Why Will This Man Get Counseling?

I don't even know who he is, but it's been reported that he's going to get counseling.

Why?

Because his "reality" TV show has been canceled.

Awwwww.

"Utopia" was going to go on for a full year, during which these people were supposed to create their own society. This article pretty much explains why, and also reveals that the show's host, for some reason, was the cartoonist Dan Piraro, of "Bizarro" fame. But no one was interested, so it's been canceled, and this was my favorite part of the story in that first link above:

The show’s online live feeds will also shut down later today, though it’s highly unlikely they will show the cast being informed of the show’s cancellation.

Awwwwwwwwwww.

The cast is expected to receive post-production counseling before being returned to their regular lives.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

A Little More On Outfest

My experience at this year's Outfest was different from last year in some ways. For one, I didn't see Kendra Wilkinson or any other "reality" TV "stars," which also meant that I didn't make it to national television. That didn't bother me. What did bother me a little is that the protestors who always show up at these things, while still small in number, were louder.

At least three of them, on different streets, had portable PA systems and were going on almost non-stop harassing passersby with their hatemongering. I say "almost" because there was one brief moment when someone yanked the microphone cord out, silencing the bigot. The guy who did this was immediately pounced upon by the waiting police.

I realize that these religious freaks have their rights, since the festival was out on the public streets, and I know that police have to do their jobs to keep the peace. But this sight really sickened me. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion really sucks sometimes. (Programming note: I still need to write about those "Occupy ____" people soon.) I wish there were a way to discourage these people from showing up at all. I use this analogy often: they're dinosaurs, stuck in tar pits, and soon to be extinct. I just wish the process could speed up a little. And I still think the rest of us ought to show up at their events now and then and enjoy our same freedoms.

The Glee Project Jumps The Shark

I don't often jump on here and write about something that just happened, particularly if it's a movie or TV show I finished watching. So you know something amazing happened to be seeing this post so quickly.

I've been watching this show all season and, although there have been some annoyances, I've enjoyed it. But tonight, "The Glee Project" jumped the shark in its very first season finale.

Seeing as how I'm writing this so quickly after it ended on the East Coast, I will give you a fair warning: SPOILER ALERT! Why has it jumped the shark? Read on after the jump to find out.

My National TV Debut

Remember when I went to Outfest in October?

Remember how I was walking along and suddenly found TV cameras in front of me?

Remember how I learned that the cameras were there to record Kendra Wilkinson for her "reality" TV show on the E! Network? Remember how I took a couple of pictures of her?

Turns out, the episode aired recently, and I DVR'd a repeat of it last night. The whole thing revolved around her personal assistant, Eddie (pictured with Kendra), who hadn't yet come out to his parents. Naturally, he and Kendra talked about the subject. Naturally, the concierge in the building where Kendra, hubby Hank Baskett and their infant son lived (before Hank was cut by the Eagles early in the 2010 season) was gay. Naturally, Eddie and the concierge talked about the subject. Naturally, Outfest was about to take place. Naturally, the concierge suggested Eddie attend. Naturally, Kendra wanted to tag along. Naturally, the three of them wandered the streets that day. (I say "naturally" all these times because only in "reality" TV can such a confluence of events occur.)

So, naturally...

Random Insomniac Ramblings

I'm up late (and will probably be up all night since I had major trouble dragging myself out of bed today), so...

• If you haven't seen the links I posted on Twitter and Facebook, check out Jersey Circus -- a hilarious melding of "Jersey Shore" lines with the "Family Circus" comic strip. Here's a sample:

• The weather is heating up again. It's supposed to be in the 90s all week. The humidity isn't supposed to increase until around Wednesday, which may be a problem. I fear my central air system needs maintenance, since the last time I had it on the air blowing from the vents didn't seem very cool at all. Problem with this is I can't afford said maintenance right now. Luckily, we've had a stretch where it's been nice enough that, at worst, I've had to use a fan. This coming week concerns me, though. It's good that summer is almost over, except that means winter's coming, and you know how I hate winter cold.

• I've watched very little of the Eagles exhibition games. I planned to watch the first three quarters of Friday's game at Kansas City, because the next-to-last exhibition game is the one where the starters get the most playing time. In the early games they don't play much; in the final exhibition they may be on for a handful of plays at most. So this is the one game where you can get some sense of where things stand for the upcoming season. Plus, with the game starting at 8 and the Phillies' game in San Diego not starting until 10, it set up the evening perfectly.
  
