[Fix The Show]

I did read that article a couple days back. Sounds like a very bad idea. 30 contestants is way too much. If you have that many players, I feel like you have to make the season longer as well (at least 50 days).

It could work, but not if a whole tribe is voted out in the first episode. All 30 contestants should be playing on equal terms and then play it out in a normal Survivor season. Then it might succeed I think.

[Most undeserving winner of all time?]

7 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

TPTB obsession with Russell led them to barely focus on anyone else's game, including Natalie. I firmly believe that she did more then enough to win and that it was not all about the jury hating Russell.

That's pretty much speculation isn't it? That Natalie must have done something else in order to win that season? I believe her strategy was to hide behind Russell, let him take the bullets and then showcase what an angel she is compared to Russell at the FTC. It worked, and to her credit, she did not doubt that she could beat him. I just don't find that kind of strategy deserving. I don't like Parvati, but at least you could argue that she dominated the season she won or most of it strategy wise. That I can respect.

[On an Island of One: Unpopular Opinions of Survivor]

I get both your points. I think he played better his 1st time around. If I remember correctly, he didn't flat out insult people in front of them like he did in Heroes Vs. Villains (e.g Rupert/Russell confrontation) where Russell called Rupert a dumbass).

I think he was robbed the first time, the second time could be argued both ways. I honestly just think that since he took the game so serious, the people around him would do the same. But I can agree however that Russell's social game is non-existent and that pretty much cost him the chance to ever be called the sole Survivor, let alone a 2-time winner.

[On an Island of One: Unpopular Opinions of Survivor]

32 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Another unpopular opinion, I don't believe in the idea of 'bitter juries' as it's used. If the jury's bitter at you, then it's because you played a poor game.

Or maybe because the jury is bitter that you out-played them and refuse to give you the million.

[On an Island of One: Unpopular Opinions of Survivor]

19 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I'm tired of the notion that one must drive the strategy/be the mastermind in order to be a deserving winner.

That's not necessarily the truth. But I think if the person that wins his or her respectable season sits next to one who clearly played the better game (Samoa f.x), then the winner looks like the undeserving one.

Granted, you could argue that every single winner deserves the title to some degree. I'll even give Natalie from Samoa credit that she was the mastermind behind the Eric vote-out. However, if your strategy the entire game is to hide behind someone who makes 90% of the moves and gets blood on his hands, while you just nod and go along with it. For me, that's not a deserving winner. Natalie won because of a bitter jury, simple as that.

[Past Seasons Talk: The Tribe Has Spoken]

20 minutes ago, kikaha said:

Mr. Yunis, Sophie is near the bottom of my 'deserving winners' list.  She drove little of the strategy the entire season, and had a sub-par mediocre social game as well.  She was losing going into finals, and would have lost had Coach honestly answered Brandon and Ozzie.  Coach did not, and snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory, handing the win to Sophie. 

I think Tyson played immensely better than Sophie.  He controlled most of the game and its strategy.  When he did rely on luck -- the rock draw -- the odds were 2 to 1 in his favor.  

So you would say it's pretty much "How Coach lost"? I might have to re-watch this season (don't know if it's worth it though).

Seems like we agree on Tyson. Ciera wasn't changing her mind that Tribal Council and Tyson wasn't going to lose a member of his alliance, so he took a chance and it paid off. However had he drawn the white rock (I think it was white that sends you home that season), he had a safety net in that he could easily win his way back in the game via Redemption Island. Other than that, he played almost flawlessly the entire season. Also with going to rocks, he could then argue that he was willing to sacrifice himself for his alliance, which I think he argued at the final.

[Past Seasons Talk: The Tribe Has Spoken]

14 hours ago, Oholibamah said:

Agree to disagree, but his game hinged on a 1/3 rock draw.

His winning game was much improved from his first two embarrassing outings, but it was fairly textbook: Sophie played a similar game of spazz-wrangling her allies to the end but was much smoother about it.

True, luck was with him that night. I don't remember how Sophie played, so I cant compare the two.

[On an Island of One: Unpopular Opinions of Survivor]

I absolutely loved Samoa and was rooting for Russell all the way. Biggest travesty in Survivor to this day that he never won that one (or Heroes Vs. Villains).

If I were to do a Mount Rushmore of Survivor, both Russell and Boston Rob would definitely be on it.

I wouldn't have minded if Woo won his season. And I was rooting for Ken to win his season.

