By Alex Brooks
Staff Writer, Bear Wrestler

Welcome to the Reality Rehashed: Survivor Edition!

This week in Samoa, the newly formed Yin Yang tribe had just gotten back from the first unified elimination of JT. The Heroes alliance was now down to four members and the Villains were at four as well, with Sandra sitting on the outskirts looking to fit in somewhere. Russell was dumbfounded when he figured out that Parvati had hidden an immunity idol from him, but all was somewhat forgiven when he was brought back into the alliance.

With the Heroes on the outs, Rupert looked to bring the exiled Sandra into the fold to bring the numbers onto their side. Russell was happy to be back in the alliance with Danielle, Parvati, and Jerri, but he couldn’t help feeling distrust and on the edge of a sinking ship. Russell went looking to Candice for a new member to bring on to their side and someone he could definitively trust beyond all reasonable doubt.

Reward Challenge

The Yin-Yang tribe was placed into three random groups: Colby, Danielle, and Amanda; Rupert, Sandra, and Russell; Parvati, Candice, and Jerri. The challenge was Survivor Shuffleboard similar to the challenge from previous seasons in the Amazon, Vanuatu, and Tocantins. Colby won the game for his team with the final shot placing closest to the X on the board, which sent his team to Robert Louis Stevenson’s house for a night in a bed and a showing of  Treasure Island.

However, trouble ensued when Danielle stumbled upon the Immunity Idol clue in her popcorn bowl. She attempted to hide it under the bed, but Amanda saw her hide it and immediately jumped up and grabbed it before Danielle could get back to it. The scuffle between the two was extremely funny considering Colby continued watching Treasure Island until he was asked to intervene. Colby said that the clue was found by Danielle, so it technically belongs to her and Amanda should give it back. Amanda reluctantly gave up the clue and couldn’t believe Colby betrayed her like that.

Immunity Challenge

This week’s immunity challenge didn’t exactly mean much for the game because Jerri wound up winning and she wasn’t on the chopping block in anyone’s book. The castaways had to build a ten foot tall tower out of wooden blocks in the shape of playing cards. Russell came in second and realized that one of his alliance members had won, so it didn’t hurt him too much to lose.

Time Before Tribal Council

Danielle showed Russell, Parvati, and Jerri the clue to the Immunity Idol and they all went searching for it as a team. Unfortunately for the villain alliance, Russell found the idol and hid it in order to regain the upper hand and get back at them for hiding an idol from him. Russell re-confronted Candice, this time with the idol, claiming that if she joined him he could get her to the final five. Meanwhile, Sandra was coerced by Rupert to join the Heroes alliance which made the number back to four on four with Candice on the ropes this time. Sandra infiltrated the Villains as a double agent and  found out that they were looking to eliminate Amanda, but before she could think about telling the heroes about that Candice told Russell everything the Heroes were planning. The Heroes thought that Danielle had the idol and that Russell was going to be saved, so they switched their strategy to target Parvati instead of Russell.

Tribal Council

To save himself Russell’s nerves forced him to use the idol so the votes shook out like this:

• Votes for Amanda: Russell, Parvati, Danielle, Candice, Sandra, and Jerri
• Votes for Parvati: Colby, Amanda, and Rupert

Survivor Power Rankings

1. Colby Donaldson- He’s been floating under the radar and his performance in the Reward Challenge was stellar.
2. Jerri Manthey- No one is afraid of this Survivor veteran who just won her first ever Immuntiy Challenge, making her dangerous
3. Candice Woodcock- She holds a crucial swing vote for the next episode
4. Russell Hantz- Using the Immunity Idol hurt his alliance, but kept them aware of his power
5. Parvati Shallow- She lost the throne in her alliance after one week, but is still kept strong by Danielle’s loyalty
6. Rupert Boneham- Rupert is a fan favorite, but no-one has believed him or regarded anything he said as the truth so his time could be coming
7. Danielle DiLorenzo- Danielle made a mistake by sharing the clue and cost herself a chance to make a power move later in the game
8. Sandra Diaz-Twine- Sandra is on the outs between both alliances now thanks to her double crossing, she should be the next one gone

By Alex Brooks
Staff Writer, Bear Wrestler

Welcome to Primetime Rehashed: Community Edition!

