Top Shot Recap: S5 E1 "Best of the Best"

Dust off the cobwebs and unlock the safety, Top Shot is back. The All Star season kicked off last night to what I would call mixed results, but I'll get to that in my analysis post tomorrow.

The episode wasted no time getting to the shooting, bringing all the contestants onto the range where Colby laid down the new ground rules. No teams. No nomination range. Obstacles and weapons from past seasons will be combined into an unholy mismatch of new challenges. And there's a boat!

The first challenge found contestants crawling upside down along a length of rope while explosions were going off, and firing the SVT-40 at a target 125 yards down range. Then they moved on to climbing up a log and firing the LaRue Tactical Optimized Battle Rifle. This was followed by climbing under barbed wire with more explosions and shooting the FN FAL rifle from an unstable platform.

The eight fastest finishers would be safe. The bottom eight would face off to determine the bottom two up for elimination. Colby and some of the other competitors seemed to be really hammering home the idea that there would be less drama and more skill based competition this year. Tomorrow I'm going to delve into whether or not that's going to be a good thing.

Gary Quesenberry, my man, went first. It's never easy to be the person who has to set the pace in these kind of challenges. There's no benchmark, and there's no advantage of seeing where other people stumbled. Gary had a rough time and ended up with the slowest time. I'm not going to go through all sixteen contestants, but Kelly Bachand smoked the course with a time of one minute 26 seconds and won himself a pretty pair of binoculars.

The players safe were: Kelly, Alex Charvat, Blake Miguez, Chris Cerino, Jamie Franks, Joe Serafini, Peter Palma and Phil Morden.

The players facing elimination were: Gary, Greg Littlejohn, Gabby Franco, Chee Kwan, Kyle Sumpter, William Bethards, Brian Zins and Adam Benson. (Note all five Season 4 competitors ended up on the chopping block.)

There was a quick stop at what is apparently a new house on the same ranch (although I couldn't tell the difference) that was decked out with photos and weapons from previous seasons. It was perhaps the least amount of time the show has ever spent in the house.

The action then moved to the much hyped "Proving Ground" which was ultimately a little boring. The  eight contestants in jeopardy have one shot with a Colt Peacemaker Revolver. The two furthest from the center of the bulls eye face each other in elimination.

If I was depressed after Gary went through his initial run, I was devastated to see he was going to the elimination challenge in the first episode. He was going up against Littlejohn and it was only as the show started to play clips from the last season that I remembered that Littlejohn was the runner up in Season 4 and had very nearly been the winner.

The weapon of choice for the season's first elimination challenge? The Milkor grenade launcher, a weapon that cost Littlejohn the title in Season 4, but one the Gary had never even laid hands on before. The Sawman made a triumphant return to get the guys in shape with the launcher and then it was off to one of the best elimination challenges ever.

Are the grenade launchers a little cheap in that it's kind of pandering to the audience? Sure. Do I mind? Not in the least. The great thing about the grenade launchers is everything about them makes it such a rich viewing experience. From the "thonk" sound it makes when fired, to the graceful trajectory of the projectile as it makes its way to the mark, to the massive explosion when it finds the target. Every time I expect to be hit by the blast sitting in my living room.

The twist this time is that the competitors had four targets to hit instead of the normal three. Gary started off strong but slowed down when the smoke obscured his field of vision allowing Littlejohn to catch up. But Gary kept his cool and was able to pull out the win when Littlejohn lost time for a reload.

The first two challenges may have been a bit of a drag in terms of pacing, but I have to say this elimination challenge had me on my feet shouting at the TV. I can't think of a better way to start the season than with grenade launchers and saying bye bye to Littlejohn.

There was a lot going on in this episode, so come back tomorrow when I break it all down and discuss what the kind of effect the new rules will have on the overall quality of the show.

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets.

Through Colby's Glasses: One Year Later

Just over a year ago, I made my first post on this blog. I started this blog for a few reasons. Number one is because I love Top Shot. I still think it's one of the best reality-competition shows out there. Also, I felt that it was a show that doesn't get a lot of press because it isn't a huge hit, so maybe I could give it a little grassroots support. I didn't have any expectations for what this blog might become when I started. I didn't expect contestants to reach out to me on social media and comment on this blog. I didn't expect History Channel to start following me on Twitter. I won't claim this blog has burned up the internet in anyway, but as of this posting I'm just shy of 30,000 views. I don't think that's too shabby for some kid in Wisconsin with too much time on his hands.

Of course that success (and yeah I'm going to call it a success) wouldn't have been possible without the support I've received, so I wanted to take a minute to thank those who helped me out. 

First, Carol Vaughn, Terry Vaughn's wife. She was the first person connected to Top Shot to follow me on Twitter and to really share this blog. That leads me to my second thank-you, Terry Vaughn. This guy was awesome to talk with and he retweeted links and even mentioned me in a few Follow Fridays. 

I wanted to give a big thank you to Chris Cheng. Like Terry, he really promoted this blog over his own Twitter, and even gave me some advice when I was looking for a job after I graduated. That's a class act right there.

Thanks to Dylan Fletcher, who promoted this blog even when I was not saying the nicest things about him on it, and who ultimately proved that I had made the wrong assumptions about him. Also he posted some awesome insights in the comments of some my recaps that gave me a better understanding of how the show works behind the scenes. 

Tim Trefren and I also had some good back an forth on Twitter, so thank you to him. 

Season one competitor Kelly Bachand posted some comments while we wait for Season 5 to get underway. Hopefully, we will continue to hear from him once the season actually premieres, whenever that may be.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for coming and reading this blog. When I started, I couldn't even find this blog in a Google search. Now it's the number one result when you search "top shot blog." I don't know when the next season is going to premiere, but I'll be ready to pick this up when it does. I still need to figure a few things out, like how I will watch it since I don't have cable, but I'm geared up nonetheless. 

I have some fun new ideas for the blog too. I recently did my first Storify which I think could be a fun way to do Top Tweets, and I might try and freshen up the layout a little for some more visual appeal. So thank you again to everyone who has shared this blog or just stopped by for a good read. There will be much more to come.

I thought I would leave you with a few stats from the first year of the blog. 

