder Amber is so quiet about her! Why would Trent want to align his family with Ian's? I also couldn't read Rand's face when she was watching her dad teach Will how to dice tomatoes. Why is Jonathan (director of the athlete camp) texting Rand out of nowhere?? Chloe & Alistair's mom being in a wheelchair added a little diversity to the parents. I guess Teal (Amber's mom) can't live alone? I just thought she was financially irresponsible or possibly a drunk, but turns out she must have a mental issue. I was kinda happy that Amber didn't want the cookies in the shoebox. I am also starting to wonder if Isnarksi is gay. Why did Amber say she was going to the kitchen if she was really going to the laundry room? Why not just tell her mother she had to find a place to hide them? I also kinda wonder how certain parents decide to eat out while others sample the camp food. Ian's parents telling him that they're getting divorced shouldn't have shocked him so much if they were fighting all of the time... Becca and Alistair having a heart-to-heart about Chole was interesting. Was Amber heading to eat a cookie? Aha! Amber's over-eating is to cope with her mother, plain and simple. Can Teal drive herself places? It seems so.

Minute to Win It (S02E08): Miss Universes and Miss USAs are here... ten of them. And it's last "beauty" (man) standing style. They all have matching tank tops that label where they're from (country or state)
Game 1: Hanky Panky: the "pull out all 160 tissues" task. Last one loses. One of the Miss USAs loses.
Game 2: Temper Tantrum: vigorously shake your legs and get the most kicks on your pedometers to win. Don't let your legs or feet touch the ground. I had a bad feeling it would be Trinidad, but turns out Missouri went home.
Game 3: Face the Cookie: Cookie on forehead, use facial muscles to get it into your mouth. Slowest beauty loses. You can try with multiple cookies. Another USA loses.
Game 4: Go the Distance: Roll a ping pong ball to land in a shotglass, using a tape measure. Tennessee and Panama both struggled but after everyone else was done, Panama lost out.
Game 5: Spoon Frog: Use a teaspoon to launch another teaspoon into a glass. Last person to succeed loses. North Carolina goes home.
Game 6: Stack Attack: make the pyramid of cups (6-5-4-3-2-1) and then take them down again. Japan lost.
Game 7: CD Dominoes: 20 plastic CD cases have to be set up, ad blow to get them started, and eventually knock the last one into a bucket. Puerto Rico was crying pretty hard when this was the announced game. None of them got it on the first try. Two get it on the second try. Puerto Rico ends up losing.
Game 8: Bulb Balance: Stand an egg upright on top of a light bulb, using salt for balance (you can use two packets of it). Tennessee gets it pretty quickly, the other two get it but it doesn't stay long enough until the second attempts... and Trinidad loses by fractions of a second, really.
Game 9: Ping Tac Toe: head-to-head using water-filled glasses as a grid. Each person has a different color of ping-pong ball, and you have to be the first to get three in a row. It was close, and New York wins! aka Tennessee goes home.
Game 10 (for $1 million instead of $100,000 for her charity): Supercoin: big surprise... bounce quarters 15 feet to get one inside a 5-gallon water jug. She doesn't make it.

Tuesday:
Melissa & Joey (S01E03): haha, "I've had better" with the waffles. "bourbon pecan maple syrup" ?? Um, the grocery store thing was absolutely similar to a Who's the Boss episode that was on just an hour or so before this aired. But, on that show, he doesn't reveal that he is a nanny/housekeeper. hahaha, "I'm going to go pick out a tie to go with losing my shirt." "you had carbs without me" LoL. Gamma Gamma Gamma sounds like a strange sorority. Her office looks pretty plain... aka fake. Um, and the episode that ran just about the same time as the grocery episode had Tony do a one-night-stand with a sorority sister of Angela's... here, tho, they never get to the sex because she finds out the truth about his profession at the moment. I don't really like Mel's pink/purple dress. "screwed worse than pledge week" was funny, too. "I'm gonna go out and find myself a role model" ... the writers on this show are incredible! The kidney thing was over-the-top. the "iron man" thing completed it.

19 Kids and Counting (S05E05): Who drives the sportscar? Johannah got the chicken pox first, interesting. All of the older girls must have had chicken pox earlier, LoL. New font for the solid-screen-information screens. Oh, haha, yep, Jill was 3 when the chicken pox broke out last time. Grandma Duggar does 25 hours of laundry per week!! JimBob needing to be in charge of meds was interesting. Why live anywhere but the ground floor when Josie has that much stuff?? Wow, Michelle knew sunlight has vitamin D, LoL. "last one here is the last one here" ... boring. Josh didn't come over to help with the lawnmowing?? June 18th is a definite date for some point while the children had chicken pox. Everyone but Josie made it to Ohio for Michelle's dad's funeral. but... that means the kids traveled with chicken pox... hope nobody in Ohio caught it because of them!

Teen Mom (S02Exx): not this week.
Catelynn:
Maci:
Farrah:
Amber:

If You Really Knew Me (S01Exx): not this week.

Minute to Win It (S02E09): um, East Coast vs. West Coast girls today. Erica in red, Melissa in green. First person to lose two out of three challenges loses.
Game 1: Paper Dragon: unravel two party streamers each. Interesting how they had two very different approaches. My money was on Melissa, and she got it.
Game 2: Bulb Balance: get an egg to stand upright on a lightbulb, using salt for balance. You get one packet of salt and first person to get it to stay wins. They were both trying pretty intently, but neither seemed to have a clear strategy. Erica got it a split-second before Melissa.
Game 3: Ball Cap: 21 metal teeth are on a bottle cap. Caps are placed upside-down on bottles. Drop a golf ball onto a cap, knock it off, and get the ball to land on the mouth of the bottle. The person who gets the most correct out of ten wins. Erica won. Melissa was too quiet, anyway.
Game 4: Tea Party: swing your head to get both tea bags to land on the bill of the hat that they're attached to and that you're wearing. Erica has 60 seconds to do so. She kept getting one up and the other would fall down. Her boyfriend started getting worried about half-way through the game, and when the timer ran out, she failed. On the second attempt, she gets it in like 15 seconds or so.
Game 5: Egg Tower: use 4 paper towel rolls and 4 eggs to build a structure. You have quite a supply of both materials to work with. She kinds makes it look easy until near the end, where she never lets go and then runs out of time. Again, the boyfriend is mighty nervous. On the second go-around, she gets it with 15 seconds or so to spare.
Game 6: Spudnick: potato with bendy straws... get 5 straws into it and then get an M&M to balance on top of each straw. She gets it with 17 seconds to go.
Game 7: Tortilla Head: a plate is strapped to your head, and you have swim flipped on. Use the flippers to flip up tortillas from the floor, and only 1 out of 10 has to land and stay on the plate. The plate does have sides, so that helps. She gets it on the first try, in just 7 seconds or so. (that said, I didn't think it was all that hard of a challenge, anyway) But that whole "I know my way around a tortilla" got old FAST. And, rather than keep going, she leaves at this point, which is probably a good call, in all honesty.

Stephanie and Kaylin are BFFs who are professional dancers. Stephanie is wearing the capris, Kaylin has the shorts. wow, Stephanie's dad has had 107 major surgeries???!?
Game 1: Bucket Head: team game. stand 5 feet from a wall and bounce balls off the wall into buckets on their heads. Do it twice, each. Stephanie gets her second ball with just 3 seconds or so to spare.
Game 2: Movin' on Up: 39 blue cups and 1 red cup each. move cups from the top to the bottom, using alternating hands. Each must do it. They kinda sway from side to side as they work. Kaylin takes more time than Stephanie, and doesn't finish... by a single cup. They both have to do it again, and then we cut out to see more the next night.

