TAR 12: Episode 8

It was a dark day for The Amazing Race's resident goths, as Kynt & Vyxsin were eliminated -- thanks largely to a poor use of the right strategy.

The couple entered this leg with a disadvantage looming. At some point, they'd have to complete an additional task (called a Speed Bump), as a penalty for finishing last on the previous, non-elimination episode.

But things started off well, as Kynt & Vyxsin wound up alone on the first flight to arrive in Mumbai, India from Florence, Italy. However, all five of the remaining teams bunched up when they had to wait overnight to retrieve the next clue from a newsstand.

The newsstand clue directed most of the teams to their Detour clue. But when Kynt & Vyxsin arrived there, they had an additional cluebox waiting: the Speed Bump. The goths had to learn and execute a number of progressively more difficult yoga moves before they could move on.

They finished that task quickly, so quickly in fact that they reached the a flower-stringing Detour to find Nate & Jen bickering their way through the task.

By that time, TK & Rachel (but mostly Rachel) had already finished stringing flowers and had moved on to find their next clue. And elsewhere, Nick & Don beat Ronald & Christina at the other Detour task: properly pasting a large, 6-panel movie poster onto a wall. The detail oriented task brought out the worst in Ron -- who whined at his daughter and the task's judge -- and it was up to Christina to finish the task by herself.

Nate & Jen finished stringing flowers moments before Kynt & Vyxsin, but the goths were able to reach the next clue box first. There they found an unused U-Turn, which was their best chance to make sure they stayed in the game. The U-Turn allows one couple to force another couple (who must be behind them at this point) to go back and complete the Detour they chose not to do.

At this point, Kynt & Vyxsin correctly deduced that using the U-Turn could be essential to keeping them in the race. Standing on the U-Turn mat, Vyxsin said, "Well, we don't know who's behind us, except maybe Nate & Jen are behind us. We could try to U-Turn them in case they're behind us."

It was the right plan. Even if they couldn't be sure that Nate & Jen were behind them (and they were), that was the only other team the goths had seen since their Speed Bump.

But then Kynt made a fatal, faulty assumption: "But we could U-Turn somebody and make sure we sink 'em. Someone we know is behind us, like Gramps [Don] & Nick."

Unfortunately, Don & Nick were well ahead of the goths by this point. In fact TK & Rachel, Nick & Don, and Ron & Christina were all at (or on their way to) the Pit Stop by this time.

But Vyxsin didn't fight Kynt as he stuck Nick & Don's picture to the U-Turn sign, effectively sealing their doom. Nate and Jen soon arrived at the U-Turn clue, and were then off to the Roadblock.

It was neck and neck as Kynt and Jen completed the Roadblock for their respective teams. And it seemed as though the goths might have a chance when Jen delivered propane tanks to her second apartment, only to realize that she hadn't gotten a receipt from her first delivery.

But then Kynt left receipts behind at both delivery locations, and, despite Jen's near hysterics in the taxi on the way to the Pit Stop, there was no doubt that the goths were out.

At the Pit Stop, Phil Keoghan paid Kynt & Vyxsin a compliment that appeared to soften their elimination somewhat: "I would have to give you the award for the most fashionable couple ever on The Amazing Race." Kynt looked overjoyed as he high-fived Vyxsin and said, "See, we won something!"

With my favorite team now gone, I'm getting a bad feeling about the rest of the season. It's sad to see Ronald revert back to demeaning his daughter, Christina, and it makes them hard to watch. And, in the preview for next week's episode, Don looks like he's having trouble coping with the physical demands of the race, making the other underdog team a long shot to win.

TK & Rachel's strong performance this week makes me fear that they could be this season's ultimate winners, and I would hate that. TK's laid-back hippie exterior masks an intense and totally un-fun core, and I'd rather not hear him give a b.s. victory speech about how they won by keeping things mellow and staying relaxed.

My last, best hope for a satisfying conclusion to the season lies on the unstable shoulders of Nate & Jen. Their hyperbolic expressions of hatred for one another are things of beauty, especially since the negative feelings seem to disappear as soon as the couple has a chance to calm down.

I like Nate & Jen because I don't believe that they mean what they say when they get stressed and become bickering idiots, so it's easy to laugh them off. TK has been subtly mean to Rachel on a few occasions, and I believe that he meant every word of it. For that reason alone, I'd rather see Nate & Jen take home the $1 million.

TAR 12: Episode 7

Just about everything went wrong for TK & Rachel on this leg of The Amazing Race, but they still managed to avoid finishing last. It may not have mattered much, anyway, since this week's episode was a non-elimination leg.

Teams left Croatia for Ancona, Italy, where they had two choices as to how to drive to the town of Empoli: via Rome or through Firenze.

Nick & Don, Ron & Christina, and Kynt & Vyxsin took the latter route. When the three teams reached the highway exit for Firenze, they found the road blocked for construction, forcing them to either take a circuitous detour or wait for the road to open in the morning.

Jen & Nate had taken the alternate route through Rome, and they got to the next clue several hours before 7am, when the next location opened up for the day. TK & Rachel would've been right behind them, had they not had to double back after leaving their clue at a cafe.