[Past Seasons Talk: The Tribe Has Spoken]

On 6/8/2017 at 9:20 PM, laurakaye said:

For those of us streaming old seasons, is there any season of Survivor that you refuse to watch a second time?

The only season I haven't watched is One World and I will probably never watch that due to Colton alone. I watched Micronesia with high expectations, didn't finish the season. I'll probably never re-watch that season either.

On 6/10/2017 at 2:42 PM, Oholibamah said:

It's more satisfying when a "best to never win" type of player finally wins versus a Tyson who played two of the worst games ever, and then played a mediocre game against mediocre returnees and mediocre first-timers and won.

I disagree. I think Tyson played a great game in his 3rd try. I was rooting for Gervase but Tyson played way better. Definitely on my top 5 winners list.

[Most undeserving winner of all time?]

1 hour ago, Nalan said:

Noooooooot for me.  Sorry.  He won because he was lucky that the women's Eliza hate made them implode so badly.  That is all.

He still had to get the votes in the end. I think we can agree that every winner has had some portion of luck in getting the title of sole Survivor. Some more than others, but still, luck is needed in order to get to the end.

Most will probably hang me for saying this, but what did Sandra ever really do in getting her 2nd win? I wont comment on her 1st since I don't really remember what she did to win that one. But if I remember her 2nd season correctly, she got in an alliance whom Russell and his alliance took out one by one. Her strategy was then to 'get rid of Russell', which she never could accomplish. She even admitted to that as well. The only reason she was in the final was because Russell underestimated her big time. I know many of you guys hate Russell, so you naturally root for Sandra when she says 'I'm against you Russell'. I'm not hating on Sandra but her 'Anyone but me' strategy is severely overrated and she is probably the luckiest Survivor to ever win (at least in her 2nd season).

[Most undeserving winner of all time?]

9 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Chris (can't really remember why, but I loved Twila, and hated Eliza, and Eliza hated Twila, so I wanted Twila to win.  Chris got super lucky with the tribe division, because had it been 5 younger guys to 4 older men, he would have been first boot for his challenge blunder).

Oh ya, Chris! I disagree with you here, Chris did deserve that win. He recovered tremendously after almost being the first boot. Lucky? No doubt. However he's one of the most satisfying winners for me. I would re-visit his season but the rest of the castaways are pretty dull in my opinion, so I'm probably not going to do that.

[Most undeserving winner of all time?]

I don't remember anything from Gabon. I totally forgot a guy named Bob won. Same goes for Todd, I don't remember his season at all.

I do agree with your assumption that people most of the time vote for people they least mind losing to @simplyme. I guess that helped Michelle win the million.

[Most undeserving winner of all time?]

Hello guys

Who in your opinion is the most undeserving winner ever? Or who did you like the least?

I decided not to make a poll on this one since it would be stupid to name someone like Rich, Tyson, JT, Kim, Tony, Boston Rob etc. But then again, what I find deserving you might find undeserving, so I'm curious to know your opinions.

For me I would have to say Amber. Boston Rob pretty much carried her to the final and in my opinion, the only thing he didn't win that season was the title of sole Survivor. Honorable mentions could go to Fabio and Michelle (from Koah Rong). I was gonna go with Michelle but Amber wins by a small mile. Only reason I remember both is because when you think about Boston Rob, you remember Amber, and I just re-watched Michelle's season to see how she actually won. I failed to find anything that would justify her win. I was rooting for Tai that season but of the final 3 that season, Aubry deserved to win the most in my opinion.

Feel free to prove me wrong and I look forward to hearing your own reason for least deserving winner of all time.

[Most and Least Favorite Past Contestants]

2 hours ago, simplyme said:

I think Cirie and Cao Boi are both awesome. I have no problem with reconciling that fact. Cirie came up with the 3-2-1 to blindside someone. Cao Boi dreamt up Plan Voodoo to expose and flush the original HII, which didn't even exist in Cirie's season. I love Cirie for her ability to see opportunities and talk people into them. I love Cao Boi for being himself and showing that there is such diversity even within ethnic groups. 

One of my favorite Survivor discussions was between Yul, Becky, and Cao Boi. Cao Boi wanted to tell jokes that Yul and Becky found offensive because they reinforced ethnic stereotypes. Cao Boi enjoyed telling them. It was so interesting, because I felt like I understood both sides to some degree. To me, Becky and Yul were very aware that there are people who really believe stereotypes and wanted not to feed that in any way. To me, Cao Boi felt it was more important to be able to laugh at yourself, and he'd accepted that there were idiots in the world and wasn't going to let them change him. At least, that's what a white woman got out of watching it. It was something that I might not be able to truly identify with racially, but I can grasp it academically and I identified with in other ways. Things that I might say sarcastically to my brother, for example, that I know will make him laugh, but if someone who doesn't know us overhears... It just sounds bad because they don't understand all the context. (ETA: This isn't exactly the same, and I'm aware of that. But in some ways it feels like there's a category of "things you can say only to certain people or boy, is that shit gonna get misunderstood." How and why and ramifications might vary, but most people have had this realization at some point. I hope.)

