Survivor Caramoan Fans vs. Favorites Not a Favorite of this Fan

Survivor Caramoan? Well, I care to moan. Fans vs. Favorites? Again?

At the end of the Survivor Philippines Reunion we heard the breathless announcement...

"Ten ultimate Survivor fans get a chance to prove that they have what it takes when they square off against ten of their favorite players from the past. It's the return of one of Survivor's greatest pairings, Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites." 

So, who are the favorite rumored to be? The ten returning Survivor "Favorites" are supposedly Andrea Boehlke, John Cochran, Malcolm Freberg, Brandon Hantz, Francesa Hogi, Corinne Kaplan, Brenda Lowe, Dawn Meehan, Erik Reichenbach, and Phillip Sheppard.

I remember a few of the male names, none of the females. Brandon Hantz is a "Favorite"? With who? Cochran? That annoying little whiny guy is a "Favorite"? Phillip Sheppard? That strange man is funny. But a "Favorite"?

And then there is Malcolm, rounding out the names I recognize. Malcolm was on the just completed Philippines edition. He lost Fan Favorite to Lisa. The fans who are on Caramoan, with Malcolm, won't know who he is, because they will not have seen  Survivor Philippines. So, how can he be a favorite of those fans?

Why doesn't Survivor try going back to its roots. As in no returnees, all new people,  real people, no mactors, no former child stars. Well, actually, the returned child star did turn out to be an okay thing.

In introducing Surivor Caramoan Jeff Probst made it sound as if Survivor was going some place really special.

This is what Wikipedia had to say about that...

Filming of the show (Survivor Caramoan) took place in the islands of Caramoan, Camarines Sur in the Philippines, the same filming location as the previous season.

So, Malcolm didn't even get to get stranded somewhere new.

Survivor Caramoan premieres Wednesday, February 13. I may watch.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for December 10 - December 16

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for for December 10 - December 16. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

NBC's The Voice is in the Top 10. Fox's The X Factor is not in the Top 20. The Survivor: Philippines Finale is in the Top 10.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average (in millions)
1.	49ers/Patriots	NBC	23.2	21.0
2.	60 Minutes	CBS	19.6	13.9
3.	NCIS	CBS	17.6	21.4
4.	Big Bang Theory	CBS	16.7	19.4
5.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	15.1	17.8
6.	Person of Interest	CBS	14.1	17.0
7.	Two and a Half Men	CBS	13.3	14.9
8.	The Voice (Mon.)	NBC	12.3	14.0
9.	Criminal Minds	CBS	12.0	14.3
10.	Survivor: Philippines Finale	CBS	11.5	--
*	The Voice (Tue.)	NBC	11.5	12.7
12.	2 Broke Girls	CBS	11.0	11.6
13.	Modern Family	ABC	10.9	15.3
14.	2 Broke Girls	CBS	10.8	--
15.	Elementary	CBS	10.5	13.9
*	Football Night Pt. 3	NBC	10.5	10.9
17.	Survivor: Philippines	CBS	10.4	11.6
18.	Vegas	CBS	10.3	13.5
19.	Big Bang Theory	CBS	9.8	--
*	Hawaii Five-0	CBS	9.8	11.2

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for December 3 - December 9

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for for December 3 - December 9. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average(in millions)
1.	NFL: Lions/Packers	NBC	21.4	20.8
2.	The Big Bang Theory	CBS	16.9	19.3
3.	Person of Interest	CBS	14.2	16.9
4.	Two and a Half Men	CBS	13.5	14.8
5.	Football Night Pt. 3	NBC	12.1	10.9
*	The Voice	NBC	12.1	13.9
7.	60 Minutes	CBS	11.9	13.6
8.	Voice	NBC	11.5	12.7
9.	The OT	FOX	11.4	11.7
10.	Criminal Minds	CBS	11.3	14.2
11.	Blue Bloods	CBS	11.2	13.0
12.	NCIS	CBS	11.1	--
13.	Survivor: Philippines	CBS	10.6	11.5
14.	Elementary	CBS	10.3	13.9
15.	2 Broke Girls	CBS	10.2	11.4
*	Mike & Molly	CBS	10.2	11.0
17.	Rudolph Red	CBS	10.1	--
18.	CSI: NY	CBS	10.0	10.9
19.	Victoria's Secret Fashion	CBS	9.5	--
20.	Amazing Race	CBS	9.3	10.4
*	Hawaii Five	CBS	9.3	11.0