  Unfortunately, I fell asleep in front of the TV not long after 8 and missed a good chunk of the football. (This explains my off-kilter sleep schedule.) From what I've read, though, the defense seems much improved from last year but the offensive line is something of a mess, which is part of the reason for the struggles by Kevin Kolb and the first-team offense. It will be an interesting season nonetheless. Maybe not a great season, but interesting.

• Speaking of football and interesting, ex-Eagle Shawn Andrews has signed with the Giants and is posting to Twitter for the first time in months. How we've missed entries like this:

• Yes, I am still thinking of the podcast idea I've mentioned. That's another money issue. There's a site that I would use to host it but the plan I figure I would need would cost $15.00 per month. (See above reference to centrail air re: affordability.) So, until I feel comfortable with the expenditure or I had a sponsor (and how cool would that be? "The Joe in Philly Experience: The Podcast! is brought to you by..."), it's on hold for now.

• Coming attractions: I do need to write up this week's comic book purchases. (I ended up with 7 after doing some browsing at things I wasn't expecting to buy.) I haven't seen any movies in over a week. I hope to see one or two this week. Other than that, who knows? Something will inspire me, I'm sure.

I'll leave things there for now. As always, I'd love some feedback on my blog -- some suggestions or some requests or something. Or ask me a question.

Amazing Race: Cowboy A Homophobe?

And you thought my "Amazing Race" posts were done...surprise! Alas, this isn't exactly good news, especially if you're a fan of the cowboys, Jet and Cord. There's an interview with "Amazing Race" winners Dan and Jordan Pious at AfterElton.com and right at the beginning of this article we find this little nugget:

AfterElton.com chatted with the siblings two days after their win to discuss their close relationship, Dan's reaction to Jordan's coming out to him and much more. One topic we did not discuss, however, were reports that Jet called Jordan "a fag" and "hates gays." I attempted to ask the question but was told by a CBS publicist that the interview was only about the race.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm...I had my suspicions, as you know if you read to the end of my post about the season finale. Perhaps that vibe I got was accurate? Perhaps I don't have gaydar but I have antigay-dar? Oh my gravy. Needless to say this is the first I've seen of this and certainly this isn't a confirmed report, but if it's true it's sad but not surprising. So, how do you feel about ogling a shirtless homophobe?

Amazing Race: Trickery, Then Victory, Then Bitchery

Because it's the finale and because I'm writing about this tonight, rather than waiting a few days, I'm going to begin with the ever-so-popular SPOILER ALERT!!!

You've been warned.

Amazing Race: From Short To Tall, From Dumb To...

Last week on "The Amazing Race" we were introduced to He Pingping, at the time the world's shortest man. Since the episode was filmed, sadly, he passed away. This week, as the teams arrived at the Pit Stop in Shanghai (where the entire leg of this race was run), they were greeted by Bao Xishun, the world's tallest man. Except he's not, according to Wikipedia: "On September 17, 2009, Turk Sultan Kösen overtook Bao Xishun as the tallest living man in the world, when he was measured by Guinness World Records, standing 2.47 metres (8 ft 1 in) tall."

In this spirit of...disinformation? Poor fact-checking? Outright lying?...can I just make up the results of this week's leg? Wouldn't it be better for me to say that Team Moron, Brent and Caite, were eliminated this week and went out whining and bickering?

Sigh. I suppose not. The unfortunate truth is that not only is Team Moron one of the final three duos battling for the million dollar grand prize, but

Amazing Race: Brotherly Love

The episode descriptions displayed on my DVR, which (I believe) are the same as those you find in TV Guide, kind of spoiled my viewing of this week's "Amazing Race." For the episode coming up on Sunday, it starts out with, "The four remaining teams..." Since I looked at it before watching this past Sunday's show, I knew that we'd be having a non-elimination leg.

What was a bit surprising was that it was detectives Louie and Michael who were the beneficiary of the non-elimination. The cops had a rough outing. It started after all the teams flew from Singapore to Shanghai and were instructed to take a cab to "the Venice of China," Zhujiajiaou, their taxi driver (along with that of brothers Dan and Jordan) got lost. The drivers consulted each other and then had to get help from passersby.

