Survivor – Episode 1

Posted by Jeff on February 27, 2011

I almost thought I was done watching Survivor.  However, when I saw that Boston Rob and Russell were going to be on the show, I just HAD to watch.  The premise of the show is a little different; contestants that are voted out are sent to Redemption Island where 2 contestants will face off in a duel with the winner gaining the opportunity to re-enter the game at a certain point.  This does add an interesting twist to the Survivor.  I’d like to see how this will factor into alliances that will have formed by the time the contestant is allowed back in the game.

Both Russell and Rob look to be a little plumper than the last time I remember seeing them.  Russell still walks around with a chip on his shoulder; Rob has that charming “I’m really your friend” attitude about him.  A few of the other contestants really caught my eye.  Ralph, the good ‘ol boy in denim overalls (and an impressive man-sweater) really spices up the show.  Phillip can’t stop talking about the fact that he was a Federal Agent.  After his performance last week, I wonder if actual Federal Agents cringe whenever he mentions his background.  Also, Natalie is a professional dancer…hmmm, what does that really mean?

Yet again, Russell singled out an attractive girl on his team and formed an alliance with her, but said he can’t publicize it because that’s what the rest of the team will expect.  I still don’t trust him.

Here are a few funny things happened this episode:

–        As Francesca was describing her new alliance partner, Phillip, she mentioned that he was wearing droopy brief.  And that’s what he was wearing!  Who does that?!

Phillip Droopy

–        Russell’s face as shown here tells us everything

Russell Shifty Eyes

At Tribal Council Phillip blew the cover off of his alliance’s plan to vote for Rob.  He even revealed that Kristina had a hidden immunity idol.  What a fool!  C’mon man, haven’t you seen this show, don’t you know how this works?  I think it will be difficult for him to be trusted now.  Good luck lasting in the game Phillip.

I feel pumped up about this show.  There are some good contestants, personality-wise anyway.  Boston Rob and Russell just add to the experience.  I can’t wait to get into Survivor again!

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The Office – Threat Level Midnight

Posted by Jeff on February 18, 2011

Last night’s episode showcased Michael’s movie, “Threat Level Midnight”.  This movie was the culmination of 11 long hard years of work.  It featured a few office employees that we haven’t seen in a while, Karen Filipelli, Jan, Pam’s mother, and Toby even made an appearance.  Unfortunately, Toby’s head was shot off it the most expensive scene of the movie.  I’m surprised that Michael didn’t want to show that to Toby himself.  Everyone in the office had to be encouraging about the movie.  The slightest hint of negative energy would cause Michael to stop the movie.  At one point Michael did stop the movie because Jim was laughing at it.  A short time later, Michael did resume the movie and even poked fun at it himself.

The episode didn’t overly impress me.  Don’t get me wrong, the movie was OK – it had some really funny moments in it.  Actually, I’ve already set time aside on my calendar to practice doing ‘The Scarn’!  That dance scene was awesome.  Ryan’s segment in the movie was pretty funny too.  He said that every year the NHL holds open tryouts to allow 1 civilian walk-on participate in the All Star Game.  That really struck me as funny.  I just imagined the NHL actually doing that and I cracked up.  The fact that the movie ruined an undefeated season for the Scranton high school’s hockey team really put the Michael Scott touch on it.

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Kitchen Nightmares Revisited

Posted by Jeff on February 12, 2011

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to sit down and watch another episode of Kitchen Nightmares.  Last night I was able to catch a few minutes and was surprised that it was a “revisited” episode.  Kitchen NightmaresI’ve never seen Kitchen Nightmare presented this way and was confused.  To be fair, I didn’t start watching from the start of the show, so I wasn’t expecting what was presented.  It sounds like a cool idea – going back to see how past restaurants are doing today would be very interesting to watch.  Unfortunately, I was not familiar with any of the restaurants that were featured, so it was all new to me.

The bulk of what I watched had to do with the restaurant Flamangos in Whitehouse Station New Jersey.  The owners seemed reluctant to change (surprise, surprise!) but eventually came around.  I got a kick out of seeing Chef Ramsay create a huge bonfire with all of the hideous decor that was found in the old Flamangos restaurant.  It must have been tough for the owners to watch all of that stuff go up in flames.  I know that if it was my restaurant, I’d be pretty upset too – ‘that’s MY stuff!’

While the show was interesting to me, I don’t think I’m sold on the format.  I really like the way that past episodes have been presented.  Last night’s episode seemed choppy to me – we saw activity in the restaurant mixed in with commentary from Chef Ramsay after the fact.  To me, it seemed more like a recap show than what we’ve seen in the past.  I hope that we don’t see  more of these episodes in the future.  But who knows, if I had known more about the restaurants, I may might have formed a better opinion on Kitchen Nightmares Revisited.

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Kitchen Nightmares – The Classic American

Posted by Jeff on February 1, 2011

Chef Ramsay travelled to West Babylon, NY to help turn around a struggling restaurant, The Classic American.  The 2 Classic American Restaurantowners are former waitresses who purchased the restaurant from their former boss.  Business had steadily declined over the years and on a normal Saturday only 6 to 8 tables would be seated.  The owners dread going to work and are in serious debt.  Things are so bad that Colleen, one of the owners, had to move back in with her parents.  She and Naomi (the other owner) are not even on the payroll.

When Chef Ramsey first arrived at the restaurant, he was greeted by Dominick, the head of inventory and ordering for the restaurant.  I’m sorry, if you’re the owner of a restaurant and Chef Ramsay is coming to help you out – you better be there to greet him!  Of course, Chef Ramsay’s initial evaluation of the food at The Classic American was “dreadful”.  When finally watched a dinner service, he saw that the restaurant ran out of almost everything – hamburgers, meatloaf, cups, and even menus!  At one point during the dinner service, I asked the question, “Why is the restaurant so busy?”  For being a struggling restaurant, they had a full house pretty quickly.  I bet that the word got out that Ramsay was in town and the people came out for a chance to be on TV.

It was nice to watch this episode because the owners and staff were motivated to make changes.  Normally, Chef Ramsay has to fight with restaurant owners in order to get them to be committed to making improvements.   Colleen and Naomi really worked to make changes; they ultimately made a commitment to the staff to be better leaders.  Even the hard-nosed Dominick was affected by the experience and changed his attitude and demeanor.  With Chef Ramsay’s help, The Classic American is back on track to be a success.

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