Whats Hot On TV

I’m still on vacation here in the Big Easy, but I have a great sub writing for me today. My buddy, Carrie Grosvenor from Reality Shack , is filling in here to talk a little about politics and reality TV. The interesting thing is she seems to have a good grasp here on our presidential candidates, and she’s from Canada!

Ever wondered how the current presidential and vice presidential candidates would do on some of our favorite reality TV shows? No, it’s just me? That’s fine, I’m more than happy to share my mental scorecard with you!

Just for fun, let’s take a look at how the big four (Biden, McCain, Obama, and Palin – in alphabetical order so as not to show any bias) would fare on a few reality competition shows.

Survivor

Survivor is the grand-daddy of reality TV, combining a competitive environment with survival skills and creating a very social game.

Joe Biden – Biden has the shmooze thing down pat, and would likely get himself into an early alliance. He could definitely charm himself into the final four given the chance, but it’s tough to predict how he’d do in the challenges. He seems to be in good shape, but we all know that age plays a part in almost all of the competitions. His major downfall, however, would be off-the-cuff remarks during Tribal Council that could come back to bite him in the butt.

John McCain – McCain is a war veteran (no, really!) and probably has the survival aspect of the game in the bag. He’d definitely be a help around camp despite being 72 years old. Unfortunately, his health status would figure prominently in the challenges, and his tribemates would cut him loose way before the merge.

Barack Obama – Let’s not kid ourselves here. Obama is a smart guy who uses big words. No one will appreciate that on Survivor. He could potentially make the merge by showing leadership and keeping the tribe focused, but once the individual game is on, he’s toast.

Sarah Palin – Don’t underestimate the power of a hockey mom who kills moose in her spare time. Palin would almost certainly make the merge, proving her skills in finding and hunting fish and animals, skinning and cooking her kills, and keeping the tribe entertained with stories of life in Alaska. On second thought, scratch that last one. She’s also proven that she can spin just about anything to make herself look good. If Palin made it to the end, she could likely talk the jury into enough votes to make her the winner, since they can’t confer and fact check before voting.

Edge: Sarah Palin

The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is a game played in pairs, so we’ll take this one as ticket versus ticket. Teams must race around the world, completing tasks and finding the pit stops before all of the other teams.

McCain/Palin – Most of the race is held on foreign soil, and even though we’ve been assured that Palin has plenty of foreign policy experience, she’s far too American to be able to relate to the citizens of, say, Tanzania. Can you imagine her trying to explain to a foreign cab driver where she needs to go? Plus, McCain once again would have difficulty with some of the tasks due to his age. Not to mention, McCain seems to be pretty good at spending money to get what and where he wants to be, and on the race, teams have very limited finances.

Obama/Biden – Obama is an international rock star, recognizable just about everywhere. Locals would be going out of their way to help him out, much as they did with Rob and Amber. Biden could work behind the scenes, reading the clues carefully and figuring out where they need to be, while Obama courts locals to lead them on their way.

Edge: Obama/Biden

Big Brother

Big Brother is billed as a ’social experiment.’ Really, it’s a bunch of contestants thrown in a house for the summer, eliminating each other one at a time until the last two people try to earn votes to be crowned the winner.

Joe Biden – Just like I said for Survivor, Biden can talk his way into some great alliances. He’s friendly and approachable enough to make friends, wouldn’t stand out too much, and has the ability to adapt to the changes in the game. The real bonus for someone like Biden on Big Brother is that his throw-away remarks, even if they’re off-color, would be right at home on this show.

John McCain – McCain would be like the Jerry of season 10: the old guy who everyone thinks is harmless despite his ramblings and heated one-liners. The one major difference though is that McCain wouldn’t do all that well in the competitions. Can you even fathom John McCain crawling through honey to collect teddy bears? Me neither. Plus, it would only take a few examples of McCain addressing the houseguests as “my friends” to annoy the crap out of them.

Barack Obama – Obama is a smooth talker and would be able to get many people on his side in the Big Brother house. He’s also smart and in good shape, so competitions wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. Once again though, he uses a lot of big words, and Big Brother contestants as a group aren’t the brightest reality TV contestants on the planet.

Sarah Palin – My eyes are twitching at the mere thought of watching Sarah Palin 24/7 on the live feeds, but let’s disregard that for a moment. The skills that would make Palin a reasonable contestant on Survivor just don’t help her here. No one needs her to kill a wild animal. No one will be interested in hearing about how she can see Russia from her house. She’ll fit in just fine with the model wannabes who stand in front of the bathroom mirror applying lipstick for hours at a time, but generally these ladies don’t do so well in the endgame.

Edge: Joe Biden

There are so many other reality shows and game shows that would be fun to imagine these folks appearing on. How about Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Or maybe America’s Got Talent? Which shows would you want to see the candidates battling it out on?

Photos Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk and globalresearch.ca

For more information on Survivor, The Amazing Race, and Big Brother, See Sirlinksalot: Survivor Gabon , Sirlinksalot: The Amazing Race , and Sirlinksalot: Big Brother .

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