Wipeout (S03E13): The 3D thing had me going for a split-second there. Jill was funny - couldn't believe the guy wanted to do it, LoL. The swimcap was random. Some good smackwall wipeouts. The trucker overlay was humorous. There's actually some talent on level two! BirthdayBoy holding on to the sweeper arm until the next track was impressive. A guy quit in the spincycle! yay BirthdayBoy!

Wednesday:
Minute to Win It (S02E10): Stephanie (capris) and Kaylin (shorts) are on again, picking up where they left off: trying Game 2: Movin' on Up again. This time, they finish with only 3 or 4 seconds to spare.
Game 3: Blind Ball: playing together, they're blindfolded (aka wearing black goggles) and spun around twice, then they have to walk around and find two balls each at various heights on the stage. Pick them up and hold them without knocking down any or dropping any. They're a little slow, and when the clock runs out, neither has any balls, and they did knock 2 over. I think the allowance to pace it while seeing is kinda cheating... but whatever. On their next attempt, two get knocked over and they don't capture any. They seem really sad... and they should be. I don't think anyone else ever walked away with just $1,000 (the minimum)

Kandis in white, Kristin in yellow (with the random wrist sweatband). Again, sisters. They really want to win money and take their grandmother to Italy (she's Sicilian, LoL).
Game 1: Tilt-a-cup: playing together, catch a ball into a cup, put another cup into it, catch another, etc. until you have 7 cup-and-ball pairs in the tower, but don't let it tip over. They get it with 8 seconds to spare.
Game 2: Clipper: roll ping pong balls down a slanted table using binder clips to act as bumpers to get the balls into three other binder clips. Kandis goes for it, and has 18 seconds left when she wins.
Game 3: Baby Blockin': wear a plate on your head and stack 5 blocks on to of one another on the plate, using one hand. Kristin goes for it, and speeds up a tad at the end, and is never able to let go of the tower. Then, Kandis goes for it, and while I thought her tower was a little shaky, she makes it. The blocks are totally larger than the standard baby block, I feel. (sidenote, this one would totally be my sister. she has a flatter head than I do, LoL)
Game 4: Volcano: working together, drop a Mentos into two-liter bottles filled with soda to get them to erupt. Each girl must do it once. The girls look like they haven't seen this one before, but they get it done with a whopping 43 seconds to spare! They also did a one-of-a-kind cheer after making this one, LoL.
Game 5: Flip your Lid: Playing together both girls must flip-cup (but face-down to face-down, not the normal way) onto a bottle 12 inches away. They almost got it at the same time, but both came off. They get off a TON of tries, since the floor is covered in cups, but neither makes it in the end. On the second attempt, Kristin gets it first, but they finish with 19 seconds to spare.
Game 6: Layin' Track: make a track of staples over some erasers and roll a marble down it to land in a cup. Kristin is going to do it. She took a LONG time setting it up, and was only gonna have one shot, so I was worried. BUT, she gets it with ONE SECOND to spare! another cheer (I think it might have been the first one again?)
Game 7: Chop Stack: use chopsticks to stack four tubes of chapstick. You can keep trying until time runs out. neither of them seemed to want to do it. In the end, Kristin convinces Kandis to do it, LoL. She's ridiculously shaky, and it keeps falling over with just two tubes. By the time she goes to stack the third, there's less than ten seconds left, so she loses out.

Thursday:
Futurama (S06E11): "two scoops of pixels in every scene" was a funny opening tag. Peeling a banana and getting a pickle inside was weird. haha, free admission to Comic-Con with ewok pelt. haha, Futurella not really having a chance was funny. And the question about The Sampsons second movie was funny since Bender was shot since that wasn't the topic, LoL. Lrrr having a midlife crisis of sorts was kinda boring. The comic book was only vaguely interesting as well. LoL, talking to Orson Welles. But the cheeselog kinda grossed me out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
Little People, Big World (season 6 starts September 6th)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)
How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)
Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Burn Notice (back November 11)
Hot in Cleveland (back in January)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
16 and Pregnant (unknown)
Kate Plus Eight (not sure when season 1 continues)

Melissa & Joey are Here

by Amy K. Bredemeyer


Monday:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E11): Ben's fired... from his dad's shop. Half awesome, half sucky. The whole Lauren-Madison summers ruined because of meddling fathers really sucked. This is why you need to lie better when you make things up to tell your parents. Or, at least, make sure your fathers aren't friends!! The pajamas bar sounds interesting, but those two girls randomly taking out Amy was odd. What in the WORLD is with Anne's dress?? Leo had a really good point about Ben having sex with Adrian to get back at Amy and that had a bad result... so why marry Adrian for the same reason? Leo's looking really tan. Betty thinking that Ben KILLED Ricky was hilarious!! And then she was complaining about being hungry... the least of the problems in the household. And now Lauren's dad is talking to Ben's dad... more fathers talking = even worse. "We have the whole summer to have sex at med camp" oh geez.
[I believe the season mid-finale is September 6th]

Cake Boss (S03E14): National Train Day was May 8th, so last week's episode actually took place chronologically after this one, since it featured Mother's Day, LoL. The moving trains and the perfect dimensions was really different. Ralph's outfits still amuse me. All of the guys being upset about eating salads was funny. Mauro's son helping him out with exercising was cute, but a little staged. Danny & Frankie ordering pizza as soon as Mauro was out of the room was wrong. The firefighter thing was a cool cake idea. Joey doing some decorating was interesting. holy cooooooooooow... the train cake was 20 feet long! Joey looked like he saw the knocked-over cake coming. I'm kinda unclear on how the bagpiper fit in, LoL. Interesting plan to just take out a problem building when the cakes started having issues at Penn Station. AND they had to fix it without Buddy's help!

[I'm pretty sure I was in NYC that day. I'm kinda super upset that I missed this]

Huge (S01E08): Becca looked so sad when Amber talked about what a "loyal friend" Chloe is. It was interesting how Trent mentioned to George that he knew it was Alistair's birthday. It's clear that Trent wants Chloe to recognize Alistair, so that's intriguing. The skydancers thing made me smile. Nice plug for Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers. Kinda looks like there were some new extras. The look on Chloe's face when she found out that Alistair told Trent was vicious. The level of upset that the no-alcohol thing caused made me angry. Poppy having a bottle of liquor under her bed was wrong, and I was surprised she didn't make an effort to hide it in front of Amber. Poor Alistair... celebrating his birthday at the random board game event (not the board game part, but the fact nobody was really celebrating with him). Drunk Amber sucks at life. Alistair dodging the gay question was rough, and then telling Isnarski (sp?) that he likes someone else after the guy kisses him on a dare was REALLY rough. I love the random facts that we get from Wayne. Dr. Rand did it in the back of a car?? Geez. That being Alistair's first kiss is crazy... at least Ian tryied to help him out. The second meaning to the boating conversation was good, and I'm glad it went right over Poppy's head. Becca's strange hobbies are so quirky. I don't know how I feel about Alistair crushing on Trent.

Tuesday:
Melissa & Joey (S01E01 & S01E02): I like the "before a live studio audience" part, hehe. Melissa as a politician was interesting. Strange theme "jingle" for lack of a better word. "Lennox" is a strange name. Joey looks weird without hair... I wonder if they plan on keeping him near-bald... Mel wears some TALL heels! "Vagino-Americans" hahahahaha. "That porsche is mine... for ten more days," haha.

Yay for cool dim sum places. Remote control inflation... alritey then. haha on "I want a penguin!" The cigarettes-brand-loyalty thing was funny. Bulimia being the anthem at the prep school was funny.

I liked the first episode much better than the second.

