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51. Treasure Hunters

Wikipedia
Reality Blurred Archive

Treasure Hunters is a reality television series on NBC (US) and Global Television (Canada) in which ten teams of three solve puzzles and complete challenges in hopes of solving the ultimate puzzle and winning the grand prize. Teams travel across the United States and Europe in search of seven "artifacts" which when assembled will "lead to the key. Find the key, and find the treasure." The challenges and puzzles are spliced with American history, and the ultimate goal is to find a hidden treasure, leading the show to be compared on various occasions to the film National Treasure. The value of the treasure in the series was revealed on the season finale to be $3,000,000.

It's easy to call Treasure Hunters a TAR-ripoff, but there's really more to it than that, as the focus here isn't traveling, but rather solving clues and puzzles in order to get ahead. It was an interesting concept, and though there were flaws in the format, it was nothing that couldn't be remedied with some better planning. The cast was alright, too, with teams of three bringing some interesting dynamics to the show. Let's see what made this show stand out.

1. Two tribes merge. This show had an interesting start, with its ten teams of three split up into two different groups starting at two different locations, solving puzzles and all that jazz. Then they go to the same place, where both groups run into each other in what looks to be a semi-scripted event. Then teams from both groups are grouped together based on finish order from the earlier tasks. Overall, a pretty interesting and over-the-top way to start off the show, even if a bit ridiculous.
2. Wild Hanlons. These guys made the early half of the season. Two brothers or something and a son, and much like TAR8's Weavers, the son was the only rational one of the bunch. On leg 2, the guys overslept for a task, understandable, then they go to the mine task, a task other teams don't have too much trouble with, and end up staying there for eleven hours. Yes, what took most teams less than an hour, it took the Hanlons eleven motherfucking hours to complete. But wait, there's more! I think I'll let Wikipedia itself sum this part up.
   

   The Wild Hanlons spent four hours trying to decipher the clue before Ben decided that they would go get some food. After making an estimated 80 mi (130 km) round trip to a Burger King restaurant, Josh quickly deciphered the message and they were able to find the artifact ahead of Team Brown Family.

