LAST EDITED ON 02-20-03 AT 07:17 AM (EST)

Thanks for the heads-up. Let's see... Survivor on at 8 pm, The Bachelor/Bachelorette update on how the couples are doing at 8 pm, CSI on at 9 pm, and this recap of Joe Millionaire? I can already smell the VCRs burning from overuse.

Edited to add: I just checked the TV Guide online... it doesn't say anything about a Joe Millionaire recap of the second hour tonight? Up here on FUX, they're showing the "Michael Jackson Take 2, The Interview they wouldn't show you."

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

LAST EDITED ON 02-17-03 AT 10:46 PM (EST)

I was surprisingly pleased for some reason. Bottom line, I think Evan made the right choice.

The major plus for me about this show was I finally got my mom addicted to a reality tv show, which is really hard to do. She has eschewed Survivor, BB, and all the other shows, but she called me just about very commercial break during tonight's Joe Millionaire. My parents have given so much to me, genetically and financially, I'm just glad I could give something back: My love/hate relationship with reality tv.

Oh, during one of those phone calls, right when Zora was left waiting for Evan on the couch, my mom said, "He's not going to choose her. They're showing her first." My reply: "Mom. Dear sweet Mom, it's all in the editing. You'll learn more as you continue to watch and retch over these shows."

Mon

You answer the phone during reality shows?

Brave. Very brave.

Only during the commercials, and only if I have pre-approved the calls . Plus, I wanted my mom to get involved so that I could blame heredity for my reality tv addiction.

Good to see you Chicky! *Hugs and smoochies*

Mon

Am I the only one who is disappointed? Maybe I read too many of the spoiler boards, but Fox really went out of their way to promote this show as having a HUGE twist ending. We sat through 7 (or 8?) weeks and then two more hours tonight just to see Paul walk in with a check? They didn't even have to earn it, they just had to make it to the end. This is a big let down to me, but then again after last week, I really shouldn't be so shocked.

I was pleased with Zora being chosen. Of the original 20, she seemed the most deserving. Heck, during the tour of her sad little apartment and the whole spiel about how she has dedicated her poverty-stricken life in the service of others, I started to hunt down my checkbook, wondering if Fox would pass along to Zora my check and hoping to get a fat tax write-off for a charitable donation.

About the "Big Twist," which Paul harped on constantly: giving a check isn't a twist. It's a nice gesture at the least and a well-deserved reward at most. A twist involves irony, or at least a sick sense of humor. I loved some of the twist scenarios that you all came up with. Wouldn't it have been fun for Evan to reveal a porn career, or for Zora to reveal that she's gay, or for Sara to storm into the ballroom at the end and wrestle Zora for the ring? Those would have been twists!

Zora probably made some decent money from her sewing-pattern model days:

(reprinted from another post on another message board)

I own a knitting store and we are all convinced that Zora is a knitting model for Plymouth Yarns. The chins even match!!
Check out the pictures....
http://www.theknitter.com/plymyarpresi1.html
http://theknitter.com/gensym-1614.html
http://www.yarnware.com/web/yarnware/yarnware.nsf/PSbyManufacturer/F48FB1F11875F2A185256A4D0073B40C!OpenDocument

That's got to be her! Hilarious!! Nice catch N30, you'll fit in here with your secret knitting reality TV insider info! Welcome.

wow...that is definitely her....poor? i don't think so.

what i was thinking at the end of joe millionaire? the TWIST was "WE'VE" all been had!!!! they thought they were pulling our heartstrings...give the poor, caring girl money...the TWIST would have been if SARAH got the money...

it isn't gonna last.....we ALL know this...
and sooo funny that they bring melissa back to "go out and smoke" with sarah to get sarah to ADMIT that she gave evan a #####.....or was it a "sock"job? lol....using a sock to insinuate the act...

why do i even care??? LOL>>>they built it up so much that nothing could have made me happy....

molly

I think most of us knew he was going to pick Zora. So no surprise there. But I wanted to be surprised by this twist. The Butler even made it sound at the beginning of lastnight's show like the BIG(?) twist was on Evan and I wanted to see Evan get tricked like the girls were. But it was only the basic twist everyone had assumed from the beginning. If the girl wants him anyway without the money they give them $1 million. So I was disappointed in the twist. But glad he picked Zora.

Now the look on Sara's face when Evan told her was priceless. She had this frozen grin on her face as the sun shone on her through the window. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad. And then she couldn't wait to get together with Melissa and b!tch that they didn't want Evan anyway. And I noticed Zora stated she does not smoke - meanwhile Sara and Melissa are puffing away like Marge's sisters on The Simpsons. LOL!

And Yes, I will be watching next week. Did they just split the money? Have they cashed it yet? Will they still date? So many thoughts...