But the hippies made it to Empoli just before the grounds opened up. The two lead teams ignored the Fast Forward (the only one on the race) and set out to complete the Roadblock: flying in an ultralight to look for the location of their next clue written somewhere in a field.

Nick & Don just as Nate and TK were taking to the air. The grandfather & grandson decided to complete the Fast Forward, and they drove to a nearby town to get tattooed with the initials FF on their arms, before heading to the leg's Pit Stop.

Nick & Don showed their inked guns to Phil Keoghan at the Boboli Gardens Pit Stop in Florence. For finishing in first place, they won a vacation to a spa in Cancun. Romantic!

Meanwhile, Nate soon succeeded in finding the name of the town where their next clue was: Vinci. TK returned after 30 minutes to refuel, then headed back up into the air as Ron & Christina arrived. Christina found the clue quickly, as TK failed and had to refuel again.

Even Vyxsin, who'd gotten herself and Kynt lost for hours before arriving at the airfield, was able to find the word "Vinci" in the field before TK did -- but only by a few minutes.

In Vinci, teams had the Detour options of recreating a crane designed by Leonardo da Vinci or learning a traditional flag waving/tossing routine. Jen & Nate went for the flags, and they were able to complete it relatively easily. The dating duo finished in second place, followed by Ron & Christina, who'd also chosen the flags.

In Vinci, Kynt & Vyxsin got lost again. Kynt tried to take control of the situation by taking over driving duties, even though Vyxsin had more experience driving a manual transmission car. Consequently, Kynt wore out the clutch, and the goths had to run to the site of the flag Detour, while a new car was brought to replace their broken one.

This gave TK & Rachel enough time to catch up. The hippies chose to build the crane, and they finished before the goths had even arrived at the flag Detour. Despite getting a flat tire on the way to the Pit Stop, TK & Rachel finished in fourth.

Kynt & Vyxsin reached the Pit Stop and learned that this was one of two non-elimination legs on the race -- meaning Nick & Don tattoos gave them a temporary lead and a trip to Cancun, but little else (like, say, another team getting eliminated) in the grand scheme of the Race.

At some point during the next leg of the race, Kynt & Vyxsin will encounter a Speed Bump, which is a task only they will have to complete, in addition to any Detours and Roadblocks. The Speed Bump could cost them enough time to knock them out of the race permanently.

Next week, it looks like Ron reverts to his old ways and starts yelling at Christina again.

Ox Notes: December 21, 2007

As strike activities wind down for the holidays, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced that they will begin producing new episodes for Comedy Central on January 7. Working without writers should be especially challenging for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report given that each show typically devotes only one segment of each episode to interviews.

ABC shifted the final original episode of Grey's Anatomy to January 10, and NBC almost immediately moved the premiere of The Celebrity Apprentice back to January 3.

USA Today talked with Dancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy about the show he's choreographing in Las Vegas.

On the topic of DwtS, I think NBC White House correspondent and occasional Today Show host David Gregory would make a fine contestant for Season 6.

Yahoo! has a slide show of the Top 10 DVR'd TV Shows of 2007. Number 4 on the list is Heroes, and Cracked.com examined the 10 Worst Powers to Have on Heroes. Here's their take on Super Hearing: "Who wouldn't want to hear everything so sensitively that the sound of a pin dropping is the aural equivalent of the International Space Station falling out of orbit and crash landing 2 feet away from your ear drum?"

I'll be posting sporadically for the rest of 2007 as Greg and I use our vacation time for some marathon video gaming sessions (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 for the PS2, if you were wondering). To get you in the holiday mood, here's a link to 30 Years of LucasFilm Christmas Cards. Merry Christmas!

Ox Notes: December 20, 2007

Yesterday, one of Cheryl Burke's pals let me know that the two-time champ will rejoin the Dancing with the Stars Tour on Friday. And TV Guide checked in with Marie Osmond, who brought all eight of her kids with her on the tour.

On the DwtS 6 rumor front, Katie Holmes is reportedly desperate to be on the show -- enlisting Melanie Brown's help in meeting the show's producers and hiring her own dance coach -- and Tom Cruise is pissed about it. Break free, Katie! You can do it!

For those of you living in the San Ramon, California area, you can meet DwtS pros Derek Hough and Mark Ballas at a Toys for Tots drive on Saturday.

And fans of So You Think You Can Dance who live near Stamford, Connecticut might want to check out a special ballroom show called "Rhythm of Love" on Friday or Saturday night. Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis will be dancing, along with a number of other well-known professional ballroom couples.

The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were announced today, with the winners to be revealed on January 27.

The People's Choice Awards scrapped its plans for a red carpet presentation ceremony but will go ahead with its broadcast on CBS on January 8, featuring pre-taped clips of winners receiving their awards.

After the truth about her job situation came out, Survivor: China's ex-lunchlady, Denise Martin, has asked that Mark Burnett donate the $50,000 he was going to give to her to the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation instead.

USA network has given the axe to The 4400 and The Dead Zone, while AMC has green lit several new original series, hoping to capitalize on the success of Mad Men.