   Yes, after getting stumped by a clue for yet another four hours, they go an extra 80 miles to fucking Burger King, and then Josh finally solves the puzzle. ALL OF THIS HAPPENED IN LEG 2, AND THEY STILL MANAGED TO BEAT A TEAM. This is some of the most ridiculous fucking shit I've ever seen on a TV show. Sadly, they were eliminated in Leg 3, which is a complete shame. Oh, did you know one of those guys had a Masters? I sure didn't after looking at how much they sucked!
3. Bullshit medevac. Here's where the show's ridiculous rules made no sense. In leg 2, one of the Grad Students injured her leg. They still managed to complete the leg without getting last, because they were racing against two of the weakest teams ever. So after the leg, medical tells them they had to quit, which was a shame, and led many to wonder, "Why couldn't the other two girls continue racing on their own?" And that's a really good fucking question because, as I'll get to in a minute, they let the two Brown brothers continue racing after their brother got medevaced. Why not let the two Grad Students do the same? Complete bullshit move here, especially since the Browns fucking sucked.
4. Brown family. Almost but not quite as amusing as TAR8's Black family, the Brown family were three overweight black people who, quite frankly, sucked complete and utter ass. How bad did they suck, you ass? Remember when I said that in Leg 2, despite all the insane time-wasting shit the Wild Hanlons did, they still beat a team? This is the team they beat. Despite being so incompetent that they lost to the Wild Hanlons, they still came back due to the Grad Students having to quit because of a medevac, and they end up just barely beating the Wild Hanlons to avoid last place. Then one of the fatasses has a heart attack or something and gets medevaced, but the other two fatasses get to continue anyway, but they got a six-hour penalty or some shit for having to skip the swamp or whatever, which was ridiculous since they were already well-behind. So unsurprisingly, they got eliminated, and production was fucked up.
5. Twist. In the same episode one of the Browns was incapacitated, there was a twist where each team can eliminate one person from their own team if they felt it would be advantageous. Though they tried to play up the drama, of course nobody's that big enough a dick to actually do such a thing. It could justify why they let the other two Brown brothers continue racing, but it's still not a good enough excuse to cut the Grad Students entirely, even if one would argue that they'd have an advantage since teams of three had to wait three extra hours to transport their entire team. They'd still be missing a member and all, though. I just hate when all teams don't get the same opportunities or get bullshit eliminations, even if I don't really give a shit for the team itself, but I'll drop it here.
6. Fogals. A pastor, his wife, and their daughter. They ended up being the controversial cutthroat team after they screwed over a couple of teams in Leg 2. They still managed to ally with a couple teams, such as Air Force in leg 3. In leg 4, we got to see some trainwreck moments as daughter Kayte Fogal freaked out over the swamp and tried to quit. They eventually were eliminated in Leg 5.
7. Southie Boys. While there was some smart puzzles to solve, there was one major loophole involved: You didn't actually have to solve any puzzles to get to the end, as long as you just grabbed onto a smarter team's coattails and followed them as they did all the work. Thus was born the Southie Boys strategy. Not that they didn't solve some puzzles themselves, but usually they just followed everyone else without doing much. They managed to make the F3 with this strategy, but once there was no one left to follow and they had to solve a puzzle in their own, they were screwed.
8. Air Force. A very dominant group of Air Force members, including a husband/wife and friend, they got first in 5 out of 8 legs, a very impressive number. They were almost like robots in how they worked and how little they showed emotion. They did a great job throughout, but just lacked that last little oomph to get them the win. The wife was pregnant at the reunion, so at least they have that.
9. Geniuses. They certainly didn't seem like geniuses at the beginning, struggling through the first leg and almost getting eliminated (and dragging down the team they were partnered with enough to get them eliminated). They did manage to get first place in Leg 3 thanks to the Southie Boys, and they did start to gain momentum and live up to their name. Their turning point was probably leg 5, where they got to a church after the Fogals and Air Force, yet still managed to figure out the puzzle before both teams. They managed to make the F3, and after an intense eight hours of working a cryptex in the same small room with two other teams, they figured out the solution, FSKEY, and managed to win the grand prize. They weren't always the best, but they were pretty deserving winners overall.
10. The treasure. They said throughout the show that the grand prize was a mystery, and it was a ton of treasure, but it wasn't until the final moments of the finale that they revealed what that treasure was worth: $3 million. Yes, in what may be the largest prize of reality TV history, the Geniuses won $3 million, or $1 million each. Very impressive number, especially from a show that wasn't that strong in the ratings. If somehow a second season of this ever popped up, I certainly doubt we'd get such a number again.

Though it had its flaws, Treasure Hunters was still a solid show with some good potential. Fix up some production issues and implement rules forcing teams to solve puzzles, and we could have a great show that would be a nice alternative to TAR. Unfortunately, low ratings means we'll probably never see another season, which is a shame, because there were some great puzzles involved and it was pretty fun to watch. Maybe one of these cable networks could pick it up and run with it?

No update today since something came up this morning and I'll be busy most of the day today anyway.

Take this time to predict what shows will be in the Top 50 and where they'll place, or argue some more on how wrong my list is so far.

I've got some time to kill before I have to leave, so I think I'll go ahead and put #50 up. These things usually take around an hour to do, so expect it then.

And I haven't seen The Mole 2, only the latest season (The Mole 3 or 5 or whatever it's called).

50. Project Runway 3

Wikipedia
Reality Blurred Archive

Project Runway Season 3 was the third season of Project Runway, Bravo's successful reality competition for fashion designers. The third season of the show, with Heidi Klum returning as the host and Tim Gunn as the designers' guide, began airing on July 12, 2006. This broke tradition from the previous two seasons, which premiered in December, with the finales taking place at Olympus Fashion Week in February.