Maybe that explains why Zora wore so many sweaters on Joe M.!
She was plugging the product she models!
Good find N30!

Regards, Red Lady

Nice try, but the knit-lady is not Zora. If you compare the knit photo next to the real Zora photo, you will see they are not the same. I don't know how to add a photo to a post so I included the urls below. Just open the following websites in two separate browser windows and line them up next to each other.

Real Zora photo:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/17/joe.millionaire.ap/index.html

Knit picture location: http://www.theknitter.com/plymyarpresi1.html

It is definitely her. I don't know why you can't see the resemblence. Here are the two pictures side by side.

She has worked as an extra and a model.

I'm a knitter and have been drooling over all the gorgeous sweaters on this show. Interesting how my knitting and reality tv personas intertwine.
LOL

You're right dajaki, a twist would have been a reunting of the other 19 girls to walk into the ballroom while he was waiting for Zora...THEN *Ghetto porn music comes on* "Bow Chicka Bow Bow..." Zora walks in on a big massive aggressive orgy, now there's your twist!

Zora is really Dr. Evil? Who knew?

Seriously, even though "poor girl" Zora was "turned off" by Evan allegedly having scads o' dough, you *know* she was happy to get the money. "Now I can have them turn the heat back on!"

Lori

1) Congratulations to the lucky winners!
2) Evan's mission the whole time was to find someone who liked (not loved) him for himself and not his money. At that he chose wisely. So I give him credit for a little intelligence, though I suspect he had a lot of help from Paul.
3) The happy ending was typical Hollywood BS. I'm not sure even the Mouse House (Disney) would authorize such cheese.
4) At least the winners got a tangible award unlike SOME shows I could name.
5) The whole episode was kind of a shrug for me. I came in a few minutes before 9, because I figured nothing much would happen before then. I watched the whole "Zora is great" segment, then the real episode. The best part was when Melissa showed up and she and Sarah got to show their true colors. Someone should give the frizzy-haired one her own show.

First, I was very happy with the ending, but am afraid next week Zora will fall out of love with Evan. I hope not, but I know it would be hard to watch the scenes with the other girls. Hope that didn't change her tune.

As for the knit-wear modeling (yes, I do think it's her), get real, she didn't make a bunch of money off of that. Probably $500 a job or something. She's not modeling for the GAP for cripes sake.

And on her likely income, $500 meant that she got to buy some new jeans to go with her sweaters.

I think Zora is a very deserving winner of half a mil. Evan...eh, I guess he deserves it.

I agree with you on every account weltek. I can't imagine that a sweater model makes all that much money. Chances are, she donated it to charity anyhow.

I do think Evan made the right choice. Sara wouldn't have even come back once she realized that he didn't have any money.

Zora is deserving of both the money and of a much better guy than Evan could ever be. Hey, Charlie is still single.

I think Zora is the clear winner of this entire "competition"...

If Evan proves to be the totally self-absorbed media whore that all reports seem to be indicating up to this point, Zora's going to be pursued by potentially millions of guys that have a pretty good idea of what she's all about, and she's bound to find someone much more compatible for her than Evan...

Agree, about Zora being the real winner of the show. She got 500,000 plus she did not slut her way through France. She remained honest, she did not act like a horny, money grubber. She enjoyed her time. She played with animals, and showed her compassionate side.

So no matter what happens, she is beautiful, and has an honest, likable personality. She should do fine. I hope this exposure gets her what she deserves, which, IMO is a lot.

One of the nicest reality TV players, EVER.

It is astonishing how foolish humans can be in groups, especially when they follow their leaders without question - States: The Bene Gesserit View. All States Are an Abstraction.

I have to say the "sap" in me was elated when he chose her and I also have to say that if this was all scripted then the writers did an outstanding job. I too, thought he was going to blow off Zora and then didn't and isn't that just like a man to say one thing but really be meaning something else. LOL. Then she did the same thing in the ballroom, I figured she was politely telling him she could never trust him and then she pulled a whammy and let her heart rule her head. I also felt that if this was indeed "scripted" wouldn't he have promised never to lie to her again? All in all I was really pleased with whole thing but have to say I can't stand Paul. He is too "cheeky" for me. I will absolutely watch next week because I want to see if they look like a couple on the verge of love or on the verge of stardom.

Call me cheesy, but I loved it -- every bit of it. Will admit that I was a little nervous that it took Evan so long to say, "I choose you." And the freaking commercials!!! #@%&*!!!!

I'll have to watch next week on tape delay because I'll be on vacation. Just once, I'd like to see a happy couple.

I'm glad Zora won, I'm still not sure Evan deserves her, but time will tell. She was the only one of the 5 girls that wasn't a goldigger.

