Teams Fall to Pieces on the 'Race!' Plus the Scrubies, 'Mars' ' Rob Thomas and Nielsen Wednesday

Monica from Team MoJo tries to complete the Roadblock (photo courtesy cbs.com)

Wow, this Race is certainly moving fast. The teams were not long for Germany, as they learned when they ripped open the first clue of this leg, and discovered that they were bound for Palermo, Italy. Once there, they would have to find the Teatro Massimo. You know the drill, each team left the Pit Stop in the order in which they arrived, and they all give us plenty of silly dialog that makes us mock them. Take Monica for instance; I love Monica, but it's never wise to tell us that the other teams underestimate you because they think you're the typical dumb blonde, and then follow that comment with a completely botched pronunciation of your next destination. Instead of Palermo, she gave us PALER-mo. Moving on, the teams quickly made their way to the airport where Team Slacker (Eric/Jeremy) and Team Hippie (do I even need to specify?) were goofing off with the wheelchairs as they waited for the ticket counters to open. Lake/Michelle decided to search for a computer and buy their tickets over the Internet. Team Hippie went along as well, but things went sour when Michelle couldn't read the German Internet. Team Hippie seemed to have no trouble and snatched the last two tickets on the earliest flight to Palermo, much to Lake's chagrin. He, of course, instantly blamed Michelle, but also revealed that he doesn't "do the Internet." I suppose that's Michelle's fault as well. Once the ticket counters opened, Team Slacker was able to talk their way onto Team Hippie's flight, but they weren't able to get on the same, earlier connecting flight that Team Hippie snagged over the Internet. Random TAR question, why do all of the teams have such a love affair with Lufthansa airlines? I mean it seems like a fine airline, but what is it that makes the teams automatically default to it? Maybe it's just a well-placed product placement, but my curiosity is piqued now, and obviously, TAR and Lufthansa have completed their mission. Anyway, Lake/Michelle had to settle for a later flight along with a group of other teams. Everyone was making their way to Palermo via different connecting flights. Lake almost burst a blood vessel when he found out he and Michelle were on a later connecting flight, but they were joined by the last group of teams. Once in Palermo, teams found their next clue, which had them driving 42 miles to Castellammare de Golfo to get their next clue. Lake/Michelle slipped out of last place when Team Double D stalled out on the stick shift. Soon enough, all the teams were heading to their next destination.

Once there, teams found this leg's Detour: foundry or laundry. In foundry, teams had to carry a 110-pound church bell to a special transport vehicle, they had to drive the bell to a church and carry it up a set of steps. In laundry, teams had to search more than 2,400 pieces of laundry hanging on clothes lines for a piece with the TAR flag on it. Team Hippie chose the laundry and quickly began searching it. They found the marked piece rather quickly and learned that they would need to travel 13 miles to the ancient city of Segesta and find the archeological zone and hike one mile to the Teatro di Segesta. The clue warned that there was a Yield ahead. Meanwhile, Team Slacker searched for a marked piece of clothing while Team MoJo worked on foundry. While they continued their search, the boys couldn't help but take a jab at Phil's turtleneck collection. Every time they came across a turtleneck, they joked that it must be Phil's. I'd be careful Team Slacker - Phil sees all. He already knows about your womanizing ways, but this, this could push him over the edge. You don't insult Phil and his turtlenecks! Anyway, Team Slacker found their clothing and began worrying about the Yield. Team MoJo (or rather just Jo since he carried the bell for about 80% of the task) completed foundry and began making their way to the next destination. Fran/Barry worked on laundry after searching for the clue box in a scene that was reminiscent of the one in Brazil. Soon they were heading off to the next destination as well. Team Nerds began working on laundry while Ray/Yolanda carried the bell. Ray's excessive strength propelled the team through the task, but Lake/Michelle and Team Double D were quickly working through laundry. Team Nerds was getting more and more frustrated as they kept coming up empty, but they finally came through with Lake/Michelle and Ray/Yolanda close behind. Team Double D struggled in last place, but suddenly found their marked piece of clothing and began their journey to the next clue box.

