After a couple of rounds of bad producing and (sometimes) even worse behavior, it’s good to see the final three contestants acting like good sports again — which is only fitting, given the sports theme of this next-to-final challenge.
Like Jessica, I’m a little out of my element in this round. I’m not nearly as sports-phobic as she reveals herself to be in this episode, but as I tell my fellow judges (in a remark that thankfully doesn’t make the final cut), when I hear that we’ll be watching pieces involving the Avengers (the name of L.A.’s local arena-football team), I’m not thinking pigskin, I’m thinking Diana Rigg as Emma Peel — of the '60s cult classic The Avengers. Once a TV junkie...
This Avengers quip really cracks up the two sports nuts who flank me: regular judge David Hill, who as CEO of Fox Sports knows more than the average exec about sports producing, and our guest judge, an authentic superstar, Pro Football Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow, a legendary tight end for the San Diego Chargers from 1979 to 1987.
Big guy. Also a nice guy. How nice? In our downtime, Kellen turns our lovely host Ananda Lewis on to Sudoku, showing the ropes of the game to this notorious crossword-puzzle addict — Ananda had a book of crosswords at the ready throughout the run of this show to keep her occupied during breaks. She takes to Sudoku instantly, and by the time we finish production, she has moved on from letters to numbers.
Back to the game at hand, by which I mean America’s Next Producer. David Hill assures me that while I may feel out of my league (so to speak) in this context, my perspective will be important. He explains: If any of these pregame segments they’ve produce can make someone who doesn’t "give a crap" (his words) want to watch the game, that will be a sign of a job well done.
All three pieces are very different, reflecting the producers' respective degrees of comfort level and confidence with the subject matter.
Zo's captures my attention the most, with his well-written voiceover lionizing the offensive linemen, whom he considers the underdogs (something with which he empathizes), and he brings them to life in a distinctive visual style.
Jessica’s segment (plagued by technical problems, as the episode reveals) is a much softer segment, almost a PSA about the team’s community-based education outreach program. But once again, we admire how she finds her own angle, her own story to tell, while also capturing some of the players’ personalities.
Gwen, who’s declared the winner, produces a segment closest to what one might expect to find in a pregame package: a profile of the coach. It’s safe, with few surprises, but it delivers the goods. And more important, to the other judges, it ties in most directly to the fact that a game is about to be played.
I probably would have chosen Zo to win this challenge, but I defer to the guys who know about this type of production, and they like Gwen’s piece best.
Fine by me, because as it turns out, no one is going home after this challenge. We have ended up with an impressive final three who each represent a very distinctive style of producing and presenting their vision, and we want to hear what they’ve been waiting the entire competition to pitch to us. Gwen is the young upstart, smart and capable of surprising us despite her inexperience. Jessica is the savvy journeywoman, sardonically funny and full of ideas. Zo is the wily veteran with tons of experience, self-confident gusto and a chip on his shoulder. They’re thrilled to learn they’re all surviving this round, but it’s not quite over yet.
Whose ideas will catch fire with the judges? Who will be sent home on the very cusp of realizing this dream? And whose final project will impress us enough to be declared America’s Next Producer?
Those answers will all be revealed in next Wednesday’s two-hour finale. Hard to believe it’s almost over.
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