Rob Has A Podcast: Survivor Edition

[KimberStormer]

I listened to Rob's "Why Survivor Fans Should Watch Big Brother" the other day (I had an enormous pile of very boring work to do) and I must say they failed to convince me.  I somehow had it in my mind that BB was just Survivor in a house with horribler people, but actually it sounds like it's basically the Real World/Road Rules Challenge (does that still exist?  Does The Real World still exist?  Just how elderly am I?)  playing live so they can't even edit it to make any sense or emotional impact.  But I did laugh when Rob and his fellow podcaster were making their final pitches of absurd stuff that happens:  "Once celebrities took over the house for the week!  But it only happened twice and then they gave up on the idea and never even mentioned it again!"  "People have to wear a chicken suit for a week!  For no reason!  And they like it!" "Every season a robot comes in the house and insults the contestants! And it's the highlight of the summer!"  Maybe I will check out a highlight reel of bizarre Big Brother moments, but I don't think I'll ever sit down and watch the show itself.

[fishcakes]

I watched half an episode of Big Brother in its first season and it was one of the most boring things I'd ever seen. I heard someone describe the experience of watching it as, "I'm sitting on my couch looking at people who are sitting on a couch," and that was pretty much my feeling about it. A few years later, I caught a few minutes of it where the housemates were having a sumo contest wearing those inflatable costumes and a one-legged dude was smoking the competition by hopping into everyone and knocking them out of the circle, and that was kind of fun, but then they all returned to the couches and started talking about their stupid feelings so that was enough for me.

[NutMeg]

Well, a book by Ben Elton got me to watch a season of Amazing Idol, just to check if the cliches about the judges/the process/ the contestants were on point. I think they were, and the casting process described is relevant to many other shows. The season I elected to watch was to one where Adam Lambert was on, he was interestingh enough that I stuck wih it to the end. And came back the season afer. Then ended up bailing on it all.

In the same way, Ben Elton plus my son got me into watching a season of BB. Two, actually. But the first one apparently wasn't relevant, because it was UK (celebrity). So I watched another seaon. US. Awful. Mostly, awful people. 

Why am I writing all of this in this forum? well, because you guys memtioned Bid Brother and I got carried away.

I have fantastic talks with my son about why this or that  former Survivor player is cast, what they can bring to the table, why they could go out early, why they could stay for the duration. I remember wishing for him to stay in bed so that I could watch Survivor when he was a tiny thing, then him starting watching, then crying when his fav was voted out (I think it was Eliza), then rooting for someone I thought didn't have a chance in hell (lucky for us, it was Aras!)     

[Guest]

We watch BB, or have for 4-5 years.  My teen likes it.  I don't hate it.  I can't stomach the Bachelor crap, America's Got Talent, Real Housewives or much else in the genre.  I've never seen any of the old MTV(?) ones.  

I still miss The Mole.  And, oddly, I kind of liked Love in the Wild.  Heh.  

[LadyChatts]

I haven't watched BB in years.  I use to be a die hard fan, but I tuned out during seasons 7-9 for various reasons, and the last full season I watched was season 12.  I couldn't stomach some of the returning players for season 13 so I tuned out completely, and have gone back.  I realized I don't miss it, even though the live feeds were heaven for an insomniac like me.  Season 1 was super boring, especially when it kept getting compared to the more successful and entertaining Survivor.  I can see why people like it, though.  Actually, when Rob C. did Survivor, he reminded me a lot of Dr. Will (season 2's BB winner).  I can see why he would be plugging the show. 

Winston, I loved The Mole!  That was a very underappreciated show.  The only reality shows I really watch are on CBS.  I gave up on the others I use to watch a long time ago.  Though I do like America's Got Talent and Dancing with the Stars (though that's beginning to only pique my interest depending on which celebs and pros are on that respective season).

Edited June 28, 2016 by LadyChatts

[Nashville]

I watch BB - and BBAD (BB After Dark - a late night 2-3 hour glimpse into the live feeds) - and I keep an eye on the feed update sites.  Why?