Team Hippie, meanwhile, had reached the Teatro and chose not to yield anyone. They encountered a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member had to correctly assemble a classical Greek statue. What they didn't know was that there were two extra pieces. Oh that Phil, he's a tricky one! The tricky part didn't trip up Team Hippie as they raced through it and made their way to the Pit Stop in first place. Team Slacker was close behind and Team MoJo behind them. Monica "I'm not a dumb blonde" MoJo lamented herself for not realizing that the statue had two extra pieces. But, she wasn't the only one who didn't realize it. Team Nerds struggled and struggled, but just couldn't figure out how to make all the pieces fit. Meanwhile, Fran/Barry completed the task and cruised to fourth place. Lake/Michelle got turned around because Lake was convinced that the bright illuminated building was the Teatro (it was actually the Pit Stop), but it didn't matter much because they still reached the Yield mat before Team Double D and Ray/Yolanda, who had gotten terribly lost trying to reach the Teatro. Lake decided to yield Team Double D. The girls were extremely upset and cried while they waited for their time to run out. Meanwhile, Lake breezed through the statue building and he and Michelle landed in fifth. Team Double D took to the Roadblock after their sand ran out while Lori still struggled with the two extra pieces. Ray/Yolanda finally arrived and began working on the statue. Lori soon figured it out, and Team Nerds landed in sixth. Ray/Yolanda finished next and avoided elimination. Team Double D finally got the OK from the judges, but it was too late. The girls were eliminated from the race. What did you think of last night's episode? Were you glued to your TV sets at the edge of your seat? Drop me a comment with your thoughts.


Carla's finally pregnant!! There's going to be a Scrubs baby! And you can help name the child. NBC is holding a baby-naming contest. The winning baby name entrant will have a future Scrubs character named after them as well as the distinction of choosing the name and sex of Carla and Turk's baby. For all the details, click on over to nbc.com. In other Scrubs dealings, how funny was the electronic hide and seek game? Who knew Janitor was a track star in hurdles? And oh my gawd, Pizza Rolls are seriously the hottest things ever! I could totally relate to Turk. The baby-shaped balloons were hysterical as was the campaign to keep Carla from finding out that she was the only one who didn't know she's pregnant. I especially loved the wine scene. As usual, here's a look at last night's best, funniest and overall awesome lines with this week's edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"If I get one this little, everybody's going to think I'm gay." JD, spoofing the little dog myth, in a daydream sequence that found him at the Grandfather kennel

"My friend, we just Lo-jacked the janitor." JD to Turk after getting Janitor to swallow the electronic tracking device for the hide and seek game

"Abort the babies!" JD, referencing the baby-shaped balloons, to the crowd after learning that Carla would be upset if she learned that everyone knew about the baby before she did

"He's got you two by the short ones." Dr. Kelso to Dr. Cox and Elliot regarding JD's blackmail tactics to get them to agree to his plan to keep Carla from knowing that everyone already knew about the baby

"This plan is fool-proof!" JD
"That's impossible. You two are involved." Dr. Cox to JD and Turk, who subsequently bumped into each other trying to walk away

And the night's best line/exchange goes to.......

"We're having a baby!" Turk, who had his arm around JD, to Dr. Cox
"Red states be damned! I'm sure you're going to make great fathers." Dr. Cox

That's a look at this week's Scrubies. If you have a quote that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, leave me a comment and I'll include it in a future edition.

About Last Night...Fox won the first hour of the night with American Idol, followed by CBS' NCIS (r) and ABC comedies According to Jim (r) and Hope & Faith (on its new night). At 9, Fox stayed in first with House, followed by CBS' The Unit and NBC comedies Scrubs and the debut of Teachers. The final hour of the night went to NBC's Law & Order: SVU, followed by ABC's Boston Legal and CBS' The Amazing Race. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - The girls get tips from Janice Dickinson and complete a seasonal photoshoot on UPN's America's Next Top Model. I've seen some advanced clips from this episode, and it looks like tensions are rising between the girls, especially Gina and Jade. Brooke struggles a bit with her photoshoot, and all of the girls are very excited to learn that they'll be working with male models this time instead of cockroaches. One of the girls gets a little too close to her model. Over on Fox, Angela fears that Brennan's latest case may be her boyfriend on Bones. NBC airs Deal or No Deal on a special night.