NBC has given Cashmere Mafia and Celebrity Apprentice new premiere dates.

The January 2 episode of Gossip Girl will feature a couple of songs by The Filthy Youth, a band fronted by Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck Bass on the show. People.com posted one of the songs from the episode, and the tune just didn't grab me. The American accent Westwick puts on for Gossip Girl sounds more believable than his actual British accent.

Ox Notes: December 19, 2007

The Dancing with the Stars Tour has lost yet another dancer, although perhaps only temporarily. Cheryl Burke flew home today to meet with doctors about a possible case of appendicitis.

Karina Smirnoff, who's filling in as Drew Lachey's partner on the tour while Cheryl recovers, gave an entire interview to E! about boyfriend Mario Lopez's butt. (The linked article includes a picture that may not be safe for work).

In news of other DwtS vets, Apolo Anton Ohno returns to the speed skating track this weekend in an attempt to make the U.S. World Cup team. And Cameron Mathison let OK! tag along as he distributed Toys for Tots.

If you think your steps are up to snuff, Fox has announced the six cities that will host tryouts for the next season of So You Think You Can Dance: Dallas, TX; Charleston, SC; Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; and Salt Lake City, UT.

Jimmy Kimmel has announced that his show will return with new episodes on January 2, the same night that Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien make their returns.

In March, NBC is planning on bringing over Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Monk, and Psych from the USA network.

Hollywood studios seem to be under the impression that, if the strike lasts a long time, TV viewers will flee their couches, preferring instead to sit at a desk in front of a small screen and watch Internet-based programs. I think the studios are undervaluing DVDs, video games, and books, not to mention comfy sofas.

Ahead of tonight's new episode of Project Runway, here's an interview with Jack and two with Steven, from People and TV Guide.

In the TV Guide interview, Steven references his current place of employment: the Museum of Science and Industry. If you're ever looking for someplace in Chicago to entertain kids between the ages of 6 and 12, this is it. And their annual "Christmas Around the World" display is always pretty.

Finally, I confess to finding the sequence of headlines at People's website particularly funny today. Near the top of the page: "Britney's Teen Sister Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnant." Further down the page: "Lynne Spears's Parenting Book 'Delayed Indefinitely'."

Ox Notes: December 18, 2007

Survivor: China's likable lunch lady got herself into a pickle when she said during Sunday night's Reunion Show that the school where she worked forced her to take a job as a janitor, lest she prove distracting to the students. MOIB reader Mandy posted a link to an excerpt of a statement by the school district's superintendent that Denise had voluntarily taken the janitor position before she went on the show.

Julie Chen interviewed both Denise and the superintendent for CBS News, and the superintendent clarified that Denise applied for the higher paying janitorial position in January. Denise claimed that, when she returned from filming Survivor, she asked for her old job back but didn't get it. The superintendent said that this was news to her, and that the lunch lady position had already been filled anyway.

Near the end of the interview, Julie Chen asked Denise if she was still going to take the $50,000 Mark Burnett offered her. Denise didn't say no: "I did not do this for myself. I've done this for my family. I've done this for my town."

Reality News Online has interviews with the three Survivor: China finalists. Todd seems bitter toward Amanda now that he's seen the show and realized that she outplayed him until the final Tribal Council. And Amanda still sounds exhausted.

Courtney gave the best interview of the three, showing a savvy understanding of the game for some who'd never watched Survivor before appearing on it. She said that the events that transpired at the Reunion Show validated the concerns she had about going up against Denise at the end: "She didn't even have to make it to the final three. She still won the jury of Mark Burnett."

MOIB reader Sande emailed me the good news that BBC America will rebroadcast Dancing with the Stars Season 2 starting on January 6. I'll need to upgrade my cable package if I want to see Tia Carrere & Maksim Chmerkovskiy's smoldering Tango again.

In strike news, the WGA announced that its members won't be writing for any of the upcoming awards shows. And Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien announced that they will be returning to the air without writers on January 2. Since they're both WGA members, Leno and O'Brien won't even be able to write material for themselves. O'Brien warns fans of his show: "In moments it may very well be terrible."

The LAist interviewed Joel McHale, host of The Soup. McHale says he doesn't see much of "half-deity" and E! coworker, Ryan Seacrest: "The only way I can communicate with him is by praying." But McHale says they are trying to get cute, little "Dancing Nathaniel" to appear in person on an episode of The Soup.

Ox Notes: December 17, 2007

NBC and ABC announced their winter schedules on Friday. ABC has moved Lost into Grey's Anatomy's Thursday night time slot, where it will face off against The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. The sixth season of Dancing with the Stars premieres on March 17.

In the meantime, don't forget to check TV Guide's Strike Chart to see how many episodes your favorite shows have left, if any.

Fans of DwtS will want to tune in to the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade on December 25 at 10 a.m. ET on ABC. The opening act will be a Tony Dovolani-choreographed dance number starring Helio Castroneves, Julianne Hough, Sabrina Bryan, Mark Ballas, Joey Fatone, Kym Johnson, Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke.

