Aruba Rant
I DJ weddings. Most weddings occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day, which makes sense: it's nice out, the venues are open, etc. Since this episode taped in early May, I would be inclined to believe that a fairly large number of them were getting married shortly after taping or, at least, had planning underway.
This trip sucks.
First off, twenty-two people. Take out the engaged couple, and that leaves twenty. Assuming you have a reasonably-sized wedding party (let's assume best man, maid/matron of honor, and two bridesmaids/groomsmen), that knocks the guest list down to fourteen. But wait, you need your parents to go! Knock out four more slots, and we're down to ten. Hope you don't have many friends or additional family members that you want to spend the greatest day of your life with.
When I heard that ARP, I was livid ... and I don't get livid at this show. A price tag of $47,017 doesn't showcase a great opportunity for contestants. It shows that "we're offering something crazy because we can". Even Drew mentioned at the end of the show "hey, we had some crazy prizes today!", as if that was somehow the saving grace from a double overbid.
That being said, time for math. $47,017 / 22 = $2,137.14 ... for Aruba. The price tag seems lofty, but in actually it's a really cheap trip ... just for a lot of people. But who cares about that when there's a huge number to taunt to the viewers! GAZE INTO OUR LUXURY.
You don't get a choice of the hotel. You don't get a choice of the venue. You don't get a choice, presumably, of who even officiates the wedding. You can just choose to "not" go, especially with that Cliff setup. You needed to be a little off your rocker to lose that one.
I understand that not every engaged couple wants the same thing, but to flat-out assume that they want the entire wedding planned from the get-go is a bit insulting. I know some shows offer that (I believe morning talk shows do), but the difference is that the engaged couples want - and sign up - for that particular feature. These couples (presumably) want a car, money, or to fill out their registry items.
Oh wait, the showcase called this out specifically. So, yeah, that's what the couples want: not their wedding day planned out by some focus group in a hot room. That trip was more-than-likely turned down in a heartbeat. (If for whatever reason that couple sees this - and they accepted - then hey, good for you, but I feel a lot of people wouldn't want that.)
That was the worst segment I have ever seen of this show, and everyone involved should be ashamed of their blatant budget flaunting. I realize the show gave away houses in the 1950s and whatnot, but you can use a house for longer than one week. Presumably.
Something's wrong when Switch? is the most expensive segment of a half, even if Money Game was won. Again, they invest way too much money in these lavish trips. For a show that claims to want to "offer prizes that have never been seen before", it sure has fallen into the monotony of "expensive trips", "designer accessories", "home theaters", "cars that will only be won when we feel like it", and "electronics". It's just not interesting.
But that's just one man's opinion.
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That being said, the show wasn't a complete wash. We figured Pay the Rent was going to be lost - and the setup was tough - but they played it quite well. That's Too Much! is always nice to see won, and the lineup - while derivative and par-for-the-course for a Rent lineup - didn't make any baffling decisions. I thought the showcases were decent, too.
I guess if today's show was an apple, I could bite around the Cliff-sized blemish.