The freshman thursday night comedy starring the Soup‘s Joel McHale had taken a two week break before this episode, so with its return should have come a great episode. Unfortunately, this week’s installment was somewhat mediocre. The show can capture an audience with it’s quick wit and sarcastic cast, but the plotlines for “The Art of Discourse” could have been better planned.

Photo from blog.zap2it.com

This week the gang faces three different issues: Pierce finally wears out his welcome within the group after pantsing Shirley, Jeff and Britta go head to head with a few high school bullies, and Troy and Abed go through a “bucket list” of activities to finish before the end of the semester. The show begins with Jeff and Britta talking in the cafeteria when they are interrupted and insulted by a few high school kids who are getting a head start by taking classes at the college. Britta carries this grudge back to the study room with her whereas Jeff completely forgets about them and focuses on Pierce’s terrible guitar playing.

Abed takes Pierce’s guitar from him and smashes it into pieces because he claims that it is a part of his bucket list that he wants to complete before the end of the semester. Troy says he wants in and Abed accepts him as his ‘Morgan Freeman’. Abed chooses to pants Troy and Troy does the same to him making Pierce decide that it is fine to pants Shirley. Shirley’s rampage is where the episode splits off into its three main arcs. Shirley gets Pierce kicked out of the group, Troy and Abed attack the Bucket List head on, and Jeff and Britta try to find a way to break the high schoolers.

Pierce’s absence from the group results in everyone insulting on another and the search for the group’s new scapegoat,  Abed and Troy become pledges for a fraternity, and Jeff realizes that the best way to get back at the teenagers would be to sleep with the leader’s mom. Jeff’s conquest is remarkably hilarious, but it backfires when the teenagers find out and tell the mom the real situation. Pierce admits to Shirley that he respects her the most out of everyone in the group and they realize that they are truly the parents of them all. Abed and Troy don’t get any attention until the end of the episode when a giant food fight breaks out.

The end scene is something from a typical college movie and Pierce & Shirley’s epiphany as the groups parents lead them to pants all of the high schoolers. The show’s be all end all results in the combination of all three plotlines in one of the most interesting scenes in comedy TV history. The episode’s downfalls were the absence of Troy and Abed and the actors playing the High School students horrible acting ability. They were supposed to come of annoying and that’s what they did, but the reason they were annoying was because of their obvious inability to keep up with Joel McHale and Gillian Jacobs. However, the light at the end of the tunnel came up when the preview for next week’s episode was enough to entrance anyone until 8pm next Thursday.

Quotes of the Night

1. “Knitting is hip, Winona Ryder knits!” – Britta Perry (Jacobs)

2. ” I’ll be like your Morgan Freeman” – Troy Barnes (Glover)

3. ” Actually, I was a lawyer” “Looks like that went well” - Jeff Winger and Mark Cahill (McHale and Kusnitz)

4 . ” Well, I try to keep things where they should be” ” I think I might be where I should be” – Mark’s Mom and Jeff Winger (Rinna and McHale)

5. ” They’re making us walk around with pretzels in our butts and I put mustard on mine like an idiot” – Troy Barnes (Glover)

Rating: 6/10

Photo from boston.com

By Alex Brooks
Staff Writer, Bear Wrestler

Welcome to the first edition of Primetime Rehashed!

The first show receiving a recap/review will be last night’s Modern Family, titled “Travels with Scout”. The shows three separate, yet related families start the episode with three main plotlines as per the usual. The return of  Fred Willard as Phil’s dad shakes up the Dunphy household when he brings the family the gift of a dog and Haley’s boyfriend Dylan makes the decision to bring on Cameron as his band’s new drummer.  Also,  Jay’s bad decision to take Manny to a horror movie winds up scarring him beyond all recognition.

