Following the elimination of Robin and Marshana in The Bachelor 12 Episode 5, it’s now time for the hometown dates for the final four: Shayne, Noelle, Chelsea, and Amanda.

Matt will be meeting Shayne’s parents in LA. She says he’s still skeptical she’s there to be on TV. Yeah, that’s a stretch. The first trick is to learn how to pronounce Lorenzo Lamas’ last name. He tells Matt that Shayne’s enticed by the idea of being on television. Harsh. Probably true but harsh. Shayne tells them both she’s there for the right reasons, though. Lorenzo ultimately decides that they have genuine feelings for each other.

Next stop is her not so famous mother Michele’s house to meet her and her sister Dakota. Leopard skin everywhere and dogs wearing clothing. After a British dinner, her mom breaks out the home videos. Then she warns him it’s not easy being with an actor, but he’s okay with that. They all like him as well, and he thinks he got Shayne completely wrong at first and now is falling for her.

Next stop is Colorado and Chelsea’s home. She warns him up front she’ll get very emotional since she lives a long way away from her parents. Her father Kerry likes him because he’s honest and comfortable. She tells her father that she didn’t want to like Matt but can’t help it, and he lets her know she needs to express her feelings better.

Matt goes to meet Noelle in Loveland, CO, and he hopes to get to know her better because he knows all the other girls better. She tells him that they’re so different, which is what makes them work, but she warns him they’re conservative. He asks what kind of person does this sort of thing (like his daughter). Matt admits that he’s falling in love with more than one person. Noelle’s terrified that she never lets people in.

The last stop is Amanda’s hometown of Tallahassee, FL. She has decided to hire actors who will play her mom and dad. Fake mom giggles a lot and for no reason, and she wants Matt to show off his body. They ask whether they’ve been physically intimate, and fake dad pushes the issue and says he’s a bit troubled. Fake mom forces fake dad inside so she can be his Mrs. Robinson. She touches his nipple and gets too close for comfort until fake dad comes out and breaks up the party. Amanda eventually feels bad for Matt and decides to tell him they’re not her real parents. He’s impressed she pulled off the prank. After that, he sits down with her real family. It’s unclear what they think about him.

Roses
Shayne
Amanda
Chelsea

Noelle will be going home. They got started too late. She says it’s not the first time something like this has happened to her because she tends to hold back.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Bachelor 12 episode 7, which airs Monday at 10/9c on ABC.

Watch The Bachelor 12 Online

No surprise considering how well the show performed for the network, but Fox has officially announced that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been renewed for season 2.

Sheila got her way in Big Brother 9 Episode 29, turning on Natalie, her alleged biggest threat in the house, and getting her evicted from the house. The bad news for Sheila is that the boys are in control, and it’s unlikely they won’t nominate her. The good news is that they’d be complete morons to take Sharon with them to the end because she’s got three very bitter friends in the jury house.

Adam whispered to Natalie that he wasn’t the one who voted her out. Ryan’s not happy with this because he reads lips and/or minds, so he knows that’s what happened.

There’s one other preexisting relationship in the house. The guinea pigs. When you have to explain the answer, it’s obviously a trick question. Everybody suspects one of the relationships has something to do with Sheila.

Sharon believes she’s safe because her secret ally is HOH. Only problem is the HOH can only nominate. It’s the veto winner who decides who’s headed home.

Ryan’s HOH room is all about Jen. She kisses up to him hoping he won’t care about the footage he sees when he gets out.

Sheila expects Adam to be loyal to her, though she doesn’t believe he’s ever shown her loyalty before.

It’s time for a luxury competition, and of course, the only point of it is to promote a new movie, What Happens in Vegas. Sharon quickly jumps up to be Ryan’s partner, leaving Sheila and Adam together again. Players must go back and forth looking for dice rings in bottles, which they will smash over their partners’ heads. They start off with one free spot and have to find the other 7. Ryan and Sharon are ahead 6-3. Then they spin the wheel. Ryan and Sharon win the luxury competition, which includes the screening and then a visit to the red carpet premiere. As a penalty for losing (as usual), Adam and Sheila will be chained together for 24 hours.

