'The Amazing Race': Playing dirty

This week's episode of "The Amazing Race" brought up one of the race's eternal questions: Is it right to play dirty when there's a million dollars on the line or should you take the moral high road?

This week, the four remaining teams jetted off to Prague (which, contrary to Sam and Dan's beliefs isn't a country nor do they speak Spanish there) and each made their own decisions about engaging in duplicitous gamesmanship to get ahead.

Some of those decisions were minor while others had major implications about not only how the race is being run but also about the racers themselves. Is it right to steal another team's taxi? If you agree to work with another team, can you just ditch them? 

Yes, with the grand prize within spitting distance of the four remaining teams, things are bound to get heated. These are pretty competitive teams, and none of them want to walk away empty-handed. And yes, it's a race, so there shouldn't be any alliances or understandings. But when does it become acceptable to actually engage in malicious behavior?

'Survivor': Finally, things start gettin' good

I'm not sure if this week's episode of "Survivor" could have been any more fulfilling. Everything I've been waiting for finally came to fruition, and I couldn't stop grinning throughout the entire hour.

First up, the winners of the reward challenge actually score a decent prize. No more beef stew and scones on a pirate ship. This was the kind of "Survivor" reward I was looking for: a scenic airplane ride, a remote island with a beautiful waterfall, and a spread of caloric goodness including grilled hot dogs and apple pie. 

I did find that whole cheesy PrePalm phone promotion odd. Jeff hands the winners a nifty PDA to ... take pictures with? I thought that once they arrived at the island they'd be able to give their loved ones a call or at least watch some recorded message from friends and family. Instead, they received only a video hint about the location of the hidden immunity idol. As if Russell needed the clue.

He didn't, of course, and he further solidified this week that his good fortune is due more to his game-playing skills than Lady Luck.

I loved reading all of your comments last week, and I'm glad to know I'm not alone in rooting for Russell. I'll admit, I was feeling a little guilty about liking him after that whole horrible Hurricane Katrina ruse during the first episode, but it's difficult to deny how great he is at "Survivor."

'The Amazing Race': Are you a candelabra?

Oh, "Amazing Race." You continue to teach us things, whether they be the actual definition of a candelabra (Hint: it's not a boozy man dressed in medieval garb), the existence of the sauna-laden underbelly of Estonia or the lengths to which CBS censors will go to obscure even the slightest hint of male genitalia.

Yes, it was another hilarious and odd episode of "The Amazing Race," one in which the five remaining teams had to wait around impatiently for a ferry, attempt to unlock a door, use a candle to decipher a clue (or, as some players opted, crayon), play mud volleyball in some Estonian bogs, and race to a rather small tower overlooking a swamp. Along the way, things turned ugly for two teams as they jostled their way right up to the pit stop.

Relations among the remaining teams are typically strained at this point in the race. Tensions are running high, and there is bound to be some major friction, even between teams that had coexisted more or less peacefully just a few legs earlier. After all, the final leg of the race is within spitting distance now, and everyone wants to be the first team to cross the finish line. Never mind that "The Amazing Race" is an endurance marathon and not a sprint; there are still several more legs coming up and equalizers at every turn.

Even so, I didn't expect the teams to have to wait around until 5:45 in the evening to catch that ferry, putting all of the teams on equal footing once they arrived in Estonia. Gary and Matt got stuck doing that speed bump -- it involved climbing into a Saunabuss (yes, it's exactly what it sounds like) with a Finnish family -- but it was Matt who really delayed them, wandering around that underground chamber for far too long trying to figure out what a candelabra was (or, as he pronounced it, "candle-a-bra") and asking the medieval players whether they were a candelabra or could lead him to "a special room." Which sounded kinkier than he intended, I think. 

'Survivor': Russell may be one of the best players in the game's history

Well, I think he's done it: a stout Texas oilman has proved that he's one of the best players ever to grace the game of "Survivor."

Sure, he talks a big game -- but this week, Russell showed he's got more than just a big mouth when he tracked down a second hidden immunity idol. Which he wasn't even sure existed! Which he had no clue for!

I wasn't shocked that Russell was crafty enough to assume the producers had planted another hidden immunity idol somewhere within the Aiga camp. But I was surprised he was able to track it down. I mean, how does he keep finding these things? Yes, as he himself said, oftentimes the idols are near or inside greater objects. But rolling himself across an entire bridge to spot the secret prize under some boards above a murky body of water? The guy must have excellent eyesight.

By the way -- is anyone surprised that no one has tried to copy the smart move made by "Survivor" winner Bob during the season in Gabon? The schoolteacher made not one but two of his own false idols and tricked his team into believing they were real. How difficult can it be for the Samoa cast to find a piece of rope and a shell and call it an idol?