19 Kids and Counting (S05E04): hahaha, "swing by the Bates' house" .... SO not "swing by" style, LoL. The Bates family attends church 3 times a week... interesting. I also love how the Bates know so well that the Duggars will show up at any old time... nothing set for travel times, haha. $400 for a family of 40... that's $10 apiece... but the kids should have eaten for like $5 each and there's a TON of them... I'm thinking they went somewhere little pricey, LoL. Hahaha, JimBob has no idea where his clothes are. The Bates' house is gorgeous now that they have those additions! Not gonna lie, I'm a little surprised that JimBob can iron, haha. The cross in the chimney stones was pretty. Thank goodness that child didn't open up that power tool box!! Nice that they left the "Duggar" mantlepiece for Michelle in the Little Rock house. You know, I kinda wonder if Priscilla also went because Jana is unmarried... JohnDavid can only keep an eye on her in co-ed situations. She and Priscilla can chaperone one another at pretty much all times. The elephant orphanage was interesting... I didn't know that like 4 people could ride an elephant at once. Weird that the cameraman felt the need to go in the water "on behalf of the family" LoL. I wonder if there's a camera crew there the whole time or what... I think 9 vehicles is a little much to transport both families, LoL. Parrot Mountain did seem like a cool place though, and I'd totally visit it if I was in that area. Interesting that the boom mic freaked out the birds.

Teen Mom (S02E05):
Catelynn: I'm a little unclear on why she called her therapist and only offered her first name... does that doctor really only have one Catelynn/Kaitlin/etc.? If so, I'm a little concerned, LoL. I didn't realize how much younger their child was... Carly isn't even a year old yet, but we know Sophia is at least 15 months. And Catelynn was really weird about the hug thing in the car. I'm over Ryan. I also don't know that I'd allow my phone records to just go into the river like that, not shredded or anything.
Maci: Kyle looks really old.
Farrah: the little Easter party was cute. Still not knowing how to write a check was not. So, of COURSE she has no idea to wait until the check clears before doing anything else. Seeing her try to make a diaper out of towels was weird. She has a direct person she calls for her bank? And she's wondering if it's fraud... so she must know that sort of thing exists... is she really going to think it can't happen to her? I can't believe Farrah was so rude to the person on the phone where the money was wired... it's not that person's fault that she did her job and gave the money to the person it was intended for. I wanna see more of Farrah sucking at life, LoL.
Amber: hahaha, this is the THIRD time Amber & Gary are engaged.

If You Really Knew Me (S01E05): Colusa High in California farm town. 350 students is it! Only 1 Black kid. New opening for the show was cool. The nerd had a sad first-day-of-school story. Highly unemployed area. Lots of parental issues in this school. At least we finally hit a low-crossing category: Jews. These kids' "what I'll do different" sound like crap. Finally, we have a pregnant girl. I like how we left out the baby daddy tho. As a whole, I'm starting to be over this show.

Wipeout (S03E12): New obstacle in the qualifier! Shake-a-lator looks a little easier this time around, since it has the balls on the edge... less likely to fall off, LoL. The unbalance beam makes for some funny wipeouts. Why in the world was the one person so censored?? Did her shorts just tear in half or something?? That giant ball in the second round was crazybig! and the fact that the first guy made it so fast was nuts! It seemed that everyone thought it was easy after that, as people crowd around to get over! Nothing exciting in round 3. The Wipeout Zone was only fairly entertaining this week, but I felt bad for the last guy doing the Zone, he lost on that last little part! ... and when I look over my thoughts on the past few weeks, I wonder if my interest in this show is waning...

Wednesday:
Hot in Cleveland (S01E10): [Season Finale] The intro with the rainy scene was neat on the show's logo. LOVED the Judge Judy comment. Joy's roots look strange. Nice hit on Lebron. Betty White and her phrases that she's "always wanted to say" were great. The fact that all of the stuff underground was stolen was intriguing. Sweet little Antique Roadshow moment. Victoria's collarbones freak me out. I liked how Joy kept putting on more goodies. So sweet that Victoria won the Emmy, but I couldn't BELIEVE that Susan Lucci was the one to accept on her behalf! The fact that they had the same dress on was the icing on the cake. The look on Betty White's face when the policeman started noticing all of the stuff (and subsequently her mug shot!) was priceless!

Minute to Win It (S02E07): Twin brothers. Dan in red, Shawn in blue. I wasn't a big fan of Dan asking his girlfriend down and then proposing between games.
Game 1: Drop Zone: hold string (that's attached to a pole and runs over three buckets) so it's tight enough for a ball to roll on. Let the ball roll down it, and when the timing is right, relax that string so the ball falls in the bucket. Do this for three different buckets. Dan goes for it. He has trouble with bouncing - some fall in and bounce out, others drop and then bounce in (which doesn't count... they have to land in and stay in). Shawn decides to take over, even though Dan said he'd try again. Shawn goes 3 for 3 and wins with 39 seconds to spare. He then kicks over the bucket of balls and picks a few up to throw to the audience! [I think this may be the first time (maybe second) that someone lost a life in the first game]
Game 2: Egg Dance: balance two round platters with eggs placed on them. Carry them over (keeping the eggs on them) and place them on a couple pedestals. The trickist part is that you have to pick up one tray, then go over and pick up another, so the balance changes extra. Shawn goes for it, and finishes with less than 10 seconds left.
Game 3: Blow Ball: a 16" pizza ban can hold 76 ping pong balls. Three are yellow, 73 are red. Blow off just the red ones. Dan goes for it. Shawn coached HARD. He gets it with 16 seconds remaining.
Game 4: Sharp Shooter: Fling rubber bands at playing cards held upright by clothespins. Shawn goes for it, and has an interesting strategy of putting the pile of rubber bands on the floor (instead of the pedestal), so he doesn't have to reach back for them each time. He gets the first two without too much difficulty, but the third gives him issues... he finishes with five seconds remaining on the clock.
Game 5: Speed Eraser: Bounce pencils on their erasers to get them in cups. Do it 10 times in 60 seconds. Dan goes for it. He's really on a roll for a while, but the last few give him problems, and he finishes with 3 seconds left.
Game 6: Drop Ball: a five-gallon water jug has a water bottle on top, and a golf ball on top of that. Swipe the smaller water bottle so that the golf ball lands in the water jug. You have to get 4 out of 7set-ups. Dan goes for it. He runs out of attempts. Shawn then gives it a try. He's super-intense and does it!
Game 7: Broomski Ball: roll a tennis ball at a broom to give it air to get it in a bucket. You have to do it into three different buckets (each further away and slightly taller) in a minute. Unlimited balls. Shawn goes for it, and gets two in the middle bucket pretty quickly. Then he gets two in the third basket. And he gets the third bucket with 26 seconds to spare. Not gonna lie, I didn't think he was going to pull this one off!

and, even though they previously said that they were there to go for the million, they walked with the $125,000.

Thursday:
Futurama (S06E10): Lella's freaking out over her eye was strange. The lead-up to needing to use math to figure out the mind-switching thing was weird. But, I didn't really like the mind-swapping to begin with. Okay, apparently they're actually body-switching LoL.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
Little People, Big World (season 6 starts September 6th)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)
How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)
Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
16 and Pregnant (unknown)
Kate Plus Eight (not sure when season 1 continues)

Strange Secret Life, Great Hot in Cleveland, etc.

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Monday:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E10): natural to see the kids so excited about the last day of school. I thought was were closer than this when Amy left for New York, but I guess not. Ben didn't know Betty spoke Spanish, LoL. Ben's cardigan seemed out of place, even for him. I guess Amy giving up the French horn is now common knowledge, not a secret with Ashley. Interesting that Ricky is finally bringing up how Ben was kinda interfering during Amy's pregnancy. I don't like Ashley sometimes. Ricky can just afford to fly to New York THE NEXT DAY??!? Interesting that Ben's dad wants him to invite all these people over. Why would Henry and Alice invite everyone? I'm getting tired of Madison. The medcamp coincidence was funny. Alice dances funny. Intriguing that the new kid is "going back in the closet" hahaha. The "I'm not good at parties" thing by Ashley was hilarious. Ricky is creepily excited about seeing Amy. Grace was kinda awkward about "this is what I want to do with my life - stay up and party and laugh" LoL. Aren't these kids young to like Dumb and Dumber? LoL.

