arsenette
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Post by arsenette on May 27, 2014 14:27:09 GMT -5
Please keep ALL discussion for these episodes in their respective threads. Monday, June 2, 2014 - NBC Network9:00 PM - S06, E02 - Dallas QualifyingDescription: Competition in Dallas includes Tilting Table, Ring Toss and Swinging Frames. Going to be using TV Guide and winging it to get the correct dates. This is Qualifying from Dallas, Texas on NBC. Please keep this specific episode on this thread only. Don't bring up other regionals into discussion here. Keep that on those threads. REMINDER: There are people who did not read the respective spoiler threads from when the competition was taped.. please do not include information from that thread here. Stick to the episode shown. Last reminders of course that all of this thread is a spoiler thread for what is shown on official broadcasts.
I'm assuming that the rest of the qualifying runs will be 2 hour shows? To be safe, I'm only putting start times that are listed in the TV Guide (and not mentioning duration). I believe the episodes airing on Esquire network are just repeat from the NBC broadcast. If that information changes please let me know and I'll amend that weeks' thread.
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Post by TCM on May 27, 2014 21:09:34 GMT -5
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Jun 2, 2014 15:41:44 GMT -5
Matt Iseman was at the Today Show this morning. I cringed again at the "no woman has completed this wall".. then put "in competition" .. which also doesn't work. So either way I feel bad for Mika .. again.. There's no reason to delete history to make what happens in ANW look better. It's friggin' awesome. I just wish they didn't disparage Mika in the process. I .. really don't like the rewriting of history to promote the USA version. There's just no need.
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jun 2, 2014 15:50:16 GMT -5
Matt Iseman was at the Today Show this morning. I cringed again at the "no woman has completed this wall".. then put "in competition" .. which also doesn't work. So either way I feel bad for Mika .. again.. There's no reason to delete history to make what happens in ANW look better. It's friggin' awesome. I just wish they didn't disparage Mika in the process. I .. really don't like the rewriting of history to promote the USA version. There's just no need. I want to try to defend them by trying to say that in a way they're sort of right since that was trials, but really the first two rounds of ANW ARE trials but still counted so yeah, no excuse for them on that one, Mika deserves credit
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Jun 2, 2014 15:56:03 GMT -5
Matt Iseman was at the Today Show this morning. I cringed again at the "no woman has completed this wall".. then put "in competition" .. which also doesn't work. So either way I feel bad for Mika .. again.. There's no reason to delete history to make what happens in ANW look better. It's friggin' awesome. I just wish they didn't disparage Mika in the process. I .. really don't like the rewriting of history to promote the USA version. There's just no need. I want to try to defend them by trying to say that in a way they're sort of right since that was trials, but really the first two rounds of ANW ARE trials but still counted so yeah, no excuse for them on that one, Mika deserves credit Yeah.. Either way. Just double checking. Esquire is strictly repeats from the night before correct? Otherwise I can make a different thread if new content was in that. Just let me know if anything deviates from the schedule or if I missed anything. Otherwise it's every Monday 8-9'ish (I do check TV Guide previous week) unless otherwise told it changes. I'll keep up on the ratings thread with numbers I find from Esquire if they break top 100. So far they did last week.
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Post by RiderLeangle on Jun 2, 2014 16:12:25 GMT -5
Esquire is only showing repeats, even ANW themselves have confirmed this.
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Post by m4tt3r0x on Jun 2, 2014 22:29:14 GMT -5
Shocked at Brent's fall... even more shocked by the reality that Kacy legitimately did better than him.
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Post by dlee on Jun 2, 2014 23:01:06 GMT -5
Shocked at Brent's fall... even more shocked by the reality that Kacy legitimately did better than him. I legit got choked up when she made it. Between her, Sam Sann & the shock of Brent's run. What an awsome episode. Only thing that was annoying was the tilting table ONLY being able to tilt and not completely spin upside down. Made it a bit easier for a few and completely saved one guy.