1. Coop up a bunch of people in a single house for a month with no outside communication, no social interaction except with each other, no way to GET AWAY FROM each other much more than the width of a room or two, and impose a cutthroat competitive game structure on them - and yeah, most of the time the individual people aren't great, but some of the social strategizing and politics which develop in this pressure cooker of a fishbowl can be mind-blowing.
2. I started off like (I suspect) most folks just watching the broadcast show.  Get a look at what's going on in realtime which never makes it to broadcast, though, and BB hardcore confirms the same thing which gets discussed -rather plaintively - in every season of Survivor; i.e., the disconnect between the actual people personalities and their broadcast portrayal can be beyond night and day.

[Wings]

6 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I still miss The Mole

I do too!  It was the best reality show and only saw one season with Anderson Cooper, perfect host for this.  

I watch BB, too, feeds and all.  

[KimberStormer]

8 hours ago, Nashville said:

 most of the time the individual people aren't great, but some of the social strategizing and politics which develop in this pressure cooker of a fishbowl can be mind-blowing.

This is interesting because Rob and his cohost were at pains to explain that, a few players notwithstanding, there's not a whole lot of strategy on BB and the emphasis is on the kind of trashy, humiliating, dehumanizing wackiness that makes people think all reality TV is horrible and makes me never tell anyone IRL that I watch Survivor.  Did I understand right that only two people are up for elimination each week, and determining who those people are devolves upon a basically randomly-selected member of the household?

I've never heard of The Mole somehow but I think it has my favorite Wikipedia entry that I've ever seen.  "Since the Mole must use subterfuge to misdirect attention from his/her attempts to derail the team, disingenuous attempts to emulate the Mole must be subtle, while still noticeable and suspicious."  "Some players in later series chose to seek out clues, most often in vain. Allegedly, this is what led to the demise of Corbin Bernsen in Celebrity Mole Hawaii."

[LadyChatts]

You understood correct Kimber.  One thing I do like about BB (or, at least, old school BB-there's so many twists involved nowadays from what I hear) is that the game really could be unpredictable from week to week.  Unlike Survivor, where it can be a boring mega alliance pagonging those in the minority in predictable fashion, alliances use to be harder to keep on BB due to the fact that two people were nominated, and one person determined who those two were, and that varied from week to week.  So your alliance could be running the show one week, and the next, the very people you targeted could be the ones determining your fate.  I think there was more strategy involved in the earlier seasons, but I haven't watched in quite a few, so I don't know how it is now.

The first season was much different.  The HG nominated two people for eviction, and whoever had the highest number of votes were officially the nominees.  America then called in and determined who was voted out of the house.  That was one of the many flaws with the first BB.  The more interesting people left first, and you were left with a group that was extremely conscious of being on camera and being obsessed with America liking them.  They actually got to the point where they made sure everyone left was put up for nomination so it'd be fair and they'd all have an equal chance of leaving.  I think my favorite part of BB was house guest George having a hate campaign going on against him, after his wife was seen organizing a party to vote out a more popular contestant over him.  Viewers use to hire planes to fly banners over the house, and poor George didn't understand why everyone starting hated on him out of nowhere.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, KimberStormer said:

This is interesting because Rob and his cohost were at pains to explain that, a few players notwithstanding, there's not a whole lot of strategy on BB and the emphasis is on the kind of trashy, humiliating, dehumanizing wackiness that makes people think all reality TV is horrible and makes me never tell anyone IRL that I watch Survivor. 

Rob is perfectly welcome to his own opinions on the subject of BB strategy. :)  Is BB strategy the same as Survivor strategy?  Of course not - they're two different shows, with different formats and different ground rules.  Difference, however, doesn't necessarily dictate nonexistence. 

BB strategy is definitely more fluid, insofar as one lucky Head of Household comp win can flip things dramatically - but the same fluidity applies to chess as well.  Best thing you can do in either game is to keep thinking several moves ahead; worse mistake you can make in either game is to assume your opponent will move in quiet acquiescence with your intended strategy.

Of course, that doesn't contraindicate the trashiness at all.  :>

 

Quote

Did I understand right that only two people are up for elimination each week, and determining who those people are devolves upon a basically randomly-selected member of the household?