In other Lachey family news, Nick Lachey's new show, Clash of the Choirs, debuts on NBC tonight. Nick seems pleased with his group of singers in this interview, but I'm skeptical since the most qualified celebrity choir director decided to name her group "The Rainbow Boom-Boom Patti LaBelle Choir."

Survivor: China's Peih-Gee told People that she lost approximately 30 pounds while on the show. The next season -- Survivor: Micronesia -- will feature a team of All-Stars competing against a team of new cast members.

This summer could bring a whole new set of problems for the TV industry if the Screen Actors Guild decides to stage their own strike.

There may be one sign of progress in the writers strike: the WGA has agreed to negotiate directly with David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, meaning that Letterman's show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson might be back on the air sooner than expected.

Survivor China: Finale

Amanda was likable, strategically sound, and she won the show's last three challenges -- two of them for immunity. So it should have taken a colossal choke job at the final Tribal Council for Amanda to finish the season in second place. She wound up in third.

The final episode of Survivor: China started off well for Amanda. She won a puzzle-laden Reward Challenge, and chose Todd to share a meal of pizza, brownies, and soda. It gave her a chance to lay a guilt trip on Todd and remind him that they'd promised to take each other to the finale.

Then she bested Todd, Courtney, and Denise in the final Immunity Challenge: balancing plates on a stick. Amanda must have been known for her poise during her beauty pageant days.

Back at camp, Amanda was torn between casting her vote against Todd or Denise (apparently, Courtney was considered such a long shot to win that she was guaranteed a spot in the final Tribal Council).

Denise told Amanda that everyone else had better opportunities to go back to than she did. "I'm gonna go back to making seven dollars an hour working as the lunch lady," said Denise, "doing the same things day after day like I've been doing."

Meanwhile, Courtney discussed with Todd how humiliating it would be to lose to Denise: "This isn't, like, welfare. Like, she doesn't deserve it just 'cause, you know, she sucks at life."

Courtney paused for a moment before adding, "I'm the biggest bitch on the planet!"

Amanda pulled Courtney aside to talk about their final strategy. Amanda observed that Todd, despite being widely considered the game's mastermind, was also well liked by many of the jury members and had better personal connections with them than any of the three women did.

Ultimately, Denise's guilt trip worked. Well, it worked at making Amanda feel guilty. Instead of following her instincts about Todd, voting for him, and forcing a tie, Amanda stuck with Todd and Courtney and whacked Denise.

The wave of guilt that hit Amanda had a serious undertow. Upon returning from the emotional Tribal Council, Amanda declared, "I'm so over this." Thus her smart strategic gameplay came to an end.

She went in front of the jury for the final time apologizing to everyone she'd wronged along the way. During the Q&A session, Peih-Gee told Amanda, "I'm sick of you looking at me with doe eyes, and every time you've opened your mouth to one of these people, you've sounded apologetic."

Courtney gave the best opening remarks, highlighting that she (as someone who didn't come in as a fan of the show) had successfully learned how to play and thrive at the game as it went along, and that she surprised even herself by winning an individual Immunity Challenge.

But Todd's mix of straightforward and flattering answers won the day. In his opening comments, he immediately copped to being deceptive, but hoped the jury would understand it was all in the context of the game. When Jean-Robert asked why Todd voted him out before James, Todd answered, "You started to strategically place ideas in people's heads, which is what I wanted my job to be. I had to get rid of my biggest strategic threat, which was you."

James laughed raucously as Jean-Robert sheepishly returned to his seat on the jury bench. When Jeff Probst asked James what was so funny, he replied, "I ain't never heard nobody shut him up before."

Their candid, unapologetic answers earned Courtney two votes and Todd four. After looking like a shoe-in to win, Amanda got one vote. It came from Erik, who was the only one who appreciated Amanda's outward expression of the ethical turmoil which she should've kept internal.

At the Reunion Show, Peih-Gee looked stunning, and Courtney surpassed her pre-show weight of 93 pounds. Jaime and Erik confirmed that they are currently dating, although he said he remains a virgin.

Denise's life after Survivor didn't go exactly as she'd predicted to Amanda it would. It actually got worse. Because of her appearance on the show, the school where Denise worked thought she would be a distraction for the students, and they kicked her out from behind the lunch counter. She had to take a job as a janitor, working the after-school shift.

Show producer Mark Burnett offered to give Denise $50,000 to help her out. The money was nice, but it wasn't quite as good as the $100,000 James got from Sprint for being America's favorite player.

And it certainly wasn't as good as Todd's $1 million.

In the end, I was a little sad Amanda didn't win. Though Todd was the "schemer," he often wanted to make moves out of paranoia or just for the sake of scheming. One of Amanda's greatest skills was reining Todd in when necessary and leading the charge in making bold moves only when they made the most sense. If she'd been able to communicate that to the jury, she might have had a chance.

But Amanda had a few things working against her. First: It's near impossible to get pity votes for being mopey and conflicted at the final Tribal Council. Nobody's going to feel bad for you for beating them.

