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Real Housewives of DC cast members crash White House state dinner, say they were invited

Andy Dehnart — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:32:58 -0500

Tareq Salahi and Michaele Salahi, cast members on Bravo's in-production spin-off The Real Housewives of DC, crashed a White House party for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday night, and later posted pictures of themselves on Facebook with Vice President Joe Biden and chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, among other people, although they proved their worthy Real Housewives cast members by identifying Emanuel as "Ron."

As of Friday morning, Michaele Salahi's Facebook page is viewable by the public, as is the photo album labeled "White House State Dinner. Michaele wrote, "I was honored to be invited to attend the First State Dinner hosted by President Obama & the First Lady to honor India." A photo album of her "in action ... around DC" include pictures with celebrities such as Omarosa, so clearly Michaele is a power player.

A Secret Service spokesperson told The Washington Post, "Everyone who enters the White House grounds goes through magnetometers and several other levels of screenings. That was the case with the state dinner last night. No one was under any risk or threat," but added that"a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedure to ensure these two individuals were on the invited guest list."

However, their attorney, Paul W. Gardner, wrote on Facebook (!), "My clients were cleared, by the White House, to be there. More information is forthcoming, according to a follow-up in the Post.

Bravo confirmed that they were being filmed for the show: Production company "Half Yard's cameras were not inside the White House. They filmed the couple preparing for the event," and producers "informed Half Yard that they were invited, the producers had no reason to believe otherwise," Bravo rep Johanna Fuentes told the AP.

The Post's Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, who broke the news, report that "This is not the first time the Salahis have represented themselves as power players," noting that on Facebook, they have a photograph of themselves inside the Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert's presidential viewing box, and wrote, "Tareq & Michaele were honored to be invited to President Obamas private viewing box at the Lincoln Memorial."

They will appear on Larry King Monday night.

Off the list, but somehow on the South Lawn and Who are these people? The climbers at the gate [Washington Post] Camera crew filmed White House crashers [AP]

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Real World DC trailer replaces conflict with sedate drama and emphasizes "change"

Andy Dehnart — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:53:59 -0500

The decade will end on MTV with the debut of The Real World DC Dec. 30, and based on the trailer that debuted last night, the network is positioning the season as a lot more calm and introspective than the insanity of The Real World Cancun.

While there's some drama hinted at, it's all very sedate, and has a theme of "change" (where did they get that from?). There's a moment when the trailer clearly makes fun of Andrew for being the tool he is, and many of them are annoying. But other than the moment with Andrew in the White House briefing room, that's not evident in this preview.

For the most part, it's arguing that the cast is in Washington to make changes in their lives, apparently ones that don't involve getting bailed out of jail, injected with penicillin, or having their stomachs pumped. Amazing.

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Donny Osmond bests his sister Marie by winning Dancing with the Stars

Andy Dehnart — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:44:55 -0500

Dancing with the Stars' ninth season concluded with a probably predictable result: Donny Osmond and his pro partner Kym Johnson won the crappy trophy, beating Mya and her partner Dmitry Chaplin, who were tied with Donny and Kym in terms of judges' points. Kelly Osbourne and Louis van Amstel came in third place.

Although Mya was the best dancer, she didn't improve as much, nor does she probably draw the attention of Dancing with the Stars voting base. But there are still a lot of people watching: 20.85 million people watched the final performances Monday night.

Donny did what his sister could not and won the competition: Marie Osmond made it to the finale despite a string of low scores, but ultimately came in third place. When Donny announced that he was going to be on the show, he said, "I can't let my sister upstage me."

As Eric Deggans notes, Donny Osmond's fans "may have been the only ones excited about this cycle's competition, which struggled to generate the buzz of past editions." He suggests that "producers get the message and reinvent the show a bit, with fewer contestants, bigger stars and a more competitive field."

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Biggest Loser health story leads show to threaten cast; Jillian says "contestants can get a little too crazy"

Andy Dehnart — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:25:51 -0500

The New York Times reports today on The Biggest Loser, saying in the headline that "health can take a back seat" on the show. The story is interesting, from the confessions of previous cast members to the way the show threatened its past contestants, warning them not to talk to the media.

