Week of September 26, 2003
Missed your favorite shows? No problem. Primetime updated gives you the rundown on what happened on TV this week.
Friends: SEASON PREMIERE
Last season, we left off in Barbados with Mike and Phoebe back together, Ross and Charlie as well as Joey and Rachel hooking up, and Monica and Chandler battling a hair explosion. This week, we pick back up in Barbados, actually, on the way home. Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe are eavesdropping on the two mismatched couples.
Ross and Charlie, call off their “escapade” until Ross can ask for Joey’s permission. On the other side of the wall, Joey and Rachel contemplate the idea of talking to Ross about their future; however, make the final decision to forget him, which leads to a comedic hallucination scene where Rachel envisions herself kissing Ross but tries her best to ignore it, until finally Joey too is “kissing Ross” and the two part company.
Monica has, since arriving in Barbados, been the target of many hair jokes, and, finally fed up with her gigantic afro, gets her hair braided into corn rows, complete with shellfish beads. The group’s reaction to this travesty of a hairstyle is far from approval.
Upon boarding the plane, Joey and Ross, switch seats so that each can sit beside his “secret lover,” although neither of them knows what’s going on behind the scenes. In the midst of the plane ride, Joey and Ross have the chance to discuss the potential of Ross and Charlie’s romance, and Joey gives the OK for Ross to pursue.
When we get back to New York, Mike reveals to Phoebe that while they were broken up, he’d been seeing someone else, who he has a date with that evening. Phoebe agrees that Mike should go, to break up with her; however, while Mike’s at the restaurant, he “girlfriend” makes her appearance to Phoebe, at Mike’s apartment. Since the girl refuses to leave until knowledge is granted, Phoebe takes the initiative to break up with her for Mike.
Remember Emma? Well, as Rachel’s brings Emma back to Ross’s apartment there is another attempt to spark a conversation about her newfound admiration of Joey, however, Ross becomes easily preoccupied with a shampoo bottle explosion, and Rachel leaves.
Back at the Bing’s apartment, Monica has managed to get her braids stuck to the shower curtain. Chandler bribes her with freedom, so long as she gets the braids taken out. We leave the episode with Rachel and Joey’s decision to talk to Ross together, the following day; however he walks in on their “goodnight kiss,” as the credits roll.
Friends airs on Thursdays at 8:00pm Alberta Time, on Global (channel 7 in Calgary)
Survivor: Pearl Islands 2nd Episode
We left our pirating adventure with Drake in the lead and Morgan down a member with Nicole gone. Well this week, not much changed. Both teams were suffering from the cold nights and sleep deprivation. On Drake, our very own “Blackbeard,” (Rupert) merely laughed at the situation, scoffing that “People are having a hard time in Paradise!”
The Morgan tribe, as they didn’t buy any fishing equipment, was hungry, cold, and demoralized. They seemed to take their frustrations out on Ryan Shoulders, by referring to him as “Skinny Ryan,” and by overly exaggerating the idea that he physically has nothing to offer. From my perspective, Ryan is one of the most motivated members of the Morgan tribe.
This episode hurled right into a reward challenge which consisted of underwater treasure retrieval. First, all members of the tribe had to swim down, find a treasure, place it in the underwater treasure chest, and swim back to shore. After 5 items had been placed into the large, heavy, wooden chest, all members had to work together to bring the chest to shore. The winning tribe would receive a shovel as well as map of their island, for the purpose of retrieving clues and ultimately their own, hopefully useful and valuable treasure, as well as the ability to send one of their members to the opposing tribe’s island to loot one, and only one, item. Can you guess who won? Drake. They got an early lead since skinny Ryan from Morgan couldn’t dive down deep enough. At the end of the challenge, the producers decided to show a clip of this pathetic young man with a large strand of mucus dripping from his face. It was a nice touch.
Since their arrival time was too late in the day, and something else about the tide, Drake put off their treasure search, but took advantage of their opportunity to steal an item from the other tribe. After a debate as to whether to take a tarp for themselves, or hurt the other team by taking their water jug (which Rupert is opposed to) Sandra (the Spanish diva) is sent over. After perusing for quite some time, Sandra realizes that Morgan doesn’t have much to begin with (not even the aforementioned water jug), and decides to take their tarp. However, in order to do so she must disassemble Morgan’s entire shelter, which the present teammates give her no assistance in doing. Their resentment becomes quite apparent when one of the Morgan member’s call Sandra a “bitch”, though I believe she was perfectly civilized about her task.