Top 5 Viewed Posts

1. Season 5 All-Stars: Cast Update

2. Top Shot Recap: S4E11 "Have Machine Gun Will Travel" 

3. Top Shot All-Stars: Season 4 Picks

4. Top 3: Theories on the "Proving Ground"

5. Top Tweets: Season 5 is Underway

Top 5 Search Terms

1. top shot season 5

2. top shot all stars

3. top shot all stars cast

4. top shot 2013

5. top shot season 5 start date

Top 5 Countries Reading This Blog

1. United States

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. France

5. Germany

As always, leave your comments below, and follow me on Twitter @cswiets for the latest updates to this blog.

Top 3: Theories on the "Proving Ground"

Chris Cheng asks and I answer.

If you ever visit my other blog (which you should, it's not bad) you may know I do a semi-regular feature called "Top 3." I figured it would be a good fit here after Twitter blew up this afternoon (and by blew up I mean Chris Cheng and Dustin Ellerman tweeted about it) after this picture was posted online:

Still looking good Colby.

Now, this photo was originally posted by Season 1 competitor, Kelly Bachand. If you've been checking in with this blog regularly, you'll know Kelly recently posted comment on my Season 4 All-Star Picks post. All of which leads me to believe that we have pretty good confirmation of at least one contestant for Season 5.

This photo leaves a lot to speculate about. The language itself almost leads me to believe we might be in store for a very different season of Top Shot. I'm thinking radical format changes. It's a bold move, but one Top Shot needs to make if it wants to stay alive in the ratings.

(Sideshot: Here's a thing I don't understand, if a show like Duck Dynasty is beating a show like American Horror Story in the ratings, why isn't Top Shot doing better? I would think the audiences are similar.)

But as we need to wait another month or two (Or three? Or four? Seriously, History, gives us an air date) for Top Shot to return, I offer my top three guesses as to what the "Proving Ground" is.

1. A Brand New Format
The teaser above says there will be twelve episodes and three rounds. It doesn't specify whether those three rounds take place within each episode or over the course of the season. One guess would be that either the first third or the final third of the series will be dubbed the "Proving Ground." If it takes place in the first third of the series, imagine an elongated version of how teams were picked in Season 4. A single challenge where contestants play to stay and the losers are eliminated.

If it's in the final third of the season, I imagine a twist on what happens when the shooters don the green jerseys. Instead of continuing with a one-on-one elimination at the end of each episode, there would be a series of challenges where no one is eliminated. Each challenge has a points system which are tallied through the final challenge. The person sitting with the most points at the end of the final challenge takes the title.

2. A New Way of Doing Something Familiar
Consider this option a slight twist on the the normal elimination proceedings. The person with the most hits on their target still gets sent to elimination, but they get to choose who they get to face-off against. Hence the person sent to elimination gets to "prove" they belong in the competition. It wouldn't be radically different from the current elimination proceedings, but it might make for some interesting TV.
Sure, the voting on Top Shot has always been pretty easy to manipulate, but this way we could really get to see some personal vendettas among contestants get played out.

3. A Way to Bring Back Eliminated Contestants
This is my best guess, but the one I'm also hoping is not true. Survivor has used this tactic a few times (I think, when was the last time I watched Survivor? Oh yeah, when Colby was a contestant the first time around) and it works for that show because that game is all about manipulation and disturbing the status quo. On a show like Top Shot, though, it would feel cheap, not just for the players, but the audience as well. Top Shot contestants fight to be there every week. That title is earned through every challenge the contestants face, and watching someone get knocked out early, only to have the opportunity to jump back in towards the end, would feel undeserved.

I don't know about you, but I am excited. this is either going to ruin the show the completely or be an epic turning point that redefines the show.

Agree? Disagree? Share your theories on the "Proving Ground" in the comments.

Follow @cswiets

Top Tweets: Season Five is Underway

Last night Colby tweeted that the first challenge of Season 5 had been filmed. The accompanying picture confirmed what he had announced months ago that Season 5 would be an all-star competition featuring past contestants, but so far there is no indication of who those contestants might be. Not to mention, if the season has just begun filming, there is a strong likelihood it will not air until 2013. (Pray the Mayans aren't right)

Most reality shows cut off contestants from the outside world except in the case of family emergencies. Top Shot is no different. By examining the dates and nature of the tweets (and other social media outlets) from former Top Shot contestants, I've made a few guesses of who may or may not show up on the all-star season.

• Season 1 fan favorite J.J. Racaza was tweeting up through August 17. His previous tweets were a whirlwind of world travels and shooting competitions. Reasoning that the first challenge is actually taking place on the second or possibly even third day of filming, it's a pretty good guess that Racaza will not make another run at the title.

• Season 2's Jamie Franks stopped tweeting on August 12. That was about one week ago. This may be an indication that he put aside the social media to prepare for reentering the fray. However, he is also to be an infrequent tweeter, so this may just be another short hiatus.

• Season 2's Jay Lim is a pretty avid tweeter. A tweet from August 16 replied to a follower who wrote they would like to see him, Chris Reed, George Reinas, Racaza, and Gabby Franco return for the all-star season. Lim replied that these were "good choices ;)," which may be an indication of who will show up. Or it may mean he just liked the support, especially since he was still tweeting as of this morning. I wonder if History has even informed all past contestants of who has and who has not been selected to participate. This could mean some past contestants are unaware that a new season has even commenced filming.

• Season 3 winner Dustin Ellermann's backstory as a Christian camp director is widely known by fans of the show. Ellermann tweeted recently that he had ramped up camp, and even more recently that he was in California, the same state where Top Shot is filmed. This could be a strong indicator that Ellermann is back to defend his title.

• Season 4's Gabby Franco was tweeting up through August 17 as well, but her last tweet connected to a Facebook post saying that she would be out of town for a while. Could this mean she is on her way back to the range? Time will tell.

• Season 4's Michelle Viscusi tweeted this morning and has been frequently updating her Facebook fan page. This most likely means she will not be returning for Season 5.

• Season 4 winner Chris Cheng has just started his shooting contract with Bass Pro-Shops, and while Bass is a big supporter of the show, it is unlikely that Cheng would jump off the pro circuit so soon after he started. Not to mention the fact that he replied to one of my tweets just this morning.

