World Star Reviews: TNN Week 3

By: Berlin, Ashley

The Townsend News Network, often abbreviated to TNN, is a news channel releasing coverage of our election every Thursday. It’s safe to say that as the weeks go by, the quality and originality of the show continues to improve -- but that isn’t without its setbacks. So, let’s talk about what an interesting TV show we had during week 3 of our election!

Let’s begin with the Hawk Mikes challenge, which is a spinoff on the well known Hot Ones challenge from YouTube channel First We Feast. After each question our candidates are asked, the spice levels of the sauces they are given grow higher and higher, with candidates being able to choose french fries or Takis as their food of choice to pair with these sauces. Candidates for District 22, 23, and 26 for the New York City Council, as well as the candidates for Mayor, all participated in the event -- let’s start with District 26! As we saw in the video, Marvin Jeffcoat was burning up and his face turned completely red. He took gulp after gulp of the chocolate milk that was provided for him. However, his opponent Julie Won handled the spice better than Marvin. She was able to respond to the questions asked and looked calm and collected. Let’s move onto the interaction between our two candidates for mayor, Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa. Their food of choice was Takis, which provides a larger challenge because Takis have a spice of their own that the sauces will only add onto. Curtis Sliwa displayed no reaction to the hot sauces whatsoever and had no difficulty answering questions, almost becoming a bit too talkative from the sauces! However, his opponent Eric Adams was struggling to get his words out which gave some brownie points to Curtis. It is comedic how the editors decided to speed up Curtis’s speech since these men were just going back and forth. Last but not least, let us talk about James Reilly vs. Linda Lee, candidates for District 23 City Council. James took this challenge like a champ because at the end he scooped up all that hot sauce and ate it. Ouch! I wonder how his stomach felt after. Meanwhile, Linda had a lot to say with her face. Linda showed off some sass but when the spice got to her, she constantly stuck her tongue out and drank water to calm the spice down. They both had their share of coughing out their pain. Lastly, Felicia Kalan and Tiffany Caban’s Hawk Mike segment was actually particularly collected. Both candidates managed to handle the spice fairly well and keep their composure while answering questions, even finding positive factors about each other in the end. Who do you think won District 22 City Council’s round of Hawk Mike – Felicia Kalan or Tiffany Caban?

Moving on from that spicy segment, the increasing quality of commercial ads from our candidates has been very evident throughout the progression of the television show. Many of our candidates have clearly been putting in the effort to win over the viewers and earn their votes! The episode started with a commercial dedicated to the Democratic candidates for City Council: Tiffany Caban, Sandra Ung, Julie Won, and Linda Lee, a group nicknamed “the Girlbosses” in the commercial. Supporters of these candidates go on to admire the candidates and highlight some of their policies and stances, while the candidates themselves are walking down the hallways. Then, after interviews with special interest groups, we see an instance of crime happening in a commercial, with two men quickly cornering a citizen in the subway. One shoves the man and begins to grab his fallen Simbucks, while the other restrains him by holding his arms back. However, Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels quickly step in, and the criminals back off at Sliwa’s command. He then makes sure the victim is okay, before making a statement to the audience about him and his group’s strict refusal to tolerate crime. Then, Marvin Jeffcoat shared his hopes and plans to make roads safer and more efficient. His policies show up on screen as he salutes and waves at the passing cars and buses, hoping to make their commutes even easier for them throughout everyday life. Lastly, we have the commercial made by the NYC Campaign Finance Board, giving us insight into the Squid Game games they held. The commercial included snippets of games we all know and love, such as Red Light Green Light, Musical Chairs, Rock Paper Scissors, and more! What happens, and who wins? You can find out by watching the video posted on their Instagram page, at @thhsnyccampaignfinance. Who are you rooting for?

Finally, there’s the famous blackout that everyone was talking about. This blackout occurred right after the Squid Game commercial for over a minute. While we still have not heard about what exactly happened, or why it slipped past the editors, this didn’t stop the entertainment. Thank you for reading, and make sure to catch us next time on World Star Reviews!