Ryan tells Sheila he’s going to put her up, but it doesn’t matter because Sharon and Adam will be going after each other. She tries to get him to hate on Adam. Sharon also tries to convince him to not trust Adam.

Nominations
Adam is safe.

Sheila and Sharon have been nominated for eviction. And now Sheila and Adam are shackled together for the next 24 hours.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Big Brother 9 Episode 31, which airs Tuesday at 9/8c on CBS.

Big Brother 9 Spoilers

Nintendo Wii 721k
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PlayStation 2 216k

1. Super Smash Bros Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 2.7 million
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8. Major League Baseball 2K8 (Take 2, Xbox 360) - 237.1k
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Xbox 360) - 237k
10. Army of Two (Electornic Arts, PS3) - 224.9k

Phenomenal month for Nintendo during Super Smash Bros Brawl release month. PS3 and Xbox 360 continue their battle for second, and things should get interesting next month when both platforms get this year’s biggest game, GTA 4. The month was a winner for the industry as a whole, and everyone has something to brag about, with year-over-year sales up 57%.

Following a merger in Survivor: Micronesia Episode 9, Eliza and Jason found themselves outcasts. After Jason won immunity, he gave Eliza his hidden immunity stick, which she played knowing that it was fake just to out Ozzy as the actual hidden immunity idol holder. Ozzy didn’t even try to cover it up and openly admitted he does indeed have the idol.

In the reward challenge, players will swim out and through a net tunnel, memorize symbols, and swim back to match the symbols on shore. To make things more difficult, there are spare pieces that won’t be used. The winning team will fly to enjoy dancing, a feast, and an overnight stay at a village in Yap. Jason and Natalie are captains.

Jason’s team: Ozzy, Erik, Amanda
Natalie’s team: James, Parvati, Alexis

Cirie is not chosen and is heading to Exile Island.

So who’s actually winning here? Yeah, that much I can’t tell you. There’s no indication who’s doing better. Probst warns it’s better to be right than fast. Natalie thinks she’s got it, but she’s wrong. Jason’s team wins reward.

After being served lunch by a topless lunch lady, Erik has some beer and betel nut, which he later loses after vomiting, but he’s still having a lot of fun.

Cirie’s suffering over on exile because it’s a miserable place to be, and there’s no point in being there anyway. Perhaps it’s time to target Ozzy.

James is hard at work as usual, but Parvati doesn’t appreciate it because he’s keeping her awake. James isn’t happy with her, and Amanda returns and tells him she’s not as close since the merge.

When they get back, Jason, Erik, and Amanda downplay their trip, but Ozzy goes on and on about how great it was and exactly what they had to eat.

It’s the hand tied to a bucket challenge. This normally goes a few hours. At 20 minutes, Jeff offers a bowl of candy. Erik and Cirie both drop out. Erik’s position has certainly improved if he feels comfortable enough to quit a challenge for some gummy worms. The next offer is a chocolate chip cookie and milk. Alexis gets so excited and is out. Natalie loses her concentration and is out. James follows right behind. None of them get the cookie and milk because none of them asked for it. His next offer is three chocolate donuts. Ozzy takes him up on the offer. At 5 hours, Amanda quits because she has to go to the bathroom. 6 hours in, Jeff offers everything he’s offered before and more, including pizza and beer. If somebody steps down, everybody else gets to share. The group starts talking about making a deal with Jason. After some chatting, he gets everybody to agree to keep him safe. The crossed fingers suggest they’re not all telling him the truth. Either he gives them some trust now and takes the risk, or he’ll have difficulty earning trust later anyway. Jason steps down, and Parvati wins immunity. I gotta wonder why she held on for so long, though.