There are a handful of other  Season 4 contestants with Twitter accounts who either haven't used them in a while or haven't posted anything that would indicate one way or another about their involvement with the all-star season. Fan favorites like Tim Trefren and Terry Vaughan are question marks, as are William Bethards and Gregory Littlejohn. In addition many contestants from earlier seasons have not connected with fans through social media in the same way that contestants from more recent seasons have. This makes deciphering who will be a part of the all-star season more difficult.

The real test will come in the following days. Now that Colby has revealed Season 5 is being filmed, any former contestant tweeting or using other social media (some contestants have favored Facebook pages for connecting with fans over Twitter) after that point can (almost certainly) be ruled out as a contender in the all-star season.

Keep checking this blog as I will try to keep a running list of former contestants that can be ruled out as participants.

Follow @cswiets

Top Shot All-Stars: Season 4 Picks

It's official. There will be a Season 5, and that season will (hopefully) feature the best of the last four seasons to see who is the ultimate Top Shot. At the beginning of Season 4, when this was still in the rumor stage, I posted who I would pick from the first three seasons to participate in an all-star challenge. Now that Season 4 has been completed, and we know for certain there will be an all-star season, I present my picks for who should come back.

Givens:
Chris Cheng - As with all my picks, this wouldn't be much to watch if we didn't have all four winners in the mix. This is probably going to be incredibly difficult to do, especially since a recent article with Season 3 winner Dustin Ellerman stated he would be busy this summer running his camp. Regardless, we got to have the Chenger, he battled his way through some incredibly talented contestants and came out on top.

Terry Vaughan - Forget the fact he didn't make it to the individual level, and that he was eliminated by Littlejohn, this guy has personality that makes the show come alive. Plus, if we get Iain Harrison, double the Brits is sure to equal double the fun.

Gabby Franco - You can't have an all-star season without the best female contestant in the show's history. Franco has already taken to her twitter account to start gathering support. Franco was an impressive contestant and had great chemistry with her teammates. I'd love to see how she fares against the best from the first three seasons.

Wild Card:
Tim Trefren/Chee Kwan -Bit of a cop-out here to pick two but I have good reasoning. Trefren was a master hunter and if he hadn;t gotten upset with Cheng and forced himself into that elimination challenge, I'm confident he would have made it at least to the indivdual stage of the compeition. That being said Chee was a skilled shooter, and putting him back in the house with Gabby is something I think most viewers could get behind.

There you have it. Put your picks in the comments, and hit up Colby on Twitter with who you would like to see come back for Season 5.

More thoughts on the all-star season to come, and I'll be picking up my Season 4 slack very soon.

Follow @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 10: Ch-Ch-Ch-Chenger!

Wow, can you say behind the ball much? Sorry for the delay here, I'm already behind, graduating from college is apparently a lot of work.

A pretty good finale (Best ever? Debate in the comments until I put up my analysis) and thankfully another stellar winner to add to the likes of Iain Harrison, Chris Reed, and Dustin Ellerman. Chris Cheng continues the pattern of having a red team member named Chris win the even numbered seasons of Top Shot, and I couldn't be more pleased.

However, let's get to the real reason I'm here, to tell you what Mr. Colby Donaldson had to say about last night's finale:

• Colby is big fan of the Winchester '73 rifle

•  Gary Shank made his shot against Littlejohn in their first face-off on the dueling trees by 1/100 of second. This was one of the few times they have needed to use the super slo-mo cameras to determine whether or not a shot counted.

•  Colby was apparently at the Home Depot this past Saturday. Which one? I'll never tell. (mostly because I don't know)

•  The names in the ammo box are printed on shells from the Hummer shotgun challenge in Season 2. Top Shot is a green show.

•  Colby's suggestion for the shooters during the saloon challenge "Shotgun and barn door at 10 feet"

•  Colby believes he might have broken a record for the number of times he said "All tied up!" in a single episode. 

• And Colby promised to let everyone know about Season 5 as soon as he did (and then I will in turn also inform you).

That's all we got. I need to keep rolling so I can get my recap up tonight and find some time for my analysis.

What did you think of the finale? And what would you like from Season 5 of Top Shot (if there is one)? Hit the comments and let me know.

Follow @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 9: This Is What Dreams Are Made Of

After being noticeably absent from last week's proceedings (and letting me waste a perfectly good post title) Colby returned to the tweet waves for the second to last episode of the (series?) season. Colby was clearly more reserved than he has been all season. He restricted most of his comments to thanks you's for people welcoming him back, and small insights into what was happening in the episode. I'm not sure whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign, so we'll just have to take it as it is and cross our fingers.

Here's the best of what Colby had to offer tonight:

• Colby apparently really enjoys being able to reveal the guns to shooters by pulling off a tarp, and, well, who can blame him?

• This episode marked a rare time on Top Shot where the shooters were allowed to see their competition practice (although no reason was given as to why).

• He mentions that his fluorescent shirt this evening was to make sure he didn't catch a stray round from one of the contestants.

• Shooters were only allowed 100 rounds for this challenge because they wanted to avoid the shooters relying on "spraying and praying."

• The house is less than two miles from the shooting field.

• If anyone ever wondered why Colby is always shouting during the challenges, it is so he doesn't have to do as much voice over work in post.

• The slo-mo cams shoot at 40,000 frames per second. Just to give you a little perspective on how ridiculous that is: A movie is shot at 26 frames per-second and Peter Jackson is shooting his new "Hobbit" film at 48 frames per second.

• The exploding targets are 100 percent designed and constructed by the show's pyrotechnic team.

• The closest Colby gets to commenting on another season is when he answers a question saying that thousands of people apply to Top Shot every season.

That will do for tonight. We are closing in the the finish line, and I can only be grateful for two things: that Chris Cheng is still in the competition and that the season ends before my finals exams.

Hit the comments and let me know your initial reaction to  tonight's episode.

Come back tomorrow for my recap and Thursday for my analysis. I might even throw up a post on Friday looking at the final four.

Follow @cswiets

Top Shot Recap: S4 E9 "The Longest Shot"

I learned two things while watching last night's episode of Top Shot:

1. It is very important that if you are watching the encore episode that airs at 11/10 central, that you do not change the channel to History until 10:01 p.m., otherwise you end up seeing who was eliminated and ruining the entire episode.

