Podcast Episode 59: Winding Down: The Finales of "Community" "Parenthood" & "Scandal"

You're busy. We get it. Not everyone can spend hours all day monitoring and watching everything in television and entertainment news. That is why Mike and Dave are here to do it all for you. At the end of every week we will wind down all the important things you may have missed in a week full of entertainment.

In this week's episode we discuss judge changes on The Voice (2:22), Danny Boyle replacing David Fincher on the Steve Jobs biopic (11:44), and Aaron Sorkin's apology for The Newsroom (17:56). We also wind down the season five finale of Community "Basic Sandwich" (23:33), the season five finale of Parenthood "The Pontiac" (35:55) and the season three finale of Scandal "The Price of Free and Fair Election" (46:14).



You can also listen to past episodes of the podcast on iTunes or on our YouTube channel.

Survivor: Cagayan Strategy Blog Episodes 8/9 - Pretty Hurts

via truedorktimes

-Mike Ladue

My, how the Beauties have fallen. The inexplicably well-adjusted tribe of mactors and mactresses pre-swap is down to just 2 players left, Jefra and Jeremiah, who've both received votes since the merge.

The funny thing is that, more than in any other season I can recall, original tribal lines have blurred and faded. Jeremiah is in with Tasha and Spencer, while Jefra is tight with the former Brawns. Beauty may have faded, but their former members have adapted to different scenarios.

Morgan was not adaptive. Morgan seemed to live her life a certain way, and chose to play Survivor with those same principals. Say what you will about Kass, at least she's willing to throw caution/strategy/reason to the wind and embrace her own Survivor persona. Morgan liked to be catered to, and in a game where literally EVERYONE else is running and digging and clawing for hidden idols, she stuck out like a perfectly manicured sore thumb.

There should be a metric, comparing and contrasting the high and low qualities of one's Social, Physical and Strategic game and how that factors into whether someone should be voted out or not in each stage of the game, relative to the other contestants' individual scores. That's way too much programming for even someone as ridiculously obsessed as I to create, but I'd imagine Morgan's data would read something like:

-Strategic: LOW (let's not kid ourselves)
Social: LOW (not talking to certain people, not pulling her weight around camp)
Physical: MEDIUM (she did pretty well in the challenges)

She wasn't playing a terrible game, but she had one fatal flaw: SURVIVOR PRO TIP #11: Camp life matters. It may not matter to the editors or the audience anymore, but once upon a time Richard Hatch got away with being naked and smarmy because he provided fish for the tribe. If Morgan had at least made an effort to provide for her tribe mates (yes, even those in the opposing alliance) she might have been spared because of her low attributes elsewhere. Then again, J'Tia dumped all the rice and survived, so who knows with this cast.

Props to Tony and crew for dumping Morgan instead of someone like Tasha or Jeremiah, who have actual drive in the game. It's easy (and smart, according to my very first Pro Tip) to go after the nice, smart, likable people, but they chose to do the audience a solid. Maybe that'll backfire if Spencer/Tasha/Jeremiah manage to wiggle their way forward, but at least we get a more exciting endgame.

Case in point: Dat Idol hunt doe. (Yes, that now counts as a professional transition.) Spencer should have destroyed his clue the moment he absorbed all the information, because things could have gone horribly awry if Woo or #ChaosKass or one of their cohorts found the idol. Thankfully for everyone at home (literally every single person I talk to about Survivor is rooting for Spencer), the chess nerd found it. Not the "special" Tyler Perry idol, mind you, but the regular, play-before-votes-are-read idol.

With an Idol in his pocket and strong allies Tasha and Jeremiah by his side, Spencer is in a great position. That position was only bettered when Tony went full-Hantz and lured Woo into booting LJ. An anti-MVP must be handed out to the editors, though, because they worked so hard to deliver LJ his comeuppance that all the drama of whether he'd go home was sucked from the episode. It was painfully obvious the outcome would be Tony betraying his buddy, it took some of my enjoyment out of the move.

Was it a good move? I'd vote no. LJ had his chance to flip but instead left Tasha #STOODUP. By spreading lies throughout his team he's burning bridges with Woo and Trish, who will find out the truth from LJ and Sarah before Tony's final reckoning. (Speaking of Sarah, she got quite the reaction when Tony told everyone at Tribal he's a contractor. #CopsRUs will rear it's hashtag again).

He's following in the footsteps of Coach, Russell and Phillip: Be wild and crazy and fun. You may not win (and none of those men have), but odds are you'll be brought back over calm, strategic players like Brendan Synnott, Brett Clouser and Mike Chiesel (Remember them? No, because they were overshadowed by the crazies, just as LJ will be forgotten and Tony remembered). Think about it like this: if you're throwing a party that you want to be memorable and exciting, do you want to invite the introverts or the extraverts? Survivor is like a weekly party, and extroverts are regular VIPs.