When they get back, everybody immediately starts talking about getting rid of Jason. Ozzy calls it one of the dumbest moves in Survivor history. If Jason didn’t do it, though, he’d have had to play Ozzy’s game from his last season: win every challenge but have no social game, thereby losing in the end if you make it that far. Cirie’s not happy with this talking and instead would rather take out Ozzy because he feels too safe. She goes to the girls (except Amanda) to blindside Ozzy and take out the hidden idol.

James is worried about Parvati going for girl power, and Ozzy’s a little concerned but pretty comfortable.

James suggests at tribal council that maybe people just wanted a damn donut.

Ozzy doesn’t play his idol, and we see some smiles.

Votes
Jason
Jason
Ozzy
Jason
Jason
Ozzy
Ozzy
Ozzy
Ozzy

With an idol in his back pocket, Ozzy has been voted off the island. Like what happened in China, the players actually know how to play with the hidden idol, rather than shaking in fear.

He’s got some final words for those who remain and voted against him: I pretty much hate you, so screw you. Oh, he won’t make for a bitter juror.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Micronesia Episode 11 I’m Ruthless… and Have a Smile on My Face, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Watch Survivor: Micronesia Online

Despite the shambles that was the prior week and the fact that they sucked at their task last week, the girls won in The Apprentice UK Series 4 Episode 3. As the project manager, Ian took the bullet for his team and was fired.

Sir Alan says he’s tired of the rifts within the teams. His solution to that (instead of the obvious of firing Jenny because he can’t make a lame effort of boosting the ratings if he gets rid of her) is to mix the teams up. Jenny, Sara, and Claire move over to Renaissance (uh, didn’t Sara and Claire clash last week?). Raef, Lee, and Kevin move over to Alpha. Yeah, now I have to actually learn the team names and pay closer attention.

Teams must setup stands and get customers to pose and pay for photographs.

Simon volunteers to be the project manager for Renaissance. They don’t all jump at the opportunity, so he explains that he knows a bit about photography from his best friend, who is a photographer. He promises to keep calm and direct them, and they reluctantly agree. Simon wants Alex, who was the first to speak up against Simon leading the team, to be his second in command and lead the other team. Alex isn’t thrilled about the idea of Simon giving away his responsibility, so Simon quickly moves on to Claire and gets her to do it instead.

Helene volunteers to be project manager for Alpha. She tells us she has a lot of balls. She seems like she may have a short fuse.

Renaissance’s theme is glamour and beauty. Whatever that’s about. Simon hopes to find cheap but glamorous props. While he’s shopping, he decides he wants to get frames. He phones Claire, who tells him to just leave the product to them and forget about the frames. Alex backs her up on this. He tells both of them he’s the project manager and can do whatever he wants, including checking out frames they don’t need and haven’t accounted for in their pricing. Sara is in charge of making over women to make them more glamorous.

Alpha has a David Beckham lookalike dressed up in a soccer/football jersey, and he will pose with their customers.

Simon continues to argue with his team and doesn’t want to hear from them how he should be managing them. Claire and Alex get sick of him and walk away.

Lucinda’s the only person trained to use the computer on her team, despite the fact that she warned them she’s completely technologically illiterate. Helene doesn’t understand the concept of this being an obstacle and thinks Lucinda should just get over it.

Renaissance is falling victim to a poor labelling system, something we’ve seen once already this season. People are getting tired of waiting for them to figure things out. The good news for them is Alpha isn’t having any more luck thanks to technical difficulties, so they have to shut down their stand during the busiest time of the day.

The labelling troubles continue for Renaissance. Though they are printing off photos on products, they’re not actually giving people what they want. Claire and Alex finally get a system that works, but Simon’s not convinced they know what they’re doing, so he shuts down the stand to go fight with them some more.