2. While it is fun to watch Top Shot with a large group of friends, they sometimes talk over the contestants, making it difficult to follow everything that happened.

I bring this up because this recap, at least as I am planning it right now in my head as I simultaneously write this line, may be a little bare-bones. Not to worry, all the important stuff is here, but it probably isn't as in depth as either of us would like.

We begin, as we always do, with the return of Littlejohn and the nailing of poor Terry Vaughan's plaque on the bulls eye board (it still stings...), this time, thankfully, sans friendship speech.

This was followed by the reveal of this season's hidden plotline, the unexpected, but I would not say unwelcome, flirtatious relationship between Chee Kwan and Gabby Franco. Most of the focus this season has focused on red as a team, so there hasn't been much room for individual plot points, as there was with the divided blue team. It was an odd choice to throw in at this point of the competition, but I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

At the practice range Colby kept the surprises coming. Not only were the contestants informed that they had made it into the individual portion of the competition, they also found out they would be going from British weapons, to serious long range rifles, namely the Accuracy International AX338. To top it off,  they would be helped by two of Top Shot's most famous riflemen, Season 1's Kelly Bachand, and Season 2's George Reinas. We also learned that Littlejohn and Reinas had been stationed in Iraq together for six months (fun facts are the best facts!). Franco seemed to have the best handle on the gun, shooting a tight row from the top of the target down to the bulls eye.

The first individual challenge would feature the longest shot in Top Shot history. Using the Accuracy International, contestants would fire at a thirty inch target, 1500 yards down range. It's a distance that is skewed by the cameras, until contestants started popping off shots. The wait between the trigger pull and seeing the dust cloud was excruciatingly long. Shooters would go up one by one; the shooter who took the longest amount of time to hit the target would be automatically eliminated, shooters 1-4 would be safe, and shooters 5-7 would be up for elimination.

It was a tough episode to gauge how well contestants were doing, the amount of time it took a shot to travel down range, coupled with the editing of the episode, pretty much made it impossible to know how a shooter did until Colby read off the time.

I won't go through who shot what exactly, you can watch that for yourself, if you haven't already, and just skip to the end. By the time it got down to the final three shooters, one thing was for certain, Chris Cheng was either going to be out of the contest or be up for elimination. Then Franco came up and lost whatever magic she had found on the range, taking well over two minutes to hit the target, and putting her at the bottom of the pile. Kwan was the final shooter, and as each contestant was asked to step away until it was their turn to shoot he had no idea where everyone else was in the challenge. He went up and took his shot, but in turn he eliminated Franco from the competition. There was an emotional goodbye between the two, with Kwan tearing up during his one-on-one.

With Franco gone, there was still a decision to make about who to nominate for elimination. The bottom three consisted of Cheng, Kyle Sumpter and William Bethards. It appeared as though Sumpter wanted to continue the team meeting strategy by deciding who would be in the challenge before the going to the nomination range. While he seemed pretty set on having himself and Cheng be in the elimination because they were the two worst shooters, Cheng wasn't convinced this was the best strategy.

The nomination range started out on an even keel with votes going to Cheng and Sumpter. Cheng then seemed to be feeling the influence of two his former teammates, namely Tim Trefren and Sumpter. Bethards made a few comments on the range that rubbed Cheng the wrong way, much in the same way his own comments had rubbed Trefren the wrong way. And much like Sumpter, who threw his teammates a curveball when he decided not to vote for Kwan to go up against Cheng in the atlatl challenge, Cheng decided he was going to throw his own curveball by voting for Bethards. Cheng was in with three votes, but his competitor was tied between Sumpter and Bethards with two votes apiece. This season implemented a new tie-breaking strategy. Instead of drawing a bullet out of an ammo box, the tied competitors would take aim at a target, the closest shot to the bulls eye would be safe from elimination. Bethards went first, and Mr. Hey Diddle Diddle couldn't quite hit the middle, shooting just above and to the right of the bulls eye, leaving just enough room for Sumpter to sneak in and stay out of the elimination challenge.

Bethards and Cheng were introduced to the Henry rifle...not much else to say really except more George and Kelly, woo!

The elimination challenge featured five targets placed at progressively farther distances down range.  Each target had two metal rings and a center bulls eye. Using the Henry rifle, Cheng and Bethards would have to hit all three rings on each target before moving onto the next one, however they could hit the rings of the individual target in any order. Bethards got out to an early lead that he hung onto to for most of the challenge, with Cheng trying desperately to keep pace next to him. But then... something happened, and I'm not quite sure how to describe it because I don't really understand it. By all accounts, Bethards was going to run away with this challenge, but then he had trouble with the mechanics of the weapon, unintentionally shooting of  two shots while he worked the lever of the rifle. This small error seemed enough to let Cheng regain his footing and tie up the challenge. In the end, a hard fought victory was handed over to Cheng, and Bethards was sent packing.

What did you think of last night's episode? How would you feel about a Top Shot style dating show where instead of roses, the bachelor or bachelorette shot the targets of the suitors they wanted to send home? Glad  Bethards went home, or would you have rather seen Mr. Van Helsing get staked?

Come back tomorrow for my breakdown of "The Longest Shot" where we'll have some fun with the Kwan Franco flirtation.

Follow @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 8: Time to Band Together

Colby returned to the twittersphere tonight, and unfortunately it was not with good news. Top Shot seems to be in dire in straights and if we want this show to continue, we are going to need to put forth some serious fan support to keep it on the air. But I will get to all of that in a minute.

It was another stellar episode, and with Colby back, I can finally get back to these posts, which I really enjoy doing. Here's another round of solid tweets from this week's episode:

• Colby was very impressed by the shooters abilities with the Accuracy International.

• Practice for this weapon was determined by the number of rounds, not by how long each contestant spent with the rifle

• If anyone has ever wondered how long it takes to replace the exploding targets, Colby let us in on the details. It does take a while as the pyro team is kept behind the firing line until the target goes off, and then must travel all the way down range to replace it. 

• Apparently the Desert Eagle is high on most fans list for the gun they would like to see used in elimination if there is another season of Top Shot.