Season 3 brought in a new set of sponsors, notably Macy's replacing Banana Republic. NBC re-aired the first two episodes of Project Runway 3 five days after their original Bravo airings. The third season also introduced live viewer poll questions. During the second half-hour of the first airing of each episode, Bravo posed a question to viewers pertaining to the current episode. Viewers could answer through the BravoTV.com website or through cell phone text message.

The winner, Jeffrey Sebelia, received a spread in Elle magazine, a mentorship with INC (Inter-National Concepts) Design, a year of representation by Designers Management Agency, a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster, and $100,000 to start a clothing line (furnished by TRESemmé haircare).

This is going to be interesting to write about since this is the only season of Project Runway I've ever watched. I gave it a shot to diversify my reality TV viewing or something, and it was a good show, but I don't think it's really my type of show. I didn't catch the finale or reunion, but I've watched the rest of it, so I think I'll be alright here despite my bad memory. I'll do a lot of general write-ups about the show itself since it's the only one on here and, as I've said over and over, my memory sucks.

1. Heidi Klum. A bit stoic, but overall works well as host and judge. She doesn't seem as involved with the cast besides for when she's judging their works, but that's what Tim Gunn is for. She's a great representative for the show, though, and she fits in with this show pretty well.
   
2. Tim Gunn. I've heard nothing but good things said about him, and I agree with them. The guy makes for a great mentor, always positive, but also never afraid to say what's on his mind. This guy is a class act through and through, and he's easily one of the best things the show has going for it.
3. Challenges. The challenges were pretty interesting, from making fashion only out of materials in their living quarters to making stuff out of recycled goods to making designs for other contestants' mothers. There was good variety in the challenges to test the range and creativity of the contestants, and it made each week a fresh experience to watch.
4. Models. Each contestant was given a model to work with, and each model was also competing for a spread in Elle, and when a contestant was eliminated, so was a model, so there was another level of competition there as well, even if it was rather minor. I guess it had a few interesting moments, but overall it was kinda meaningless. Not sure what's the point when the designers are the main focus.
   
5. Keith. This guy was disqualified for several reasons it seems, from using guides to using the internet and other crap, I guess. There was also some controversy about him possibly plagarizing other people's designs, which I don't really know anything about. I actually don't remember this guy, but Wikipedia pointed this out, and it seems important, so yeah.
6. Vincent. This guy pretty much sucked, and I'm kind of surprised he made it so far. He was constantly in the bottom and I think he made some weird-looking designs or whatever. He finally left in F6, and I'm surprised he made it that far.
7. Outcast Twist. Episode 10, they brought back two eliminated people, Angela and Vincent, to participate in one challenge since they won previous challenges, and if they won the current one, they could re-enter the competition. It ends up neither wins, so the twist goes nowhere. It's kinda dumb, but nothing ever came of it, so oh well.
8. Michael. I liked the guy, and he was generally pretty competent, usually making the upper half and even winning a couple times. He also apparently won Fan Favorite. From what I hear, his collection for Fashion Week sucked so bad that he was eliminated first, which is pretty weird since he was competent otherwise, but I can't comment since I didn't really see the finale.
9. Uli. All I really remember is that she's German and that people said she made the same dress over and over. She could make that dress very well, but it was the only thing she ever made. Still netted her F2, though.
10. Jeffrey. He was a douchebag to a lot of people during the show, and apparently there were some accusations of him cheating, but he still ended up winning somehow. This jumpstarted his career into such new heights as designing outfits for the Bratz movie. How successful!

Sorry for the shitty write-up. Project Runway's a fine show and it had some good moments when I watched, but fashion doesn't really interest me, plus I watch too much TV anyway. It's a strong franchise and might be able to survive the whole Bravo/Lifetime feud that's been going on. If it sounds interesting, I recommend watching it, but personally I just can't get into it the way I do shows like Survivor and TAR. Still a great show overall, but I probably won't watch it again.