Strike That. Reverse it!

What many may not realize is that my matching of production codes (the #170X numbers) to episode titles, writers, and directors, is all individually speculative based on what I can best deduce from a myriad of factors (behind the scenes pictures, codes we have had confirmed, vibes, etc.)

Tonight we got confirmation that #1702 is, in fact, Mac and Dennis Become EMTs, which is in fact the episode directed by Heath Cullens and written by Charlie, Rob, and Nina Pedrad, all individual parts I put together based on the best information and strongest belief I had. So naturally, after a high W for my sleuthing/prediction skills, there has to come a low...

Because another piece of information I came across tonight is that the actor who plays Cock Chewa, Audrey Corsa, has been credited on IMDb... for Episode #1706. Up until now, I have been operating under the assumption that #1706 was/is The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time, because that episode has always been a mystery to me and just "slotted in there" as the last option, The Golden Bachelor Live! always seemingly belonging to #1708, as it is the finale and was written to be the finale. But obviously Cock Chewa is in The Golden Bachelor Live!, there is no debating that fact, so #1706 is actually the production code for The Golden Bachelor Live! and not The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time. Therefore, this blog is due for some corrections!

If #1706 is The Golden Bachelor Live!, which we know for sure is the finale, that now aligns with the fact that Rob claimed he and Charlie wrote the finale, which is the white board episode, which we can very confidently say is The Golden Bachelor Live!... meaning TGBL is not #1708, and instead that production code belongs to The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time...

(And if you couldn't follow that string of thought, it's okay, I have drawn a map:

This has been corrected on the current Season 17 Updates page!

) And now, with those corrections made, some things from the trailer(s) start to make more sense... 

The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time was coded as #1708 not because it was supposed to be the finale, but because it had to be filmed last due to Charlie shaving his beard... which was a look I was attributing to The Golden Bachelor Live! episode originally, but now must believe it instead belongs to The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time. And since Frank is in a Coma filmed between TGBL and Prime Time, it is highly unlikely bald Charlie belongs to TGBL at all...  So lets take a look and correct some of my initial trailer breakdown claims:

The clearly "Golden Bachelor" stuff is, well, obviously The Golden Bachelor Live! and we do see Cock Chewa in Mac and Dennis' Apartment (with a bearded Charlie):

Which must still belong to that episode (if it's the finale and we are meeting Cock Chewa in this episode, I'm confident to claim she isn't in any other episode). The existence of the "formal" Mac and Dennis table being in another shot right after this, with Dennis, is what initially had me linking all of these shots to the same episode:

Clearly it's not the same dinner in the same span of time due to Charlie's baldness:

But they seemed so similar, a dinner party set up in Mac and Dennis' apartment where they clearly look like they're going to be on TV? It seemed like they had to connect... But now I am not so sure. While it's all evoking a similar vibe, it might truly be because the season is revolving around this corporate sell-out, dazzle for the cameras kind of atmosphere. In the same way that Abbott and TGBL are both "high-production crossover" episodes, I think TGBL and Prime Time are both "reality shows with an audience" episodes. Not the same, just in the same vein. 

But instead of some high production on a sound stage...

They have strangers packed into their apartment with a ghoulish looking Charlie entering to stun. Lmfao.

And more dinner party scenes from the trailer in which everyone is in even more costumes seems to also belong to Prime Time:

In fact, this shot has the Waitress, dressed as an old lady, so it must belong to this episode, as we know for certain that Mary Elizabeth Ellis was in this costume for the final day of shooting, this episode #1708, as she posted to her Instagram stories on wrap day:

So perhaps NOW the brand new shot we got of all of the Gang being bald makes more sense:

Okay, it doesn't make sense sense, but it works in terms of being a completely separate episode from The Golden Bachelor Live!'s atmosphere, okay? Some kinda show, that's about ... dinner parties and dressing up, but obviously does not go well when it comes down to being time to perform.. this all sounds like the Gang...

Now I am still not entirely convinced these two episodes don't have some kind of connection (like whatever the hell they're doing in Prime Time is in response/to complete with Frank's reality TV show (because where is Frank??)), but I think this new information makes it clear that bald Charlie (and the Gang clearly having "characters" they've created here) does not belong to TGBL, but instead to The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time..!

My bad on the original misinformation... can't always bat a thousand right out of the box, you know... But I am much more certain that this is correct!