After some pointless conjecture on the part of doctors who just watch the show on TV, the paper notes that "the winners of the first four seasons of the show each have added at least 20 percent to their weight at the end of the show," and reports that "Kai Hibbard, who lost 118 pounds and finished as the runner-up in Season 3, has written on her MySpace blog and elsewhere that she and other contestants would drink as little water as possible in the 24 hours before a weigh-in. When the cameras were off, she said, contestants would work out in as much clothing as possible."

Jillian Michaels admitted, "Contestants can get a little too crazy and they can get too thin. That is the worst part of the show. It's just part of the nature of reality TV."

Dr. Rob Huizenga, the show's doctor and a UCLA professor, told the paper that the one-mile race at the start of this season wasn't a good idea. "If we had it to do over, we wouldn't do it. It was an unexpected complication and we're going to do better. ... [T]hat challenge has changed a lot of the way we do things." Huizenga defended the show's overall approach, though, saying, "This is not only a major amount of weight loss, it is a totally different kind of weight loss compared with surgery or starvation diets."

Executive producer JD Roth defended the show, saying "it needs to be extreme in my opinion" because "For some of these people this is their last chance," and he said it's "a public service to have a show that inspires people to be healthier."

Interestingly, when the paper started its reporting, a talent producer threatened former cast members with "serious consequences" and a fine of $100,000 or $1 million if they talk to the press, and approved interviews came with a publicist listening in, a good way of making it seem like the show has something to hide.

On 'The Biggest Loser,' Health Can Take Back Seat [New York Times]

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Finale of Jon & Kate Plus Eight draws 4.32 million

Andy Dehnart — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:24:13 -0500

Jon & Kate Plus Eight's finale rebounded from its fall ratings slide, but didn't come close to reaching the peak of 10 million viewers that watched their divorce announcement episode in late May.

Overall, 4.318 million viewers watched, according to TV By the Numbers. The New York Times notes that "the program was drawing between one and two million viewers this fall."

That 4.318 million viewers is almost as many viewers as Jay Leno had on NBC at 10 p.m., 4.54 million, although Leno is far more depressing.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 series finale averages 4.32 million viewers [TV By the Numbers] A Big Crowd for 'Jon & Kate' Finale [New York Times]

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MTV's Jersey Shore promos highlight "guidos," offending an Italian-American group

Andy Dehnart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:17:39 -0500

Next Tuesday, MTV debuts its newest docudrama: Jersey Shore, which follows a group of men and women on vacation in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. MTV's announcement of the show told viewers, "Grab your hair gel, wax that Cadillac and get those tattooed biceps ready to fist pump with the best this summer at the Jersey Shore." In other words, get ready for some stereotypes.

As a result, the show is already generating controversy, at least among a group that fights against stereotypes of Italian-Americans. Andre Dimino, the president of UNICO National, which is "the largest Italian American service organization in the USA," told the Star-Ledger, "Trash television sells, and they'd be more interested in making money than how they're offending a great group of people." The paper notes that the group "also protested the portrayal of Italian-Americans as mobsters in 'The Sopranos.'"

In a trailer for the show, the narrator calls the cast members "guidos," while MTV's current web site description is more aspirational, saying the series "uncovers sometimes surprising, often hilarious and usually over-the-top personalities as they juggle work, love, nightlife, friendship and the drama that ensues. In the end, viewers see that there is more to these tan and buff individuals than hair gel."

Judge for yourself in this extended preview--it's much more fun to judge a show based on attention-seeking clips than the actual program itself!

Update: MTV responded with this statement to the Star-Ledger: "The show continues MTV's history of documenting various subcultures, rites of passage of young people, and the ways they self-identify. The Italian-American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture."

'Jersey Shore' offends Italian-American group; president protests use of 'Guido' [Star-Ledger]

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Dancing with the Stars generates more complaints than Adam Lambert did

Andy Dehnart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:38:13 -0500

ABC received more than 1,500 complaints about Adam Lambert's AMA performance, but it turns out that's not really a big deal after all, because Dancing with the Stars is even more controversial, and we all know how crazy risque that show is.

Advertising Age reports that "ABC gets more complaints from viewers over broadcasts of 'Dancing with the Stars,'" according to "One person familiar with the situation."