I watched it a long time ago as it aired and haven't rewatched, but I think it's worth a watch. Whether you think it's a good or bad season will likely depend on a few factors, one being how well you take watching the men implode. For me, it's like Cagayan in that they certainly had the ability to do something if they ever got their act together at the same time, but they don't. Part of that is the men themselves, and part of that is the charisma of the eventual winner.

Downsides: Some truly noxious personalities, headed by Colton. He just gets worse and worse. Definitely feel free to hate-watch his ass, possibly with strong alcohol. Alicia should have been bitch-slapped a few times too. Someone surgically removed Christina's spine.

Upsides: If you enjoy watching arrogant people who are dumb enough to segragate themselves and actually SAY things like "We're the alpha males" get taken down hard, it has that. Kim is boss at strategy, social game, and challenges. Sabrina, Jay (once you get past the voice), Mike (was that his name?) were cool. Troyzan ranges from funny to omg, just sit down, dude. Tarzan pontificates with words he misuses at Tribal Council, and his social skills are, um, questionable. (At one point he essentially asks Chelsea if she dislikes him because he's a plastic surgeon and she's angry at her plastic surgeon for her boob job.) Leif is a little person who I believe is a stunt person irl. 

Monica and Jonah are there. 

So there's some good stuff in there. If nothing else, the cast should get some credit for not outright killing Colton. I sure wanted to.

Oh I forgot the idol debuted in Cao Boi's season, my bad on that one. However I must admit, if there's someone I think is way over due for a 2nd chance, it's Cao Boi.

I'll give you props for remembering so much from a season that you have only watched once. That there's a dude on there that calls himself Tarzan on there is pretty funny. I googled him. I can at least understand why Troy nicknamed himself 'Troyzan' since he resembles the original Tarzan somewhat. I don't like to judge people in general, let alone people I've never met. So watching Colton play, I would try to find an excuse for him as to why he's behaving the way he is. But then again, hearing the horror stories about him and the small clips I've watched from him in One World, that's enough for me to never visit that season.

[Most and Least Favorite Past Contestants]

7 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

Cirie split the votes the season before, for an even more clever reason (to boot the goat).

And you should watch the post-merge of One World because it's the best game anyone has ever played.

Oh ya, I remember that Cirie did that. However, Cao Boi had a dream about splitting the votes, so since Cirie is pretty much a legend of Survivor, can we please give Cao Boi this honor of creating 'plan voodoo'? Plus he did it to flush out the idol, Cirie did not. :)

I might one day. Is the season as bad as advertised though? I don't want to start a season mid-way, if I have to watch a season and watch a persons game play, I want to watch it from episode 1.

[Favorite Survivor season ever?]

1 hour ago, Nalan said:

Yeah. . . . Not a good case for either.  Loyalty is good in the early goings, but when you're trying to win . . . that's just dumb.  Which is why Woo's far from one of my favorites.  And Tony is easily one the worst, not best, winners, since his paranoia should've gotten him kicked weeks before the end, and he was saved by so many other stupid decisions and that overpowered idol.  Without either, he's gone.  He got LUCKY to win Cagayan, and his early flame-out in Game Changers just validated those thoughts.  And I don't know where you got it in your head that he's charismatic.  He's not.  At all.

Well I think every single Survivor winner had a portion of luck winning the game. That being said, to have the ability to blindside your alliance twice and still be good with them the next day is not an easy task. You have to look for idols in order to find them and Tony looked. Saying Tony got lucky by having the overpowered idol is the same as saying Yul got lucky by having it as well.

Funny thing is they used it pretty much the same way, although I admit Tony showed it off more than he had to.

I'd like to know who your favorite winner(s) is/are of all time?

[Favorite Survivor season ever?]

1 hour ago, simplyme said:

Oh, I'm not knocking you. I'm sorry if it at all came across that way. I'm just explaining why I think she was brought back, especially since several people mentioned it. And I can see finding Candice boring. She doesn't show a whole lot of emotion most of the time. I think most of us find her shining emotional moment to be flipping off Brad Culpepper in BvW.

