Amazing Race: Seriously, You Thought That Was A Good Idea?

Reminiscent of the same episode last season (with the volleyball sisters), one team did something so stupid on last night's episode of Amazing Race that I cannot believe they actually thought it would be a good idea. The team of Flight Time and Big Easy--the Harlem Globetrotters--decided to incur a 4-hours penalty when Big Easy found it difficult to complete the very first task. The task: take five letters attained via voice automation and re-arrange them into a Czech(?) word. Sounds easy enough right? Not so for Big Easy. Granted, there are many possible combinations (five raised to the fifth power) so yes, this could be a time-consuming task but it is Amazing Race so the motto work smarter, not harder applies. If it doesn't sound like it could be a word, it probably isn't. But, Big Easy is not exactly the brains of the pair. After watching the three teams who would move on to the final leg complete the task (including the couple who first had to tackle a speed bump), Big Easy thought it would be wiser to incur a penalty rather than struggle further (keep in mind, another team gave him the first letter so he had a slight advantage). Boy was he wrong! While they waited out their four hours, the other teams completed their two remaining tasks. Note to Big Easy, exercising a little brain matter and trusting in your abilities yields surprising results. And, when you're down to the last leg before the finals on Amazing Race and don't know what's waiting around the corner, you're best bet is to keep racing. Four hours is too much time to sit on the sideline, especially at the start of a leg.

Weekend Update: Next Day Air, The Amazing Race, The View

Next Day Air premiered in theaters this weekend and although I didn’t see it (not yet), I really wanted to. The kicker is that very few people seem to want to (It ranked #6 on the weekend box office chart with crap like Ghosts of Girlfriends Past placing ahead of it). This is one of those ‘hood’ movies that do not command the respect of a major Hollywood blockbuster. Without seeing the results, I could have bet that a lot of people chose to see Star Trek instead but this movie looks so funny (see the trailer for yourself). And with a cast like Wood Harris, Mike Epps, and Donald Faison (Turk from ‘Scrubs’) it practically guarantees laughs. This reviewer compared it to Friday and gave it a mixed review but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen a ‘hood’ movie and I could definitely use some of their brand of humor right about now.

The season finale for The Amazing Race aired last night on CBS and although I find all the contestants to be amazingly annoying, I’d come too far not to watch one more time. The final three teams included Victor and Tammy, Margie and Luke, Cara and Jaime. Margie and Luke were ahead going into the final challenge but alas they completely crashed and burned when Luke’s memory failed him. One small hiccup and frustration completely got the best of him. I don’t usually gloat at other’s misfortune but a part of me was somewhat mollified by the fact that they were the last to check in at the final pit stop. Of the three remaining teams, they were by the far the most annoying. NB: you can watch entire episodes of the show on cbs.com – no need to wait for a repeat on the travel channel.

The View photos coming soon…They’ve been transferred to my laptop so I just need to upload them here. It’s surprising more complicated than it sounds. FYI, Steve Harvey is the guest today.

Amazing Race: Three Days Later and I’m Still Annoyed at Jen

I have been watching The Amazing Race for quite a few seasons now and this is the first time I can truly remember being annoyed at a contestant. Sisters, Jen and Kisha, have made questionable decisions throughout the entire race for which they probably should have been eliminated before now, but Jen deciding to stop for a bathroom break before checking in was beyond ridiculous. This was no typical check-in. Had they raced directly to the pit stop, the sisters would have been one of three teams competing on one last leg for a million dollars. Instead, they stopped so that Jen could pee thereby allowing another team to narrowly sail ahead of them and lock them out of the final (they'll have you believe that they lost for another reason but we know the truth). Really, what were they thinking? Ok, I understand that her bladder was full and she really had to go but considering their purpose for being in the race couldn’t she hold it for one more minute? And, her bladder would not have been so full had she not torn the Chinese delicacies (scorpions, grasshoppers, starfish etc.) into bite size pieces and chased each bite with water. Everyone knows that the trick to eating unpleasant things is to wolf them down without tasting them. The cheerleaders got it so in this, they bested the athletes. Sadly, it’s been obvious from the beginning that strategizing was not Kisha and Jen’s strong suit but this seemed a pretty straightforward decision: pee or race for the finish. I know what I would have done.