Cake Boss (S03E13): So now it's very clearly May, since they've got Mother's Day stuff going on. And I can certainly understand the demands on bakeries during this time, as my wedding was on Mother's Day weekend, and it affected both my florist and my baker. The LemonIce thing was funny, and Anthony definitely didn't get it, LoL. Painting on blades of grass was a nice, small touch. The handyman getting inside the oven kinda scared me. Interesting that they're expanding to doing flavored ice. The pecan wedge cake was interesting... a short little plot, too. I feel like the family was dominating the waiting room, LoL. Buddy seemed kinda happy about going for a fourth child. And seeing Buddy give Lisa "Employee of the Month" was cute.

Huge (S01E07): I really feel for the Director, being more out-of-place than the other staff. Interesting bet using someone else's hat. Plus, everyone thinking that nobody has lost weight is kinda depressing. Interesting that Will hadn't touched the candy stash since the first week. The weigh0in was really intense. Chloe seemed kinda happy, but there were definitely some upset people. Ian didn't want to see his number - that was interesting. Ian hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that although they've lost a little weight, they have so far to go. 1 pound must have been heartbreaking for Amber, especially since we now know that she paid for herself to be there.

Tuesday:
19 Kids and Counting (S05E03): Michelle referred to caring for Josie like how she cared for Josh... 20 years ago. She talked about having to do all of the nighttime feedings and the daytime feedings... haha, not as easy without all those daughters, eh? Neat that the kids are going to be extras in a film! The "executive pastor" thing was interesting. Joseph did some talking which was nice. The Kellers also being in Georgia was nice. Joy Anna is apparently a really good crier-on-demand, LoL. 4 tanks of oxygen a week is a LOT. Priscilla, Anna's sister, is also on that Asia trip. Jana is so sweet, I love her "we can do without" attitude. They don't have to do a full 5k for the video... they should be able to handle a block and a half, LoL. Although, as Jill said, they weredoing it over and over. I also thought it was interesting that they mentioned the Duggars can wear shorts in this scene because it is considered "costume" hehe. Why was Michelle bringing up 4 trashcans if it's only her and Josie anyway??

Teen Mom (S02E04):
Catelynn: She is having a family birthday party at the roller rink when she's like 17?? Awkward. But I guess it's cute. Relationship counseling... as a teenager?? Ridiculousness. And how in the world can they afford it? I thought it was weird that Ryan was kinda anti after the first session, when he was the one who had the idea in the first place. The phone records thing seriously creeped me out!
Maci: I love the cartoons of Maci, I think they're really lifelike. The weaning from the pacifier was slightly interesting. She could see herself marrying Kyle "in like 20 years" lmao... when she's knocking on 40?? Maci's pretty good at walking away from Bentley while he cries.
Farrah: the guy who was standing there writing an order or whatever as she and her coworker talked about being single moms was strange. 10 hours of community service... is that even worth anything?? I also can't decide my thoughts on showing so much of this domestic violence issue... it's totally not uncommon, and I'm not sure if that's the angle that they're trying to hit or not. It amuses me that Farrah's mom still thinks she's done nothing wrong.
Amber: a 16-hour drive with Amber's dad in the car? Sounds like a pain in the butt. They're always breaking up and getting back together... what makes Gary think they could get married? Amber has nicer legs than I was going to guess. Maybe she's lost some weight in general, actually. They looked like they had a really good time dancing on the beach. She made me angry when she quibbled with Gary over the wording in his proposal, LoL.

If You Really Knew Me (S01E04): I'm not really sure I actually understand why this is a regular series and not just some sort of two-hour special. What's the draw to watching the same stuff every week? Just seeing that you're not alone, that every school has cliques and that every kid has a sucky life in one way or another?
Oklahoma City, 1400 students, diverse population. It also amuses me that there's a "bisexual" group at the school... we totally didn't have that ten years ago. I also don't know that I appreciate the camera only showing the "cross the lines" when a good portion of the students cross. There are totally times in that activity where only a few students cross, and I think that those moments are just as powerful. Malcolm went ultra-public, I feel. I did, however, like that two of the older girls going and talking to the freshmen girls about the experience. Kyle was weird trying to make a friend, LoL.

Wipeout (S03E11): Families today - mothers & sons; fathers & daughters. A new obstacle in the qualifier. Not too much exciting. The bruiseball round was amusing... the board game mom got knocked by the same bat TWICE without seeing it, haha. And we actually had to use a photo finish, which was interesting.

Wednesday:
Hot in Cleveland (S01E09): I love how Elka likes Susan Lucci. The "usual" joke with Victoria was pretty funny. And I also can't decide how I feel about that bar becoming a regular hangout for this crew. Victoria being offended at Joy's comment about celebrities being just like everyone else was hilarious. Elka spreading an illness rumor about Victoria was good. And the fact that she was knitting when Victoria found out was cute. The far-sighted thing is also a nice running joke. Victoria might need to read up on this disease a little bit, LoL. Melanie's aloud internet acronyms were funny, too. Joy's shopping for therapists is intriguing. Victoria not remembering how many kids she has was a little too Karen Walker for me. Jane Leeves is so fabulous. Elka translated text-speak is lovely. Another Justin Bieber crack. The late limp had me cracking up, and the Dr. House part made it even better. And then the wikipedia joke. And then the fake twitching. I was practically on the floor! And the fact that the foundation was willing to keep the lie going to earn them some money was laughable. The goiter had me gaping. "I was talking to the goiter" stole the show. This is probably the funniest episode yet!

Minute to Win It (S02E06): Again with this "over theming." This week, they found a pair (Scott & Emily) who worked in the same office (then got married), and made all of the games playable with just office supplies. Whatever. OfficeMax got QUITE the plug, too.
Game 1: Office Maximus: Bounce rubber band balls to knock over reams of paper. Do it three times in sixty seconds. He gets it.
Game 2: Clipper: Ping Pong balls get rolled down a slanted table, using binder clips as bumpers and as holders. Get balls in all three holders. She has two of them in, but knocks them both out again. When the timer buzzes, she only has the two outer ones in, not the middle. He tries and gets it.
Game 3: Speed Eraser: Bounce a pencil into a cup seven times in sixty seconds. Scott goes for it. He gets it really freaking easily.
Game 4: Office Fling: a rubber band is stretched across two chair legs on an overturned chair. Using it as a slingshot, fling a folded piece of paper onto a desk 12 feet away. Unlimited tries, and it only has to land and stay on the desk once. She gets pretty close several times before nailing it around the 30-second mark.
Game 5: Office Tennis: Both play, using clipboards as racquets, volley a paper ball back and forth while moving sideways, and eventually get the ball into a wastebasket. Unlimited tries, but there were a few ruled regarding not hitting it twice and such. They were pretty good at volleying, but had a lot of problems getting it into the can... they achieve that goal with 15 seconds to spare.
Game 6: Coffee Topper: Drop CDs three feet to land on a plastic cup without falling off. Do it once, unlimited attempts. It looks pretty hard, since it's really easy for them to bounce right off... Scott goes for it, and runs out of time. He goes again, and gets it in just 10 seconds that time.
Backflip: Balance two pencils on the back of your hand, and flip them off and catch them. Then do 4, then 6, then 8, then 10, then 12, then 14, then 16 (* I think. They might only be 2, 4, 8, 12, 16). Never drop any. Scott does it (of course, ::eye roll::), and gets it.

I think they decided to go home because Emily was going to have to play the next game, and she's not that good, LoL. $125,000 is nice, though. And they're using it to help have a family, so cheers.