Sure!  In the same sense that in Survivor a subset of the group is up for elimination every three days, and determining that subset devolves upon a basically randomly-selected loss of an immunity challenge.  :)

Edited June 29, 2016 by Nashville
added the chess analogy

[Guest]

I just heard a commercial for RHAP on the radio, on the alt rock station in Phoenix.  

[ProfCrash]

Listening to the premier episode RHAP and rolling my eyes. The idea of Tony being a strategic Mastermind is ridiculous. Tired of hearing Rob and Stephen drooling over Tony.

[ByaNose]

9 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Listening to the premier episode RHAP and rolling my eyes. The idea of Tony being a strategic Mastermind is ridiculous. Tired of hearing Rob and Stephen drooling over Tony.

He played such a crazy game and won. In theory, it was a genius move. Everyone saw him do it and still awarded  him the millions. It was sort of masterful. IMO!

[ProfCrash]

Tony played against a tribe that decimated themselves and had a bunch of idiots on his own tribe. He voted out who ever he wanted to and his lackeys went along with it. It was painful to watch. His antics were never going to work against anyone who had a clue, whether they be newbies or returning players. Tony got his ass handed to him when he played against people who have a clue.

[thehepburn]

That is a simplification. 

[ProfCrash]

Rob interviews Vytas and discusses the whole leaving Ponderosa thing. He was told that he would lose his per diem and not be allowed to go to the Finale Reunion show if he left Ponderosa and he left any way. He claims he didn't tell anyone he left and he stayed of social media hoping he would get a chance to attend the reunion. Given that his yoga classes were how people figured out he was the first boot, it is pretty clear that whatever he was doing was not enough.

Listening to the rest right now but it is interesting hearing about Vytas's logic

[ByaNose]

32 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Rob interviews Vytas and discusses the whole leaving Ponderosa thing. He was told that he would lose his per diem and not be allowed to go to the Finale Reunion show if he left Ponderosa and he left any way. He claims he didn't tell anyone he left and he stayed of social media hoping he would get a chance to attend the reunion. Given that his yoga classes were how people figured out he was the first boot, it is pretty clear that whatever he was doing was not enough.

Listening to the rest right now but it is interesting hearing about Vytas's logic

Even if only two people saw him it was two too many. I'm pretty sure since then they have locked that part of the contract stipulation down now. If you are voted off first or 3rd to last you ain't going home. I'm in the middle of the podcast with Vytas. I like hearing both Zara's & Vytas take on the game. They are fans and get it. 

[ProfCrash]

Agreed. I understand what he is saying. Rob agreed with him and I get it, you did well the first time, losing first or early your second time has got to suck badly. That said, you are willing to leave your family for two months because you love the game and you think you can win you need to suck it up if you lose before the jury. Maybe the moral of the story really is ask yourself how you will handle being voted out first instead of thinking about winning and see if you are still willing to play.

I am enjoying the podcast. It is the first time that Vytas has podcasted that I have enjoyed it. Before this he always was just an arrogant ass, maybe losing took him down a peg or two?

[LadyChatts]

Vytas also liked a photo on IG, which was when people suspected he was one of the first 3 out.  Some people didn't know if anyone had access to his account and were trying to throw people off.  Then the yoga post happened.  I wonder if he's burned too many bridges that he'll never get another chance (which is fine with me).  

[ProfCrash]

He was promoting the Winners season pretty hard for his brother.

Listening to last seasons vote off interviews. The pod cast was not working for me last year. I love that Rachel called Rob out on the awful annual Corrine bashes the new players before the season airs crap. Have no idea if Corrine did one this season, I know she normally does not discuss the returning players because she knows them and she cannot be her normal bullying self.

Edited March 10, 2017 by ProfCrash

[enlightenedbum]

I don't think it's much of a secret that Nicole made the show work.

[LadyChatts]

I always hated those stupid Corrine podcasts.  I listened to one, and didn't even make it through 10 minutes.  I don't see what's so great or funny about them.  She can be pretty nasty (but it's Corrine, so surprise).

[himela]

16 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

I don't think it's much of a secret that Nicole made the show work.

What do you mean by that?