Second: Though she really was one of the season's two masterminds, the jury never saw her as one. At least in part, it could be because -- when given the choice between two Survivors who, like Todd and Amanda, worked in tandem for most of the competition -- jurors may tend to think of the man as the brains of the outfit. When Todd discussed moves, it was obvious to everyone he was plotting to further himself. When Amanda did the same, she was better at disguising her motives and coming off as just socializing or working to help the entire alliance. In the end, I think her subtle, socially-aware methods worked against her.

Ox Notes: December 14, 2007

January 7 is rumored to be the date that the late night talk shows will return to producing new episodes. If they were hoping to wait until the writers strike is resolved, it looks like they might have to wait a long time: the Writers Guild filed a complaint that the studios have violated federal labor laws, which could lead to a lengthy court battle.

Variety asked some of the Golden Globe nominees whether they plan to attend the awards ceremony in spite of the boycott by striking writers. Glenn Close will stay home, saying, "I would never cross a picket line." Christina Applegate, on the other hand, said, "Oh yeah, of course, I'm planning on attending."

While she's at the awards show, perhaps Ms. Applegate could pick up an extra one of those expensive gift bags that they give to nominees for Charisma Carpenter. The former Buffy star says the writers strike has left her unemployed and unable to pay for her divorce proceedings.

When the new Knight Rider debuts on NBC on February 17, Arrested Development's Will Arnett will be providing the voice of KITT the car.

The Futon Critic has a list of the Gladiators from another revamped NBC show, American Gladiators. The smallest male Gladiator is 6'3", 220 lbs., so I'm hoping the network has a sign somewhere near the contestants' locker room that reads, "You must be THIS tall to compete in Gladiator Arena."

The judges for Bravo's new show Step It Up & Dance are choreographers Vincent Paterson and Nancy O'Meara. Choreographer Jerry Mitchell will act as a Tim Gunn-like mentor for the competing dancers.

TV Guide interviewed Alex O'Loughlin on the set of Moonlight, where the stunt directors have to remind him why he can't do all of his own stunts: "Dude. If you die, we don't have a show."

Finally, here are interviews with Azaria & Hendekea of The Amazing Race 12 from People and TV Guide. Apparently, they "super dislike" Kynt & Vyxsin, but it just sounds like sour grapes to me.

Survivor China: Episode 11

Peih-Gee's impressive string of performances at challenges had not gone unnoticed by her Survivor: China competitors. And it made them eager to get rid of her the first chance they got.

Denise, who'd made the fateful -- and probably foolish -- decision to stick with her original alliance last episode, got the chance to give her cohorts an advantage when she won this week's Reward Challenge. Instead of repaying Peih-Gee for taking her on a previous Reward, Denise took Courtney and Todd along on a trip to the Great Wall of China, just to make sure that Peih-Gee didn't get any extra food in her belly.

But that meant leaving the other alliance member, Amanda, behind to subsist on the (usually) meager rations left at camp. Amanda and Peih-Gee seized the opportunity to bond over a double helping of the tribe's rice, as well as some fruit and all of the fish they'd caught over the last few days.

Peih-Gee and Amanda were even more pissed at having been left out of the Reward when Denise, Courtney, and Todd returned complaining that they'd had to cook their own food in a hot pot, instead of just being given pizza and beer. Note to future Survivors: it is reward enough not to have to catch and gut your own fish.

As often proves the case, the extra nutrition from the Reward meal didn't really make a difference at the Immunity Challenge. In a challenge comprising segments of past challenges, the Reward-goers Todd, Denise, and Courtney were the first three eliminated.

Todd scored the lowest number of points in the ninja star-throwing round (from Episode 10). Then Denise couldn't bring herself to eat a balut after having already failed to do so in Episode 6. And Courtney was the slowest when it came to navigating an obstacle course while keeping a ball bouncing on a drum (Episode 9).

The two most nutrient-deprived Survivors, Peih-Gee and Amanda, were left to fight for Immunity. They revisited the rope-chopping challenge from Episode 3, in which Courtney had proved she has as much upper body strength as a woman 100 years her senior.

Both contestants hacked at the ropes and freed their puzzle pieces within seconds of each other, but Amanda was speedier at assembling her puzzle. She won her first individual Immunity Challenge, and Peih-Gee seemed as good as gone.

At camp, Todd and Courtney wandered off on their own, feeling confident that Peih-Gee had resigned herself to going home. Meanwhile, Peih-Gee was pitching Amanda and Denise on the idea of taking out Todd while they had the chance, and Amanda and Denise were certainly listening.

Ultimately, the two ladies decided that Peih-Gee had played well enough that she might have earned a few million dollar votes from the jury, should she make it to the end. That made her more dangerous than sneaky Todd at this late stage of the game. Plus, Amanda probably figured that -- after befriending Peih-Gee while the others were at the Reward -- she now had at least one jury vote in her own pocket.

Peih-Gee was voted out, 4-1, rendering the original Zhan Hu tribe extinct.

Sunday night is a two-hour finale complete with three Tribal Councils (according to the promo), to be followed by an hour-long reunion special. I think that Amanda may have the best chance to win, followed by Todd, Denise, and Courtney, in that order. And, since there's always at least one person who actually looked better on the island than they do at the reunion show, I'm predicting Todd to be this season's strangely puffy or oddly coiffed reunion show attendee.