Lawyer for alleged Letterman blackmailer asks judge to dismiss case

An attorney for Robert Halderman, who allegedly sought to extort $2 million from comic David Letterman, filed court papers today seeking to have the indictment dismissed, saying that the CBS producer had merely been seeking to sell the late-night host a screenplay treatment.

“Having experienced certain circumstances, he had the right to publish, he had the commercial right to sell and he had the right to offer the product to Mr. Letterman,” defense attorney Gerald Shargel told reporters after a brief appearance in Manhattan criminal court today.

“There was no extortion,” he added, as Halderman stood by him silently. “There was a treatment for sale. The facts of this case are largely undisputed. They’re simple and straightforward. This was a commercial transaction. It was nothing more. It did not violate the penal law. The district attorney’s office jumped all over this, I suggest, without taking an appropriate, objective view.”

Halderman, dressed in a dark suit and a green tie, maintained a somber expression throughout the court hearing and news conference, but did not comment. The veteran producer for the CBS newsmagazine “48 Hours Mystery” was arrested Oct. 1 after attempting to cash a fake check for $2 million given to him by Letterman's attorney. New York Dist. Atty. Robert Morgenthau said his office has evidence that Halderman left Letterman a letter and a proposed screenplay in the back seat of his car early Sept. 9, threatening to make a movie exposing the comic's affairs unless Letterman paid Halderman money.

Halderman pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted grand larceny in the first degree, a crime punishable by as much as 15 years in prison, and has been suspended from CBS. He is due back in court in January for the judge's ruling on his motion to dismiss the case.

During today’s news conference, Shargel said the district attorney’s office overzealously pursued the case because of Letterman’s public profile. “I think that celebrity is why we are where we are today,” he said.

In his 34-page memorandum, Shargel also claimed that the grand jury may have been improperly instructed on the law and that New York’s extortion statute is vague and too broad.

After Halderman and Shargel walked away from the microphones, surrounded by a scrum of reporters and television cameras, attorneys for Letterman stepped forward to counter the defense’s position.

“The evidence described by Mr. Morgenthau in his press conference suggests that this is anything but a legitimate business transaction,” said Daniel J. Horwitz, a lawyer for the comic. “Ask yourself if the evidence of Mr. Halderman waiting in the shadows outside Mr. Letterman’s apartment building at 6 o'clock in the morning with an extortion demand to throw in the back of his car, threatening that his world is going to collapse, threatening Mr. Letterman’s personal and professional life if he didn’t pay Mr. Halderman a big chunk of money, and demanding that Mr. Letterman get back to Mr. Halderman in two hours – I suggest to you that that evidence is not a legitimate business transaction and it’s classic blackmail, no matter how Mr. Halderman’s lawyer wants to dress it up.”

Horwitz said he is confident that the motion to dismiss will be denied and that the case will proceed to trial. “And let me say this: Mr. Letterman is fully prepared to see this case through to the end, including testifying at a trial to see that justice is done,” he added.

-- Matea Gold
 

CBS to develop sitcom based on angry old man's tweets

Kurtwood Smith, Jerry Stiller and anyone else who has ever played a sarcastic and moody dad, it's time to call your agent.

CBS is going to develop a sitcom based on the Twitter feed "S&*% My Dad Says." The feed, which has over 700,000 followers, is done by Justin Halpern, who moved back home with his dad and started writing down and later tweeting his father's somewhat brusque and cynical observations. According to the Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news, "Will & Grace" creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick will executive produce. The studio for the show is Warner Bros., and yes, if CBS moves forward with the project the name of the show will change.

One does have to wonder why Warner Bros. needed to do a deal with Halpern to develop a show with this theme. Not to take anything away from Halpern, and we hope his dad is getting a big cut since he seems to do most of the work, but shows featuring sarcastic fathers who torment their offspring are hardly new. Witness Peter Boyle in "Everybody Loves Raymond" or John Mahoney in "Frasier" or Ed O'Neill in "Married ... with Children" and now "Modern Family." Halpern hardly has a patent on the concept.

That said, CBS and Warner Bros. are betting that the popularity of the feed (yes, 700,000 followers in country of 300 million is considered popular) and the upcoming book based on the sayings of old man Halpern will draw viewers.

-- Joe Flint

'The Amazing Race': The return of the hay bales

With only five teams left in the race, the stakes have gotten higher than ever. So it was only fitting that the producers of "The Amazing Race" would bring back one of the toughest challenges ever devised in the history of the race.

Yes, it was the return of the hay bales. 