[ByaNose]

3 hours ago, himela said:

What do you mean by that?

Maybe, when she sat in on the Corrine podcast? Just guessing though.

[enlightenedbum]

Just that RHAP has been way less interesting to me since she stopped regularly being on.

[Guest]

I don't think I ever heard her on it.  Not that I listen to more than a handful per season, usually.  And it's usually exit interviews, if anything.  

[himela]

1 hour ago, enlightenedbum said:

Just that RHAP has been way less interesting to me since she stopped regularly being on.

The only times I've listened to her are the pre-season previews she does with Rob and, as much as I don't know her, I find her to be a little arrogant and cocky in my opinion. Just like Sandra, she feels she is the queen. So no, I don't think that your opinion only is "a common secret". You made it sound like it's something everyone thinks and well, I don't.

I love Rob and most of his podcasters (I dislike the new one for BB, Melissa, I don't find her fitting with the rest of the group). I can't imagine watching Survivor without listening to Rob's podcasts.

[ProfCrash]

Listening to the Culpeppers on RHAP is simply painful. They don't know the names of the players this season and are very good at bitching about Brad's first season. Just uggghhh

[ByaNose]

On 10/27/2017 at 1:03 PM, ProfCrash said:

Listening to the Culpeppers on RHAP is simply painful. They don't know the names of the players this season and are very good at bitching about Brad's first season. Just uggghhh

Funny! I actually liked them better after hearing the podcast. I didn’t like Brad in Blood/Water and hated him less in Game Changers. I didn’t think too much of Monica in her first season or second season. She was smart (and, lucky) that she stuck with Tyson & Gervace to make it to the Final 3. Anyway, I thought they were pretty informative about the game itself. I don’t blame Brad too much for not knowing names. He’s older and has a lot of hits to the head playing football that I give him a pass. Rob also seemed to really enjoy them. 

[ProfCrash]

I turned it off 20 minutes in due to the whining and the complete lack of knowledge of the current game being played. They knew they were going to be on a Podcast, write the names down. Brad is a successful lawyer, he should be able to remember what happened on an episode that aired hours earlier.

Rob enjoys everyone. He is chill and enjoys talking Survivor.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Brad is a successful lawyer,

I don't know how much I respect that, knowing he's an ambulance chaser.  

[ProfCrash]

He is a lawyer who is employed and making money. I might not agree with how he practices law but I think we can say he is successful. He was smart enough and persistent enough to graduate from law school and pass the bar exam, neither are all that easy, so he should be able to take notes and talk a bit more intelligently about the episode that he knows he is going to be discussing. I did not like him on either of his seasons of Survivor and nothing he was saying was interesting enough to keep me engaged during the podcast.

[Guest]

Oh I agree.  I just don't think he's any great mind.  And personal injury law and not prepping for a podcast to me have something in common-- they both feel lazy.

[LadyChatts]

8 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I turned it off 20 minutes in due to the whining and the complete lack of knowledge of the current game being played. They knew they were going to be on a Podcast, write the names down. Brad is a successful lawyer, he should be able to remember what happened on an episode that aired hours earlier.

Rob enjoys everyone. He is chill and enjoys talking Survivor.

I could say this about a lot of Survivors who show up on various podcasts.  They can't remember contestant names, tribes, or what happened the night before.  At the very least, pull your phone out and google the season.  All the information is right in front of you.  It's actually comical sometimes when they just want to hear themselves talk, then stumble when they don't know whether there's an Alan on the season.

[Hanahope]

8 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

Oh I agree.  I just don't think he's any great mind.  And personal injury law and not prepping for a podcast to me have something in common-- they both feel lazy.

A lot of PI law is the attorney getting clients and name recognition is a huge help.  

I do appreciate how Rob is very prepared for these interviews. 

[ProfCrash]

15 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I could say this about a lot of Survivors who show up on various podcasts.  They can't remember contestant names, tribes, or what happened the night before.  At the very least, pull your phone out and google the season.  All the information is right in front of you.  It's actually comical sometimes when they just want to hear themselves talk, then stumble when they don't know whether there's an Alan on the season.