Speaking of fighting, Helene and Lucinda keep going at it because Helene refused to listen to Lucinda’s warning that she doesn’t do technology. After hours of downtime, Lucinda finally figures things out.

When they get in the boardroom, it continues. Helene calls Lucinda incompetent and lazy. Yet the reason Helene didn’t do it is because she didn’t have the ability or the knowledge. So does that make her incompetent and lazy as well? Nick tells Helene she’s wishy washy and should have shuffled the team.

Renaissance spent £577.23 but only took £503.42, for a loss of £73.81, never a good thing. Alpha spent £592.93 and took £738, for a profit of £145.10. Another rather lackluster victory for Alpha, but a victory nonetheless. Helene believes that, after this task, she actually has credibility.

Claire says that Simon has a tendency to be like a missile that’s ready to explode, but she apologizes if she came off as rude to him.

Margaret tells Alex that he stepped so far back from responsibility that he was practically out of the room. She was apparently watching a different conversation than I was.

Somewhere along the way, Alex has decided that perhaps Simon’s not entirely to blame, so he points the finger at Claire. Unsurprisingly, Simon brings both of them back with him.

Simon says that Claire’s unmanageable, so he can’t deal with her. Sir Alan brings up her application, which says she’s impatient and can overpower people.

Alex and Jenny say they were completely isolated and didn’t know what was going on up front. Simon doesn’t believe it, and the link between them (Claire) doesn’t agree either.

Alex wants Claire fired. Claire wants Simon fired.

Sir Alan tells Claire he’s sick of looking at her and to get back to the house because she’s going to be the next team leader. Lucky for her that her agreement to take the spot as second in command that Alex wisely danced around didn’t come back to bite her.

Sir Alan’s still not convinced that Simon is more than just a physical worker, and Simon is fired.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Apprentice UK Series 4 episode 5.

Three more women were sent home in The Bachelor 12 episode 4: Holly, Ashlee, and Kelly.

This week, there are two one-on-one dates and a group date. They will be heading to Sun Valley, Idaho… in the snow (this is like how Greenland got its name).

When they arrive, a date box is dropped off for them after a bit of playing in the snow. The first one-on-one date is for Chelsea. They start off with a sleigh ride. He wants to find out whether there’s more than just being best friends with her. She tells him she has a phobia of hand holding. That can’t be good, particularly since he’s looking for more affection. She tells him that her romantic side is vulnerable and shy, but it’s there somewhere. She decides to make her own fantasy suite card, even though that doesn’t happen for a couple episodes.

Amanda, Robin, Marshana, and Shayne get the group date, meaning that Robin will be the only one left who has not yet been on a one-on-one date. Marshana’s happy to see Robin not get the date. They’ll be hitting the slopes. Matt loves skiing but typically does it in France. Two of the girls (Amanda and Marshana) have never been skiing before, though, which gives them an excuse to spend some time with him learning, even if it means that Marshana needs to focus more on standing upright and less on talking about their relationship. Shayne makes sure to bring her makeup with her while snowboarding. While they’re on the ground kissing, Robin comes up behind them and interrupts. She wants to know why she didn’t get the one-on-one date. His answer is that they already have a close connection. Amanda’s worried that they haven’t really spent much time together.

Noelle gets the second one-on-one date. Matt doesn’t feel he knows her well, unlike the others. They’re going ice skating. Neither of them know what they’re doing, but they’re still having fun. They get closer discussing their injuries in which reconstructive surgery was needed. She feels more comfortable letting her guard down around him now that she feels he’s giving her signals to do so.

Marshana says she’s seen how Matt lives. Robin comments that Marshana hasn’t actually seen how he lives, once again bringing up that she’s the one who’s spent time in Britain. This leads to Chelsea telling Marshana that she’s got a negative attitude. Then Marshana gets loud and repeats herself again and again and again. Matt should know this chick may well have a screw or two loose. Shayne jumps in to pull Marshana back and hopefully give her a tranquilizer.