Thursday:
Futurama (S06E09): The Flying Spaghetti Monster joke was good. Was the Ryan Seacrest joke supposed to imply that he is the most memorable human, LoL? Amy severing a finger weirded me out. The tricycletops was out of control. Helicopter hummingbird was also odd. I thought the joke at the robots of calling the current patrons future exhibits was funny.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
Melissa & Joey (starts Aug 17th at 8pm)
Little People, Big World (season 6 starts September 6th)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)
How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)
Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
16 and Pregnant (unknown)
Kate Plus Eight (not sure when season 1 continues)

Sons of Tucson Ends; Duggars are Back

by Amy K. Bredemeyer


Sunday:
Sons of Tucson (S01E13): Series Finale. A tennis ball and a box of crayons in Robbie's lunch? That's funny. The Blue Angels... lmao lmao lmao... I've seen them - amazing but pretty near priceless. I liked Ron's shirt in the beginning of the episode (the blue sweater thing). With the palatial size of that room, how does Ron not realize there's gotta be more to the house than a storage closet??!? Pretty sweet digs, tho!! Strange guy posing as the lawyer... I liked Gary working as a telecommuter, but the pacing of his lines didn't work quite right. How much time has passed that the kids have sold all of their major appliances?? Crazycool block party!! Interesting take that Ron would do more for the kids than for Gina. I agree with Gary - I never would have expected that reaction. The Blue Angels thing was cool-looking, although so not real, haha. Robbie trying to find a father in a firefighter was amusing. Cute bonding moment at the end with the underarm farts. I guess we just assume that they continue making it work even though there are daily crazy events.

Monday:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E09): Rough start for Ashley today. Leo is really starting to get an attitude towards Ben. Tom is having such a rough time between losing the job and his girlfriend. :( The battery-lit candle was cool. hahahahaha, Grace just assumed her friend was gay, and he's not! Awwww... George totally lied to Ashley when he said that Ricky wanted to eat and talk with her. Weird convo between Amy and Ashley about Ricky... Amy KNEW Ashley and he would kiss?? oooh... the guy IS gay... but closeted. Bringing in the counselor issue brings up a new issue to the show, and I hope it is pursued further. I also love that the Grace-Jack storyline is still there. The dad played it well... emotional and hesitant but honest and true. hahahahaha, his parents tried to set him up! How incredibly weird yet awesome. I'm so happy that the kid was so happy to tell Grace the truth. I can't decide how I feel about Amy giving up the french horn...

Cake Boss (S03E12): Interesting that they want to cake to move and dance and spin and that Buddy isn't sure if he can... he's made much crazier! Cute that Buddy and his son get their hair cut side-by-side. Wasn't crazy about the making of either cake today, but that's rare so no big deal.

Huge (S01E06): Interesting service. If the director was so paranoid about the hike, why send them... why not go, too? And if the group is supposed to be "small," why are ALL of the main characters going? Poppy has become a little too "granola" for me. The flashback was neat. Alistair choosing "Athena" as a new name was neat. Trent creeped me out a tad as he searched for mushrooms. Chloe and Alistair are twins... then why didn't he go to camp last year, too? I had previously assumed that he was younger than her, so this was his first year, haha. Why didn't Amber and Will ask the woman in the diner where they were? I'm really beginning to wonder where this show is, geographically. Amber and George kissing better start putting an end to that half-romance storyline.. I'm tired of it. Will pulling a donut from a dumpster and then pulling out a milk carton grossed me out, so I'm really glad that she ended up NOT consuming those items. The director on a date was cute. I thought it would have been nice to see a little more of the team-building or spiritual activities they did on the hike. Are we not going to see Amber tell Chloe about kissing George??

Tuesday:
19 Kids and Counting (S05E01 & S05E02): I'm a little confused on why we keep showing parts of Josie's birth... aren't we over that yet? She was born at 25 weeks and 4 days, we know. In May they tried to release her from the hospital and couldn't. In "present day," they are still showing her in the hospital. Holy mackerel - 2 tons of furniture?!? Cool that the Asia mission trip was Jana's idea, and intriguing that they "made" her "take" John-David along. A two-month mission trip is pretty neat, and I'm glad that they got this experience. When did they get this red bus? Why doesn't Michelle move to a smaller space now that it's just her in Little Rock again? Not a lot of focus on Joy Anna or the boys.

The Legislature segment was interesting. Too bad that Michelle couldn't be there for Jill to turn 19 (although I haven't spent a birthday with my mom since I was 18, so I guess it's not uncommon). I love that the "low maintenance" child is the one with braces, LoL. Interesting that they're packing new clothes (since Jana is tearing off tags). Cool that Josh and Anna are hanging out with Jana and John-David all night so they get their sleeping different. Cool that we get to see John-David do some volunteer firefighter stuff, since we learned that he joined quite a while ago. And nice that it was a false alarm, I was a little concerned that this was going the way of "we missed the flight," haha. I thought Josh's business wasn't going so great...? I guess he's fine now if they're buying a second lot! Anna looks a little self-conscious of her midriff... is she pregnant again? Is she still carrying some baby weight? Mackynzie is so cute as she babbles. Awwww... all that pumping and little Josie is lactose intolerant!! In 5.5 months, Michelle pumped almost 500 gallons... too bad. That's nice that she could donate it, tho. Josie is looking much better. I gotta wonder, though... could they not have checked for lactose intolerance any earlier??

Teen Mom (S02E03):
Catelynn: Ryan needs to get over his issues with letting go of Carly.
Maci: I don't know what I think about teen mothers in clubs, LoL.
Farrah: I had to walk out of the room when we saw that Sophia had a pedicure on her first birthday... that is just ridiculous. Also, from the clips that they showed, it was totally rude of Farrah's parents to ignore her and only focus on Sophia.
Amber: I am tired of seeing her cry. And she wears too much eye makeup. ANd she sucks at life, so I hope Gary really does leave her for good.

If You Really Knew Me (S01E03): 1300 students in a rural school in Belle, West Virginia. I'm kinda under the impression that the counties in WV are really big, given the info they're saying demographically. Camo is popular, punks wear trendy clothes (and there's only like 10 of them at the school), and there's a clique called "creekers" who hang out by the creeks & are very rednecky. The homecoming queen (pretty and smart) is a hunter. Seems like mostly younger kids they're following here.I forgot about the game where "move x seats to the y if you're wearing z," etc. It amuses me how many kids in this show are upset about their parents being divorced... where I grew up, only the rich kids had both of their parents together. The rest of us all had divorced/remarried folks. I guess that's why I stopped caring two years or so after my parents divorced. How can you believe that someone who always makes jokes about people is just going to stop? That's kinda ridiculous. And a lot of people obviously lied when they said they'd "miss" the mental problem kid... they couldn't all have even known her before this, since she's a freshman, only been there a month, and an "outcast."

I wonder how many students they actually follow, since how can you bank on the fact that the one group you pick end up being interesting?

Wipeout (S03E10): haha, the contestant is going to get a nose job without having a real job, LoL. The big balls moving is hard. The one guy being on the shake-a-lator for like four minutes is crazy, only to fall when he tried to jump anyway! Fluffy Diva was funny, especially since the first thing she's buying is lipo! I think Jill might have meant "Mary Poppins" when she said "Cinderella." The Chewbacca contestant was ridiculous. Frank was crazy good... and a 2:11 time is pretty much unheard of! Nothing too exciting in the two middle rounds. Frank really was a MACHINE tonight! Almost finishing around 3 minutes and then finishing for real with 5:41! (when the next-closest time was over 10 minutes!)

Wednesday:
Hot in Cleveland (S01E08): "Just because I'm chained to the fence doesn't mean I can't bark at the cars," haha. The crashing-funerals-to-meet-men thing was funny, too. I don't really like Joy's hair that long. Both Writers' Strike jokes were great. I guess it's not "too soon" anymore. hahahahaha, Victoria was married to a wide receiver and doesn't know what sport that would be. I hope we keep the running joke of Victoria ordering illegal products, LoL. OMG losing an entire eyebrow is rough!! Why not just draw on an eyebrow... why have a giant bandage? I don't know how I feel about Victoria being a regular drama advisor for a high school, LoL.