• During filming, Colby apparently sleeps on a sleeping bag in the garage adjacent to the house the contestants stay in (which does explain how easily he entered the house to announce the exit of Jake Zweig during Season 3...).

• Colby (like myself) believes the head to head challenges are always more fun to watch.

• I hate to end on a sour note, but Colby is urging fans to voice their support of the show, and why they feel it deserves another season. Start hounding @HistoryChannel on Twitter, and let them know why you love Top Shot. Hit them up once a day or once every hour, every little bit helps. The fan base may be small, but it is loyal. 

As I said, I do not want to end this on a sour note, so instead let's end with a ray of hope. There are numerous reality shows I watch, among them, Animal Planet's Whale Wars. Whale Wars ended its fourth season on August 12, 2011. It was not until December 27, 2011, that the fifth season was announced. So take solace in the fact that History may not make their decision right away on whether or not to cut Top Shot. Show your support, and keep this show alive. 

My recap will be up Wednesday afternoon, followed by my analysis on Thursday. Still hoping Tony or maybe someone else will have something to post for Friday. In the meantime, keep watching and keep shooting.

Follow @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 7: In which Chee gets a new hat and still doesn't get to shoot

Another solid episode of Top Shot, and while I can't wait to dig into what went down, I'm going to restrain myself, and stick with tweets for now, because it's late, I'm tired and like many of you I need to get up and work tomorrow morning (not to mention the fact I'm writing in a serious run-on).


Tweets this week took a pretty sharp downwards turn from last week, but here's what I was able to muster up:

• Colby continues to hint at an all-star season, but at this point I would settle for any guarantee that Top Shot is going to be back for a fifth season.

• There are some parts of the show Colby doesn't see until the episodes airs, like the contestants practice sessions with the experts.

• He's feeling Chee Kwan's pain of being robbed out of participating in challenges. The guy hasn't had the chance to shoot in three out of seven team challenges.

• The scope on the Volquartsen Ruger 10/22 rifle is a Trijicon 3X9.

That's it for this week's edition. Colby blamed part of the problem on being at the ranch (I can't figure out if he means his ranch or the ranch where they shoot the show) and having a bad internet connection.

There is a lot to discuss with this episode. My recap will be up sometime tomorrow afternoon, my analysis will follow on Thursday, Friday is still up in the air, and Saturday will be another Talkin' 'bout, but I'm not sure who it will feature yet. Suggestions are always welcome.

Stay up to date with my latest posts by following me on Twitter @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 6: Welcome to the Atl(atl)

Man. What an awesome episode. I had a feeling I might have been jumping the gun a little the other week  when I said this is my favorite season, but I think those qualms are being laid to rest. I'll go into this more when I do my analysis later this week.

Also, quick side note, I apologize for skipping out on posts this weekend. Spring break mayhem once again intervened, but I'm back at school to push through seven more weeks of academia before getting tossed out into the real world. Which is just a long way of saying that posting should be pretty regular for the rest of the season.

After a few dull weeks, Colby finally busted out some good tidbits about the behind the scenes action of this episode. Here are some of his top tweets:

• If you need some shells for your 3.2" Bag Gun, you can follow in the footsteps of Top Shot and special order them from Billet Aluminum.

• Tonight's expert for the bag gun, Rick Pohlers, hit the bullseye on his first test firing.

• Colby, unfortunately, did not get an opportunity to fire the cannon.

• According to Colby the Bag Gun had the loudest and largest concussion of any weapon to yet be featured on the show.

• In the team challenge, the bag gun was reset after each shot so neither team would have an unfair advantage.

• Although not shown on the air, there was a time limit placed on the team's to prep, load and fire the Bag Gun.

• Not really anything that provides any additional insight but here is my favorite question and response of the night (paraphrased): Tweeter: Why is it always so windy? Colby: Because it is.

• I've seen a lot of people asking about what contestants put in their backpacks on the Top Shot Facebook page, and Colby was able to provide an answer: "Backpacks:Eye/ear pro, water, layers, alt. footwear. You never know what the challenge will require or what the weather will do. Be prepared"

• I, like many viewers, was confused when the camera seemed to show Chris Cheng's atlatl dart hit the four ring, but was counted as six. The United States Practical Shooters Association (USPSA) rules state that if a hit breaks the plane of two rings, the higher ring is scored. Thank you to Stephen Ramsey of Ramsey Marketing for clarifying.

All in all, a pretty good batch of info this week. Stay tuned for my recap tomorrow and my analysis on Thursday.

Also, my friend Tony said he would start watching the show if I mentioned him in this post. So there, mentioned, start watching.

Stay up to date on my latest posts by following me on Twitter: @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 5: Danger! Danger, Colby Donaldson!

I was not able to watch Top Shot when it aired as I originally planned tonight, however all was not lost. Since I am at home for spring break (for now) I am not at the mercy of campus cable, or History's sporadic online episode posting schedule. So thanks to the magic of Time Warner Cable, I was able to watch tonight's episode about 12 hours earlier than I normally do.

The tweets this week are not only a little disappointing, they are also a little disheartening. We had a great episode, one free of any talk of bandanas, but Colby got an onslaught of repetitive tweets asking the same questions he is asked every week.

But, once again, I managed to pull out a few gems:

• In a bit of distressing news, Colby seemed to imply that viewership needs to get a bump or Season 5 of Top Shot could be in jeopardy. He followed it up with a small ray of hope that Season 5 could be an all-star season, but I'm not convinced this is the answer to Top Shot's ratings problems. Read my full thoughts on an all-star season here.

• Colby is not in favor of doing a season featuring contestants with little shooting experience. (I am still undecided)

• He is also not big on the idea of using the Dillon Aero Minigun in a challenge, nor was he a big fan of contestants throwing rocks. (Which oddly has been a major criticism I've been coming across on the web this past week.)

• I don't often quote Colby's tweets word for word, but this time I will make an exception. This was posted in regards to Augie's response to  Littlejohn's troubles in the team challenge: "Half Cock?"

Are you as concerned as I am about the future of the show? Hit the comments and let me know.

I'll try and get my recap up before noon tomorrow, and might even throw up my analysis tomorrow as well since I don't think I will have time on Thursday.

Stay up to date on my latest posts by following me on Twitter @cswiets

Friday Surprise: Home or the Range?

