Shockers rock TV tilts

Most of the time, TV shows unreel with predictable and even placid regularity. Once in a while, however, unexpected zingers shock viewers into stupefied attention, and prompt them to realize that templates are there to be broken, so people can see the entertainment scene in a fresh, new light.

This month, the latest shockers to confound or excite viewers were led by last week’s telecast of “The Apprentice-Asia,” in which the male team finally did better than its female counterpart after two straight weeks in the basement slot.

That was surprising enough—but, what really made viewers sit up and pay special attention was the abrupt resignation of one of the ladies, Dussadee Oeawpanich, from Thailand.

Dissatisfied contestant

Looking back on the tilt’s first three telecasts, she generally came across as a rather unhappy and dissatisfied contestant, unable or unwilling to embrace the tilt’s highly competitive parameters.

She was an outstanding business maven, but had obviously gotten to where she was without resorting to overt confrontations.

More than once, she complained about the tilt’s high “noise” level, with rival apprentices arguing with each other all the time. She favored cooperation and temperate discussion, and she faulted even her female teammates for behaving like feisty and overly assertive men!

She tried to keep her negative feelings in check, realizing that she was one of only a few young people being given the chance of a lifetime to compete for a big-deal job in the business empire of Air Asia boss, Tony Fernandes.

But, last week, she finally decided to put her foot down—and stepped away from the competition. Her decision surprised everyone—and perhaps made some of the other apprentices feel guilty, because their “unacceptable” (to her) behavior may have pushed her to make her shocking decision. —But, the die has been cast, so the tilt has lost its first female bet.

What was bad news for her turned out to be glad tidings for the women (including Fil-French Celina) who were in the bottom three last week, because they were all given a reprieve, due to the fact that a female bet had already opted out. —What a relief!

Previous standouts

Another TV shocker last week was the first telecast of the new show, “America’s Next Top Model—All-Stars Edition,” which brought back 14 of the tilt’s previous standouts, who competed for even bigger prizes under the watchful and scrupulous eyes of Tyra Banks, Nicki Minaj  and other mentor-jurors.

What was so shocking about that? The already successful “graduates” didn’t know it, but the tilt would be going on “elimination mode” from the get-go, without even giving them any time to unpack their bags!

After a quick pictorial, the girls were evaluated not just by the jurors but also by a live audience of fans and bashers—and the first “all-stars” bet was summarily dismissed!

She couldn’t even take a deep breath to steel herself before the verdict was cast—but, what could she do? Ready or not, it was—game on!

Other early notes: The “all-stars” tilt appears to be bent on underscoring the rivalry and even nasty competitiveness between its ambitious bets. —But, we hope that this will be done selectively, since a little of that for-the-cameras nastiness goes—a really long way!

tyra banks

BANKS. One of the mentor-jurors of “America’s Next Top Model—All-Stars Edition.”