I'd say that I'd love to see those complaints--Are they about unblurred costume bulges? Bruno Tonoli's triple-entendres? Len Goodman's crankiness? Samantha Harris' babbling?--but reading them would probably be like reading Yahoo Answers, and doing that scares me more than Paranormal Activity did.

ABC's Problem Child: Adam Lambert [Advertising Age]

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Next Iron Chef winner Jose Garces deep frying his Thanksgiving turkey

Andy Dehnart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:13:54 -0500

Next Iron Chef 2 winner Jose Garces beat Jehangir Mehta on Sunday's finale of the Food Network series, and will appear on Iron Chef for the first time in mid-January. He was selected by the annoying judging panel--seriously, has there ever been a more excruciatingly whiny group of judges than Donatella Arpaia, Jeffrey Steingarten, and Anya Fernald?--and Iron Chefs Flay, Morimoto, and Symon, who was last season's winner.

Because of the judges, and the overall industrial feel to the show, I'm not a huge fan. I'm also not fond of the challenges, although perhaps all of it's just to prepare them for the not-quite-reality show that is Iron Chef. I'd much rather have two seasons a year of Next Food Network Star and Susie and Bob.

Anyway, Garces be hosting Thanksgiving dinner for his family and three others at his house, and he plans to deep fry a turkey after brining it for 24 hours. Deep frying "locks in all the juice and flavors and cooks in much less time," he told USA TODAY.

New Iron Chef Jose Garces has much to be thankful for [USA TODAY]

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Jon & Kate ends "too soon," Kate says; Jon: "I put my kids out there to every pedophile"

Andy Dehnart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:52:29 -0500

Two and a half years after it began, Jon & Kate Plus Eight is over after 116 episodes. While it is over as a TLC docudrama, the series will, of course, live on in DVDs of all five seasons, and we have probably not seen the last of Jon and Kate Gosselin, alas. During the episode, Kate said, "I never had a clear picture of how it would end, but I think it's too soon."

The televised version of their circus of a life ended with a trip with Kate to a dairy farm and a separate outing to a fire station, where Jon and the kids sold lemonade to raise money while being photographed by paparazzi, which left Kate to accuse Jon of doing it for publicity. Oh, the irony. At least there was some growth: Kate saying Jon is "still their dad, and I will never discourage them from being with him," and Jon saying, "I'm moving forward, I know what I have to do: to become friends with Kate, to continue my relationship with Hailey."

Because it wouldn't be Jon and Kate without some controversy, Radar released a recording of Jon talking to Michael Lohan (!!) and saying things such as, "I put my kids out there to every pedophile on the planet and they never got paid for it."

Here's a scene from the finale featuring the kids, who were the reason for the series and at least the initial source of entertainment, before their parents' relationship took over as the most interesting part of their lives:

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Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert's debut records out today, following Kris Allen's last week

Andy Dehnart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:27:50 -0500

American Idol 8 runner-up Adam Lambert's debut record For Your Entertainment is out today, as is worldwide sensation and Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle's debut I Dreamed a Dream.

Neither won their respective shows, but are arguably getting more attention than Kris Allen's debut, creatively titled Kris Allen, did last week. Of course, Adam has been doing a lot to make headlines, from public simulated fellatio to a battle with a magazine. In a cover story, Billboard talked to both men, and reports that between the two, plus Alison Iraheta, "the eighth season of 'American Idol' was something of an embarrassment of riches" for 19 Entertainment.

Today, Adam and Susan compete against other releases including Lady Gaga's Fame Monster and Rihanna's Rated R. But Susan Boyle might already be the winner thanks to her global appeal. While Adam and his over-the-top cover became the best-selling album on Amazon.com immediately after being available for pre-orders, Susan Boyle broke Amazon's pre-order record. In a press release, a spokesperson said "she has generated more Amazon pre-order CD sales globally than any other artist."

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1500+ people complained to ABC about Adam Lambert's performance

Andy Dehnart — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:29:03 -0500

The AP reports that "ABC says more than 1,500 people have called to complain about Adam Lambert's sexually-charged performance at the American Music Awards."