One of the many questions Colby was asking over Twitter during this week's episode is whether viewers thought the cameras should show more of what goes on at the house, or if more time on the show should be spent focusing on the range. Based on the responses Colby was getting and retweeting, I thought I would take a look at how well Top Shot divides its screen time between the two locales, and how the show would change if there was more or less emphasis placed on either.

 I would argue Top Shot, right now, is serving a happy medium between the time spent at the house and that spent on the range. I realize it is a bit of a cop-out to not really criticize the show, but let's look at the structure of the show. Episodes always begin back at the house, but this time is brief. It shows the contestants nailing the targets to the wall and maybe a little time with the team that lost the previous challenge as they discuss how they can rebound in the next challenge. Then its off to the range for a little banter with Colby, and then practicing with that week's weapon. There's a brief visit back at the house as the teams gear up for the challenge, then its off to shooting again. As, I'm writing this, even I'm getting a little bored, so I'm going to assume you know the rest without me picking through it.

What I'm trying to say is the show has a good balance between seeing what happens in the house and what happens on the range. The house portions of the show are necessary for the audience to gain a better understanding of the team dynamics. And even for the parts that end up being shown from the house, there is still so much that is cut out. I'm thinking specifically of Season 2 where we didn't find out until the epilogue episode about the secret alliance that had been in place for the majority of the season, and that there was an  awesome Nerf gun showdown that went on in the house. This shows that there really isn't anything being shown in the house bits that isn't critical to helping the audience understand the progression of the contest.

Think of it this way: In the current season the main theme has been the fractured blue team. If the house portions of the show were cut out, it would be a lot harder to understand why the blue team was having a hard time pulling themselves together. If the only vantage the audience was shown was the practice and the challenge there would be a pretty big disconnect that the audience would have to reconcile. Blue team is full of talented shooters, and on the practice range they have shown their prowess in being able to adapt to different weapons. However there is a big difference between a practice session and pressure filled challenges, which is where things have been falling apart for the blue team. The time spent at the house helps give a better understanding for why the are not functioning as a team, and more importantly helps the audience better understand the decision making process among contestants when teams are sent to the elimination range.

At the same time cutting down on the time spent showing the shooting would be disingenuous to the shows nature. This is a competition show, and while it is good to see how the competitors operate, cutting back on the competition parts would sacrifice what most of the audience is tuning in for. I for one, cannot get enough exploding targets, fast paced shooting, and close contests that often get "All tied up!"

In addition we also have enough cutaways to the one-on-ones with contestants that help give a better idea for how they feel about the challenges, their performance, and the performances of their teammates.

Overall, Top Shot continues to hold its competition and its contestants in the highest integrity. It is the rare reality show that has not fully succumb to the temptation of focusing solely on the drama between the contestants. Instead, it keeps the drama where it belongs, on the intense competition displayed each week.

So what do you like more, home, or the range? Hit the comments and let me know.

Come back tomorrow for this week's edition of Talkin' 'bout.

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets

Top Shot Analysis: S4 E4 "Crossbow Crossfire"

There was a lot happening both on and off the range in this week's episode. The contestants stepped away from guns to try their hand at crossbows and blue team looked like they were going to take a step away from being petty to actually work as a team, only to trick everyone, including themselves.

There is a fair amount to talk about with this episode, but I just want to start with a question.

Is anyone else really starting to dig this season?

Perhaps it's because I'm blogging this season, or perhaps it's because I've been able to interact with some of the contestants thanks to Twitter, but as the season wears on, I just find a bigger grin on my face with each passing episode. Who would have thought there would be more to stay tuned in for after we were treated to grenade launchers in the second episode? But this season continues to impress with compelling contestants, thrilling challenges, and exciting weapons.

Anyway onto the episode.

The Challenges

I have to say I was glad to see the BowTech StrykeZone 350 crossbow in this episode. Now, I'll never tire of guns, exploding targets, or contestants with ridiculous looking earguards (seriously though, safety first) but the thing I like about Top Shot is that it has always been about more than being able to shoot a gun. I like when they bring in the primitive weapons, but I love when they bring in modern day versions of ancient weapons. If History Channel was once the channel where "History comes alive" (that was there slogan once, right?) it is certainly demonstrated when Top Shot brings in these modern day incarnations. 

I was surprised to see that the contestants practiced on a stationary target and were then put into a challenge with a rotating one. Usually the contestants practice with a simple moving target to get the feel for how to shoot the weapon at a moving target, and are then faced with  more complex moving target in the actual challenge. However there were a lot of comparisons being made between shooting a rifle and shooting the crossbow, so if there was an understanding that the contestants had basic rifle skills, this may explain the reason behind this decision. 

The challenges this season continue to impress with their complex staging that continues to emphasize the importance of team strategy as well as team shooting. This challenge posed the question of whether to send your better shooters out early and get out to an early lead, or save them for when they had an opportunity to score more points. 

The initial 3-0 lead blue team took had me questioning red teams strategy, but while blue team kept repeating the mantra "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" red team seemed to be the ones taking it to heart. Red team is continuing to perhaps be one of the most cohesive teams in Top Shot history, without being obnoxious about it. 

The elimination challenge looked surprisingly difficult. Now, I'm not saying other elimination challenges are easy, but I think I would have gotten incredibly frustrated trying to nail that tiny balloon at the top of the pendulum. The nice thing about this challenge is it continued to demonstrate the importance of consistency in these challenges. Anyone can get a lucky run going, but if a shooter perseveres and finds a pace that works for them, they can always catch up and make things interesting. 

I would take this opportunity to harp on Littlejohn for his inability to hit his final target and allow Gallagher to catch up with him, but that was a visibly difficult shot to make. We know that elimination challenges are filmed over the course of the day with practice in the morning and the challenge in the afternoon. In this episode it was clear to see the sun was setting and the shadows at the top of the wall were obscuring that final balloon for Littlejohn. That's already a difficult shot to make with the low clearance and small target size, and the poor lighting only added to the difficulty. 

The design of these challenges and the contestants skill level have kept these challenges close and exciting to watch this season.