Longtime viewers of "The Amazing Race" might recall, way back in Season 6, that Mormon sisters Lena and Kristy were eliminated from the race after Lena spent 10 --yes, 10 --hours dismantling bales of hay, searching for one of the few hidden clues among hundreds of hay bales. It was nearly as grueling to watch as it was for Lena herself; even after 10 hours, she didn't quit, and Phil had to walk out to her in the darkness to tell them they had been eliminated.

Now, nine seasons later, the very same challenge would face the remaining teams. Most of this week's leg was pretty simple: an airplane ride, an amusement park free fall, blowing things up in a quarry. A cake walk, really. (Only fitting that it was Flight Time's birthday.)

But the hay has a will of its own, curling itself around those few yellow-and-red flags and hiding them from prying eyes and searching hands. It's an endurance challenge that can reduce even the toughest competitors to tears and exhaustion.

I'm usually against any of the contestants revealing it's their birthday while on the race. "The Amazing Race" has a cruel sense of irony; if you purport to be an expert at something, if you say you know a city like the back of your hand, if you announce it's your birthday ... chances are you're going home that leg. Luck was clearly on Flight Time and Big Easy's side this week. They managed not only to catch up to the other teams fairly early on but also to arrive at the Pit Stop first after breezing through the hay-bales roadblock without breaking much of a sweat. Nicely played, Globetrotters.

'Survivor': The merge brings everyone together -- for an instant

There's a point in every season of "Survivor" where just for an instant, alliances are set aside and the players let go of fear and anger: the highly anticipated merge.

As per usual, things were all ice cream and rainbows when Galu and Foa Foa were joined as one at the merge this season. Members of both tribes embraced one another and shrieked in excitement for a moment of temporary friendship. Then all dived at an elaborate food spread, picking at chicken breasts and licking pastries like ravenous animals. Afterward, they settled upon a new tribe name: Aiga, which is slang for 'extended family' in Samoa (Erik, for one, found the name gag-inducing).

Of course, the players quickly started scrambling to figure out who would be the first to go, and I was thrilled when it seemed like everyone was on board to vote out Laura. Like Shambo, I can't stand the chick. There's something holier-than-thou about her that isn't justified whatsoever -- in Shambo's words, she's like one of those "popular girls in high school that want to snob up their nose at people who don't fit into their clique."

"There's this '90210' little young thing in you going on, and it's bizarre to me," Shambo later said, confronting Laura and trying to get to the root of their issues. 

And then Laura won the immunity idol, which killed me. It was so disappointing to watch her get up to bat and manage to eek out a win. It seemed like the plan to take her out of the game was so set in stone, and then she got off the hook. 

'The Amazing Race': For whom the bell tolls

Lots of tears on this leg of "The Amazing Race." And a lot of hugs, for that matter.

Adversity is the name of the game on "The Amazing Race" and producers throw all manner of obstacles at our racers to overcome, but none of these are as destructive as the contestants second-guessing themselves and, well, misreading the clues.

This week found the teams jetting off to the Netherlands, where they had to engage in a series of eccentric behaviors, from cross-dressing and stripping down to their underwear to counting bells and eating raw herring. Fortunately, no one attempted to force anyone down a slide for a million dollars this week, making it a relatively calm leg without any tantrums or shoving.

In fact, with Mika and Canaan out of the race, things seemed pretty quiet all around, other than Ericka's constant screeching at her husband Brian and her tears while attempting numerous times to count the bells at a church outside Amsterdam. Repeat attempts at various roadblocks and detours seemed to be a recurring theme this week; not only did Ericka make effort after effort, but  Maria and Tiffany (left) also found themselves switching back and forth between two different detours several times over.

'Survivor': Shambo finally gets her day in the sun

After days of numbing rain on Samoa, the sun finally emerged this week on "Survivor" -- and one of my favorite castaways got her day in it. 

After the untimely exit of Russell S. last week, Galu opted this week to elect Shambo as tribe leader. I was thrilled, but not surprisingly, the women of Galu weren't pleased with the decision. 

"Now that Shambo is chief, it's like she was raised in a trailer park, married a rich guy and now she's driving around in a Jaguar treating everyone like crap," Kelly seethed after the hasty vote. 

I continue to be baffled by the hatred thrown Shambo's way from her fellow tribemates. It doesn't seem like she always knows when to shut up, but otherwise, Shambo seems like a fair and considerate leader who just wants Galu's respect. Plus, her mullet is amazing.

Sadly, little does Shambo realize that the men of Galu are actually only using her as a pawn to gain numbers at the merge. But I'm holding out hope that she'll be able to win over some of the remaining Galu members later in the game. (Does Dave really make for better company than Sham? Come on.)