Sure, but what were they complaining about? His shouty singing? His trip and fall? The fact that they'd seen simulated fellatio and same-sex kissing before and wanted some originality? (Adam acknowledged his predecessors today.) Or were they jealous? Bored with nothing better to do with their miserable lives? Or just very, very confused Brothers & Sisters viewers?

Was Adam Lambert's AMA Act Too Racy? [AP]

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Adam Lambert's AMA act featured bondage, simulated fellatio to fight "double standard"

Andy Dehnart — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:23:37 -0500

Adam Lambert is still a trending topic on Twitter this morning thanks to his performance of "For Your Entertainment" on the American Music Awards last night, which featured Adam making out with his keyboardist, groping with various male and female dancers, dragging dancers around the stage by their limbs and leashes, and having a male dancer plow his face into Adam's crotch for some simulated fellatio. In other words, just your typical ABC prime-time broadcast.

The AMAs also featured Michael Jackson winning four posthumous awards and performances by Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, but Adam closed the show and is dominating headlines today. His season's actual winner, Kris Allen, was left to present.

Adam's performance, which is below, perhaps shouldn't have surprised anyone considering the lyrics to the song ("Push the limit/Are you with it?/Baby, don't be afraid"), and anyone who's making any arguments about the poor, innocent, fragile children is an idiot, because his performance aired just before 11 p.m. ET/PT. But there still is such criticism, and The Los Angeles Times' report includes some of the reaction from its readers.

If there was something worthwhile to complain about, it was the actual singing. Entertainment Weekly's Mikchael Slezak argues Adam "emphasized shock-and-awe imagery over his standard-operating vocal excellence," although "the entire telecast was racked with sound-mix issues that left even seasoned pros (except for maybe Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, and Jay-Z) sounding distant and tinny." Slezak also adds that while "the idea of saucy boy-on-boy/boy-on-girl/boy-on-not-quite-sure action does not rattle my cage ... Adam could've had tongues wagging just from his vocals alone. Instead, that golden voice took a backseat tonight."

Adam responded, sort of, to criticism writing, "All hail freedom of expression and artistic integrity. :) fans: I adore u." Backstage, he told Rolling Stone, "there's a double standard going on in the entertainment community right now. Female performers have been doing this for years -- pushing the envelope about sexuality -- and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out. We'e in 2009; it's time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people's eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I'm not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom."

The broadcast was slightly edited for its non-live West coast airing; Rolling Stone reports that "ABC kept the kiss with Lambert's keyboardist, but cut away from the simulated oral sex with his male backup dancer." Adam said that if anything was censored, "In a roundabout way it's a form of discrimination because it is a double standard. They didn't censor Britney and Madonna macking onstage did they? But yet two men kissing they'll censor?"

Earlier, he told the AP, "We've seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years. They've been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don't see men doing it very often. And I'm hoping to break down that double standard with this number."

Adam Lambert on his racy American Music Awards performance: 'There's a huge double standard' [Los Angeles Times] Adam Lambert Says Censorship of American Music Awards Song Would Be "Discrimination" [Rolling Stone] Adam Lambert ready to shake up pop world with CD [AP]

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Lifetime's Project Runway finale down from Bravo, but was 2009's top cable reality show

Andy Dehnart — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:02:07 -0500

After a spectacular debut that was up 44 percent over Bravo, Lifetime's version of Project Runway concluded with an episode that just barely surpassed its record-breaking opening episode, and was down from the season five season finale on Bravo--though not by as much as some would have you believe. And really, that just continues the trend of season finales losing viewers.

Project Runway 6's finale averaged 4.275 million viewers, which Lifetime said makes it "cable's most watched reality program in 2009 among Women 18+, Women 25-54 and" overall. (Lifetime also cites a bunch of ratings stats about how well the show did among the only people it cares about: women.)

But the fifth and final Bravo season's finale had 4.787 million last year--or, if you buy Bravo's spin, 7.158 total viewers, which added a repeat broadcast in with the live finale. That inflated number prompted some overreaction, such as James Hibberd's claim that Lifetime's numbers are "40% lower, however, than the fifth season finale that aired last year on Bravo," which in turn prompted Movieline to say that "To begin the season 45% higher than Bravo and end it 40% lower -- that's quite a slide. Somewhere, Bravo figurehead Andy Cohen is looking at the pin-stuck Jaclyn Smith action figure he redressed as a Lifetime executive ... and thinking this has all been worth it."