Goat Farmers Brent & Josh Surprising Winners of The Amazing Race

Well, the Beakman Boys, aka the Goat Farmers, aka Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, were not one of the teams I was wanting to win The Amazing Race, or even one of the teams I thought had a chance to win The Amazing Race, but, it was the Goat Farmers who won the $1 million on the latest running of The Amazing Race.

Why are the Goat Farmers called the Beakman Boys, I am sitting here wondering? I know why the Sri Lankan twins were calling them the Evil Gays, but I don't know where this Beakman name comes from.

I thought for sure it was going to be the Chippendales, the aforementioned twins, or Trey & Lexi who would be the winner, what with the Goat Farmers having never won a leg, having come in last a time or two, always being near the bottom, screwing up badly a number of times.

With New York City being the final destination, and with New York City being where the Goat Farmers lived, it seemed they had a bit of an advantage upon landing back in America. But, that hometown advantage really did not seem to be much of a factor.

I was a little appalled when, after successfully completing the pizza delivery task, that neither the Chippendales or Trey & Lexi knew their clue was the UN symbol.

The final Roadblock Challenge of matching the hello and goodbye greetings with the flag of each of the nations where they heard the greeting seemed real difficult. Lexi got to the challenge first, followed by Josh of the Goat Farmers, then James of the Chippendales. I figured James would not do well with this,  what with the Chippendales meatheadedness having been on display earlier, at Coney Island.

However, it was Lexi who struggled. I don't know how close it actually was, but the editing made it seem as if James got the final clue not all that long after Josh. And then it was a taxi race to something called Gotham Hall.

I really wish The Amazing Race would come up with different endings besides using a taxi race time and again. And this time, with the taxi race being in New York City, with its legendary bad traffic, well, I did not like it.

The Chippendales seemed to take coming in second with good grace, even though Jaymes' dream of helping his dad out financially in his struggle with cancer was dashed. Methinks Jaymes likely will find himself being able to help his dad anyway, what with the humongous amount of good karma that boy spread around the world.

It was also a nice thing that the Chippendales each got a Ford Escape for winning the last leg before the final destination. We'd learned earlier in the episode about James' desperate wish to give his mom a car so she did not have to walk to work anymore.

All  in all, a good iteration of The Amazing Race. Don't remember such extreme underdogs winning before.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for November 26 - December 2

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for for November 26 - December 2. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average (in millions)
1.	Eagles/Cowboys	NBC	20.4	20.7
2.	NCIS	CBS	19.8	21.0
3.	Big Bang Theory	CBS	17.2	19.6
4.	Dancing With the Stars Results	ABC	16.7	13.9
5.	Dancing With the Stars	ABC	16.3	14.6
6.	60 Minutes	CBS	16.2	13.7
7.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	14.5	17.5
8.	Person of Interest	CBS	14.4	17.3
9.	Two and a Half Men	CBS	13.7	15.0
10.	Criminal Minds	CBS	12.4	14.6
11.	The Voice (Mon.)	NBC	12.2	13.9
12.	CSI	CBS	12.1	13.2
13.	Modern Family	ABC	12.0	16.3
14.	2 Broke Girls	CBS	11.7	11.3
15.	The Voice (Tue.)	NBC	11.6	12.7
16.	Blue Bloods	CBS	11.3	13.3
*	Mike & Molly	CBS	11.3	10.8
18.	Football Night Pt. 3	NBC	11.1	10.8
19.	Elementary	CBS	10.5	14.4
20.	Survivor: Philippines	CBS	10.4	11.6