As to Laura, I loved watching Laura in challenges. I don't know that she necessarily deserves a third shot because while she's amazing at challenges, her social game isn't very good. Then again, I could say the same for Ozzy and he's played four times, and her own daughter Ciera has played three. I'd much rather see Laura than Ciera. (Pleeeease enough with Ciera.)

Most if all, though, I want to see new people right now. For God's sake. 

Also...As far as I can tell whether or not someone is brought back has a lot to do with how production feels about them, not what they did or didn't do or how viewers feel. I think Game Changers (insert hysterical laughter here) should have proved that. I mean, Caleb? C'mon. Production brought him back because they thought he had a cross-over fanbase from BB and Probst liked him, not because "He almost died for Survivor!" was game-changing. (If it was, Russell Swan is wondering what happened to his call.) 

I wasn't feeling like you were knocking me. I was just trying to have a discussion. :)

I agree that you could put Candice, Laura and Ozzy in the same category as to why they've been invited back, but in Ozzy's case, he is probably one of the most popular Survivor contestants ever. Whereas Candice was probably the least entitled person to get an invite to Heroes Vs. Villains (and that include people like Sugar and Danielle).

1 hour ago, Nalan said:

I don't know how that F2 can be anyone's favorite, but whatever.

 

1 hour ago, Nalan said:

Dude.  If you really think Natalie was undeserving of beating Russell, you really weren't paying attention.

To each his own opinion I guess. But I'd love to explain why:

Woo: I can relate to Woo a lot with him always being positive and just enjoying his surroundings and his time on the island. Probably not the smartest player to ever play but I liked how he chose Tony because of his loyalty and I believe he thought he could beat him.

Tony: One of the most charismatic people to ever play the game. He made his season hilarious, exciting and dramatic (just started watching the season for a 4th time). One of the greatest winners ever in my opinion. The first day on his 2nd season where he just went crazy, told the people he was going to look for the idol and just ran off. Probably the funniest Survivor moment ever for me. Sad that he didn't last long (although expected).

[Favorite Survivor season ever?]

1 hour ago, simplyme said:

My read is that she didn't feel like anyone had her back at Aitu. Penner, the person she knew the longest and was supposedly closest to, was talking to Yul a lot. She didn't trust Penner. She knew Yul and Becky were a solid two. Back at Raro, though, she felt Adam and Parvati would have her back and she could make inroads with the others. When the chance to switch came, why wait and try to explain why she didn't move when she had the chance? She didn't expect Penner to follow, or the mutiny to bond the Aitu 4 and motivate them, or for Yul to sway Penner with the idol. From her perspective, her plan made sense for her game, and she didn't do it out of malice. But from the viewer perspective, I think it made her unintentionally come off as a mean girl, and after that she had a huge target on her. I don't know if she would have mutinied if she'd realized that Penner would too and that what was left of Aitu would HATE her.

I'm not bashing her for the move, in fact it was a very ballsy move and could have changed the game in her favor had her tribe won one or two challenges against Aitu. I just find her boring, that's all. Going by the logic of bringing her back because of her strength in challenges, I guess Laura (Ciera's mom) should get a 3rd try as well. They're both very similar to me; strong in challenges but pretty boring to watch.

[Favorite Survivor season ever?]

8 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I re watched Cook Islands recently, and while it is still a top 10 season for me (especially where challenges are concerned-why can't they re use some of those?) I find myself not liking it as much as before.  The Aitu 4 kicking Raro's ass wasn't as exciting on re watch, and I actually found some of the Raro members-dare I say-appealing?  I still can't understand how Candice has come back twice, although I'm glad she was included for BvsW since we got to meet her hubby.  I actually found Adam and Nate to be a lot funnier than I remember.  I'd love to see both of them play again.  Cao Boi I also had a new found appreciation for, and wish he had gotten a better edit than eccentric oddball, even if that was part of his charm.  But he definitely seemed smarter and wiser than they gave him credit for.

Cook Islands is definitely in my top 10. Main reason is because of Cao Boi but the other reason is definitely because of the Aitu 4. I did like Nate and Jonathan on the other tribe but I liked the underdog story and how they kept sending Candice to Exile Island. I do agree with you on Candice though. How she was invited back again I will never understand. Also one of the best moments of the season was when Jonathan re-joined the old Aitu after betraying them at the mutiny.