But here's the real crazy thing- Tony might win this whole game. I look to the "Previously On…" segment that aired before Morgan's boot episode. They re-aired Spencer's "Nobody's gonna vote for Kass" comment, and cut to Tony taking that information in. So here's my 100% unspoiled prediction for how the endgame goes down:

-Tony makes a deal with Spencer, someone he obviously admires
-Tony cuts Spencer at F4, a common spot for Fan Favorites to end up
-Tony sits in F3 with Trish and Kass
-Despite Tony's reckless behavior, Kass' questionable strategy and Trish's "eff y'all" attitude barely squeak him out a win

Or, you know, Kass wins. Or Spencer wins. At this point it's one of those three.

Up For Grabs:

-Fallen Comrades: Morgan is a very pretty girl. LJ is a very handsome guy. They don't need any ego stroking from me!

-Tony gave himself his own Stealth R Us nickname: The Opportunist. Brace yourself for a Tony v Phillip season, y'all.

Have you ever been #StoodUp by LJ? Do you think Tony can pull off a win? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @miketvladue!

Podcast Episode 58: Winding Down: The Premieres of "Fargo" "Nurse Jackie" & "Mad Men"

You're busy. We get it. Not everyone can spend hours all day monitoring and watching everything in television and entertainment news. That is why Mike and Dave are here to do it all for you. At the end of every week we will wind down all the important things you may have missed in a week full of entertainment.

In this week's episode we discuss updates on The Giver film (2:32), Stephen Colbert becoming the new host of the Late Show (4:32), the 2014 MTV Movie Awards (13:00), and finally the possible TV show based on The Truman Show (18:57). We also wind down the series premiere of Fargo "The Crocodile's Dilemma" (24:03), the season six premiere of Nurse Jackie "Sink or Swim" (36:40) and the season seven premiere of Mad Men "Time Zones" (44:14).



You can also listen to past episodes of the podcast on iTunes or on our YouTube channel.

Podcast Episode 57: Winding Down: The Premieres of HBO's "Game of Thrones" "Silicon Valley" & "Veep"

You're busy. We get it. Not everyone can spend hours all day monitoring and watching everything in television and entertainment news. That is why Mike and Dave are here to do it all for you. At the end of every week we will wind down all the important things you may have missed in a week full of entertainment.

In this week's special HBO episode we discuss David Letterman's retirement news (3:11), James Franco's Instagram scandal (14:22) and NBC's Comedy Playground initiative (19:55). We also wind down the season four premiere of Game of Thrones "Two Swords" (26:35), the series premiere of Silicon Valley "Minimum Viable Product" (39:00) and the season three premiere of Veep "Some New Beginnings" (51:33).

Please note this episode was recored on April 8th 2014 (two days before Stephen Colbert was named as the replacement for David Letterman on the Late Show).



You can also listen to past episodes of the podcast on iTunes or on our YouTube channel.

Podcast Episode 56: Revealing Your March Madness Pick for Best Actor or Actress

It is March and that only means one thing: March Madness! Even though we do not discuss sports we still wanted to join the bracket fun and make one for ourselves.

So far we have learned that Arrested Development was the best television show and that The Shawshank Redemption is the best movie. This year Dual Redundancy wants to know who is the best actor/actress? We have chosen 32 actors and 32 actresses and have them competing head to head against each other. After we have a winner in both categories we will have them go head to head in a final round to determine the best living actor or actress!

In this special episode we reveal who the listeners picked for the best living actor or actress. In our third annual March Madness bracket the final four were Sandra Bullock, Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep. But in the end, who took home the title?



You can also listen to past episodes of the podcast on iTunes or on our YouTube channel.

Podcast Episode 55: Winding Down: "Girls" "The Good Wife" & the series finale of "How I Met Your Mother"

You're busy. We get it. Not everyone can spend hours all day monitoring and watching everything in television and entertainment news. That is why Mike and Dave are here to do it all for you. At the end of every week we will wind down all the important things you may have missed in a week full of entertainment.

In this week's episode we recap the Emmy category changes for True Detective, Orange is the New Black and Shameless (1:55). We also review some House of Cards legal drama (12:41) and University of Iowa's problem with HBO's Girls (16:58). Finally, we wind down Girls' season three finale "Two Plane Rides" (16:58), The Good Wife's "Dramatics, Your Honor/The Last Call" (32:19) and the How I Met Your Mother series finale "Last Forever" (41:47).



You can also listen to past episodes of the podcast on iTunes or on our YouTube channel.

Survivor: Cagayan Episode 7 Strategy Blog - Chaos is a Lawyer

via pandawhale.com

by Mike Ladue

Before I say anything...

I'll stop. I don't want to stop, but I will. Because those are all the .gifs I felt like finding. Because frankly I don't even want to analyze this episode. I want to watch it again. Even though I recorded it, I'm also shelling out to buy the episode on iTunes tomorrow. It deserves money. It deserves Emmys. It deserves to be put in a time capsule along with the Lucy episode where she and Ethel ate all the chocolates. It's the Red Wedding of Survivor episodes.