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Post by kangaroo on Jun 2, 2014 23:26:26 GMT -5
Shocked at Brent's fall... even more shocked by the reality that Kacy legitimately did better than him. Brent looked off tonight not sure if it was nerves or something else. The rings took out a lot of people tonight that was sure. It was cool to see the Dallas youth pastor come back after walking on two years ago and clear the course
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Post by dlee on Jun 3, 2014 0:04:05 GMT -5
Shocked at Brent's fall... even more shocked by the reality that Kacy legitimately did better than him. Brent looked off tonight not sure if it was nerves or something else. The rings took out a lot of people tonight that was sure. It was cool to see the Dallas youth pastor come back after walking on two years ago and clear the course But he has competed so many times before so I'm not sure if nerves would be the answer. He looked bad last year in regional finals and midoriyama. Looked amazing at USA vs JAPAN. Then got tripped up on a new obstacle this year but its not even a super difficult new obstacle. Maybe it was just the adrenaline dump of being back out on the course in front of the cameras? Who knows?
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Post by mrbignich128 on Jun 3, 2014 4:06:54 GMT -5
You know what something told me Brent wasn't going to do well because they weren't building him in the fluff piece like they usually do. Anything pertaining to Brent they would mention Kacy as well. Which also led me to believe that she was going to do very well.
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Post by kangaroo on Jun 3, 2014 6:56:04 GMT -5
Brent looked off tonight not sure if it was nerves or something else. The rings took out a lot of people tonight that was sure. It was cool to see the Dallas youth pastor come back after walking on two years ago and clear the course But he has competed so many times before so I'm not sure if nerves would be the answer. He looked bad last year in regional finals and midoriyama. Looked amazing at USA vs JAPAN. Then got tripped up on a new obstacle this year but its not even a super difficult new obstacle. Maybe it was just the adrenaline dump of being back out on the course in front of the cameras? Who knows? Was my thought process as well but we seen it before guys struggle for what ever reason then bounce back not sure what was going on. The ring grasp looked no worse than the monkey pegs not sure why he struggled with the obstacle.
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Post by TCM on Jun 3, 2014 11:34:01 GMT -5
That Tilting Table won't be back next year. Two of the same injuries for one obstacle is two too many (and that's just what was shown on camera). Also, and they have this problem for a few obstacles, but the table is already tilted downward and not completely level before competitors even try it. I don't like when they do that. It's just like the Bridge of Blades. Why have the obstacle in an improper position like that? Their new Log Grip sucks as well.
Sucks about Brent, happy for Kacy (though their wording was inconsistent when mentioning her accomplishment). Brent will always have a wild card Finals spot; if they want for this year to be "the year", they'll make sure that their top guys get spots. My results will come later today, after class. Also, really NBC? Digesting Matt Laessig? The guy finally clears and you digest him because 21 people cleared, but you'll show a random guy who gets a competitor profile for having a 6th toe who failed the 3rd obstacle, an obstacle you stated at one point knocked out 1/3 of competitors up to a certain point. Come on, now.
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Jun 3, 2014 11:46:09 GMT -5
Talked to Matt Iseman this morning. Seems the comment about Mika irked NBC somehow. LOL And yes it's the inconsistency of combining results is what is causing the issue. Matt insists that they meant ANW (although they never said that) but the greater history of combining Sasuke and ANW results is is causing this controversy. Kacy should be heralded for her result because it's friggin' badass that she not only cleared it but because the buzzer was at the top of the wall she also cleared the stage. I would hope she's in Vegas and I hope this signals the return of Kunoichi in the future. There are plenty of women who would be awesome in the resurrection of that event. Both should have been heralded but sadly NBC caused this issue to even come up.
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Post by rsyoukilis20 on Jun 3, 2014 13:11:26 GMT -5
To be fair, I'm pretty sure that when referencing Kacy last night the commentators at one point said no woman has ever made it up the Warped Wall in "6 seasons of competition," which would mean they are referring to ANW only.
It's also pretty clear to me that when using terms like "made history" they are referring to ANW only. Sure, they have mentioned "total victories" before (to use the G4 term), but when they do that the distinction is made clear that they are saying total victories have been achieved before in Japan, but never on ANW.
In fact, looking at Matt Iseman's twitter feed, he specifically states that "when we call the show, we reference only ANW results. We specify when we discuss the larger history of total victory. But even then, we say no American has ever done it. 99% of viewers don't know Sasuke. So, while we acknowledge the history & debt we owe Sasuke as the orignator, we don't include all their results with ours."
So basically Matt Iseman explains better what I was trying to say. And because I think it's clear that ANW is referring to ANW results only when they say things like "made history," I don't think there is any confusion. I'm certainly not confused.
As to the episode itself, I thought it was mostly fantastic, and a great follow up to last Monday's mostly fantastic premiere.
