Celebrity Blackjack 2 schedule

[GS Warehouse]

The Celebrity Blackjack site at GSN.com has listed all ten matchups for the current season, even the ones still to come, so don't read too much farther if you want to be surprised as to who's playing when.  BTW, during this week's show, Matt revealed the format for the semifinals: the ten winners will be divided into two five-player tables, and the top two from each will advance to the four-player final.  BTW, I did not think Caroline Rhea would be back to defend her title because she's taping The Biggest Loser for NBC, but not only is she back, we'll see a rematch from the season 1 final.  (Watch out Caroline, he's got reinforcements! :-) )

Here's the lineup (* = also played last season; bold = first-round winner):

Week 1: Jason Alexander*, Ricki Lake, Jeff Probst, Steve Howey

Week 2: Tori Spelling, Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Dave Navarro, Gabrielle Reece

Week 3: Lance Bass, Chris Harrison, Kathy Najimy, Kevin Hart

Week 4: Cheryl Hines, Coolio, Meat Loaf, Mathew St. Patrick

Week 5: Shannon Elizabeth*, Gary Valentine, Camryn Manheim*, Dayna Devon

Week 6: Dennis Rodman, Marissa Jaret Winokur*, Adam Carolla, Giuliana DePandi

Week 7: Carrie Fisher, Kelli Williams, Eric Roberts, Chynna Phillips*

Week 8: Sara Rue, Warren G, Carnie Wilson, Ralphie May

Week 9: Caroline Rhea*, Billy Baldwin*, Stephen Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin

Week 10: John Henson, David Higgins, Steve Harris, John Melendez

[Matt Ottinger]

Dave Navarro, Cheryl Hines, Dennis Rodman and Shannon Elizabeth are also in the 25-player current season of Celebrity Poker Showdown.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 4 2004, 04:34 PM\']Dave Navarro, Cheryl Hines, Dennis Rodman and Shannon Elizabeth are also in the 25-player current season of Celebrity Poker Showdown.

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Sorta like Gene Rayburn and Anita Gillette appearing on both TTTT and WML, only for a new generation.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Nov 4 2004, 04:45 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 4 2004, 04:34 PM\']Dave Navarro, Cheryl Hines, Dennis Rodman and Shannon Elizabeth are also in the 25-player current season of Celebrity Poker Showdown.

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Sorta like Gene Rayburn and Anita Gillette appearing on both TTTT and WML, only for a new generation.

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And on a more conventional note, Cheryl also did "H2."  (Shannon also did celeb "WWTBAM.")

And Cheryl was adorable on "Poker Showdown."  If it wasn't for the Worm's unbelievable stroke of luck--but perhaps, in the immortal words of Craig Kilborn, "it's just Wormy being Wormy."

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Nov 5 2004, 01:58 PM\']but perhaps, in the immortal words of Craig Kilborn, "it's just Wormy being Wormy."

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Quoting "the immortal words of Craig Kilborn" is a little like referring to "the dulcet tones of Gilbert Gottfried".

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Nov 5 2004, 04:26 PM\'][quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Nov 5 2004, 01:58 PM\']but perhaps, in the immortal words of Craig Kilborn, "it's just Wormy being Wormy."

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Quoting "the immortal words of Craig Kilborn" is a little like referring to "the dulcet tones of Gilbert Gottfried".

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or "The intellectual musings of Craig Karlberg"

or "The poetic thoughts of GSWitch"

or "The Incredible punctuation of Irismason"

there are a million of em right here folks!

[GS Warehouse]

Adding to this, I didn't see the first season of CB, but Matt Vasgersian mentioned that both of week 5's returnees, Shannon and Camryn, were also at the same table in S1, with Shannon winning then...and winning again this season.  One of their opponents in their first meeting was Jason Alexander--who won his match in S2.  With two veterans now in the semis, there's something to be said for experience.

I really think this statement belongs in another thread, but while on the subject of Celebrity Blackjack, I had been wondering how many of each denomination of chip each player starts with.  For the answer, let's go back to Week 3, when in hand 6 Lance put out all his black ($1,000) chips--13 total.  His two previous bets involving black chips were losses ($4K to a dealer blackjack in hand 1 and $8K--all in blacks--to a bust in hand 4).  This means Lance had 4+8+13=25 black chips to start, with the rest in lavender chips (15 @ $5K each).  Pink $500 and light-blue $25K chips are handed out by Hollywood Dave when necessary.

[Michael Brandenburg]

I'm getting a kick out of that show because of the way the celebrities carry on while playing a fairly simple game.  (Witness Shannon's giving a new definition to the term "bust card" on the Week 5 episode, for an example!)

As for the betting chips they use on the show, they do have the rule during the game that if you receive a single $500 chip as part of a payoff for a blackjack ($7,500 for a $5,000 wager, for example), you cannot make it a part of a subsequent wager -- all wagers in the game must be in multiples of $1,000.  (Presumably, though, if you got a second $500 chip for a second blackjack payoff during play, you could then bet both of them for a $1,000 wager, or as part of a larger wager.)