But first, a brief digression. At the airport, the brothers got caught up on the previous leg's U-turn of Carol and Brandy. They had no idea it occurred since they got the Fast Forward treatment directly to the pit stop. Team Moron bragged and the cops looked on, knowing that they egged the morons on. Caite was overly thrilled that she was the only girl left in the race. But in an interview, Jordan called it a poor decision, knowing that it would have been wiser to take out a stronger team such as cowboys Jet and Cord: "We’re all gonna look back on that and question that decision."

The "Mikey" Blog: Reality vs. Internet "Reality"

You may be surprised to learn that this post isn't about TV shows such as "The Real World" or "Survivor" or, God help us, "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew." This is about reality as found, or not found, on the Internet.

Back in December, an item was posted on the Outsports.com Jock Talk Blog about a blog written by a closeted 17-year old guy who was a high school hockey player in the Minneapolis area. "Mikey" wrote about his life, being closeted to all except his younger brother and his best friend, and about hockey.

"Mikey" wrote his posts as if he were texting, often abbreviating and being very...casual...about punctuation, spelling, etc. For example: "ive pretty much known i was gay for awhile but tried to ignore it for a long time but its just hard to do it. i told [a friend] and my lil bro this summer and there the first to know bout me, i wish i could tell everyone but im chicken and scared that bein out would screw up chances to play hockey after hs. it toly sucks cause like everyday i lie to everyone i know and love and that just sucks bigtime."

Then there was his comment on Sidney Crosby when he wrote about his favorite hockey players: "someone asked about other guys, like sid the kid. hes amazing but a lil bit too whiny for me." Of course, when I read that I was hooked. ;-)

Amazing Race: Morons, Cops Get Their Wish

Our first episode without Steve Smith. Yep, I'm still watching even though the tenuous Phillies connection is gone. So, I'm just gonna start right off with this: Caite, the former Miss Teen Whatever and one-half of Team Moron, is the epitome of what RuPaul refers to on "RuPaul's Drag Race" as Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent.

Except for the "harisma," "niqueness," "erve" and "alent" portions.

The whining about Carol and Brandy continued almost nonstop. She sounds like Yosemite Sam, except she's not talking about Bugs Bunny: "Oooooooh, ah hates them lezzbeens!!!!!" As the teams made their way from Malaysia to Singapore via bus and train, the teams knew that a U-turn was ahead. Gee, I wonder what Brent and Caite would do if they got the chance? Let's ask Miss Teen Moron: "I’m a hundred percent U-turning the lesbians if we get there first." Similar phrases poured out of her mouth throughout, to the delight of the detectives, Louie and Michael, who've made nice with the Morons and fed their anti-Carol/Brandy hysteria. (So I sort of enjoyed seeing Caite trip and fall running out of the train station. Karma!)

Amazing Race: Thank You, Steve Smith

There's a function through Google AdSense where I can get reports on how many "page impressions" my blog gets. A page impression is a view on a page of my blog where one of the Google ads appears. I don't get millions of hits. Let's face it, I'm not exactly famous. The count generally runs from the teens to, on a decent day, upwards of 40.

I happened to look at it today. A week ago Sunday (March 28) I had 75 hits, and this past Sunday and Monday I had 160 and 98, respectively. To say I was shocked is an understatement! So I did a little checking.

You may have noticed a Feedjit box on my page -- the box that shows the live traffic feed. It shows the location of people arriving on my page and what site they came from, and if they go to a specific post of mine. If you click on this link you can see an expanded version of that box, with a little more information, including the search terms entered into Google that led to my site. For example: "Fullerton, California arrived from google.com on "The Joe In Philly Experience!: My Trip To Southland" by searching for tnt southland."

I looked down the list. Apparently many people have been doing searches on Steve Smith, the former Phillies third-base coach who, with his daughter Allie, was just eliminated from "The Amazing Race."

Amazing Race: Better Than A World Series Ring?

The worst part of the show last night: the local CBS station ran commercials in full, then cut in with a "Breaking News" update on the Donovan McNabb trade. Bastards! They could have run a crawl! I only missed one or two minutes, though.

Once again, a long flight -- this time from the Seychelles to Malaysia -- put the six remaining "Amazing Race" teams on equal footing beginning the next leg of the race, but it didn't lead to Team Moron (Brent and Caite) taking the lead as it did on last week's show. At one point, though, they passed Carol and Brandy, to Caite's extreme delight. Her continued harping on "getting rid of the lesbians" is getting ridiculous. And their new buddies, detectives Louie and Michael (or, as Caite called them, "the Daddies") are encouraging it. The EW.com recap seems to think L&M are using the morons strategically to try and get C&B eliminated. I can definitely see that.

