TV and Burgers

39 days, 20 players, 1 Survivor! Greetings and salutations true believers! For today we will briefly discuss the premiere of Survivor. Now before I go too far let me acknowledge something; I am a true, die-hard Survivor junkie. I have been watching since day one and I just cannot stop. We are into season 39 and it still intrigues me. Obviously there are some seasons I like more than others. I will say I did not like the Redemption Island twist last season. I still believe that once you are voted out you are finished. The sight of Jeff snuffing the torch should be your end on the show. Elizabeth Well this season that appears to be the case. The cast, at first glance, appears to be stellar. I have already chosen a few favorites and I have noticed that no one has come across, at least yet, as the clear villain. While I like the idea of a boot camp, I cannot and will not ever get over the two big ass statues of Boston Rob and Sandra at the Island of the Idols. They...

It was more than a slap in the face; it was a humiliating kick in the crotch.  That was my first reaction to the series finale of How I Met Your Mother (heretofore known as HIMYM) and after thinking about it for a day it has only gotten worse.  This whole season has been a little (okay, a lot) less funny and enthralling as the previous eight, but all of that would have been forgiven if the finale gave those of us who have been fans since day one the closure we deserved.   They failed. When HIMYM first premiered I was hooked from the very beginning.  The show had relatable characters that were fun and the promise of something big to come one day.  Over the years Ted, Barney, Robin, Marshall and Lily became more than just characters in a show; they became family and we cared about them deeply.  I looked forward to Monday nights because I knew I would get some good laughs every week.  Even on those rare occasions when the show didn’t ...

Although it is one of the only two reality shows that I regularly watch and enjoy, I rarely write about The Amazing Race.  Today I will right that wrong, not with a recap per se, but rather my early impressions on this, the 24th installment of the popular series.  I have to say that when I first saw the lineup for this seasons all-stars I was a bit underwhelmed.  We had a couple of teams that were already running for the third time and frankly only one team of hot women.  When it comes to TAR, as it is know, you need at least two teams of beautiful women.  That should go without saying.  In addition to that oversight I saw that we would once again be stuck with one of the most annoying teams of all time, twin sisters Natalie & Nadiya.  Thankfully they were quickly eliminated by coming in dead last in episode one.  I could hear the cheers from around the world when it happened.  I was also thrilled that one of my favorite t...

Most of you know that I am an avid Survivor fan.  I have seen every episode of every season thus far and I am not about to stop.  We are in the 27th season of Survivor now and I am still a fan.  For many years I wrote a weekly blog about the show and I probably still would had I not gotten tired of doing it. I only like two reality shows; Survivor and The Amazing Race.  You can keep your Kardashians and your Honey Boo Boo.  You can take all your baking and cooking contests and toss them out the window.  You can take any show about hillbillies and ducks and toss them right in the trash for all I care, but do not mess with Survivor.  That said, I can tell you now that there are things I like and dislike about this season. First of all I like the premise.  Normally I am opposed to bringing back former contestants.  I have always found that the best seasons are ones in which we are introduced to a bunch of strangers that know nothing about ...

As we continue our look at the fall schedule we head over to CBS which offers up six new shows.  Will they be any good?  Will any of them last?  Let's take a look, shall we? The Crazy Ones: When I heard that my one time dream girl Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) was returning to TV once again I was thrilled.  Then when I saw the preview...not so much.  Buffy stars as Sydney Roberts; a woman that works for her father at an advertising agency in Chicago.  That part sounded a bit bland, but I could deal with that.  Then I saw that her father was played by Robin Williams and all interest was lost. I have watched the preview several times as it has been showing in movie theaters prior to, well, movies, and I can tell you that I have never laughed.  I'm sorry, but the shtick of Robin Williams has grown old and I am sick and tired of it.  Sure, he made a good Genie 20+ years ago, but seriously, who needs his manic nonsense these day?  As a d...

As I began to write my annual fall TV previews I thought that it might be fun to look back at this past season and take a closer look as to what worked for me and what did not.  My tastes do not always match up with the masses and some shows I thought should have been successful were canceled while others I did not like got the call for a second season.  Some shows just outright disappointed me.  And with that in mind we shall start with… Revolution – No network show disappointed me more than this one.  It started out okay and it just went downhill from there.  Due to my appreciation and respect for JJ Abrams I hung in there all season, but I will not be back for Season 2.  I was okay with the implausible plot, but the fact that so many people had these secrets and refused to answer questions when asked just bugged the crap out of me.  Plus it really annoyed me that it turns out a lack of power turned everyone violent.  Why could ...

I know what you’re thinking because I am pretty much thinking the same thing; how can Sir Griffin hate a show that he’s never even seen?  That’s simply ridiculous, correct?  Well as ridiculous as it sounds and as ridiculous as the reality of it is, it’s true.  There are TV shows that, for one reason or another, I simply hate.  Now I am not talking about ridiculous reality shows that follow around a family or hang out at a business because I should never have to watch Honey Boo-Boo, Ducky Dynasty, Splash or anything involving a Kardashian to know that it is a piece of crap.  No, I am sticking strictly with scripted shows today because if I were to get involved with “reality” shows the list would be almost endless.  Now I don’t hate every show that I have never seen.  I have never seen Revenge, but I don’t hate it.  Same goes for The Good Wife, Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and several others.  It’s just that some shows just hi...

As you may have noticed there was no entry last week after the abbreviated entry from two weeks ago. For that, I do apologize. However, I have so much going on right now with the injury sustained by Lady Gianna and the many activities of the Little Prince that it is getting too difficult to continue doing this recap each week. I am exhausted. I am yawning as I write and my eyes are watering. I need sleep and I need time to do all the necessary work at home. For now I just cannot continue. I may return with recaps later this season, but for now I need a break. Thanks for your understanding.

Due to extenuating circumstances I will be unable to post a complete Survivor Caramoan recap this week. Lady Gianna was injured and hospitalized and my time has been preoccupied with her and her recovery. I will give you a brief recap today: Reynold found another hidden immunity idol. Matt showed us his nasty feet. It rained a lot. The favorites won the reward challenge and had a feast. Corinne drank a lot of wine. Brandon went nuts, dumped the rice & beans, yelled at Phillip and then pretty much everyone else. His tribe forfeited the challenge and gave immunity to the fans. Jeff had to give Brandon an awesome shoulder massage in an attempt to calm him down. They held tribal council right there at the challenge location and they all voiced their votes to Jeff. It was unanimous and Brandon was voted out. Dawn cried. So did Andrea. Hopefully things will settle down and I can get back to full recap next week. Thanks for your support and understanding.

Our episode began with the dysfunctional Gota tribe returning to camp after another testy tribal council. Somehow, Shamar was still in the tribe and boy oh boy was Eddie pissed that his tribe voted off Hope. Eddie said “it’s mindboggling to me that we got rid of Hope tonight. She was the prettiest one here”. I’m with you on this one Eddie. How they can keep that lazy brute Shamar and get rid of Hope is beyond normal comprehension. Seriously, if I am stuck on an island for up to 39 days I want the prettiest people around me. But alas, I am not playing the game. Reynold went on a bit of a tirade as well since he had been blatantly lied to by Laura and apparently he had not realized that being lied to was a time honored Survivor tradition. Over at Bikal it was all unicorns and flowers as Phillip continued enshrining tribe mates into his secret “stealth R us” alliance. Frankly I am having trouble remembering what everyone’s secret name is, but it hardly matters. An...

Every season of Survivor needs a good villain. And by villain I mean someone that you just love to hate. Richard Hatch was such a villain. Jerri Manthey was a good villain. So was Coach and so was Russell Hantz. Even Phillip made a good villain, even though he is now more of a cartoon character than villain. You root against them, but at the same time it’s kind of good to have them around for a long time as they add so much to the show’s dynamic. Think about it; if you don’t have Snidely Whiplash to torment Nell then you have no Dudley Do-Right. It’s just the way it is. But this season is different. We have Shamar and he is not a good villain. I am not even sure if he is a bad villain. I think he’s just a clueless asshole with incredible anger issues. He serves no purpose on the show whatsoever. He’s not a hero and not a villain. He’s not likeable in the least and he appears to be despised by everyone except Sherri, who sees him as a cranky teenager working ...

I have been watching Survivor since the beginning and in doing so I have learned quite a few things. I have learned is that if the producers show us an arrogant guy at the beginning saying he will not be voted off while another guy is saying that the arrogant guy must go then it means two things: 1. That tribe will lose the immunity challenge and head to tribal council and 2. The arrogant guy will not get voted off despite half-hearted efforts by the producers to get us to believe otherwise. So was my early assessment on target as usual? Well, read on… Our episode began with the tribe of faves, Bikal, returning to camp. Brandon was visually upset. So upset in fact that new tattoos seemed to suddenly appear on his body. Just for a second, let’s recall how Brandon was like on his first go-round. Let’s see, he was very religious and did everything for Jesus, proclaimed he was nothing like Uncle Russell and gave up his immunity like an idiot and was voted out. (N...

As I have said before the Fans vs. Favorites format is not my favorite. I would much rather see 20 new people compete as opposed to 10 new people playing against Russell’s nephew, fuchsia undies, a woman no one remembered and seven others. However, after seeing Jeff standing majestically on his perch while helicopters flew by I was already hooked. The show began with the newbies on the Gota tribe arriving by boat. We were introduced to them before they were introduced to the favorites they would be playing against. As the favorites exited the helicopters the Gota tribe cheered and giggled when they saw who they were to be playing against. Well, except for Francesca since no one could remember her and Malcolm since they had no idea who he was. The favorites would now be known as the Bikal tribe. Jeff explained that they would have a challenge right away to play for fire and 20 pounds of farting beans. Okay, maybe he didn’t say that, but they played for beans no...