It's official: Charla and Mirna have completely worn out their welcome in reality TV.Last night's episode of The Amazing Race reinforced those feelings for me as, through a fluke of luck most likely unforeseen by the producers and travel specialists of TAR, Charla and Mirna not only managed to keep their first place lead over the other teams but seemed for a little while to be nearly a full day ahead of their competition.
As it were, thanks to some weather problems, Charla and Mirna (sorry, but I refuse to call them "Too Hot to Handle") were unable to board their traditional African dhow to Zanzibar until the following morning (wahoo!), leaving time for Danny and Oswald to catch up to them.
I'm still not entirely sure what the hell happened last night regarding the ongoing travel snafus as teams attempted to leave Maputo. Sure, there have been times in the past when securing airline tickets has been problematic at best, but last night took that to a whole new level of ridiculousness. Had there not been (rather suspicious) weather problems in Dar Es Salaam, potentially Charla and Mirna could have reached the pit stop a full day and a half ahead of the last place team. That's not too good planning nor is it good television. I'd love to know what actually happened to cause the teams to get so far behind (and nearly get stranded in Johannesburg). Any theories?
Danny and Oswald meanwhile decided to have fun with Charla and Mirna, who suddenly developed a severe lack of sense of humor, missing the point of every single one of Team Cha Cha Cha's jokes, especially when Owsald joked that they were going to trade the cousins for food (not to mention the hilarious faux turf war he tried to start with Mirna). Then again, Mirna had no idea what a catamaran was, so maybe a sense of humor isn't all that she's missing upstairs.
The gruesome twosome continued their swath through Africa, armed with more bad foreign accents to use on people. This week, Charla got in on the action, attempting an Italian accent while pleading with an airline representative. Mirna continued the same strategy of attempting to confuse locals with with strange and confusing (and often offensive) accents, offering a grotesquely mangled and drawn-out "nobody?" when told who no one could book them airline tickets at this time.
Which brings me to the fact that Team Cha Cha Cha would now be in first place if they hadn't stopped to buy some fruit along the way. Yes, they were dehydrated after the long boat trip to Zanzibar, and, yes, they were in the lead and hadn't even seen the other teams, but come on now, guys. It's a race and there will be plenty of time to stop at the local market AFTER you reach the Pit Stop. But Danny and Oswald do decide to stop off along the way to the Road Block (though they do catch up with Charla and Mirna), leading the cousins to nab the first spot at the Pit Stop.
(Aside: just how great was it to see Eric and a hysterical Danielle get yanked right off of that plane and then be forced to race with Teri and Ian and the Guidos? Har har. Personally, I loved seeing the looks on their faces when they realized they really weren't getting on that flight. Priceless.)
Uchenna and Joyce manage to survive Phil-imination this week and, even with the 30 minute time penalty, arrive third, followed by the Beauty Queens (which means my fave three teams are all in the top four slots right now). But for Teri and Ian, a day behind the other teams, their final showdown with the Guidos put them in last place and, for Teri, it's finally a chance to get back to Miami as she mentioned a zillion times last night. (Or as close as the Elimination Station, anyway).
Next week on The Amazing Race: Danielle and Eric have a nasty spat, leading Danielle to finally tell Eric he needs to grow up (about time), while Joe attempts to outrun a plane (seriously) and Charla gets suited up in armor for a challenge, only to land flat on her face. (Ouch.) Remind me again: why isn't Mirna doing this challenge?
What's On Tonight
8 pm: How I Met Your Mother/The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC; 8-10 pm); Everybody Hates Chris/All of Us (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC; 8-10 pm); House (FOX)
9 pm: Two and a Half Men/Rules of Engagement (CBS); Girlfriends/The Game (CW); 24 (FOX)
10 pm: CSI: Miami (CBS); The Black Donnellys (NBC); What About Brian (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
8 pm: Everybody Hates Chris.
On tonight's episode ("Everybody Hates Baseball"), Chris is forced to choose between going to a baseball game with his dad or taking Tasha to the movies.
8:30 pm: Old Christine.
On tonight's repeat episode ("The Champ"), it's the return of Sad Dad (Andy Richter), whom Christine slept with in Season One... but now she is forced to admit that she is attracted to him.
9 pm: 24.
It's Day Six of 24. While FOX doesn't give us much in the way of previews, here's what we do know: the nuclear threat unveiled by Noah Daniels brings about some unexpected consequences, Karen Hayes refuses to step down, and Jack and Mike Doyle are forced to work together during a field operation.
10 pm: The Riches on FX.
Is anyone else watching new drama The Riches on FX? On tonight's episode ("Operation Education"), Wayne is forced start working for Hugh Panetta, who tells him that we must fire his predecessor on his first day, while Dahlia and the kids embark on a complicated scam to get them enrolled at a private school.
Comments
Again, what is with their fake foreign accents? It's no longer a joke but now offensive, as they try to mimic the broken english of the people they deal with on a daily basis in these foreign countries (includling their kidnap victims). At least they didn't try the fake accent with the airline official in South Africa, choosing to go on a fake prayer route instead. Why do these two insist on employing the fake accents? And the fact that Charla tried to teach the airline ticket official who refused to book their flight how to dial a phone ("you take finger and bah bah bah") was so offensive, I nearly threw the remote at the screen. Two pit stops in a row? Damn! These two are viable threats but no way they can win, especially if Mirna makes Charla do all the hard pit stops. And if the lessons of Rob and Amber winning three in a row only to get eliminated mean anything, perhaps a similar fate will befall the most annoying Racers in the race. (though I'm sure the Elimination Station vets won't be pleased to see them there).
Oh and don't let me get started on the weather problems. There were none! The skies were sunny and they just added in b-roll of gray clouds rolling past the sun. That was classic tv / producer fakery designed to let one more team catch up so Charla/Mirna wouldn't be 24 hours ahead of EVERYONE. They were still that far ahead of the Guidos/Teri and Ian, but at least they had some teams near them in the timeline. Phil sure looked tired in the morning when the bottom two checked in. I am calling the producers on that one: Fumble!
As much as I hated Teri/Ian in their first race, I liked them here and was hoping The Guidos would get eliminated. I am sure their time is coming.
Hey, it gave them more time to practice the local dialect. Which was, what, Italian this time?
My favorite no-sense-of-humor moment was when Cha cha cha said this was their bench and Mirna totally didn't get it. And CCC said, "They don't get the joke." I love CCC.
The fake accents are definitely offensive. It's not just the accent, it's the fact that they talk in broken english. And it's often vaguely Russian sounding.
Agreed - my 3 faves are in the top 4, but it's frst place that needs to go now. Hopefully they will face the same fate as R&A did after winning so many legs in a row.
I can't believe I was rooting for Teri and Ian over Guido, but...
I can't wait for next week and Charla in the armor. I was laughing so hard at the previews I started hyperventilating.
Love Danny and Oswald, rooting for BQ's, although I won't be overly put out if Uchenna and Joyce win again. Just please, please, please, get the Guidos out...although shockingly, I think I want Eric and Danielle gone more. Eric is just unbearable. I didn't think he could get worse than the last time he was on, but I guess it's just "good editing". LOL.