(Its located just down the road from Siberias other favorite family fun-time attraction, Knotts Berry Gulag.)
Yes, were finally atthatpart of the show.
Which is like saying, How am I supposed to know who this Shakespeare dude is?
Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS
Ive never been to London.
Well, isnt that convenient!
Lukes attempt seemed far more likely.
He came up with four attempts like Coehkvh before he finally nailed it.
Again, this is not intellectual snobbery.
Im not someone who can quoteThe SeagullorThree Sistersto you; Ive never read them or seen them performed.
Ive seenUncle Vanya, but I have no great affinity for it.
But Ive heard of the freaking guy.
Five out of eight teams hadnt, and acted like this challenge was unreasonably hard.
I hate to sound like an old crank, but holy crap, Chekhov?
Im guessing most of his competitors could unscramble only one of those names.
Mark and Michael would later pass this task right away, because literatures their game.
It took the arrival of Mel and Mike and Kris and Amanda to get them through it.
A town that, I should mention, was utterly deserted except for a stray dog.
Seriously, where was everyone?
Out at the slaw factory?
But on last nights show, five out of eight racers had never heard of Anton Chekhov.
Not didnt know how to spell Chekhov: Had never heard of him.
Suddenly, dopiness couldnt be dismissed as an isolated incident.
It made you think, Good lord, is this an exact microcosm of our country?
Ive got something else to unscramble, too: WEER SRCEWED.
I dont want to come off as a literary snob right off the bat.
So Ill back up to the beginning and get my dander up later.
I thought Id fallen asleep and missed a chunk of show.
And I mean missed in the most literal sense, as it was no loss at all.
Again, I must applaud this new approach by the show.
Its wonderful when people get all of their geographical know-how from Siegfried and Roy.
Luckily, Jodi was there to correct her: No, hes a bad dictator guy.
As opposed to thegooddictator guys, I guess.
They all opted for stacking, and their task was observed by a group of mocking locals.
There was an article recently about how President Obama has been quickly going gray in his new job.
The group of craggy, bearded boozers chugging vodka and stuffing cole slaw and pickles in their mouths?
That was the Siberia High School class of 2007.
You should see their parents.
One man slogged through an accordion dirge while a Meredith-from-The-Officelookalike drunkenly cackled and sweat vodka.
The producers once again nailed it with the wood stacking challenge.
Kisha and Jen finished their wood first, followed by the blondes.
The subtext was, You are first girl I ever see who not look like rock with fur.
Jeez, what was with all the Girls rule, boys drool ax-grinding?
At the dam they had said, Pretty powerful beavers made that dam.
They must be females!
and here they repeatedly congratulated themselves on doing the task without any boys helping us.
Was thisThe Amazing Raceor a deleted scene from aBabysitters Clubnovel?
That is so low.
That is so low.
I never would have done it.
Anyone else (if discovered) would engender a lot of hateful trash talk.
Meanwhile, Mark and Michael were stymied by the shutters.
They wandered around the town, hopelessly searching for the home in which theyd need to install them.
My favorite moment was when Mark exclaimed, House needs repair!
and Michael excitedly said, Where?
and it turned out Mark was just repeating what they were looking for.
Dont say it if you dont mean it!
Boy, Mark must be a pain in the neck to be around when hes reading the newspaper.
The Dow is finally bouncing back?
No, I was just saying the news Idliketo hear.
I wonder how many morning meals end with Marks wife dumping hot coffee over his head?
At the mat, Phil was backed up by the requisite Troupe Doing Local Dance.
Christie and Jodi arrived first, and won motorcycles.
you’re free to get them after the race to go cruising around in, said Phil.
Are you into that?
Was this a gift presentation or a pickup line from 1973?
They tried to offer the cabbie their watches, only to find he was wearing a Rolex.
Then they tried to give him their tiny jackets, but were refused.
At least thats what one of Siegfried and Roys tigers told me.
Finally the cabbie agreed to let them go.
The stuntmen handily beat Amanda and Kris, who were eliminated, after which they proclaimed their undying love.
If they do get married, it would be appropriate if they quoted Chekhov in their vows.
Although I realize theyre far more likely to be quotingThe Bachelor.
What did you think of the episode?
Am I being too hard on people for not knowing who Anton Chekhov is?
And what about the U-turning Luke?
And dont forget to checkPhils blog: Ill betheknew who Chekhov was.