LMAO at the biatch session between Sarah and Melissa. Sarah said that she knew before-hand that he wasn't rich? Ummm....not as far as I could tell. The really funny part was when Sarah was asking if Melissa thought she wasn't chosen because of her "kissing". Melissa had this astonished look on her face, like maybe she just then realized why she got the boot! Oh, and them worrying if the jewelry was real-what a hoot! Like that didn't show the world exactly what they were after.

I'm happy that FOX gave them the cash. I wish it all would have gone to Zora alone. Evan will have enough $ by cashing in on his new found fame. I don't see them lasting out forever, because I think Evan is too stupid not to chase after other women.

Yep-I'll be watching next week just to see how they interact with each other now that Zora has seen the whole show.

That Sarah was fit to be tied!

-> Elroy Jetson

Do Evan and Zora get $500,000 each, or do they somehow have to stay together to get the $1 million? The Banker in me is focused on the check being written out to BOTH of them, which means they would have to either deposit it into a joint account, or one would have to sign it over to the other one, and then the person who deposits it would have to turn around and write a check to the person who signed it over for their half. This would require faith on the part of the person who signs it over. Or do the Producers cut a real check (instead of a prop) for $500,000 to each of them? It will be interesting to find out, because with Evan hitting on Mary Hart I doubt they'll end up together and I want Zora to get her half.

Eh, in the finale, Evan asks Zora how she feels about being $500,000 dollars richer. And she was holding the check most of the time. Girls are better with money anyway. It was so cute to hear Zora say that she has 187.00 in her checking account, I HEAR YA GIRL!

Black_Frost

That check you saw on TV wasn't real. They'll get $500K apiece.

Personally, I think Evan deserves his share of it for going through with this whole show and giving us so many laughs and such a good time (and he got those "fringe benefits" from Sarah, too! ).

I thought Sarah knew. Her reaction looked to me like "well, I better act shocked before the camera", so she did.

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

I guess I am a big sap too! I enjoyed the ending. I was really happy that he picked Zora. I think that she deserved the money and she will more than likely put it to good use! I actually want them to stay together, but I fear that might be doubtful.

Sarah's face was priceless. It took all that she ahd to hold it together. That was worth it alone. However, it would have been a lot funner if Heidi had made it to the end . . .

Boy! did they get their digs into Heidi, or WHAT?

Paul acted like he was about to have an orgasm when the cat claws for Heidi started up! And then they just methodically ripped that poor girl to shreds.

I'm not trying to defend Heidi, but geez! poor girl....

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Oh My GOD! That wad grrrreat!
I loved it...NICE.

I thought it was pretty good...I was glad that he picked Snora and glad that she ended up with something tangible out of this, because I really can't see the two of them making it after the show.

As far as the twist goes....LAME....hell several of the people on this board came up with that after EP 1....and Paul just kept on and on about a HUGE TWIST....I wasn't expecting the big orgy that Black Frost was....but would have damn sure liked to have seen it

I was expecting to be a little suprised by the twist...I just thought that it would be a little more than it was.

I loved Smilessa coming back to have a smoke and complain with Sar-ahhhhhhhh....and I laughed my ass off at the "sock-job"!!

I will watch next week just to see what happens...one promo I heard said that they will be together for the first time since France...but last night they said for the first time "in-public" since France....did anyone else catch that?

as far as Joe hitting on Mary Hart...I wouldn't put it past Fux to have put him up to that just to get some talk started...I don't even think he is dumb enough to do that knowing that he signed a contract that said he had to keep the results of the show and the new relationship a secret till the end of the show.

"It's only cheating if you get caught".....Al Bundy

>as far as Joe hitting on Mary Hart...I wouldn't put it past Fux to have put him up to that just to get some talk started...I don't even think he is dumb enough to do that knowing that he signed a contract that said he had to keep the results of the show and the new relationship a secret till the end of the show.

I could see Fox doing that, but given Evan's stupidity throughout the show I would say that yes, Evan IS that dumb.

I think if they do another series even remotely close to this, they need to read this board and get some better ideas for endings. There was no twist here...maybe they're saving it for next week? No, that'd be too much to ask.

I must admit I was disappointed about the whole twist thing. I was expecting much more of a shock than FOX handing over a million dollars. I really don't think that these two stay together. Zora is by far too intelligent for his dumb a**

I think we get a little let down when we are on the boards week after week dicussing the show. We already had a good idea who was going to win and that there would be some cash at the end, so the surprise is jaded. However, I'm very happy it was Zorra in the end.

Next week, we'll find out the distance between them made it impossible to carry on a relationship. That will explain why Evan has been seen hitting up on Lauren Bush, every hostess on every show he appears on, etc...

As far as the money, Evan has been spending his share easily. Super Bowl, court side at Lakers games, Palms restaurant for dinner, he's living the life right along Jack Nickelson, and I say good for him! If he had enough sense to pick Zorra as the woman with the most character, he deserves it.