The comedic genius of the show really spikes around the middle of the episode when we find out that the dog begins to grow on Claire, Phil’s dad is hiding something, and that Cameron is an excellent drummer. Cameron, unfortunately, takes the gig too seriously and goes on for at least a 30 minute drum solo when Dylan’s song ends. So, when the band’s former drummer returns Cameron is forced to face reality and return back to his boring life with Mitchell.

Jay hires the killer from the horror movie to come talk to Manny and hopefully break him from his state of constant fear. The actor rings the Pritchett’s broken doorbell and no one come to the door, so he heads to the window where he sees Manny. The actor knocks on the window with his fake machete and accidentally scars the poor kid’s mind even more than before.

Back to the Dunphy household, Phil and the family are saying good-bye to his Dad (Fred Willard) and he finally works up the courage to ask him what was wrong with him. He tells Phil that he has fallen in love with someone, and that someone is Scout the dog. Reluctantly, Claire hands the dog back over to Frank and he heads back out on the open road while the credits get ready to roll.

This episode was refreshingly full of new surprises from a show that had seemingly already explored most of its roots. Fred Willard’s compliments Ty Burrell very well and they were dynamic in every scene they had together. Julie Bowen continues her quest to join the likes of Patricia Heaton and Courtney Thorne-Smith as one of comedy television’s top moms. The episode’s top moment is when Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) realizes that he is the odd man out in the band and once again his storyline pulls the show from the land of the mediocre to the comedy hall of fame.

Quotes of the Night:

1. ” I was waiting for her to be in the right mood. Actually I did get one right mood a couple nights ago, but I cashed it in for something else.” – Phil Dunphy ( Burrell)
2. ” I get them online, I’ll send you a link”   “Oh, well I cook my own sausages so I’ll send you a link” - Cameron Tucker and Frank Dunphy (Stonestreet and Willard)
3. ” What because I’m gay I’m just going to want to play showtunes?” ” No, because you’re old” ” Wow, that hurt more Dylan” – Cameron Tucker and Dylan (Stonestreet and Ewing)
4. ” This is Neal” ” Ok, I’ll always remember him as the stranger holding my baby” - Cameron Tucker and Mitchell Pritchett (Stonestreet and Ferguson)
5. ” Thanks for poking through the armor.” ” You’re poking through the armor down there” “What!” ” Just kidding” - Frank Dunphy and Phil Dunphy (Willard and Burrell)

Rating: 8.5/10

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Warwick Davis. Photo from MTV.com

Variety reports today that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of The Office and Extras are now working together on a 30-minute pilot called Life’s Too Short for BBC, starring the 3’6 Warwick Davis.

Davis may be best known for his roles as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi, Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, and the title parts in Willow and Leprechaun. Davis has also previously appeared on Extras.

BBC reports the show will be “an observation comedy which follows Warwick’s day-to-day life in a small world where big things happen.”

Gervais said on his blog that the pilot itself will not be aired, but that it will likely lead to six episodes. He added he isn’t sure when the show will air.

Well, it’s bound to be better than most of the other little-person shows you see these days, right?

Warwick Davis’ website (did you know he has a book out?) can be seen here.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The Source announced today that Cartoon Network will soon air two new shows from Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment that feature some familiar names.

Art from dccomics.com.

Young Justice, a series that appears to be loosely based on a comic book series published in the late ’90s and early 2000s, will feature Superboy, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Aqualad and Artemis as they attempt to balance their lives as teenagers and superheroes.

Meanwhile, Mad Magazine will be an animated sketch comedy show inspired by the content in the iconic publication.

“The show will unleash MAD’s irreverent take on pop culture and today’s headlines, and feature classic characters including Alfred E. Neuman and Spy Vs. Spy,” Diane Nelson, President of DC Entertainment said. “Our partners at Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network are helping DC Entertainment revitalize the cherished MAD brand across all media.”

“There’s much more to come from DC Entertainment,” Geoff Johns, DC Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer said. “This is just the beginning.”