May 7, 2007
SFist Watches: Your Locals On Reality TV

First, we want to briefly mention that the last leg of "The Amazing Race: All-Stars" finale took place in San Francisco. How did we not hear about this back in December when it was filmed??
First off, the teams had to fly from Hawaii to San Francisco, but for some reason, they had to fly into Oakland airport and not San Francisco. We have no idea why this was enforced as it didn't look like they were even allowed to look for better flights into SFO. They then had to make their way to the Old Mint, and do a Detour that was just silly, and then race to the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park via a taxi for their final Pit Stop. It was amusing seeing how they had blatantly edited much of their taxi scenes to play up the drama (such as using moments obviously shot on the way to Golden Gate Park to illustrate them getting to San Francisco from Oakland. Unless that particular cab driver was taking a VERY long route from Oakland over to Fell Street by the Panhandle and then on to the Old Mint). In the end, the horrid Danielle and Eric won, while the Beauty Queens came in second. But at least Mirna and Charla came in last.
Previously on "Survivor: Fiji," thanks to Mookie's snooping, everyone found out Yau-Man had a Hidden Immunity Idol, but it didn't make a difference at Tribal Council, as Mookie was voted out.
Post Tribal Council! Earl was peeved that the vote was split and they didn't all just vote out Alex like they had originally planned. The next day, Alex's trustworthiness was being questioned, and Earl came up with a new name for the alliance of him, Yau, Cassandra and Dreamz: The Core Four. Yau, however, didn't like that Dreamz was in there. He wanted someone weaker, like Stacy.

Reward Challenge! It was that disgusting challenge from a few seasons back in which people had their hands tied behind their backs, and they had to rip chunks of meat off of a big slab hanging from a hook, and then drop those chunks on to a plate. Heaviest plate wins. Reward: A river rafting trip and a catered lunch. Boo came in first with nine pounds, while Yau got in there with just over six pounds. He got to go on the trip with Dreamz, although it wasn't the best of rewards since they had to go with Boo, who would not shut the hell up through most of it, even when the three of them got letters from home. Meanwhile, Earl was sent back to Exile Island and got a second clue about the Hii.
Immunity Challenge! It was revealed that Boo, as part of the Reward Challenge reward, was a step ahead of the others, literally, as he got some actual steps in advance that were needed as a part of the challenge which involved digging up some steps and then using the steps to climb up a pole. Alex and Dreamz made it to the final round with Boo, and Boo ultimately won immunity. Plan Vote Out Alex was now in full effect.
Or WAS it? Alex stirred up some trouble, and got Cassandra thinking about voting out Yau-Man, which in turn got Dreamz thinking about voting out Yau, which in turn got Stacy thinking about voting out Yau, because her every action is determined by what the last person she spoke with told her to do.
But, turns out it was all a bunch of thinking, and no real action, as Alex got four votes to Yau-Man's one. See you next week, Yau!
Last week on "The Bachelor" local girls Bevin and Tessa were each given roses. Bevin's ankle was still troubling her, but it wasn't nearly as troubling as her complete inability to deal with the ankle situation with any sense of self dignity. Meanwhile, Tessa continued to question the very notion of being on the show.
Group date! Tessa, Bevin, and some other girls joined Andy on a day on a yacht, and the groups eventually separated themselves into the blondes and the brunettes, which prompted Tessa to tell another joke, this time a blonde joke. Oh, Tessa. Don't you remember how well that first joke went over? This one went over about as well. During the same group date, Bevin convinced Andy to go kayaking with her, thus finagling a lot of "quality time" with the boy. The other girls were not pleased.
Later, Bevin learned she'd be going on another group date, which meant Tessa would be getting a one-on-one date. Not surprisingly, this did not please Bevin as she had yet to go on a one-on-one date with Andy, and she needed to because when else would she be able to let Andy know that she's a DIVORCED WOMAN?! She also didn't appreciate that Andy is dating girls who are, like, 23! At 28, she is obviously SO much more mature and ready for marriage than any of those other girls. Gah. What is Andy's problem?
Bevin's second group date was a community service bit in which Andy and the girls painted and prettified a schoolyard playground and got to see the kids enjoy it. Andy, in turn, got to see how the women acted around the children. Sounds like Andy suspected Bevin would turn and run away in terror, but she surprised him by acting quite comfortably around the kids.
Andy confessed that he had chosen to take Tessa on a One-On-One date in order to prove to her that he had serious feelings for her. When he arrived to pick her up, he showed up with a box containing a diamond bracelet, necklace, and earrings, and, to further the Pretty Woman/Richard Gere metaphor, he took her shopping for a fancy dress. Next up, he will kiss her in public, and then be burned in effigy. While on the date, Tessa confessed it takes her longer to trust people, but that she does like Andy a lot, and Andy told her he felt the same way about her...and then they kissed and Andy was burned in effigy.

Pre-Rose Ceremony cocktail party! Andy loved Bevin's dress, and Bevin confessed she was having a hard time, but she was glad she was there. Smooching...
Tessa thanked him for the awesome date, and told him she was excited about the prospect of a hometown visit. Smooching...
Rose Ceremony! Bevin, will you accept this rose? Her reply? "YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!"
Tessa, will you accept this rose?...Of course she will.
See you next week!


So you admit that SFist doesn't take the time to read the local news monthlies for SF neighborhoods (e.g. Sunset Beacon and Richmond Review)??! Amazing Race in Botanical Gardens was reported, story below.
www.sunsetbeacon.com/archives/SunsetBeacon/2007editions/Feb07/Arboretum.html
Regarding Amazing Race teams flying into Oakland, not SFO. The race to the finish line is only exciting if all of the teams are together when arriving to the finale city. From Honolulu to Oakland, only Aloha and ATA fly non-stop and the producers set up timing of the race so that there would only be one option for teams when they arrived at HNL to purchase tickets. SFO has dozens of daily non-stops.
AGR #1, thank goodness you don't come across as insufferable.
Amazing Race thoughts: It looked to me like the BQs lost some time after the Old Mint trying to find a cab on Mission -- they had walked up to Market and Mason by the time they actually found one. Taxi medallion quotas foil us again!
It was good the BQs' cab driver took Fell, though, that was probably faster than whatever path took E/D down Lincoln (not that it really mattered, but still.)