I have no doubt Andy Cohen is thrilled, even if his lousy attempt to create a copy didn't catch on. But Lifetime isn't exactly crushed, especially with the show's performance among women.

The real question is whether Lifetime can make the show relevant and engaging again, and we won't know that until Jan. 14, when season seven debuts.

Season Six Finale of Lifetime Television's Project Runway... [Lifetime press release]

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Next week: give thanks for Jon and Kate Plus Eight's finale, and Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs marathons

Andy Dehnart — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:49:06 -0500

Next week is Thanksgiving week, and while I'll update with breaking news for the first part of the week, I'll be taking some time away from the TV, so there will be a double Amazing Race post on Nov. 30. Here's what to watch if you need to get away from family or friends during the holiday week:

The Past

There was lots of conflict this week, on screen and off: Tabloid TV went after Speidi, TLC went after Jon, Jon sued TLC, and Adam Lambert went after a magazine after it made claims and headlines about his management's demands. The week also offered blurred bulges and another porn star reality show contestant, plus a short new top model. Old standbys offered both bland finales and amazing episodes.

The Forward

Sunday, Nov. 22 The Next Iron Chef 2 [Food Network, 10 p.m.] ends its run with a kitchen stadium face-off, and either Jehangir Mehta or Jose Garces will become the next Iron Chef.

Monday, Nov. 23
The premiere of the family reunion/weepfest show Find My Family [ABC, 9:30 p.m.] follows Dancing with the Stars' [ABC, 8 p.m.] final performance episode of the season, but it's Jon and Kate Plus Eight [TLC, 9 p.m.] that has its final episode ever. It's an hour, but who cares, it's over! Hallelujah! Also tonight: Intervention [A&E, 9 p.m.] and Hoarders [A&E, 10 p.m.]. (Correction: the shows' new seasons don't start until Nov. 30.)

Tuesday, Nov. 24
Dancing with the Stars gives a shitty mirrorball trophy to someone after wasting two hours during its finale [ABC, 9 p.m.]

Wednesday, Nov. 25
The Biggest Loser airs a two-hour "where are they now?" special [NBC, 8 p.m.] that tracks down more than 40 former contestants to see how they've done with their weight loss since being on the show. So You Think You Can Dance [Fox, 8 p.m.] votes off two more and gets its top 10.

Thursday, Nov. 26
In honor of Thanksgiving and the spirit of celebrating with friends and family, TV networks give us marathons of TV shows, so we can be distracted for an extended period of time. A number of reality show marathons will be broadcast today, so you can hang out with people you like better than your family. Discovery will air a Mythbusters marathon [9 a.m.to 3 a.m.] all day; it's so easy to get sucked in and watch them have fun testing myths and, well, things that only loosely qualify as myths but are still fun to watch. (Discovery will also air Deadliest Catch all day Friday and Dirty Jobs all day Saturday, which is even better). ESPN's documentary series 30 for 30 will air four of its films [ESPN, 3 to 7 p.m.]. If there's any chance you've missed TLC's new docudrama Cake Boss, there's a 21-hour marathon [TLC, 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. Friday] of the show. Random episodes of Top Chef (the pre-season three reunion cook-off, the Martha Stewart episode) and The Real Housewives of Orange County will be on Bravo [9 a.m. to 11 p.m.] during the day and evening. Logo offers an alternative to football and pretty much everything else with a marathon of the entire first season of the campy, blurry, cheap, fun competition series RuPaul's Drag Race [Logo, 2 p.m.] Finally, there's not much in prime-time, because while I love Survivor, I don't love its clip shows, one of which airs tonight [CBS, 8 p.m.] and looks back at "the first 27 days."

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Tie vote leads to Laura being voted out during an episode that was "good shit," as Erik said

Andy Dehnart — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:57:07 -0500

At the end of last night's Survivor Samoa episode, jury member Erik excitedly whispered, "Man, this is good shit." He was thrilled that Galu was getting its comeuppance, but he could have also been talking about the whole episode. There was a lot of great stuff, like a tie vote, Natalie dangling by her legs during the reward challenge, and Russell finding a third hidden immunity idol (though this time with a video clue, at least, although he still found it despite being chased). It was the kind of episode that proved Survivor is still going strong 19 seasons later.