Minute to Win It (S02E05): Next contestants: Nathan & Chelsea - a random pairing. Picking up where we left off last time... Another sob story about a dad who wanted to be there and couldn't and then Guy has the dad come on the phone.
Game 4: Play it by Ear: Arrange cans in order by how much money they contain: 5 pennies to 40 pennies. You can shake the cans. I think it sounds pretty difficult. But part of it can be done by weight, I'm sure. We also can't see if he's correct until he's done, which is interesting. They apparently have tabs you can pull up, so to see if he's right is easy at the end. He got it correct.
Game 5: Bouncer: Bounce a ping pong ball into each of 24 cups in 60 seconds. They both work on it together. They're both pretty good at it, although Chelsea did get 3 into a single cup for some reason. It also appears as if each has to do 12 cups - Nathan finished 12 and didn't keep going to help with Chelsea's remaining 3. They finished with 26 seconds left to go.
Game 6: Layin' Track: Lay track of staples, over six erasers, and allow a marble to roll through it and into a glass at the other side. Chelsea plays. Her strategy was to start at the end and work backward. Luckily the table is already tilted, so I'm sure that helps. The first marble got off the track, but she adjusted the track and the second marble worked just fine!
Game 7: Breakfast Scramble: 16-piece puzzle where they work together to finish putting it together in 60 seconds. All of the pieces are the same shape (rectangle). The image is a common one: a Froot Loops box front. They finish with 15 seconds to go.
Game 8: Horseplay: Blow ping pong balls across the table and into horseshoes (angled to make it more difficult). The table is inclined as well. Nathan goes for it, and gets the first one with 33 seconds to go. The second one done with 23 seconds to g and the last one with 13 seconds to go!
Game 9: Uphill Battle: Keep three marbles in motion without knocking them off the table, using a large spoon. The table is inclined, but this looks hard! To keep them going for a whole minute?? Nathan plays, again. He was making it look easy, but at 29 seconds left he lost control. On the second try, Chelsea goes for it, and is pushed to take off her jacket, LoL. She messes up about 33 seconds left. Nathan uses the final life. He starts kinda wild and loses it with 51 seconds left. At least they walked away with $250,000.

Random Millionaire attempt: didn't get it. big surprise, LoL.

Thursday:
Futurama (S06E08): I wish they wouldn't keep showing the newest episode a million times each week. I feel like I randomly catch it like four or five times. "Supy Dupy Poopy Scoopy" was dumb. Amy has been a grad student for 12 years? LOL. The auto-refill cups were awesome. Mars University, haha. Nice of the Professor to give up his labcoat. "Revelant" instead of "relevant." awww, they all denied her doctorate! I don't like Nibbler's "voice." A human puppet maneuvered by a dog and adapted for use by a cat... that's a new one! The cats being responsible for the building of the Egyptian pyramids is funny. "you stole my thesis" "welcome to academia" is very accurate. All of the cats rubbing against the same building to generate an electric charge was also interesting. I miss those toys where you pull the cord and the arrow spins and says some sort of animal sound, hehe.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
Melissa & Joey (starts Aug 17th at 8pm)
Little People, Big World (season 6 starts September 6th)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)
How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)
Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
16 and Pregnant (unknown)
Kate Plus Eight (not sure when season 1 continues)

Kate is on so randomly; Nothing else great

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
Sons of Tucson (S01E12): Cute that Brandon got a job at the same store where Ron works. I love that Gary was a tap and jazz dancer... of course. And the candy concoction they created to get Robbie out of the closet was hilarious. Why not just cut her hair and get a wig?? I have come to enjoy the shots of urban Tucson + wild Arizona. It was kinda funny that Ron didn't pick up on what the girl's mom wanted him to do... poisoning the other little girl with the wheat she's allergic to. I would've thought he'd be so on top of that! At the same time, I just couldn't believe that Ron pulled Robbie out of the competition seconds before he was supposed to go on... but the little girl confused me even more by pulling out next! Poor Gary of course jumped in, then did a solo, and lastly got hurt... and Ron jumped in and tried to make Gary's fall look like it was part of the routine.

Kate Plus Eight (S01Exx): not this week. not sure what this random show is doing.

Monday:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E08): I like the scheme to use John to get Amy on the phone, haha. Um, $1,000 on dinner? no. hahaha, "best friends don't have to speak to one another" lololol. I'm not in to PDA Lauren. And Jack calling Madison "Maddy" isn't going to work for me. Stupid marketing. I'm so sad that George is laying out all of that money and Anne's gonna cancel!! Adrian's doctor is UGLY... why is she hitting on him?? Wait, a mother-son practice?? What is Ben's deal with not wanting a male doctor?? I didn't like Grace's dress in the guesthouse... so 1995. annoying "cool move" junk. Why did Ricky decide to try to help his mother? And he did conjure up some emotion for his talk with Reuben. This episode is kinda boring. The ad placement still bothers me. At least SOMEONE used the room. George should take photos and video for Anne, at least. AWKWARD conversation between Amy and Adrian.

Cake Boss (S03E11): SUPER-weird sunglasses on the 80s rockergirl. Little Ferry looks like a cute town. They just had the baseball stuff with them randomly?? I think it's funny he's making the cake for the event where he's being presented the key to the city. They 80s costume thing wasn't the best. hahaha, Buddy lives at Mariana & Redneck? Funny intersection.

Huge (S01E05): hahaha "kissing of the prolonged nature" is not allowed. Just because George didn't ask for it back doesn't mean Amber gets to keep the hoodie, LoL. It's always intriguing to me when the ugliest girl in the group is the one who has had sex, LoL. Alistair reading a book while pretending to play ping-pong was funny. I think it's hilarious that the Director went to read the magazine about decoding men's signals, LoL. Wait, Alistair KNITS, too?? Cool that they showed the one kid checking his blood sugar but not making a big charade about it. Were Will's streaks always blue? I thought they were purple for some reason. I thought it was so funny that Ian asked Will if there was anyone that she wanted to sit with at the movie. But I'm glad that she forgave him over the journal thing. I'm over Amber... she doesn't know where to sit when there's like 4 guys who want to sit with her. I never would've guessed it was Chloe who was the one caught in the sleeping bad last year. Oh for crying out loud, let's drop the Director's love life!! I like that Poppy is getting a larger role, hope that continues. Amber sleeps funny.

Tuesday:
Teen Mom (S02E02):
Catelynn: Why start telling the truth from 3 years ago now?? That's ancient history! but, she totally did talk to that guy... but Ryan read her messages, which I also have a problem with. Interesting how she just opened up to her mom so easily after all that time not living there... She can talk REALLY fast!! Ryan took her back anyway... dummy. Even after he said he wasn't going to.
Maci: I think her friend is more hesitant than she seems to possibly live with Maci and Bentley.
Farrah: interesting that 19 is the age you can sign a lease there. 19 is kinda random. I can't believe that she didn't know how to write a check.
Amber: It looks like she's lost some weight. It still makes me so sad when they yell in front of their daughter. They are showing a lot of advertisement for the locations they go to. 1 day of being broken up sounds ridiculous. Interesting that we saw Gary's date with another girl... I do think it's interesting that he's dating a different girl with a baby though, LoL. I wonder when this was filmed.. it's snowing there.

