INDEED!

Last week, ABC premiered two "goofy" reality shows: Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show. Both have lots of potential, but only one seems to realize it. In short, Wipeout is awful. I could only bear to watch five minutes of it before turning it off. The main problem (among others): canned "play-by-play," which is clearly scripted in post production and is therefore dumb and annoying. The whole fun of a silly obstacle course should be the spontaneity of it all, but instead, Wipeout is dumbed down, thus proving that the producers have little or no faith that their subject can be amusing on its own. I know this is supposed to be a ripoff of MXC, but seriously, it's a piece of garbage.

On the other end of the spectrum is I Survived a Japanese Game Show, which is shaping up to be a great summer guilty pleasure. The show sort of plays out like The Gauntlet meets animé: two teams (the Yellow Penguins and Green Pandas) duke it out in a game show challenge, with the losing squad sending two members to an additional elimination challenge at the end of the episode. Along the way, there's plenty of funny yet fascinating cultural high jinks, and a spunky little housekeeper lady who's not unlike Japan's answer to Mrs. Beakley.

The first episode was hilarious, even if it was a bit uneven. However, last night's edition rose (just a tad) above the camp level as backstage drama flared. I actually found myself drawn into the story way more than I had expected. Don't get me wrong: this ain't high level stuff. But it's fun. My only critiques are the production similarities of Hell's Kitchen: same narration style, same interview style, same ambient music. I know the two shows share producers, but can we mix it up a bit? After all, if there's anything that reality TV has taught us, it's that we become more engaged when the characters do the exposition, not some disembodied voice (always a problem with Hell's Kitchen, in my humble opinion).

Nevertheless, in the clip above, one contestant, Meaghan, must act as a human claw and pluck stuffed pandas from a pile of balloons. Glorious exasperation ensues...

When it comes to celebrity stalking, I like to think I'm quite the expert, but compared to my friend IndianJones, I'm clearly just a novice. Take for instance his encounter last night with Battlestar Galactica's chief hottie, Tricia Helfer.

Full glorious story (replete with fanboy-tastic lingo such as "skinjob") after the jump...

So, let me tell you about my little run in with a skinjob yesterday.

I'm checking my bag at Air Canada. I notice a pretty hot woman behind me, but didn't see the face. Just noticed nice body and blond hair.

So as the agent is taking my bag I sneak a peak back and see her. I'm like "Wait, that looks like it might be Tricia Helfer". But, she looks WAY skinnier than she does on the show so I wasn't sure.

I keep looking back and I'm like 80% sure it's her. She checks-in, gets her boarding pass and goes to the security line. Luckily, my timing worked out PERFECTLY as I got in line right behind her. Great view. At this point I'm 95% sure. She gets the front, and I totally stalked her boarding pass and passport (CANADIAN!) as she gave it to the security guy. BAM! It's Tricia Helfer. This is where I almost lost my shit and started giggling out loud, since I also noticed SHE' S ON MY FLIGHT TO VANCOUVER.

Didn't see much of her again as she was in the lounge while I had to wait by the gate. But, as I'm boarding the plane, she's already seated in first class (1A). Right as I'm walking by her, she gets up to stow her purse in the overhead, and blocks the aisle right in front of me. She literally had her armpit in my face. Normally, I would super pissed since she had all the time in the world to do it before economy boarded. But I was actually quite pleased as this gave me an excuse to ogle her while she stowed her baggage. (and she took her sweet time, too, let me tell you. Apparently cylons are in no rush).

SO, that's my celebrity run in story.

Some observations on her looks:

- way, way thinner than on the show. Maybe it's the camera adding 10 pounds, or maybe she lost a lot of weight after filming wrapped up
- Not quite as tall as Iexpected, but still pretty tall. About 5'8", 5'9" in flats.
- Lot of makeup. She looks older, some lines around her eyes
- (very) green eyeshadow. Not what I would have expected
- no baggage! Only a purse. Travels light I guess

My (female) coworker was quite amused by my stalking.

He then later added: "Sorry I couldn't take any pictures, but I thought that a brown person taking surreptitious pictures in an airport probably would not have gone over too well. "

Well done, IndianJones. Well done...

In less than two weeks, the tenth season of Big Brother will premiere on CBS, and I can't tell you how excited I am. Sure, we just finished season nine a scant eight weeks ago, but Big Brother is a drug like none other, and I don't care if I have to wait two months or two minutes for a new season. I want it NOW.

Of course, there were a lot of people who didn't love last season (unlike the vast majority, I enjoyed Til Death Do You Part quite a bit), but hopefully, plenty of viewers will return this summer and keep this most beloved of guilty pleasures alive and well. If you don't watch Big Brother, it's never too late to start. Why not give it a try this summer? As I like to say, it's not just a show. It's an experience. But be warned: without fail, the first three episodes are always exceedingly bland and boring to newbies. However, after three episodes, Big Brother will most certainly sink its claws into you and never let you go. That's a good thing.

So here's the good news. While the July 12th 13th premiere date is still a few days off, CBS will be revealing the new cast this Wednesday (according to Jokers Updates, which may or may not be wrong). I'll be sure to have a complete analysis right here at bsideblog.com, and of course, there will be photocaps of every show throughout the season. Tell all your friends!