Adventures with taxis caused upheavals at various points. At first, headed from the airport to their first clue box, Dan and Jordan's cab zoomed ahead of the other teams' rides. But when the brothers got their clue and returned to the street to head for their Detour, the driver had left.

Amazing Race: Oh, My Gravy!

A funny thing happened on the way to the Seychelles...well, actually it was mostly after they arrived. Teams kept leaving something where they shouldn't. Coconuts, bottles, backpacks...and I get mad if I leave an umbrella on the bus...

The teams flew from France to the Seychelles, islands in the Indian Ocean. Since it was such a long trip, all teams were on the same flight. When this happens, whatever teams are in front immediately and arbitrarily lose their advantage. Thus, thanks to their reserving seats at the front of the plane, after the flight landed, we were treated to the sight of the incorrigible morons, Brent and Caite, in first place as they got to the clue box. How I hate them. (I'm not even going to bother referring to them as models. To me, they're morons, plain and simple.) They were thrilled, though, and Caite reiterated her main feeling from last week: "I just wanna get the mean lesbians out."

The "mean lesbians" in question, Carol and Brandy, may not be so popular. When the moron team and detectives Louie and Michael arrived at the pit stop, Phil Keoghan asked if they wanted to see a particular team eliminated. Both teams replied that they wanted the lesbians out, and Brent helpfully added, "From what I heard, it's pretty anonymous amongst the teams." Oy.

The attitude of teams that screw up is fascinating. There was a Detour in which teams had to either: load a cart with coconuts -- without leaving any behind -- and drive the cart (pulled by an ox) to a fruit vendor stand; or lure a tortoise along a race path and across a marker.

Three of the five teams that chose "Ox Trot" somehow managed to leave a coconut behind when they left for the fruit vendor stand: the morons, the lesbians and the cowboys. (More after the jump, including the ever-popular shirtless pic.)

Amazing Race: Champagne Misses And Duct Tape Dreams

This week "The Amazing Race" teams continued their adventures in France. The teams had to drive themselves to Reims, find a statue of Joan of Arc and get their clue from a musician playing a "singing" saw. I didn't know France was so impoverished that they couldn't afford real instruments. The clue was a cork from a champagne bottle with "Champagne LeClerc-Briant" written on it. The cowboys, Jet and Cord, drove off in search of a town named Champagne because they saw that name on the map and the cork said "champagne." Ummmmmm....okayyyyyyyy. The rest of the teams asked around and went to Epernay, where the winery was located.

But that wasn't the only driving-related misdirection. After completing a Roadblock task at the winery, the next clue give the teams was a label that read "Tattingers - LaMarquetterie." This is a castle in Pierry, where the teams had to go to complete a Detour. Unfortunately, Tattingers also has headquarters in Reims. Again asking for help from various locals, only two teams -- detectives Louie and Michael and annoying lesbian couple Carol and Brandy -- were sent to the proper location. They completed their Detour and headed to the Pit Stop, with L&M finishing first for the third week in a row and the lesbians surging into 2nd place from 5th last week.

Four teams -- including Steve Smith and his daughter Allie (he got bad advice, just like those Phillies baserunners he sent home to be tagged out...karma?) , and the cowboys (driving to the wrong town for the second time) -- were given directions to Reims, only to have Tattingers employees keep having to send these weird Americans away. And then there's the case of Brent and Caite. They weren't able to find Tattingers, and ended up driving around until spotting Carol and Brandy driving. They decided to follow, and ended up following C&B...to the Pit Stop! The morons were sent back to their car, with Caite, Miss Teen South Carolina bimbo, whining: "Damn, I want to get the stupid lesbians out. I hate them." Bitch, whose fault is it that you two are the dumbest people in the Race? They pretty much spent the entire leg sniping back and forth at each other.

Meanwhile, as Steve and Allie arrived at Tattingers in Reims, they ran into another problem. They ran over something and wrecked the front right bumper of their car. When they left for the castle in Pierry, the plastic bumper was dragging along the tire and they had to stop. Steve tried to break it off, to no avail. Then he remembered the duct tape that his wife packed in his stuff, and used the duct tape to repair the bumper enough to resume their trip. Oh, the wonders of duct tape! They still managed a third-place finish.