If You Really Knew Me (S01E02): Toledo. Middle-class. About 1400 kids, mostly White. Weird that she realizes that she's mean but doesn't mind. Cool, a kid who's into blacksmithing! When the kids say what they expect, how do they have any ideas?? Why do they jump to "hug and cry" ?? The ComfortZone square was a good analogy. Cheerleader got old fast. I wonder how they create the groups... try and put kids together who know very little of one another? That's very different from when I've done these types of activities. The apology thing was crap. Whatever. I hate when youngins go for coffee... seriously.

The tattoo commercial was really well-done. I thought it was pretty powerful.

Wipeout (S03Exx): repeat this week.

Wednesday:
Hot in Cleveland (S01E07): "nice girls keep their cookies in a jar" hehe. "frowny faces with the angry eyes" LOVE it! All of the Melanie crap was annoying. The end bit with Elka catching the ring was great.

Minute to Win It (S02E04): Juliana and Haley, sorority sisters from the University of Arizona. Haley's younger sister got annoying fast, and I didn't like Juliana's parents. I also hated their dumb "poll the audience" crap. And the dumb rhyming system that Guy is using to say more creative things than "stay and play or take the money and run." And they're promoting people to download their "get up" song, so hopefully that means they'll lose it soon and move on to something new to market, haha.
Game 1: Hoop de Loop: Roll hula hoops across the stage to get a bottle to be in the middle when the hoop falls over. Do it 3 times in a minute. It doesn't take too long and she succeeds.
Game 2: High as a Kite: kite attached to a hat, run to keep it in the air for a minute. Kinda seems really boring to me. She runs really funny, too.
Game 3: Well Done: Get golf balls to land in four holes in the lid of a grill. She gets it with 25 seconds to go.
Game 4: Whipper Snapper: Launch 2 ping pong balls into an innertube 15 feet away, using a beach towel that is attached to the floor at one end. They both play, with different set-ups but the same tube. They only got one in on their first go-round. At least they only lose one life, LoL. On their second attempt, they lose again, only getting one in. They get it with 20 seconds to spare on the third try.
Game 5: Spare Me: Drop marbles into a pool noodle so it falls down and knocks over a piece of chalk. Both try and they have to get 5 pieces of chalk knocked down. They manage.
Game 6: Beach Tennis: Use flippers to volley a ping pong ball back and forth and into a cooler within 60 seconds. The cooler is probably like 15 feet away I guess. You have to do it twice. They try several times and aren't bad at it, but they get rushed in places and also have trouble actually getting it into the cooler. The first one was clear, but the second one looks questionable, and the judges decide that Haley cheated by a double-bounce and let it roll off her flipper into the cooler.

Next contestants: Nathan & Chelsea - a random pairing.
Game 1: Tilt-a-Cup: Catch a bouncing ping pong ball in a cup, put another cup on top, catch another, etc. etc. until you have 6 cups with ping pong balls in them. Be careful, since the stack starts moving like crazy. Chelsea tries, and gets it without much hassle.
Game 2: Glass Road Trucker: Line up 8 bottles upside down, then put a glass upside-down at the end and put a shotglass on top and blow a ping-pong ball across the bottles to land in the shotglass. Chelsea goes for it again, and gets it pretty quickly.
Game 3: Ruler of the World: Roll a marble down a yardstick and into the hole at the end. You can only hold the yardstick with one hand. Nathan plays, and got it with 13 seconds to go.
Game 4: Next time.

The Random Million Dollar Player was really good tonight - she got quite a few close ones, but no winner this time.

Newsflash: the prizes jump from $10,000 to $50,000... I just noticed this and think that's a problem. Why not have an intermediary in there??

Thursday:
Futurama (S06E07): "time? I can't go back there" lmao. haha on the song and the idea that you have to keep going forward til someone comes up with a machine to go backward in time. LOVE the giraffe with three ruffs. The stalagmite thing was cool. Neat watching the guys watching time keep on going as planets blew up and stuff. Cyclical time... go figure. The fact that they messed it up again pissed me off. Oh man... hitting Eleanor Roosevelt instead of Hitler is a problem, LoL. The end where Bender is buying the bodies that they landed on was funny.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
19 Kids and Counting (Season 5 starts August 3rd at 9pm)
Melissa & Joey (starts Aug 17th at 8pm)
Little People, Big World (season 6 starts September 6th)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)
How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)
Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
16 and Pregnant (unknown)

Teen Mom is Back; If You Really Knew Me Started

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Dayless: this is a new category because of the way Degrassi: The Next Generation is running. They're playing it new episodes M-R and then an encore of the week on Fridays. I used to be a really big fan of this show, but it's been a while, as I lost some interest when the original core group went off to college, LoL. Anyway, I watched the movie to open the season, where some of the kids go to NYC, and others go crazy. I was surprised that Emma & Spinner got married... totally didn't see that coming. As much as I try to like Holly J., it's just not going to happen. I also just went to read about the season online, and found that all my old faves are recurring or gone completely... none are main characters anymore. So, although I watched the Degrassi Takes Manhattan movie, I have decided that I won't continue with the series this season. Too bad, it used to be sooo good.

Sunday:

Sons of Tucson (S01E11): Ron has used the calendar before, so either we're running these out-of-written-order, or the writers don't care about simple continuity. I love that he went through and analyzed music to decide what the top 40 words and phrases are instead of just finding this on the internet, LoL. Robbie driving was funny/scary.

Kate Plus Eight (S01Exx): not this week.

Monday:

The Secret Life of the American Teenager (S03E07): Ashley is so boring, I hated her early convo with Ricky over their attraction to one another. The chair thing was weird, especially suggested by Grace. Ricky's mom is annoying. again. Ben's dad has a JET?!? I mean, the guy is rich and important, but why would he need a jet?? Ricky's mom staying over and borrowing Ricky's car was awkward. I love how Lauren gets mad at Madison, calls for Jesse, and he comes running. hahahahaha. The crowd "oohing" at Adrian's announcement was dumb. Too bad for Tom, but at least Grace's mom knows about Jack living there. Ricky's final reaction to his mom going to jail again was surprising. Ashley and Anne's conversation was exceedingly boring. Great acting by Amy and Ben in the final scene. I was surprised that the cab just kinda sat there after it dropped off Amy, LoL. Lastly, regarding the scenes-from-the-next, Ricky goes to NY?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!???!

Cake Boss (S03E10): WOW! They have a cupcake-pan-filling machine!! Nobody seemed excited to skip out on the cannolis in favor of cupcakes (1,000 each of chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet). um, wait. There are PROFESSIONAL paintball players??!?? At least it's dying down, there USED to be 3-4 professional leagues, LoL. I was really curious as to what he was going to design, and the rendering only half-convinced me it would be cool, LoL. wait wait wait... INDOOR paintball?? This just keeps getting more and more amusing. I love that they called the bakers "doughboys" haha. I love that the new guy is still wearing a vest and tie to work. in a bakery. hahaha. Frost TEN cupcakes in ONE minute?? I take more than a minute PER cupcake, LoL (a big reason I don't really do cupcakes like I do real cakes, LoL). Dang, and he pulls it out in 53 seconds??!? I thought that the artichoke joke was funny. I liked that we went over how not even Buddy is perfect. The prank scene made me laugh. Between the camouflage and the waterguns there was a ton of painting that went into this cake. The cupcake thing looked successful, but how can they just CANCEL cannolis?

Huge (S01E04): Poppy might be arts & crafts? I don't know why we're continuing this property line argument. At first I couldn't believe that Becca read Will's journal... then I decided to admit I would've, too. That "Love Handles" show that they were watching looked ridiculous. Seeing the director at the meeting was semi-interesting. I was surprised that Poppy didn't follow through with Sierra to make sure that she was able to find a group for the talent show. Amber's hair looked pretty bad at the talent show. Why would the surveyor stick around for the talent show?? Nevermind, Poppy did something WITH Sierra, LoL. I cracked up laughing when Becca went out for "Baby Got Back" because of that lie she told Shea, haha. I wonder what her original plan was, since she was backstage, after all... I liked Alistair's jokes after his magic didn't pan out, haha. I really liked Ian's song... I'd probably buy the mp3 if it were real, LoL. Why was Chloe so easy to make-up with Amber after she stood her up?? Oh. She made out with a boy and wanted to gossip about it. hahaha. Will is being pretty mean to Ian. Can we get a new girl for that empty bunk?? I want another crazy storyline for the new kid, haha.