Ox Notes: December 13, 2007

The Golden Globe nominations were announced today, as were the Writers Guild Award nominees for television. I think Transformers may be the only non-Bollywood film I've see this year, and it didn't get nominated for anything. I would've liked to see a Best Actor list that read: "George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Optimus Prime..."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Writers Guild strike could save the networks money if they abandon the traditional pilot season and adopt the year-round development plan that cable networks use.

Thanks to her drama-filled tenure on Dancing with the Star, Marie Osmond will get her own talk show in 2008.

TV Guide has Jeff Probst's assessment of the remaining contestants' chances of winning Survivor: China's $1 million prize at Sunday night's finale. And the most recent Survivor eliminated, Erik, told TV Guide that while he was starving in the Chinese wilderness, he kept thinking of "Oreos crumbled on peanut butter with chocolate syrup and Nutella with a cherry on top."

Tonight's episode of Supernatural, which happens to be the last new episode of 2007 (same goes for tonight's Smallville), is a "very gory" Christmas special.

MOIB reader TortoiseHill posted in the comments thread of Monday's Ox Notes about the experience of attending a live taping of the new American Gladiators. The LAist features another account of a live Gladiators taping, and the author of this post was so frustrated that he walked out of the taping after 90 minutes.

If any of you are like me, you just realized that you haven't purchased Christmas presents for anyone yet. This is probably a good time to visit TVShowsOnDVD.com to see if what nostalgic bits of TV gold have been released on DVD. The first season of The Fall Guy for my dad? Check. But it looks as if my brother will have to go another year without Manimal.

Ox Notes: December 12, 2007

ABC, because they just can't help themselves, has expanded the January 7 premiere of Dance War to two hours. Can't we just have one dance competition show that's only one hour long?

NBC elected not to renew Journeyman, although it will air all 13 completed episodes of the show.

Masterpiece Theater returns to PBS on January 13, only it's been renamed Masterpiece Classic and features a new host: Agent Scully from The X-Files.

TV Guide has an interview with Chris, the most recent designer booted from Project Runway.

Golden Globe nominees will be announced tomorrow, but will any of them risk alienating the Writers Guild and show up to the awards ceremony on January 13?

Joss Whedon and cast members from his shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly marched in the picket lines on Friday. Sarah Michelle Gellar brought the donuts.

Network ad revenues have been negatively affected not only by the strike but also by the slumping US economy.

Even when the strike ends and writers go back to work, Ray Richmond of The Hollywood Reporter speculates that many viewers may not return. He might be on to something since viewers seem to be content spending primetime watching NBA games on TV or renting DVDs.

Finally, TV Guide has a list of the Top 5 Things We Love About Gossip Girl. I share their appreciation for "Leighton Meester's broken-doll sadness" as Blair. Gossip Girl is preempted tonight by Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants, so use this week to catch up on the show at iTunes if you've not yet fallen under its spell.

Ox Notes: December 11, 2007

Helio Castroneves didn't get to attend the official Dancing with the Stars wrap party the night of the finale, so he threw his own DwtS reunion bash over the weekend. HollyScoop has pictures from the event.

MOIB readers Jamie and Lucy pointed out a news story in which Maksim Chmerkovskiy says he will return for the next season of Dancing with the Stars if he's asked. He cited fatigue as the reason behind his earlier statements that he was done with the show.

Rachel Hunter, who finished in fourth place on the first season of Dancing with the Stars, is reportedly taking another crack at dance floor glory on the New Zealand version of DwtS.

Project Runway's Tim Gunn is offering to give fashion-challenged Oscar winner Meryl Streep a makeover.

In other Project Runway news, Season 4 contestant Jack Mackenroth is doing his own crossover programming, and is dating Top Chef 3's Dale Levitski.

The TV writers strike has forced the cancellation of the winter press tour, where new shows are presented to TV critics, since the only new programs in development are reality shows.

And NBC is performing so far below expectations this season that it's refunding advertisers an average of $500,000 for failing to meet ratings goals.

Ox Notes: December 10, 2007

On Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. retained his welterweight championship by knocking out Ricky Hatton. Floyd was accompanied to the ring at the start of the match by his fellow Dancing with the Stars contestants, Helio Castroneves and Wayne Newton.

Strike talks came to a halt on Friday, with both parties becoming more publicly vocal about their frustrations with the pace of negotiations.

The strike has already rendered as effectively meaningless network ratings numbers for the season. Late night talk shows seem to be suffering the most, with viewership of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno down by 40%.

TV Guide's Matt Roush is concerned about enduring a winter with little new to watch apart from reality shows.

I'm a little more optimistic, now that I know that The Amazing Race will be back for a thirteenth season. And, since I'm a sucker for obstacle courses, I'm looking forward to ABC's Wipeout, which the network describes as "Fear Factor with none of the gross."

TAR 12: Episode 6

The Amazing Race 12 was turned on its head in Croatia, as old favorites were sent home and an unlikely powerhouse duo finished in first.

The finish order for this leg of the race was decided largely in airports, as teams tried to book flights to Dubrovnik, Croatia, from Vilnius International Airport.