The Contestants

I want to talk in broader terms for minute before getting into specific contestants. As I wrote above, red team is cruising this season, they have three out of four wins and are only down one team member. They have a group with diverse backgrounds, and their overall teamwork is astounding. 

However, contrast this with blue team. A team that has become sorely divided. I wanted to dig into blue team a little here, but the more I thought about the more sympathetic I became. The audience gets a week digest everything that has happened between episodes. It is easy to think that these guys should be able to turn themselves around the next time we tune into the show. But that isn't how it really works is it? These guys are on a tight schedule, which doesn't allow them a lot of time to work on team building. Last season we saw a completely different blue team, one that won the first challenge and wanted to keep winning. They did those crazy practices in the backyard of the house, which were laughable, but even the members of the team who thought they were silly, admitted they were good for building team unity. And they were right. 

This season of Top Shot has shown just how critical focus is to this game, and just how a far a team can fall when they don't have it. Going back to my initial point I can only imagine how hard it is for a team to try and wash their hands of the bad feelings left over from a loss and try and turn their attitudes around in just three days (or less). Vaughan can give all the speeches he wants (and props to him for doing what needed to be done) and his team can nod along and agree with him as much as they want, but if they don't actually commit to what he's trying to preach, they are going to continue to struggle in this competition.

Now for this week's Top and Not-so-Top Shots.

Not-so-Top Shots:

Gregory Littlejohn, Mr. Friendship bracelet himself. The thing about Littlejohn is, I'm starting to come around to him. Not in a, "This guy is pretty cool" way, but more in a "I'm am completely fascinated by this guy" way. Littlejohn is, for better or worse, becoming this season's standout character. Season 2 had the irritable coaching of Jay Lim, which quickly faded when he had no one else to coach. Season 3 had the irritable coaching and mind games of Jake Zweig. Littlejohn is neither of these things. He isn't someone who is trying to dominate the way his team is run, and he isn't someone who is sullying the unspoken honor of this competition through manipulation (unless he is, in which case, he's a genius). He's simply a guy who likes to have his friends around him. I have a theory  that every reality show has a character that is representative of the kid no one wanted to play with during grade school. On Jersey Shore, it's The Situation. On Deadliest Catch, it's Captain Keith. I think Littlejohn is Top Shot's version of this character. These people suddenly find themselves forced into social situations, and it overwhelms them. It can go two ways, the person pushes the people they are surrounded by away (The Situation) or they bring them uncomfortably close (Littlejohn). Colby has tweeted his own confusion as to Littlejohn's ability to put this tremendous amount of weight on relationships with people he has know for less than two weeks. It was also evident by Colby's dazed expression over what has become know as the "friendship bracelet ceremony". He just couldn't seem to understand how Littlejohn and Gallagher had become so close, and Gallagher seemed to be right there with Colby. 

Back tracking a little, Littlejohn is also have a clear problem with nerves in this competition, and his inability to knock an arrow allowed the red team to regain their composure and lead themselves to a win. From the preview of next week's episode, this doesn't look like a problem that is going away anytime soon, but Littlejohn might. 

Oh, and how about his closing comment about how that blue team better realize that they shouldn't send him to elimination if they don't want to send someone else home? HELLO? LITTLEJOHN? If your team is headed to elimination, someone is going home regardless if they nominate you or not. C'mon man.

I'm also going to throw up Gun Fauxeri for again saying he wanted to be in the elimination challenge. No you don't.

Top Shots:

Augie Malekovich finally started to speak up in this episode. I was beginning to forget this guy was here. He gets marks for expressing the confusion I think most of us were feeling during the bracelet ceremony. He also had the line of the night with his "31 year-old man giving a 36 year-old man a friendship bracelet" outrage.

Also speaking up this episode, Iggy Keyes and Gary Shank. Keyes is starting to finally look more comfortable in front of the camera, while Shank, like Augie, was a guy I had all but forgotten about. I hope we continue to see a little more from all three of these guys as the season continues.

That's it for this analysis. Let me know your thoughts on friendship bracelets and the like in the comments.

Come back tomorrow for the Friday Surprise addressing a question Colby raised on Twitter during this weeks episode. 

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets

Top Tweets Vol. 4: Twazed and Confused

Once again I am forced to wait for tonight's episode to be posted online sometime tomorrow morning before I can watch it. Foiled again by Full Metal Jousting and work. However, I was once again able to follow along with Colby's live tweeting of the episode. This week's tweets took a bit of an odd turn. Colby was clearly agitated by some of the tweets he was getting that were complaining about certain details of the show. He kept making jokes about drinking while watching and tweeting the episode, but after a while it seemed like he was getting legitimately tipsy. Which, well, doesn't really matter I suppose, I wouldn't have minded a brew or two if I had been able to watch tonight's episode. Again, just an interesting departure from the norm.

And now, to the tweets!

• Colby mentioned that he was back on the ranch, prepping for Season 5.

• P.S. that ranch is located in Agua Dulce, Cali. (Agua Dulce means "fresh water" in Spanish. Not only is this blog informative, it's educational!)

• Colby's favorite gun to even be used on the series is the full-auto Tommy gun used in Season 2

That, unfortunately, is pretty much it for this week. The rest is Colby responding to people criticizing the show and giving outlandish responses to questions that probably could use a real answer. He's also still tweeting almost an hour after the show ended, and he usually signs off pretty quick once the episode ends.  

Any thoughts? Hit the comments.

It's been a weird night on Twitter, can't wait to watch what went down in the episode. Next week I'm hoping to actually watch the episode when it airs since I'll be a spring break (life of a college student).

Check back tomorrow afternoon for my recap of "Crossbow Crossfire." 

Rest of the week looks like so: Analysis on Thursday, Friday Surprise, and Talkin' 'bout on Saturday.

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets

Friday Surprise: Taking a Look at Top Guns

I've started to establish (what I hope is) a pretty good posting schedule, but schedules are boring, especially if I'm posting the same thing each week. So each Friday I'll try and shake things up a little bit by posting something a little outside the box. Last week I mapped out what an All-Star season of Top Shot might look like. This week, I'm taking a look at the H2 spin-off series, Top Guns.

See how they put a bullet in the "U" so you know it's really about guns?