Marshana tells Matt she didn’t have a good night the night before. Only she tells it calmly instead of like a raving lunatic. Her defense is that she had the right to defend herself because her character was being attacked. Chelsea barges in but doesn’t feel bad about Marshana not being able to talk about what she wants to, since she wasted too much time complaining about the other girls. His question to Chelsea is whether she’s actually up for this.

Roses
Shayne
Noelle
Chelsea
Amanda

Robin and Marshana will be heading home. Marshana’s over it and ready to go back to Brooklyn, but Robin is upset and shocked.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Bachelor 12 episode 6, which airs Monday at 10/9c on ABC.

Watch The Bachelor 12 Online

Results will be posted live as they become available.

Jason Castro is in the group to Ryan Seacrest’s left.

David Cook starts a group to Ryan’s right.

Carly Smithson thinks Simon has been a bit hard on her this season. She joins Jason’s group.

Kristy Lee Cook is also not happy with Simon. She joins David’s group.

Syesha Mercado joins Jason and Carly’s group.

Brooke White joins David and Kristy.

That leaves David Archuleta. Seacrest, do we need to do this every year at the final 7?

David Archuleta is safe.

David Cook and Syesha Mercado are asked to switch groups. Now it’s David Archuleta’s turn to choose which group he thinks is safe. Yeah, this lame nonsense again. David sits down. Seacrest tells him which way to go. He still doesn’t budge, so they come join him. David Cook, Jason Castro, and Carly Smithson are also safe.

Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, and Kristy Lee Cook are in the bottom three.

Syesha is safe. Simon is unsurprised by the bottom two and says that Kristy’s time may finally be up. Brooke White is safe. Kristy Lee Cook has been eliminated.

With Adam’s veto win in Big Brother 9 Episode 28, Sheila’s plan fell in to place, as she was able to have an excuse for nominating Natalie. Now it’s just a question of whether the boys want to pick the person they can’t beat in the end or the person who’s a challenge threat.

Adam and Ryan want to call a house meeting and bring everything to the table. Ah yes, season 9, the season of unnecessarily getting everybody together in a group and arguing about things openly. Natalie’s not happy about this. Sheila’s freaking out as well. Because Natalie is dying her hair, they want to have the meeting in the bathroom. They go to the bathroom with her and confront her and bring the bible with them. She says her true loyalty is with the boys and that she would put Sheila up on the block if she wins HOH. Then she says that Sharon said she’s a big threat and that they can go ahead and send her home if they want. Sheila’s pissed off by this meeting because, somehow, she’s surprised that her plan to get Natalie out is turning out to make her look bad.

Adam tells Sheila he’s got a heart and wants to get rid of Natalie next week. This ends in a shouting match in which Adam calls Sheila a bitch.

Matt has one wish on his birthday. For James to be kicked out of the house. Josh and Chelsia are still as bitter as we remember them. Adam may have scored some points with the jury for not putting up James. James has a message for Chelsia. He was evicted because she was bitter and mean, and he was her residue. Even though she is the way she is, he still likes her, though.

Votes
Ryan-Natalie
Adam-Sharon

We have a tied vote. We know what Sheila’s going to do, but let her make the decision if that’s what she wants. No need for her to have clean hands. Sheila breaks the tie and votes to evict Natalie, pretending that she didn’t plan it all along and that instead it’s because of Natalie telling people where her loyalties were. Not sure this is the smartest decision by the boys, but they’re left with two completely hopeless competitors. Granted, in this game, all it takes is a bit of dumb luck, and anybody can become HOH.

Natalie’s not happy with anybody in the house now. Sheila manages to muster up some fake tears in her goodbye message, which may well get her somewhere.