Normally the Survivors on RHAP are pretty well prepared and excited to discuss the show. I might not always agree with them but they are prepared. The Culpepper's are the first I have heard in ages who were so lost discussing an episode that they watched a few hours earlier.

OK, I really don't like the Culpepper's and all of their whining makes me think of some privileged twits who are upset because Mommy and Daddy didn't get them the right color BMW for their birthday.

[ByaNose]

Has anyone seen the secret scene of Dr. Mike and the WASP? Rob keeps playing the audio from it and it sounds HYSTERICAL. Does anyone know where it is? I can't seem to find it.

[LadyChatts]

[ByaNose]

12 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

 

A thousand Thank you's. That was pretty funny. That said, I think it was funnier with Rob playing it. Maybe, just hearing it out loud & on a loop is what cracks me up. Too funny! I like Dr. Mike. He is really playing the game and seems to be enoying every moment.

[marys1000]

OM FING G.  There is a term for that so fing annoying trend in young people doing that descending voice to gravel thing???  

[Oholibamah]

On 2017-11-03 at 4:46 PM, marys1000 said:

OM FING G.  There is a term for that so fing annoying trend in young people doing that descending voice to gravel thing???  

I've heard it referred to as "vocal fry", but I'm possibly so accustomed that I'm deaf to it. I still don't really get what people are talking about or why it's considered annoying. 

Who this season does that? 

[KimberStormer]

Funny how people only care when it's young women, and not for example Noam Chomsky

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, Oholibamah said:

I still don't really get what people are talking about or why it's considered annoying.  

Right!

9 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Funny how people only care when it's young women, and not for example Noam Chomsky

Exactly.

[simplyme]

I'm such a geek that I found the Wikipedia entry on the vocal fry register to be fascinating. It briefly covers the physical production of the fry and its use societally and in singing.

[Guest]

When I hear Noam Chomsky or Ira Glass, I hear a man with a guttural voice.  When I hear a woman with it, I usually hear a woman affecting a more mannish voice.  Maybe it's an affect for the men, too, but it sounds like it could at least be their actual voice, unlike most of the women you hear it from. 

Or maybe I'm a secret internet misogynist woman who just lives for finding things to claim to hate about women and only women.  That's certainly funner.  

I don't hear it on anyone this season, though.  

[marys1000]

13 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Funny how people only care when it's young women, and not for example Noam Chomsky

Oh no, I care if I hear men do it, but I hear far more women do it.  It is so annoying I can't believe why you don't get it.  

Start a sentance in normal voice then  as the voice descends in register it loses all ups and downs and normal tonations and keeps going down till it ends up a strangled gravely flat....grind. 

Grind grind grind.

Over and over.  gah.  

Edited November 7, 2017 by marys1000

[peachmangosteen]

I still don't understand what exactly it is lol. If anyone watched Big Brother, is it like the way Liz and Julia talked? Is that vocal fry? Because if so I talk that way, too, so maybe that's why I don't get it.

It is literally never made a big deal by most when it's a man though, I do know that.

Edited November 7, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[Oholibamah]

17 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I still don't understand what exactly it is lol. If anyone watched Big Brother, is it like the way Liz and Julia talked? Is that vocal fry? Because if so I talk that way, too, so maybe that's why I don't get it.

It is literally never made a big deal by most when it's a man though, I do know that.

This video was sort of helpful: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E_h_VC_NXek

it even has a terrifying demonstration of what happens to the throat. 

I think on some people it may be an affectation, but Michele from Kaoh Rong was accused of it constantly, and I think that's just the way she talks. Considering she's from New Jersey, I think she got off lucky in the voice department (I kid, I kid). 

But annoying? I think it depends on how annoying the person's original voice is. The Kardashians are annoying regardless of what register their voice is in. 

[Special K]

For me, it always sounds like an affectation, man or woman.  Like the person is trying to affect a kind of insouciance or jadedness.  Not saying it's intentional, but that's how it sounds to me.

[Nashville]

20 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

It is literally never made a big deal by most when it's a man though, I do know that.

Er - because for men whose normal vocals are in the baritone-to-bass range, that’s their natural (not affected) method of speech?  :)