TK & Rachel and Nick & Don got on the first flight out, but they missed their connecting flight in Prague. There, they caught alternative flights to Croatia, though they'd be delayed several hours.

Back in Vilnius, Azaria was so busy haranguing Hendekea that neither of them noticed that their ticket agent had booked them in business class -- violating one of the rules of TAR -- until they tried to board the plane with the other three teams.

Azaria & Hendekea ran back to the ticket agent, but they weren't able to switch tickets in time. They wound up on the last flight scheduled to arrive in Dubrovnik.

Meanwhile, Ronald & Christina, Nate & Jen and Kynt & Vyxsin played it safe -- and smart -- catching a flight that arrived quickly and allowed them plenty of time to make their connection in Warsaw. Ron & Christine managed to stay stay calm after arriving in Croatia, and they finished a rock-stacking Roadblock before the other teams had even found the first clue.

The father-daughter duo was rowing a boat through the harbor as part of the Detour when Nate & Jen made a move to catch up. But their haste only caused friction between the dating couple, prompting Jen to tell Nate as they rowed, "I hate you with a passion."

Both pairs emerged from the sea at nearly the same time, but Nate & Jen's clothes were wet and no taxis would drive them to the location of the Pit Stop. Ronald & Christina and their dry clothes zipped by Nate & Jen in a taxi, leaving Jen crying and ranting along the roadside, blaming everything that had gone wrong that day on Nate.

Ronald & Christina ran up some stairs flanked by costumed soldiers holding muskets on their way to the finish mat. When they reached the top stair, one of the soldiers fired his musket, prompting both team members to shriek and duck. The musket was fired every time a team approached the mat, always with the same results.

Ronald & Christina finished in first place, winning a 12-foot catamaran that's probably already available for purchase on Ebay.

Rather than waiting for their clothes to dry, Nate & Jen asked a friendly driver if he would take them to the nearby Pit Stop, even though he wasn't officially a cabbie. They ignored a rule in the clue that stated that they must reach the Pit Stop by taxi.

They reached the mat in second place, only to be told by host Phil Keoghan that they needed to go back to the clue box and find a cab to bring them back up to the Pit Stop.

When they reached the mat the second time, Nate & Jen learned that Kynt & Vxysin had checked in while they were redoing the task, and that they were now in third place. Instead of hugging, Jen shook Nate's hand in congratulations, which was a pretty clear signal that the two had not made up from their earlier fight.

TK & Rachel arrived in Croatia next, and they finished in fourth place. They were followed by Nick & Don, and Azaria & Hendekea. While the brother and sister were in sight of the Nick & Don during the rowing part of the Detour, they weren't able to close the gap.

Nick & Don finished in fifth place, and Azaria & Hendekea were eliminated. They may not be $1 million richer, but at least the siblings can enjoy those romantic vacations they won together.

The Amazing Race will be off next week due to the Survivor: China finale.

Ox Notes: December 5, 2007

Zap2It explains some of the revenue sharing proposals being negotiated in the current round of talks aimed at ending the strike, which just claimed the staff of Jimmy Kimmel Live as its latest casualties. Fans of Guillermo the Parking Attendant needn't worry: Jimmy is picking up the tab for his staff's salaries.

As scripted programming runs thin, CBS may turn to its sister channel Showtime for help. The network is considering running episodes of the cable hits Dexter and The Tudors in its empty time slots.

The Hollywood Reporter has a list of products Donald Trump will be hawking on his celebrity edition of The Apprentice. One of the products is Dial Yogurt Body Wash, which sounds thoroughly unappetizing.

To help promote the new season of The Wire, HBO released three short prequels to provide backstory on some of the major characters.

Jen, one of the blonde pals recently eliminated from The Amazing Race, is throwing her name out as an aspiring Dancing with the Stars contestant. You're a dozen bachelors short and four seasons too late for that, Jen.

For anyone interested in how a pilot makes it from page to screen, Kathy Lyford of Variety recommends the 2006 comedy The TV Set. According to the industry folk Lyford watched it with, the movie is surprisingly accurate about the process, while still being funny. Plus, it stars David Duchovny.

Greg and I are taking the rest of the week off to visit our niece and nephew. See you next week!

Ox Notes: December 4, 2007

Dancing with the Stars 5 winners Helio Castroneves & Julianne Hough will join the DwtS Tour for several dates, presumably in the southeastern United States.

In an interview for TV Guide, Maksim Chmerkovskiy confirmed that he will not be back for DwtS 6. The show will be a little less hunky without you, Maks.

CBS announced its winter premiere schedule, which includes reality staples like Survivor and Big Brother, set to debut February 7 and February 12, respectively.

NBC also announced the January premiere dates for Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I might have to start watching Law & Order again now that Jeremy Sisto has joined the cast.

Shows produced by NBC Universal, which include Heroes and Battlestar Galactica, have been yanked from iTunes after the contract between the two companies expired this weekend. NBC U wasn't happy that iTunes was firm on its $1.99 per episode policy, but if the production house would prefer me to download episodes for free on unsanctioned websites, I'm all for it.