That was almost derailed by a nearly half-episode advertisement for Sprint and the Palm Pre, which was unnecessarily long and awkward just when Jeff Probst announced that the winning tribe would take a phone along with them to take photos on their reward and make memories. But it didn't stop there. Probst didn't' do well with ad copy that clearly wasn't written in his voice, and Survivor didn't do well extending the product placement, which went so far as to have contestants talking about it (triple ugh) and name-drop features while getting the hidden immunity idol clues off the phone. I'm all for shows making money and even placing products or logos, but it has to be organic and not pull us out of the moment. A prize can be organic, but an extended commercial is not.

Anyway, at Tribal Council, Russell again had an immunity idol but didn't play it, because he wasn't Galu's target: Natalie was. With Shambo switching sides, there was a tie vote between Laura and Natalie. With the threat of a random elimination from drawing rocks, John decided to change his vote during the re-vote and thus save himself, unwilling to gamble on the rock draw like Dave and the other members of Galu were. That sent Laura home, much to the delight of Shambo and, of course Russell.

Laura has long been a target--of Russell, Shambo, and even John--and I talked with her about that a few minutes ago. Laura said that Russell's problem with her went back to their initial interaction, when she told him "don't threaten me. He knew that he couldn't control me, and he can't have that." Laura said that "at that point, I wasn't nervous" because Galu had numbers.

Of course, Galu screwed itself by turning on its own, and Laura told me that while "I regret voting him out because I like Erik as a person," she said she doesn't regret the vote because "I was on [Erik and John's] chopping list." She said she was thinking, "I have five, six people running after me to get me. I just pick up a weapon and fire." Of course, she said, "in hindsight, looking back, we should have kept Erik."

As to her conflict with Shambo, which has led to criticism of Laura's behavior, Laura said she can only "assume what it was" that Shambo didn't like about her. "If I would have to guess why, she wanted to be the strong girl on the tribe, she wanted to be the go-to girl on the tribe," Laura told me. But instead, Galu often chose Laura to do physical tasks in challenges or asked her for advice, and combined with Shambo's immediate exclusion of herself, led to that conflict.

Laura said that "it's frustrating to watch it and kind of get cast as the mean one," and challenged anyone to "show one thing that I did that was mean to her. If CBS had footage of me being mean to her, they would show it," Laura said. Instead, Laura said that it was Shambo who "would constantly come after me," and our perception of Laura's meanness "is only what Shambo said. Just because it was her perception" doesn't make it true.

However, Laura told me, "I did call her Gilligan in my confessional, I totally own that," and separated that from the things Shambo said about Laura to others in the game, rather than in confessionals. Still, Laura added, "I did apologize to her after the show, and I took somebody with me. I said, 'If there was something that I did that hurt your feelings and made you feel no apart from the group, I sincerely apologize.' I don't know how it was received; I haven't talked to her since."

Laura--who told me pre-game that she wouldn't do anything to "mar my character or mar Christ's character"--said that her portrayal has been "really hard" and that it surprised her, because "my fear was going to be that I [came off as] cutthroat, competitive. I won't let my kids win checkers or Hi Ho! Cherry-O. Mean-spirited, that's the last thing that I am."

Laura told me that they were aware that the tie-breaker would be a rock-draw up until the finals (presumably the final four, but unclear) and said that "we were all prepared" to draw stones. The vote-for-John plan was their attempt at changing that, and Laura said that her tribemates were "willing to put their game on the line for me." John, of course, did not, which Laura said was "the perfect situation for him" and "excuse" to get rid of her, because "I knew he was coming after me," she said. While she's "disappointed," "I totally can't blame him for it," Laura said, even though it "put the rest of my tribe in danger."

What it did was make Galu irrelevant as a tribe, and make the Foa Foa alliance dominant, assuming it holds together. Or we could be finally into individual game territory, where splinter alliances matter more than original-tribe loyalty or disloyalty.

It'll be two weeks until we find out what happens next: Thanksgiving's episode is a clip show, and the break is great, but the clip shows pretty much never are.

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