@9 p.m. - You guys trust Veronica Mars creator/executive producer Rob Thomas, right? I mean, this is the man who gave us this awesome show. Well, he told bloggers last night in an Online Teleconference (for more on that see today's Quick Cuts) that tonight's episode and next week's episode (episodes 16 and 17) are his favorites from the season! And, if you don't trust him, then you have to trust his parents. They concurred after watching the episodes on a recent visit with their son. So if you have never seen an episode before, you must click on over to marsinvestigations.net and get yourself caught up pronto! Then, tune in tonight on UPN and catch the latest episode with special guest stars Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat (both from Arrested Development). Tonight, Veronica gets caught in a rape investigation after running into someone from her past while touring Hearst College. I know what you're thinking, "but Lost is new tonight too and it's promising 5 shocking events!" People, this is why the TV gods invented DVRs and VCRs. Speaking of ABC's Lost, tonight Locke must enlist the help of an unlikely ally when the hatch takes on a life on its own and look for Katey Segal to return. Fox airs the American Idol results show with special guests Shakira and Wyclef Jean. And the WB premieres The Bedford Diaries.

@10 p.m. - A helicopter containing a liver from an organ donor is hijacked from the roof of a hospital, killing an intern in the process on an episode, that was co-written by series star Gary Sinise, on CBS' CSI: NY. Over on NBC, Mickey puts his plan further into motion by bringing in a getaway driver to test out an escape route on Heist. ABC's The Evidence finds Cole and Bishop trying to solve the murder of a boxer found dead in an alley following a fight.



QUICK CUTS

*Veronica Mars creator/executive producer Rob Thomas says that he's happy to follow Gilmore Girls when his show moves to Tuesday nights next month, even if the two shows aren't on the same network - yet. Thomas made the comments during an online teleconference with bloggers last night. He is, however, slightly concerned about the move. "I'm a bit nervous about all of our fans finding us," he says, but he also believes that Lost and Veronica Mars have similar fans, so moving his show out of Lost's path will hopefully help it. "We've done so much better when Lost is in repeats," he concedes. Thomas also discussed this season's big finale. "We're blowing out the bank on the season finale," Thomas says enthusiastically. "It's a big, big episode spanning the continent." And what about a season 3 on the new CW network, including a possible pairing with the aforementioned Gilmore Girls? Thomas says he's hopeful right now that his show will be back next fall. And if it does return, Thomas and his writing staff are mulling over the idea of three, shorter mysteries next season instead of the 2 overarching season-long mysteries of season one and two. Each mystery would be solved in roughly 7-8 episodes, allowing more fans to join in along the way. "People are leery of joining in [during the season] because they don't know the mystery. We want to welcome more fans in," he explains. Nothing is set in stone, including the show's pick-up, but Thomas is looking for fan feedback because he feels the fan support is crucial. "It is the passion of the fans and the press that have kept this show on the air," he says sincerely. Leave me a comment with your thoughts on the potential three, shorter mysteries season. Veronica Mars moves to Tuesday nights beginning April 11th on UPN. We'll find out if the show will get another season when UPN announces its fall schedule on May 18th. If you'd like to help the show get third season, click on over to marsinvestigations.net to learn what you can do.

*Fox's Prison Break is coming back for another season. The network announced yesterday that it's giving the hit thriller a second season. The show has been receiving good ratings since it returned March 20th, winning its timeslot in the 18-34 year old category.

*ABC is moving Commander In Chief when it returns to the schedule next month. The political drama will go from its crowded Tuesday night slot to Thursday nights at 10 p.m. up against CBS' powerhouse Without a Trace and NBC's still potent ER, but it will have the successful American Inventor as its lead-in. Commander In Chief will return Thursday, April 13th on ABC.

*When USA Network's The 4400 returns this summer, don't be surprised if you see a few flocks of birds hanging around. That's because actress Tippi Hedren (she of Hitchcock's The Birds fame) will be making a multi-episode guest appearance. The network isn't disclosing any details about her role, but it is saying that fans will be surprised. The entire original cast including Billy Campbell (Jordan Collier) and Katrina Lombard (Alana Mareva) will return for the show's third season. Lombard now will be a series regular. The show will return to its 9 p.m. Sunday night slot when it returns sometime this summer on USA.

*And finally, it's Nielsen Wednesday! CBS edged Fox for the win in total viewers (Fox had the edge in the 18-49 year old category). The Eye network was led by CSI: Miami (#4), 60 Minutes (#5), Two and a Half Men (#7) and The Unit (#10). American Idol (#1, 2), Desperate Housewives (#3), Deal or No Deal (#6), Lost (#8) and Unan1mous (#9) rounded out the top 10. To see a list of the top 20 shows, click on over to USA Today.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for thoughts on Veronica Mars and Lost. Plus the Idol and Model moments and all the latest television news!


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