I noticed that the transparent plastic "dealing shoe" (which is supposed to be filled with 6 decks of cards at the start of the game) was nearly empty when it came time to deal the 21st and final hand of the game.  Someone had asked during Season 1 of the show (when the game was played with five players) whether the shoe is reshuffled and refilled during play, and it most likely was -- I noticed a "Shuffle" message popping up on my screen late in the game when I would play the "Tournament Blackjack" game in my Reel Deal Casino/Shuffle Master Edition program.  (You play against the dealer and four computer opponents in this one, and the player with the most money after 20 hands wins.)

Finally, I noticed that they do use the "Jumbo Index" playing cards that were originally developed by the U.S. Playing Card Company for Championship Bridge, a weekly syndicated contract-bridge competition show that aired in the early 1960s, which the company co-sponsored.  However, Championship Bridge used Bicycle-brand cards (with their "two-circle" designed backs), while Celebrity Blackjack uses Bee-brand cards (with their diamond-patterned backs).


Michael Brandenburg
(Memo to the celebrities on Celebrity Blackjack: Don't ever say the "f-word" on the show, or you'll create a great financial loss for GSN and likely get banned from playing on future shows!)

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Michael Brandenburg\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 01:21 PM\'](Memo to the celebrities on Celebrity Blackjack: Don't ever say the "f-word" on the show, or you'll create a great financial loss for GSN and likely get banned from playing on future shows!)

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If they were to drop the f-bomb, they would just get bleeped out. No way GSN would let that go to air.

IIRC, the rules are a lot less stringent for cable than they are for broadcast TV. Comedy Central has a block of programming (can't remember what it's called) in the wee hours in which they air shows with profanity (they aired the South Park Movie uncut, as well as a Chris Rock special uncut).

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'Michael Brandenburg\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 01:21 PM\']As for the betting chips they use on the show, they do have the rule during the game that if you receive a single $500 chip as part of a payoff for a blackjack ($7,500 for a $5,000 wager, for example), you cannot make it a part of a subsequent wager -- all wagers in the game must be in multiples of $1,000.  (Presumably, though, if you got a second $500 chip for a second blackjack payoff during play, you could then bet both of them for a $1,000 wager, or as part of a larger wager.)

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This is an uneducated guess on my part, but if you get have a $500 chip and get another on a blackjack, Hollywood Dave just takes them both and gives you an extra $1K chip.  There have been other situations where Dealer Dave would "make change."  Going back to week 3, when Kathy won an all-in $24K (4 @ $5K + 4 @ $1K) bet with just two hands to go, she went all-in again for $48K on the next hand.  Dave counted the chips to make sure, and there were 9 $5K chips and 3 $1K chips.

Also, on both of GSN's blackjack series, we've seen players double down for less, but did you know you can still take insurance against a dealer ace even if less than half your initial wager is left?  Staying in week 3, Kevin still couldn't bet his $500 chip in the secret bet round, but after Dave [Matt V.]popped a bullet[/MV], Kevin put up that $500 on insurance since he couldn't win anyway.  When Dave's blackjack clinched Lance's win, Kevin's insurance bet salvaged a FWIW second place with $1,500 (Kevin's 2:1 insurance bet paid him $1,000, while Chris and Kathy got cleaned out).

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 01:26 PM\']If they were to drop the f-bomb, they would just get bleeped out. No way GSN would let that go to air.

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Has anyone noticed that when two or more people talk at once and one gets bleeped, we can still hear everyone else over the bleep?  I didn't think that kind of audio technology was available yet.  Also, they bleep the s-word but they leave the d-word and the a-word.  I always thought a cuss word was a cuss word.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 12:02 PM\']Has anyone noticed that when two or more people talk at once and one gets bleeped, we can still hear everyone else over the bleep?  I didn't think that kind of audio technology was available yet.
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If everyone is being recorded on seperate tracks  (and for the master, at least, they probably are), then it's a simple matter to bleep only one person's track, so long as the other tracks didn't pick up the F-bizzomb that the one person dropped.
[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 12:02 PM\']Also, they bleep the s-word but they leave the d-word and the a-word.  I always thought a cuss word was a cuss word.

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The problem there is that some goobers still think "damn" and "ass" are swear words. This is 2004, folks.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 02:43 PM\']The problem there is that some goobers still think "damn" and "ass" are swear words. This is 2004, folks.
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Well, shit.  Tell that to the poster who thought "talking out of your ass" constituted an ATGS-style flashback.
Isn't Celebrity Blackjack rated PG anyhow?  If it is...why are they bothering editing the content when the viewer knows full well going in that slightly objectional content may occur therein?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 01:15 PM\']Isn't Celebrity Blackjack rated PG anyhow?  If it is...why are they bothering editing the content when the viewer knows full well going in that slightly objectional content may occur therein?

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Because an F-bomb is still "R" rated material, and Coolio was dropping them left and right the other day.

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 02:43 PM\']The problem there is that some goobers still think "damn" and "ass" are swear words. This is 2004, folks.

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That's because they are. They don't suddenly stop being swear words just because you've used them a lot over time (and I'm sure you have). It doesn't matter what year it is.