The HOH competition is fact or fiction and is a series of questions about the house and the contestants. Ryan and Sharon get the first question right. Everybody gets the second question right, an obvious question about the toy in the guinea pig cage being just for decoration. Sharon knows Chelsia has not been escorted by security out of the jury house (surprisingly) and is right on the third question. Ryan and Sharon are correct on the fourth question. Everybody is correct on the fifth and sixth questions. Ryan gets the next question right, knowing there is one other preexisting relationship in the house. It comes down to a tiebreaker for Sharon and Ryan. Ryan is closest to the correct answer and wins HOH. Lucky for him Sharon appears to have misunderstood the question. Or she’s just really bad at math.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Big Brother 9 Episode 30, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

In Big Brother 9 Episode 27, Sheila managed to win the endurance HOH competition after Natalie quit based on a deal to keep herself and Ryan safe for the week. In Sheila’s mind, she never agreed to keep Natalie safe, though, just that she wouldn’t nominate her initially, so she plans to target Natalie in silence, putting up Sharon and Adam as pawns. Last time Natalie made a deal in an endurance competition, it bit her in the ass, as that was the week Matty was eliminated.

Sheila bashes Adam in front of the girls because she wants them to think she hates him. Granted, this isn’t entirely unusual for Sheila because she hates everybody in front of everybody else.

Everybody ensures Adam he’s not the target, but he has trouble believing them.

In the veto competition, players must use remotes to change the channel on 9 TV screens and solve a puzzle. Everybody has a good reason to win this one, though Sharon may be good to throw it and let them keep thinking she’s not a threat. Ryan tells us he took a long time because he’s mesmerized by how hot Jen looks. Sheila’s getting turned on because she is seeing Evel Dick’s body. So is the first statement worse because it’s a lame attempt at impressing a girl he’ll hate once he gets out and sees the footage, or is the second statement worse because it’s a revolting thought?

Ryan - 6:01
Sheila - 15:30
Adam - 3:20
Natalie - 12:09
Sharon - 4:56

Puzzle queen Natalie loses as Adam bails out Sheila following her pathetic effort at defending her strategy. Natalie is happy that Adam won rather than Sharon probably because she knows that if she goes up on the block against Adam, Sheila’s a threat to her in the event of a tie. Still, she knows she’s going up. Ryan continues to play both sides, and none of them are aware of it.

Sheila and Sharon don’t think Natalie’s very smart, which would explain why they’re terrified of her. Sheila decides she hates Natalie’s guts. Typical Sheila.

Natalie’s getting concerned to see Sharon and Sheila constantly together, and she knows that people may target her as a bigger threat (at this point in the game, I’m not seeing her as the bigger threat, but I could see why some might be confused and think otherwise).

It’s Sheila’s birthday, and they throw her a surprise party and sing For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow (because you have to pay Warner Chappell Music to sing Happy Birthday to You on TV, which is just plain ridiculous if you ask me). She gets a card from her mom, who she didn’t know was a huge fan of the show. Sheila says she’s the way she is because of her mother. Too easy.

Sharon tries to convince Adam that, despite the fact that she already has three votes locked up no question (two more than anybody else), she’ll lose in the end because everybody will remain loyal to their side. Ryan and Adam know this is BS but believe Natalie will be harder to get out of the game, though they know Natalie’s not well liked by the jury.

Sheila doesn’t think there’s even a choice to be made. She wants Natalie gone, and even though she wants to prove how tough she is and show Natalie she messed with the wrong person, she doesn’t want to deal with having to break a tie. She warns Adam to vote the way she wants, then she warns them if Natalie survives, she’ll be after all three of them (is there a fourth choice I’m missing?). Sheila thinks that taking out Natalie without breaking the tie will keep blood off her hands. Not content with Adam’s responses, she threatens to put up Ryan. The guys know they can do whatever they want once Natalie’s on the block.

Adam has used the power of veto on himself. As planned, Natalie has been nominated in Adam’s place. Natalie feels safe with the boys in power, but they don’t trust her any more than anybody else does.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Big Brother 9 Episode 29, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Big Brother 9 Spoilers