Tuesday:

Teen Mom (S02E01): I LOVE that Farrah called the cops on her mom, ahaha. That gigantic house and they have a house ACROSS THE STREET, too??

Why would Tyler say that he doesn't think they're ready to be engaged AFTER he proposed??!? I don't see why Catelynn had to move in like 24 hours... why not give her a couple days at least??

Maci and Ryan... the child support storyline is intriguing.

I like Amber's new hair. Why would she go to the doctor for a pregnancy test instead of buying one? It can't possibly be cheaper, LoL.

The upcoming scenes look like there's going to be a lot of interesting drama coming up this season! We still don't have an answer as to whether the second season of 16 and Pregnant will follow those teen moms in another version of Teen Mom or what.

If You Really Knew Me (S01E01): this is a new show that I didn't hear about until the last minute, but the premise was to break boundaries of high school cliques, so that piques my interest. I would have liked to have some demographics for the school... number of students, geographical location, etc. Okay, eventually we got some info: Freedom High School in Oakley, xx. 2400 students. Respect is the goal. I wonder how they broke down the kids because they can't all be in the same room at once, LoL. Actually, I just looked it up... they do 100 kids in a six-hour session for $3200 (before travel costs & etc.), so I sincerely doubt they actually had all 2400 kids participate. So now I wonder how the school chooses who will participate in this, and id having such a small amount of kids (only like 4% at this school) doing it will help make a difference in the long run. The "I don't actually like football" comment was interesting. That "Power Shuffle" game is old-hat to me. I learned it as "Cross the Line" and it's incredibly powerful, to the point where I actually kept something to myself, and I usually have no problem sharing anything if you just ask me. Intriguing that they didn't show those who identify as or know someone who identifies as LBGTQ (et al). There are definitely some hesitaters in this game, since there were some people who didn't even start to cross on ones like "has anyone ever been scared or lonely" until they realized that EVERYONE ELSE is, too. Roman and his dad were a little awkward, to me anyway. But maybe that's because I can't comprehend that idea of being friends with your parents. I never could've understood that, at any stage in my life, but that's beside the point. I was REALLY hard-pressed to believe that these kids actually went and hung out with new people. Although, I guess, similarly, it made me think about how much easier it made it to talk to people in college. The end was a little too The Breakfast Club for me.

up next: a school that is really suffering from cyber-bullying. My big question is wondering who their target audience is... running the show at 11pm??

Wipeout (S03E08 & S03E09): the diving boards proved to be an interesting obstacle. It was funny that so many people ended up in the middle on the second round. This is a really boring show today... no fantastically interesting contestants, no remarkable wipeouts... I don't really understand why RepoMan failed the sini-stairs his final try. CrazyCuban is really bad at the gauntlet, which is a shame when he lost 5+ minutes there.

Thursday's episode had some spinning hoops and the trampoline sweeper, so that was a little nice since they're not the norm. I also always love the trapeze bar. Again, wasn't too impressed with the middle two games, although there were some impressive wipeouts in the Wipeout Zone tonight. The first girl to do the final course was slow, but the next guy totally kept missing his exit from the spincycle, and gave up only about 5 minutes in. "thousands of gallons of foam??" sounds kinda high... The last girl landed HORRIBLY from the catapult.

Wednesday:

Hot in Cleveland (S01E06): Melanie's parents sound crazy overprotective! The mirrored surface joke was nice for the narcissist father. The viral joke was nice, too. LOVED the bedazzled comment. The "free hamburger night" weirded me out. How large is this house that both guests can stay in their own rooms

Minute to Win It (S02E03): continuation of Kim & Aaron.

Game 9: Extreme Nutstacker: stack the hex nuts from a chopstick so they're 10 nuts high and stay for 3+ seconds. The new trick is that instead of doing it on a table, you're doing it on a board that you're holding. She goes first, fails with 10 seconds to go on her 9th nut. He tries second, and talks to himself like a jerk. He gets them all there but they only stay for 2 seconds before toppling. He tries their third time, and he gets it. They're really excited, and they should be, since nobody has ever won game 9 before.

They decide not to go for Game 10, and just walk. They're also pretty much the first people to walk, too. Of course, the gap between 500k and 250k is much higher than some of the only fallbacks, LoL. I did, however, think asking the parents and the parents' subsequent responses was/were boring/dumb.

And now we're doing a random match-up. The girl is like 40 and in a ton of debt, and I kinda hated her stupid background story. The guy is a college graduate who looks like a fun-loving guy. I'm really not a fan of the current "you did it" song they're playing. I am also really starting to hate how they bring in family members. AGAIN with the phone call, it had Kyle ALL worked up and upset... how's he supposed to perform to the best of his ability after that??!?
Game 1: Octopus: Get 3 out of 12 pulls of a streamer from under an inverted bottle. He gets it.
Game 2: Whipper Snapper: Launch a ping pong ball 15 feet into a bucket using a towel that is taped to the floor on one end. She goes for it, and at 30 seconds he starts looking really worried.
Game 3: By a Thread: 10 eyelets, graduated in size, are in needles. Thread all of them with a single piece of thread, largest eye to smallest. She pretty much demands it, and kicks the challenge's butt, doing it in about 40 seconds.
Game 4: Spoon Frog: Use a teaspoon to flip a teaspoon into a cup. Get it three times, unlimited tries. He fails, not able to get the third in time. She seems concerned to let him try again, but he does. This time, he gets the first two really quickly and nails the third with like 33 seconds left.
Game 5: Sticker Picker Upper: Roll an egg around a platter to collect three stickers... don't let the egg roll off. And you can only hold the platter with one hand. He goes for it. He gets it with some time left.
Game 6: Raisin the Bar: Flick the raisin boxes out from under the soda bottles. You have to get 4 out of 10. She runs out of tries to get her final one, after getting the very first! He rushes in to go for it, and saves the day.
Game 7: Propeller Head: Launch propellers to get them to land in a box 15 feet away. You have a ton of them to work with. He goes for it (... again. I'm tired of him taking over at this point). He gets it in the first 7-8 seconds. Of course.
And, he even dominates in the end, when he exclaims that they walk at $125,000. She seemed a little hesitant, but didn't seem to want to argue the point on television. Whatever.

Newsflash: all competitors attend a Minute to Win It training camp. Also, I'm starting to wonder why we're doing all these couples' episodes... I think they want a lot of contestants, but don't want to give away a lot of money... so they pair them up and they have to share the prize, LoL. Also, I had been wondering, we found out that you can go a maximum of three times in a row before the other player HAS TO go. Lastly, it seems that next week we're getting a bunch of new, summer-themed games. Wonder how that'll go...

Thursday:

Futurama (S06E06): haha, I haven't seen a war reenactment in a while. and "good war" had me cracking up. also liked the "only gone in an hour, but you need to file, so let's go over alphabetical order" and Hermes starts singing the "ABC Song."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:
19 Kids and Counting (Season 5 starts August 10th at 9pm)
Melissa & Joey (starts Aug 17th at 8pm)
Little People, Big World (season 6 starts September 6th)
House, M.D. (season 7 starts September 20th)

How I Met Your Mother (season 6 starts September 20th)
The Simpsons (season 22 starts September 26th)
Family Guy (season 9 starts September 26th)

Mr. Sunshine (new show, starts in the Fall on ABC)
South Park (have not yet heard, but I assume October or so)
Table for 12: (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")

16 and Pregnant (unknown)