[Best and Worst of the Reunion Shows]

I don't really take Reunions seriously. Now that I don't live in the states, I don't watch the shows live. I don't even follow it week-to-week when it's airing. I like to watch the complete season when all the episodes are out. That way I don't have to wait a whole week to watch another episode.

My favorite Reunion shows has to be Heroes Vs. Villains. Russell's speech, Rob Vs. Russell, all the characters etc. Honorable mention would be Samoa, Cagayan and Fans Vs. Favorites II. Probably the funniest moment in Survivor Reunion history where Boston Rob is introducing his 'How to play Survivor' book and then while going to commercial he stays on the stage and getting that camera time.

[Most and Least Favorite Past Contestants]

My favorite Survivor player of all time is Cao Boi. He is the inventor of splitting the votes (plan voodoo) and pretty much made fire from the air.

Other favorites would be: Russell H, Boston Rob, Tyson, Tony, Woo, Yao-Man, Bruce, Jeremy, Rupert, Fairplay, Phillip S, Ozzy, Gervase, Jonathan etc.

Least favorite by a country mile is Colton. I never watched his season because I was warned by a friend not to. But I have seen a couple clips from it on youtube and I watched him the 2nd time in Tyson and Gervase's season.

[Favorite Survivor season ever?]

Wow I must admit I'm surprised by the love Micronesia gets. It had the potential to be one of the best Survivors ever but failed miserably in my opinion.

The first old school Survivor I probably enjoyed was Pearl Islands. Rupert and Fairplay were both hilarious on that season. Also being a wrestling fan, I loved how every time Fairplay would go up to vote, he would do a wrestler's catchphrase.

I guess I'm in the minority here again like I am with Cagayan but I loved Samoa. How they just let Russell play the way he did is their own fault. It was however his own fault that the 2nd most undeserving winner of all time beat him in the final. The most undeserving winner of all time is Michelle from Koah Rong. I just re-watched it to see what moves she made.. Still looking.

[Survivor in Other Countries]

10 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Thanks! Will watch South African. Would love to watch Danish and others, but very hard to find them with subtitles. 

So far, I'm liking NZ better than many of the latest US versions. I appreciate the time given to camp life, and the lack of drama casting. 

I cant even find the early seasons of the show anywhere, there's only a few videos of it on YouTube, definitely none with subs sadly.

10 hours ago, simplyme said:

For some reason I'm now picturing Gordon Ramsey from Hell's Kitchen hosting this.

^. Here's a picture of him. He used to play football for Chelsea (for any football fans out there/or Chelsea fans). Just last season he threw someone out of the show for being too lazy and complaining all the time. He called her a walking disaster and threw her out right after they voted someone else out.

[Favorite Survivor season ever?]

Micronesia pretty much had the opposite effect on me. When the favorite tribe was introduced I was hyped. James, Fairplay, Yao-Man, Jonathan & Ozzy. Probably the season where I had so many people to root for (also the big guy on the fans tribe, forgot his name). It was a big let-down for me when Erik gave up his immunity and I stopped watching the season after that. I might have to watch it again but I've never been a fan of Parvati, so knowing she ends up winning probably kept me away from watching it back for so many years.

[Survivor in Other Countries]

I watched the Australian version of Survivor and it was boring. I couldn't get behind anyone. The only one I liked got voted out early (Barry), after that I lost interest in the season. My friend convinced me to keep watching it, he kept telling me it would become good. So I watched.. nothing happened. I found out that he wanted me to suffer the way he suffered through it. I think I skipped the last 4 episodes and jumped to the final tribal council where that girl won (don't remember her name). It was a big joke and I probably wont give the new season a chance.

If you want to watch great international Survivor, the South African version is the one you want to watch. Just finished watching Season 5: South Africa Champions. It's definitely one of the best seasons of Survivor I have ever seen (including the US ones).

It's too bad most of you guys wont ever watch the danish version. That one has the most hilarious evil host in history of all the Survivor shows. I remember in one season a couple years back, he walked into the contestants' camp in the middle of the night, woke them up and told them there's a challenge right now (it was that kind where you had to stand straight with your arm while balancing a knife), the one who dropped first was out of the competition (and I think it was final 6 or something).

If you're not into that kind of eliminations, you wont like it. It's very different from the US survivor we all know. Before the merge, he would get everyone on a boat, tell them to jump out and the last one to shore would be out of the competition.

Also when people quit the show, he trash talks them all the way back to Denmark. That's one thing he does not tolerate on the show, is weak people. If you guys are ever in Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland), then you should give it a watch definitely. It's called Robinson Ekspeditionen.