I used to find the episodes a chore to slog through because, as has been complained at length by many others, the endlessly long competitor profiles ensured that the vast majority of each episode was spent on heartfelt emotional journey stories instead of on the actual runs themselves. When you'd get a 5 minute competitor profile followed by a 10-second-fail-on-the-first-obstacle run, followed by another 5 minute competitor profile, it felt like the show was "American Lengthy Personal Stories" and not "American Ninja Warrior."
This season, however, they've addressed that complaint, and the competitor profiles are for the most part no longer than 10-15 seconds. As a result, the pacing is better and more runs are being shown. Sure, Kacy and Brent got longer competitor profiles, but I am okay with NBC giving longer profiles to more well known veterans. And, unlike in seasons past where Kacy's profile would have gone on-and-on-and-on forever (I remember one year where they wasted 10 seconds showing David Campbell riding a motorcycle), Kacy's profile was still relatively short.
I also have generally liked the course design. Yes, there are always going to be complaints about some obstacles, but the two qualifying courses have been tricky and haven't been easily beatable.
So, good qualifying courses + great pacing and lack of long competitor profiles = A+ grade, right? Not so fast.
ANW still gets dinged in my book for fast-forwarding too many clears. In particular, Matt Laessig finally clearing after 5 times and sharing a great post-clear exchange with Matt Iseman. And they still annoyingly carp on and on about competitors who will compete towards the end of the show. "STILL TO COME! THE GODFATHER HIMSELF, DAVID CAMPBELL!" "STILL TO COME! THE ROYAL COUPLE OF AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR, BRENT AND KACY!" They only need to reference those future competitors once, but they do it 8 times an episode and before every commercial break. It gets to the point where it sounds like: "Hey guys, did you know the Godfather himself, David Campbell, is coming up later in the show? Because he is. Seriously. He's coming up later. David Campbell, the Godfather himself. I'm not even joking, you guys. Like, he's literally going to run the course this episode." And finally, it can get annoying when they pretend nobody has passed a qualifying obstacle yet, when somebody already has. I get that they didn't show the first person who passed it, but there's no need to say "And he's the first person to pass the obstacle!" Just say he passed the obstacle. Him being the first is unnecessary information, and it's not true.
So, overall, I give the season so far a B+, when in the past I would have graded the show at a C-. Let's hope ANW can keep up the great momentum and not make me lower my grade.
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Post by arsenette on Jun 3, 2014 13:31:20 GMT -5
I think it's NBC's inconsistency that has bit them hard of late. Even that Today Show video where Matt clearly stated (when referring to history) that no woman has ever cleared this obstacle (the WW) in competition has been a source of confusion of late. In the same video when pressed if any American in Mount Midoriyama Matt cleverly deflected the question by saying no American has ever CLEARED Mount Midoriyama (appeasing us people bitching that Kane Kosugi was the first American in the Final). So he knows his words are being parsed which is why I asked him point blank WHY he said that about the wall in the Today Show video and all the previous teaser videos put out on NBC prior to tonight. I saw the video (the commandeered NW Twitter) where she took almost 6 minutes to clear stage 1 but she did clear it. I can b**** about the timer (if Izumi had the reverse timer she would have passed the trials in full) but that's a separate issue. Kacy did awesome and she could be commended, applauded and heralded. Damn TBS can revamp Kunoichi with her being the USA rep with that distinction and she sure as hell BETTER be invited to Las Vegas finals next weekend. My issue is with NBC's Japan vs. USA where all the "mount midoriyama" appearances were mixed together as one history and Matt's statement. They do not mix. The confusion of saying both histories and calling it all one course (even if TBS calls Sasuke the Iron Castle...) is what is causing the issue here. NBC says one thing publicly and Matt has to figure out a way to make peace with us Sasuke Maniacs. I know Matt is not the fact checker on this show. The fact he even bothered to address me directly on it was a good show of faith. NBC however is not as forthcoming. I'm curious to see how they deal with it from now on because the confusion is getting worse. I can't even begin to fathom how they are going to deal with the repeat of the ANW special occurring again next week. Curious if they are going to .. again.. mix the results. Casual viewers can't possibly know the rewriting of history. NBC has never shown Sasuke/Kunoichi and the little they did know was altered in light of ANW's course. This is a compounding problem. LOL about the pacing of the show. NBC is known for that "LOOK WHO'S COMING UP" wasting precious time. We all have compared the 2 show's handling of upcoming competitors. It's obvious to everyone I prefer the Sasuke version especially since you don't know beforehand. Only us maniacs bother checking online to see the list that has been published during Sasuke Rising's reign. Hell that never happened before and we go into the show practically blind. All in all though I hope Kacy ends up in Vegas and kicks a**. I just wish NBC is more consistent with fact checking especially when they haphazardly mix then separate and then mix again the results of both shows causing massive confusion among it's faithful viewers. I feel bad for them because then they go to my site and Sasukepedia and go .. "wait.. what?"