The immunity challenge brought more negatives for Morgan. The task was to retrieve three “prisoners” from the other team’s ropes, untie a cylinder with engraved coordinates, use the ropes to locate those coordinates from the points of on octagon, , and then dig up and raise the tribe’s flag. Morgan initially took the lead by untying their prisoners the fastest, but fell behind when the cylinder wouldn’t open. Drake’s success again meant great losses for Morgan.
With tribal council soon approaching, our barely-clothed friend Osten began to have very negative feelings about the experience, claiming that the damage to his body isn’t worth it and “it doesn’t matter who you are, you have no control over your body.” I, as well as his own tribe mates, find it amusing to contrast his comments with scense of his athletic body running along the beach. Osten makes this plea to skinny Ryan, who agrees to cast his vote for Osten.
At tribal council, the team admits that they have some problems and must straighten out their priorities before they can advance in the game. However, the leader, Andrew, puts emphasis on “tomorrow,” for all these changes. Since it’s already 6 days into the game, it makes a person wonder how many “tomorrows” there will be.
Even though the statements made leave open the possibility of either skinny Ryan or Osten’s extinguishing their torch, I had it in my mind that willpower should and would exceed physical strength. However, now looking back now, if the tribe really wants to further themselves in the game, and survive beyond any mergers, the physically strength is a necessity. And so the decision was 5:2, with only Lilly and Skinny Ryan voting for Osten, Ryan Shoulders, the 23 year old produce clerk was voted out.
The preview for next week foreshadows and argument between Spanish diva Sandra, and Jon the 29 year old art consultant (including some cuss words!) as well as clip of Drake’s search for treasure, and a serious discussion of Osten’s position as a sell-out.
Survivor airs on Thursdays at 9:00pm Alberta time on Global (channel 7 in Calgary)
The Bachelor: Season Premiere
First it was Alex, then Trista, then Aaron and Andrew, now it’s Bob Guiney, the funny man that appeared on three episodes of “The Bachelorette” and who still remains popular with the public. He’s described as humorous and a joker, who doesn’t possess the money, good looks, or charm of the preceding bachelor, although he’s got incredible charisma and was chosen as this seasons’ Bachelor by viewer demand. The extensive update on Bob included the following information:
Bob comes from a small family of four – mom, dad, and sister – to whom his is very close. While in high school and college, Bob was quite athletic (captain of the football team) and also was president of his graduating class. However, a football injury that resulted in knee surgery sprung Bob into a marriage as well as a business, financing mortgages, and he was also in a band. However the business outweighed his marriage, and Bob was divorced. When he appeared on The Bachelorette, Bob was at the height of a drastic weight increase, and has recently lost 30 lbs. He looks great, and seems excited to pursue this new adventure.
Okay, now for the girls on the show. This was about where I stopped watching due to some incredible comments made by one of the shows’ producers. A lot of the women seemed to be quite successful in many areas; one was even a member of the fire department. However, the aforementioned astonishing comment consisted of what the selection criteria comprised. “Most importantly, they have to look good in the hot tub.” At this point, the show began showing clips of all the girls in the hot tub and on the pool deck, in bikinis, being lathered by lotions and oils. I almost lost my dinner and had to turn off the TV. Maybe next week, it’ll be a better, more all encompassing show.
If you’re not familiar with the show, the progress will be as follows: In an effort to find a bride, Bob Guiney searches for his dream girl, as he is introduced to 25 single women. On the first episode, Bob will narrow it down to 15 women. On the second episode, he will take five women at a time on three different dates. Then, he will choose to keep eight. After introducing the women to two of his friends, they help him narrow the field to four. Then, with the remaining four, he will meet their families and they met his. Finally, Bob will narrow it to three, and he will go on a fantasy date with each. For the last show, there were only two remaining, and he will select THE ONE
The Bachelor airs Wednesdays at 9:00pm (E/P)
If there are any other shows you want updates on, or any comments in response to my comments, please email me at abaldwin@shaw.ca and I’ll see what if I’m interested or if I can clarify my opinions!