The two Detour tasks were: find a specially-marked bunch of grapes in a vineyard, or stack champagne glasses into a tower (15 levels high) and pour a giant bottle of champange into the top glass (so it could flow down into the glasses below) without any breakage. Only the brothers Dan and Jordan completed this. It was time-consuming, what with their somehow having 3 single glasses remaining with 3 levels still to complete. They had to stack them on top of each other, and still pour the champagne successfully. Combined with their being sent to Tattingers in Reims in error, this caused D&J to drop from 4th to 5th, one spot behind Jet and Cord. The moron couple, arriving from the Pit Stop, tried to find the grapes, got frustrated, tried to build the tower, broke some glasses, and went back to the vineyard, bickering all the way. Yet they managed to find their grapes and finish 6th, ahead of Big Brother couple Jordan and Jeff, who were eliminated.

I have to admit that Jordan and Jeff weren't really annoying to me at all this week. I actually enjoyed them, and wish they had managed to beat out Brent and Caite, the moron couple.

Amazing Race: Still All Good For Steve Smith

I'm not sure which qualifies as better news: the fact that Steve Smith, the ex-Phillies coach, and his daughter Allie are still doing well in "The Amazing Race," or the fact that they're getting some more screen time -- enough that they've won over the Entertainment Weekly recapper:

(T)hey're proving to be one of the most adorable racing couples ever on the show. They're funny, competent, charming, and supportive. And, by the looks of the past few weeks, they're going to be around much longer.

This week's episode featured a bus trip from Germany to France, where the teams had to perform tasks involving a reenactment of a World War I battle (complete with explosions and old-style planes overhead). Every team chose "Under Fire," in which they had to crawl under barbed wire to get a message from a "soldier" in order to get their next clue, over "In The Trenches," which involved deciphering Morse code for a message. Last week's leaders, cops Louie and Michael, retained their lead position (with Steve and Allie again in second place) and got the benefit of a Blind U-Turn: they got to pick one of the other teams and force that team to do both Detour tasks. They chose Joe and Heidi, apparently because of comments from Joe during the bus trip bragging about how well he and his wife were doing, even with his leg bothering him at the time, and how they weren't worried about the other teams.

The two teams annoying me the most are the Big Brother duo and the models. This episode's editing (not to mention the duo's commentary) really plays up the fact that Brent and Caite are bimbos. Failing to go south, as instructed, they neglected to pick up their clue after completing "Under Fire" -- they somehow found the next task, to ride bicycles to the next pit stop, by accident and had to ride back to the clue box to get the clue, then return to the pit stop.

And the obnoxious Jeff and Jordan from "Big Brother" got lost immediately after getting off the bus, where each team had to take a car and drive to a bakery to buy a baguette (in which they found the instructions to head to the battlefield), and they had a Speed Bump (an extra task because they hadn't been eliminated last week after finishing last). And still both of these teams finished ahead of poor Joe and Heidi, who never could figure out the Morse code message properly. The Jon Gosselin-lite and his wife fell from 3rd place all the way out of the Race. The model bimbos were 6th both times they got to the pit stop (they started in 7th), and the BB duo finished 7th.

Cowboys Jet and Cord moved from 4th to 3rd, with brothers Dan and Jordan up from 6th to 4th. Lesbian couple Carol and Brandy (who are pretty annoying in their own right) remained in 5th place. I'll be surprised if these two haven't broken up after they're done with the show.

Amazing Race: Steve Smith Is A Homer...Homer Simpson

Last week on "The Amazing Race" we learned that former Phillies coach Steve Smith was in pain, possibly from having fallen while running or from moving a wooden horse around, but probably because he's 57 years old. This week, the show provided him -- and everyone else -- something to relieve any pain he might have been suffering.

Oh, all right. Spoilers follow. Continue after the jump.

Amazing Race: Smiths Surge

I'll be kind and put a SPOILER ALERT here. Don't read further if you don't want to know who's out of the Race.

 

When we last left Steve Smith and his daughter Allie, the former Phils coach was practically invisible on "The Amazing Race," and were 7th of the 9 teams still alive. This week, the Smiths got a little more screen time as the teams moved from Chile to Argentina. (With the powerful earthquake devastating Chile over the weekend, a brief message of acknowledgment from host Phil Keoghan was shown at the start of the episode.)