In hindsight, it all makes sense. Replace Kass with Cochran and you basically have Survivor: South Pacific's merge episode. A lawyer gets bullied and takes the game into his/her own hands, alienating everyone else on his/her old tribe.

The beauty of this episode was the editing. The editors get the MVP award, because they turned a pretty basic plot point - alienated Kass jumps ship - into a tour-de-force episode.

Actually, no, the MVP award of the week has a rightful owner:

TRISH.

I've given Trish a lot of flack here before, but boy howdy did homegirl play that right. She sensed the cattiness between Sarah and Kass. Tony and LJ dismissed her, but she stuck to her guns and slyly drew Kass in. Brava, Trish. Bask in your glory.

Did Kass make the right move? Not really. Tasha wasn't "choosing" Sarah over Kass, she was putting Sarah on a pedestal. She appeased the swing vote. Classic Survivor.

Kass didn't want to appease. She didn't want to be "bullied", aka, not be in charge of the vote. Voting Trish or Jefra is a quick and easy way to establish solid numbers. Kass was thinking practically, while Sarah thought big. Sarah wanted LJ, Tony or Woo out. Eliminate a strong guy, a merge challenge threat. Two very different schools of thought. I touched on this a few weeks ago, and will repeat here: the Jefra vote was the theoretical right move. Jefra has an easier path to endgame now than Tony, LJ or Woo. Those guys will turn on each other out of fear and bravado. Little ol' Jefra is in for some smooth sailing.

The old Aparri obviously agreed, as they targeted Jefra in what may be the craziest Tribal Council ever,  up there with Parvati and Malcolm's dual idol moves. Tony pulled out his Idol. Aparri scrambled to vote "the other one". Tony used the idol on LJ. LJ used his Idol on TONY. The first vote - JEFRA. The second vote - SARAH. Tied til the final vote -- SARAH. Solana goes wild. Aparri goes pale.

Spencer is quick to tell Kass she's not winning this game, but she's not so sure. At this point, I'd have to side with Spencer. Kass, for some odd reason, wanted to instigate the watershed vote that alienated half the remaining players, who will make up half the Jury. She could have let Sarah do that. Appease Sarah, limiting her options, and convince Spencer and Tasha to cut the cop loose a few weeks down the line. No blood on Kass' hands.

Kass wanted blood. She mentioned blood in one confessional, physical violence in another and murder in yet another. How did this woman pass the psych testing? I made a Game of Thrones reference before, but #ChaosKass, who literally used the words "usurp Sarah's throne", would fit right in with the duplicitous Lannisters, Greyjoys and Freys of Westeros. Or Petyr "Chaos is a Ladder" Baelish. (Sorry, Game of Thrones comes back Sunday and I'm hella excited.)

She made another interesting claim tonight - because Trish, Jefra and co. also saw Sarah as a threat, Kass was impressed by their smarts and wanted to join forces with them. NO, Kass! Align with the dumb people! Keep Morgan, Jeremiah and Sarah in the game as long as you can! Dumb + loyal is the best type of ally available.

But Kass made her choice, and made Survivor history in the process.

Up For Grabs -

-Fallen Comrades: Sarah got what was coming to her. Neither she nor Kass had the social dexterity to kowtow to the other's demands. I liked her before tonight, but that inherent need to call the shots is a fatal flaw if I ever saw one.

-Winner pick: I still want to pick Spencer, but mostly because of how quick he was to turn down the easy, overused portmanteau merged tribe name. Salarrion > Salarri. He's astute, but now, once again, against the ropes.

-Apparently this "new idol" was dreamed up by Tyler Perry (yes, the Tyler Perry), who told Jeff Probst the game could use an idol playable after the votes were read. So basically, that super unfair idol from Panama/Cook Islands. I hope next season we get the Jeff Foxworthy Presents: Medallion of Power 2: The Desolation of Superfan's Respect for the Show.

-While introducing the Immunity Necklace, Probst said "This is what you seek now" instead of his perennial "this is what you covet." Has coveting suddenly become too taboo for the show?

-Trish seems like an anxiety-inducing pilates instructor. Is that how pilates works? I don't know a single thing about pilates.

-Someone called Woo "Wooie", so now I'm imagining an F/X sitcom starring Woo with a catchy theme song that goes something like "Wooie Wooie Wooie Wooieeeeee…"

-Woo wore watershoes and won. Hmm.

-Idea: Survivor: 29 - Cobs vs. Robbers. Cops is self-explanatory. Robbers can either be 1. Felons, which, eh. 2. Former contestants named Rob, which, probably or 3. Former contestants who have been "robbed" in the game, like Silas/Paschal/Willard/Jenny/Michelle/Aaron/Cirie/Katie.

-Can you name a more exciting Survivor episode? Did Kass make the right move? Hit up the comments or follow @miketvladue on Twitter to join the conversation!