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Post by TCM on Jun 3, 2014 14:03:21 GMT -5
I actually don't have a problem with the reverse timer anymore now that they've added the "Win and In" condition. It was straight up foolish for someone to beat the qualifying course, only for you to miss out because someone else did it faster. But yeah, that's another issue more akin to the course itself and not wording of an accomplishment.
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Post by arsenette on Jun 3, 2014 14:13:01 GMT -5
I actually don't have a problem with the reverse timer anymore now that they've added the "Win and In" condition. It was straight up foolish for someone to beat the qualifying course, only for you to miss out because someone else did it faster. But yeah, that's another issue more akin to the course itself and not wording of an accomplishment. Agreed. I've made peace with it myself. I brought it up because people were saying on twitter that ANW was superior to Sasuke because Kacy actually passed the stage where Izumi didn't. Needless to say my back went up on that. I hate when any fan has to defend the show by pitting competitors against each other. No reason that should ever happen. BOTH shows exist. Only NBC has them separate. I wish the new ANW fans understood the difference.
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Post by thebobmaster on Jun 3, 2014 14:35:26 GMT -5
On another note, I'll list the 30 people who made it through qualifying. 1. Dillon Gates: Cleared, 1:31.19 2. Kevin Klein: Cleared, 1:33.42 3. Joshua Cook: Cleared 1:41.10 4. Raymond Clausen: Cleared, 1:48.23 5. Jaret Salas: Cleared, 1:58.62 6. Tremayne Dortch: Cleared, 2:05.98 7. Seth Blaustein: Cleared, 2:11.43 8. Jordan Yordanov: Cleared, 2:13.50 9. Connor Moyer: Cleared, 2:23.37 10. David Gilbert: Cleared, 2:33.71 11. Nathan Jasso: Cleared, 2:43.25 12. Eric McKeethan: Cleared, 2:54.75 13. Sam Sann: Cleared, 3:03.51 14. Jimmy Bogle, Jr.: Cleared, 3:04.34 15. Matthew Laessig: Cleared, 3:04.54 16. Johnathan Morin: Cleared, 3:06.03 17. Terry Cosey: Cleared, 3:15.38 18. Jo Jo Bynum: Cleared, 3:21.17 19. Abel Gonzalez, Jr.: Cleared, 3:29.07 20. Karsten Williams: Cleared, 3:36.61 21. Kacy Catanzaro: Cleared, 5:26.18 22. Jeremy Morgan: Failed Warped Wall, 1:10.30 23. Brandon Panneli: Failed Warped Wall, 1:34.77 24. Geoffrey Lancaster: Failed Warped Wall, 1:40.11 25. Michael Solomon: Failed Warped Wall, 1:43.08 26. Geoffrey Motil: Failed Warped Wall, 2:02.10 27. Daniel Mandel: Failed Warped Wall, 2:10.39 28. Joe Calderon: Failed Warped Wall, 2:41.33 29. Engin Dolen: Failed Warped Wall, 2:53.27 30. Joshua Stone: Failed Warped Wall, 2:59.64
Most shocking fails (in my opinion): Brent Steffensen, Nika Muckelroy
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jams
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Post by jams on Jun 3, 2014 14:51:08 GMT -5
I'm just glad that regardless of NBC's wording we can all agree that what Kacy did last night was an amazing accomplishment. I agree that I would prefer if NBC wouldn't ignore Sasuke history, but I think part of the blame has to fall on TBS for allowing it to continue over multiple seasons. I don't have twitter, but with Vegas being filmed next week maybe someone should tell Matt Iseman that a woman has already cleared stage 1 as well just to be safe. Maybe reiterate the Kane Kosugi fact too since I have a feeling this could be the year someone gets to the final stage.
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