In Argentina, teams had a choice of Detours -- a task they had to fulfill before receiving their next clue. The Smiths chose the one that nvolved playing polo but with wooden horses instead of actual horses. Steve (who was shown falling down while running earlier) was groaning in pain while helping move the horse to where they had struck the ball (teams had 9 shots to move the ball down the field to score; if they failed they had to start over). Allie asked him what it was that was hurting, and Steve said something like "I'm 57, what doesn't hurt?" However, not only did they complete their tasks successfully, but thanks to troubles other teams had, Steve and Allie were the second team to reach the next pit stop, following cowboys Jet and Cord.

The rest of the field, in order of finish: Carol and Brandy (lesbian couple), Joe and Heidi (married couple, he looks and acts a little too much like Jon Gosselin), "Big Brother" couple Jordan and Jeff, brothers Dan (straight) and Jordan (gay), models Brent and Caite (the former Miss Teen South Carolina), and police detectives Louie and Michael. Eliminated this week: "moms/attorneys" Monique and Shawne.

Amazing Race: Smith Still In There (Plus: I'm Famous)

I won't bother with the big SPOILER ALERT!!!!! warning here. If you haven't watched Sunday's "Amazing Race" by now, well, as Scott Rolen once said, "Sorry about your luck." Former Phillies coach Steve Smith and his daughter Allie, in 4th place starting this week's show, are still alive but have dropped to 7th place out of the 9 remaining teams. How this happened is hard to tell because they got virtually no screen time. I guess the EW.com writer is right about them being too boring.

She does have a good point in her latest recap, regarding Jet and Cord, the cowboys who currently hold the lead:

The one truly disturbing moment of the episode for me came when Jet and Cord were on the boat going to Isla Margarita. They were gabbing about how they didn't bring swimsuits and Cord says "I've been skinny dipping once or twice" at which point Jet scoots away from him as if his partner were a leper. I have lost all patience for this kind of jokey homophobia. What's wrong Jet? Would swimming with a naked guy make you gay? If you really think that or feel you need to make that "joke" you have bigger problems than a plastic bag on your cowboy hat. And Berty V-M, let's nix the homophobic jokes in editing, shall we?

Totally agree. It's possible that it was left in because of the gays in the race. Perhaps there's a bit of foreshadowing of a future conflict with the lesbian couple (currently in 3rd place) or the gay guy teamed with his straight brother (8th)? Meanwhile, last week's leaders, "Big Brother" couple Jordan and Jeff, are now in 6th place and the team that includes the ditsy former Miss Teen South Carolina are 4th.

By the way, since I hadn't seen anything in the local papers about Steve Smith being on the show, I decided to share my "scoop" with them. I emailed the TV critics and the local features/gossip columnists from both the Inquirer and Daily News. I got nice replies from all four writers. Both papers reported the story and one, the Inquirer's Michael Klein, was kind enough to mention me and my little old blog. I'm a rising star, baby! ;-)

Amazing Race: Good Start For Ex-Phils Coach

As I previously reported -- apparently exclusively, since as of this writing neither the Inquirer nor Daily News has mentioned this in their papers or at philly.com -- former Phillies third-base coach Steve Smith and his daughter Allison are contestants on the new season of "The Amazing Race" on CBS. The series debuted on Sunday night, and since I'm writing about it I can use this phrase for the first time on this blog...

SPOILER ALERT!!

THAT'S RIGHT -- DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED YET!!

THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, DAMMIT!!!!

There. Wasn't that fun? At any rate, the racers were off to Chile, where at one point they had to grab some paint, brushes and a ladder and run to the house whose outside matched their color to paint an unfinished wall. Some of the teams had trouble finding their house. Among them was Steve and Allie, who at one point went inside a building and began painting, to the confusion of some local workers. It was edited out of the broadcast, but the Smiths eventually completed their task well enough that they finished in 4th place when they arrived at the first pit stop.

Alas, in the EW.com TV Watch recap for the show, the writer has already declared that Steve and Allie are one of the teams she's "already feeling bored with." Phillies fans had a different feeling when first experiencing the work of Steve Smith (see my previous blog).

I have to decide whether or not to continue watching the series. It's on at 8 pm, the same time as "The Simpsons," which means I'd have to DVR one of them and hope for no delays due to sporting events running late -- especially since I have "Family Guy" and "Desperate Housewives" at 9. But it could be entertaining. Among the participants are a lesbian couple, a gay man with his straight brother, former "Big Brother" contestants Jeff and Jordan (she won on that show, apparently) and the former Miss Teen South Carolina who brought us this magic moment: