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 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

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

Top Tweets Vol. 3: Attack of the Tweets

Full Metal Jousting.

Full Metal Jousting.

Full Metal Jousting.

Are you kidding me? I rush back from work to catch the encore of episode three and I'm greeted with modern day knights on horseback. Sigh. So instead of watching the latest episode, I'm watching The Daily Show, and trying to figure out if I should stay up to catch the encore at 1 a.m. or wake up early and try and catch it online.

I was a little worried about this weeks edition of Top Tweets, because Colby didn't seem to be dropping too many tidbits that he hasn't dropped before (I get it, filming for each episode takes place over the course of three days). But during the second-half of the episode it got a little better. Unfortunately, there are some things I simply did not understand because I have not seen the episode. So here's my best effort.

• Colby had a lot to say tonight about the camera and editing work. I like how he really goes the extra mile to give credit to everyone involved in the production of this show.

• Top Guns is filmed on separate ranch than Top Shot, which begs the question: Why are ranches so desperate to have people shoot on their property?

• There is no mercy rule on Top Shot, to which we can all say, "Thank God."

• The wood deck in the backyard covers a pool, which begs the questions: Why do we trust these contestants to shoot firearms, but not to swim without a lifeguard? 

• A casita is a small house. The women stay in it separate from the men, but share all the other amenities of the main house.

• Apparently the reason we have not seen any nighttime challenges is because they are incredibly difficult to film. (This might be something to discuss in a future post)

• The bulls-eye where the eliminated contestants targets are hung was put up because the owners got tired of patching the holes in the wall.

I should also mention I have completely broken down and followed every Season 4 cast member I can find on Twitter. I've realized that in an effort to promote this blog, the people who are going to care most are the people currently on the show (no offense to past contestants, I'd love their support as well).  And so far it seems to be paying off slowly, but surely. In addition to previously mentioned Terry Vaughan, Tim Trefren started following me today, as did Season 2 competitor Jay Lim (but he seems to follow anyone who follows him). I'm gunning for (get it?) Season 3 champion Dustin Ellermann next (if anyone can help me out with this I'd appreciate it).

However, my major fear was that this would spoil the competition for me, and unfortunately I was kind of right. I've been following Colby's live tweets during the show, but most of his tweets are spoiler free, or at least vague enough to keep it interesting. The contestants, on the other hand, are a chaotic jumble of tweets congratulating contestants and teams for winning challenges. Now, that's not their fault, it's mine or working during Top Shot, but man, it is difficult to focus solely on Colby when so many other tweets are clogging my feed. (I eventually solved this problem by simply clicking on Colby's profile, simple solutions to simple problems.)

Post schedule for the rest of the week is as follows:
Wednesday afternoon: Recap of Episode 3
Thursday afternoon/evening: Analysis of Episode 3
Friday afternoon/evening: Surprise mystery post (get excited, there's a hint hidden in this post)

See you tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets

Top Tweets: Week 2

I'm in the middle of watching the second episode as I type this post, my full recap will be up tomorrow. I work from 8-10 p.m. on Tuesdays and need to rush home to watch the repeat. However I can follow along with Colby's live tweeting while I am at work, so each week, I'll recap the best bits he throws out there.

• The practice sessions always take place in the same location, but the challenges are always in a different area

• Colby seems to suggest that the producers are thinking of what an all-star season would look like, I'm all for it although I think its a little early in the show's life, look for a full post on the subject later this week

• The guns used in the team challenge are authentic B.A.R.s, not replicas

• Colby jokes (probably) that they find the experts on Craigslist

• Colby still isn't a fan of the expert's top pick, neither am I nor can I imagine many other people are

• Shortly after commenting on the romantic tension between Viscusi and Fauxeri may be a first on Top Shot, a fan mentioned to Colby that he was forgetting about the tension between Mike and Jake in Season 3

• Colby lays down the rules for the Top Shot drinking game: One drink for every time Colby has his hands on his hips, and each time he says "It's all tied up!" Double drinks for each time he says "It's neck and neck."

• Colby says there will another "Good Morning Men" this season, does anyone know what the hell this means?

• The gun used on the nomination range is a 1911 Kimber and comes from Colby's personal safe, which is awesome

• Colby, in response to a tweet, mentions he wouldn't mind moving filming off the ranch and down to the Caribbean

Just a little not at the end here, I know there are Season 4 contestants who also have twitter pages that I did not list in my last Top Tweet. I am going to refrain from mentioning them here because I'd like to judge them solely on what is shown on each episode.

You can follow me on Twitter: @cswiets

Top Tweets

First of all I want to give big thanks to the man himself, Colby Donaldson, for retweeting the link to this blog before last night's premiere. That guy is awesome.

Second I am working on my first recap, it should be up later this evening, or early tomorrow morning.

In the meantime I thought it would be a good idea to see what some of the past contestants are up to, and so below I have made a list of active twitter accounts for past contestants if you feel inclined to follow them.

I also thought I would do a quick recap of some tidbits Colby let drop during his livetweet of last nights episode:

• No surprise, but this season will also feature past contestants, any thoughts on who will pop up?
• There will be more WWII weapons featured this season.
• The glasses this blog is looking through are apparently Ray-Bans
• This season was film between August and September of last year and had some blistering heat to contend with
• The show is filmed on a large cattle ranch where the cattle are apparently very good at dodging bullets.
• The first episode used 1276 bullets

[Note: I have only included contestants that seem to tweet regularly, there are other contestants with accounts, but they have used them infrequently.Let me know if you would like those as well.]


The Man Behind the Glasses

Colby Donaldson: @Colby_Donaldson

Season 1 Contestants

Caleb Giddings: @radicaleb

Denny Chapman: @ChapmanDenny

J.J. Racaza: @JJRacaza

Season 2 Contestants

Athena Lee: @athena_lee

Jay Lim: @jaylimgolf

Season 3 Contestants

Sara Ahrens: @SaraAhrens

Jake Zweig: @JakeZweig

Dustin Ellerman: @TopShotDustin


And don't forget you can always follow me @cswiets. I will try and do more updates on past contestants throughout this season.