If the writers strike lasts through February, as some fear it will, it will derail pilot season, where networks sell ad space on new fall shows. I'm sure there will be more details as to how that would affect viewers closer to that February deadline.

Conan O'Brien offered support to the striking writers via a video posted at the site Late Night Underground. It's worth watching just to see the sparse beard Conan's managed to grow in the month since the strike began.

It's certainly no Oreo Pizza Beard:

Ox Notes: December 3, 2007

Over the weekend, Jay Leno was shamed into paying the salaries of his non-writing staff, who were fired the same day that NBC fired Conan O'Brien's staff. O'Brien said immediately that he'd pay his staff members' salaries through the holidays, and staff members of CBS's two late night talk shows are being paid by their production company, Worldwide Pants.

Leno will pay his staff on a week-to-week basis in the hopes that the strike will be resolved soon. But that seems pretty optimistic, given that some insiders are predicting that the strike will drag on until March.

Variety's Scribe Vibe blog has a list of studios where the writers will be picketing this week.

With reality shows in vogue now thanks to the strike, NBC has ordered three new documentary-style reality shows from the company that produces Ice Road Truckers and The Deadliest Catch.

HBO announced that the final season of The Wire will debut on January 6 at 9 ET. I just hope they release it on DVD in a more timely fashion than they have previous seasons.

Reality Blurred checked up on three of the restaurants featured on Kitchen Nightmares to see how they've fared after their Gordon Ramsey makeovers.

TV Guide has an interview with Barry Manilow, who's promoting a new PBS special which debuts tonight in some areas (Tuesday night on Chicago's WTTW). I have a new respect for Barry because of the way he responds when he's walking through the airport and is mistaken for Rod Stewart: "I talk in a gruff voice and sign his autograph."

The Spice Girls tour, which kicked off last night in Vancouver, is getting kudos for its entertainment value, if not for the quality of its singing.

For fantastic entertainment that's cheaper than the cost of a Spice Girls ticket, go see the latest Bollywood release, Aaja Nachle. If you've watched Dirty Dancing, Strictly Ballroom, or any other dance movie more than once, you will love this film. NowRunning.com lists theaters in the US that show Bollywood films (thanks for the link, JennyK).

TAR 12: Episode 5

Blonde buddies Shana & Jennifer had a falling out that caused their team to fall apart on the fifth leg of The Amazing Race 12.

Teams made their way from Burkina Faso to Lithuania, via Paris and one of three other European cities. A fickle travel agent told Nick & Don that the earliest flight was closed, and then booked Nathan & Jennifer on that same flight, once the grandpa and grandson left. Perhaps Don should've done more research on flights at the "Internet buffet" he'd visited before heading to the ticket counter.

All of the teams arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania within an hour of each other. Any advantage held by the earliest teams evened out as almost everyone had trouble driving through the confusing streets of the city, which dates back to the medieval period.

At one point, Jennifer attempted to turn her team's vehicle around by backing out into the street in front of an oncoming bus, much to backseat passenger Shana's horror. The near miss only exacerbated the tension between the pair, who were still feuding over Shana's decision to use the U-Turn on the Jason & Lorena during the last leg.

The "good listeners" from each team participated in a Roadblock which required them to remember verbal instructions given to them by several local people. Nick & Don, who'd arrived at the clue box in front of St. Anne's Church first, lost ground as Nick futilely asked women for the location of an apparently unpopular hair salon.

Dreadlocked hippie TK got some help from a Lithuanian counterpart, who'd presumably just finished up a game of hacky sack on the quad at Vilnius University. The assist helped TK & Rachel complete the task in second place, behind goths Kynt & Vyxsin (who've quietly been doing a great job throughout the Race).

Teams then drove to the Open Air Museum of Lithuania for their Detour, where they chose between counting pickets in a fence or walking on stilts. The tasks were difficult because they had to be completed while surrounded by costumed revelers enjoying a traditional midsummer festival. The locals delighted in bugging the racers as they tried to concentrate.

Kynt & Vxysin failed to master the stilts and moved on the counting pickets. TK & Rachel, the second team to arrive at the museum, had an easier time with the stilts. They finished just minutes before the goths, and won a trip to Japan for finishing in first place.

Ronald and Christina, despite having landed last in Lithuania, finished in third place. And Azaria & Hendekea placed fourth.

Nathan & Jennifer had been nearly as contentious as the blondes all day, and the couple's problems boiled over as they tried to count pickets. Jennifer kept screwing up her count -- "88, 89, 100" -- and then interrupted Nate yelling hints like, "Don't let anyone distract you!" as he tried to count.

Finally, when Jennifer interrupted Nate because she felt he was counting too slowly, he retorted, "Bitch. What are you doing?" They both got fed up with the task and moved on to the stilts, where Jennifer had a brief meltdown that seemed more directed at Nate than the stilts.

The dating couple finished in fifth place, followed by Nick & Don and, finally, Shana & Jennifer. The blondes were eliminated, though hopefully their friendship was saved as a result.

Next week, Azaria loses his patience with Hendekea, and Nathan & Jennifer have another meltdown, this time in a boat.