Top Guns is not so much a competition show as is it an exhibition show. Think (British) Top Gear where they go around and just drive cars. Instead of hitting the road, Colby, an expert and a marksman hit the range and test out a variety of weapons, all with a similar theme.

I originally considered making Top Guns a part of my regular recapping duties, however the show doesn't add much to understanding Top Shot beyond the weapons, not that that is a bad thing. What it does though, is make Top Guns a very casual show, perhaps the most casual show in reality TV currently on the air. This doesn't mean Top Guns isn't exciting, or boring, in fact it's quite interesting. On Top Shot Colby can only give the contestants (and in turn the audience) a bare-bones description and background of the weapon. Top Guns goes deeper giving a more fleshed out history of the weapon, accompanied with footage of the weapon in practical use, not just on the range.

For this post I caught up with the first three episodes of the series and there were few things that stuck out to me right away. The first was that there was no direct mention of this show's connection to Top Shot until episode three,  which featured Season 2 contestants Chris Reed and Jay Lim. However, the first two episodes both featured experts regularly featured on the show, and past contestants as the featured marksmen. Now, this is a separate show, but I was surprised that they didn't even mention it in the opening dialogue of the first episode that this was an offshoot of Top Shot.

The next thing is how loose this show feels. Sure, there is a basic structure to the program. First Colby introduces the three guns being tested then brings out the expert, and finally the marksman. Then he sends them to the range to test the guns one at a time. After testing each one, Colby gets a turn firing off a few rounds, before each shooter chooses a weapon, and they have a "friendly shoot-off."But from there it has a much less scripted feel than Top Shot.

On Top Shot the contestants are told exactly what to do, but on Top Guns, when the expert and the marksman are sent to the range, they have some freedom to play around. Top Guns clearly has a lower budget than Top Shot, there are no exploding targets and you can often see where entry points have been taped over on a target rather than replacing it. This is bare-bones shooting. Paper targets at varying distances. Again, this isn't a bad thing, the show has a very calm pace to it. No one's running around or rushing to see what the thing they need to do next is. The past contestants seem to enjoy themselves more here with the weight of competing off their shoulders.

The choice of marksman so far has been interesting. The first episode featured Mike Seeklander, the first contestant ever eliminated from Top Shot. It may seem like an odd choice, but they don't just pick random people to compete on Top Shot. Even the contestants who are eliminated early have come from impressive backgrounds to get them into the competition. However, Seeklander was bested by Colby in the shoot-off, so maybe this guy just doesn't perform too well in front of a camera. The second episode featured the return of Season 2's Jamie Franks, someone I mentioned last week as a choice for an all-star season of Top Shot. Franks made it to the individual part of Season 2, and seemed to be enjoying himself a lot more without George Reinas around, especially when Colby completely missed the paper shooting his automatic in the shootoff. As a I mentioned Jay Lim showed up for episode 3 to work with Chris Reed. I warmed up to Lim right around the time he was eliminated in Season 2, and it was nice to see him come back.

The marksman and the expert put the gun through its courses, shooting them from varying positions, or trying to recreate how it was used during the height of its popularity. Now mind you, this isn't like Deadliest Warrior on Spike. As I wrote earlier this week, Top Shot, and now Top Guns, have never been shows that promote gun violence. They aren't looking to see how much damage these guns would do when used on a person. Instead they work through the mechanics of the gun, what makes it unique, and what makes it effective. They take about what kind of materials its made out of and how it was engineered. Truth be told, this might be a show more in line with History's original programming mission than many of the other shows it currently airs. It's surprisingly educational and informative.

Despite a veiled connection to Top Shot, the show is clearly being filmed at the same time as Season 4. Each episode has featured the same expert that was featured on that week's episode of Top Shot, and they are shooting one or more weapons that were featured on that week's episode of Top Shot as well. It was at this point I began to wonder about History's strategy in airing these episodes. Top Shot airs on Tuesdays at 10/9 C p.m. and Top Guns airs the next day. Now, I don't have H2, so I've been watching Top Guns episodes on Hulu, but I have to think that going straight from Top Shot to Top Guns is a bit of a let down, simply because there is a steep drop-off in the excitement level. I think it would make more sense if Top Guns aired the day before Top Shot to amp up anticipation for that weeks competition. There are three guns featured each week, but in the first two episodes only one gun came from Top Shot. In the third episode, featuring shotguns, all three were Benellis featured on "Shotgun Showdown." Airing before Top Shot would leave the audience guessing as to what weapon would be featured in the actual competition, because if there is one thing Top Guns is missing, its any semblance of dramatic tension.

The show brings in top shooters, so you know that even if they struggle a little with a weapon, they are going to be able to hone it in. Colby is the only real question mark, being an experienced shooter, but not in a competitive sense. He might not shoot well with a weapon, but since there isn't anything really at stake except bragging rights, there isn't much to worry about.

However that doesn't mean the show isn't enjoyable. It's almost deathly formulaic, but featuring new weapons and new shooters in each episode helps hold off the monotony. Even the final challenge isn't always a straight shoot-off. The first two episodes pitted the guns and shooters against each other to find who could be most accurate with what weapon. The shooters then counted up points based on their shots on the target. However in the third episode, the shooters decided to exhibit their prowess with each shotgun. Jay Lim used the Vinci and shot all four clay targets (two thrown, two launched). Chris Reed took the M4 and shot five water jugs at 25 yards, and nailed one at 75. Colby went 7/8 shooting plates with the Nova.

It's clear Top Guns is still a show trying to find its legs. It still is working on trying to find what works and what doesn't. Take for example the first episode, where marksman Mike Seeklander gave a grade to each rifle he shot. Now whether this was something he did on his own or something he was instructed to do by a producer remains to be seen, but the grading system has not shown up in the two subsequent episodes.  Nor should it, to a casual viewer like myself who doesn't know much about weapons, a letter grade on M14 Carbine doesn't mean much.

Overall, Top Guns isn't a necessary companion to Top Shot, but fans of the show will like this supplementary spinoff. The promise of more past contestants and more chance to see Colby shooting are enough to keep it entertaining.

What do you think? Is this show a solid companion or a pale imitation of Top Shot? Hit the comments and let me know your thoughts.

Come back tomorrow for another "Talkin' 'bout" post.

Follow me Twitter @cswiets