Rob Has A Podcast: Survivor Edition

[Special K]

LOL, it's pathetic how much googling I just had to do to keep up with this conversation.

[healthnut]

Anybody else listen to the Spencer interview? Definitely no recapping of the episode here, but at least Spencer seems to be in an okay place. 

[KimberStormer]

When Stephen brought up Richard Hatch in All-Stars this week, Rob seemed very negative but didn't want to talk about it, and said you can listen to the All-Stars episode of Evolution of Strategy to hear what he thinks of Richard.  Has anybody listened to that?  What did he say? 

[ProfCrash]

I only listen to what is available for free on YouTube, which means the Wednesday podcast with Stephen. Rob's website is blocked at work and I have other things to do at home. RHAP is part of my background noise at work.

[ProfCrash]

Have Rob and Stephen become idiots? Stephen asks how Kelly and David have survived when Aubry and Joe have had a target on their backs all along. And the two of them can't jump to the obvious, the Kama tribe wanted the returnees out and Manu had people who wanted to work with the returnees. This is no different then Boston Rob vs Russell. Russell's tribe wanted to vote out the returnee, Rob's tribe fawned over Rob.

Oh my god.

No one on the Kama tribe wanted to play with the returnees, they wanted them out. It really is that simple.

And yes, it helped that Reem was annoying and Keith couldn't swim and Wendy was obnoxious and unpredictable but I think it has more to do with Lauren wanting to play with Kelly and Rick wanted to play with David. They both ended up with people who were excited to play with them vs Kama where Aubry was gone first only because Joe and fish.

[ByaNose]

On RHAP Josh Wigler had an interesting theory. He said if Rick Devens makes the Final 3 he wins. If he doesn't make the Final 3 and a returneee is there that person will win. Obviously, it's not out of the realm of possibility that this could happen but he seemed nail it down to those two theories. They also went to the alternate reality and said if Reem got back in the game she would win. They were calling it in "The Reem World". Baiscally, saying it's doubtful but they were having fun with it.

[ProfCrash]

I have long said that Reem is the winner this season deserves. 

[ByaNose]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I have long said that Reem is the winner this season deserves. 

And, she also has gotten the biggest edit on EoE. Her voice is the last thing you hear whenever anyone arrived on EOE. It would be crazy that she could beat everyone in a challenge to get back in the game. Maybe, they all let her do it on purpose. LOL!!!! I’m looking forward to see who actually wins getting back in and winning altogether. It’s been along season. 

[healthnut]

If you have not checked out the Talking with T-Bird series they’ve been airing this summer, I highly recommend it. They’ve interviewed Gretchen, Helen Glover, Sean, Kelley Goldsmith, Judd, Scout.....it’s been really fun.

[ProfCrash]

On 8/9/2019 at 12:40 PM, healthnut said:

If you have not checked out the Talking with T-Bird series they’ve been airing this summer, I highly recommend it. They’ve interviewed Gretchen, Helen Glover, Sean, Kelley Goldsmith, Judd, Scout.....it’s been really fun.

Is it on Youtube? I can't access his website at work, blocked, so I can listen on Youtube. I have enough other things going on at home that I don't listen to Podcasts.

[healthnut]

7 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Is it on Youtube? I can't access his website at work, blocked, so I can listen on Youtube. I have enough other things going on at home that I don't listen to Podcasts.

No, just on the website and podcast apps. They’re really good though, they interviewed Ami Cusack this week. 

[RescueMom]

On 8/9/2019 at 11:40 AM, healthnut said:

If you have not checked out the Talking with T-Bird series they’ve been airing this summer, I highly recommend it. They’ve interviewed Gretchen, Helen Glover, Sean, Kelley Goldsmith, Judd, Scout.....it’s been really fun.

I have! She also got Rodger Bingham from season 2, who is one of my favorite players!!  And I just got a notice that an interview with Frank from Africa is available, which I am super excited to listen to. Sounds like they are focusing on Survivors from the first 15 seasons. I listen to them during my commute and I hope they keep doing them!!

[ByaNose]

On 9/1/2019 at 8:34 AM, RescueMom said:

I have! She also got Rodger Bingham from season 2, who is one of my favorite players!!  And I just got a notice that an interview with Frank from Africa is available, which I am super excited to listen to. Sounds like they are focusing on Survivors from the first 15 seasons. I listen to them during my commute and I hope they keep doing them!!

I’ve listened to a few but stopped. I can’t with T-Bird. She is sooooo annoying and interrupts everyone.i wish it was just Rob and the guest. It’s great hear from the old timers since I’ve been watching since Day 1 but T-Bird has made a big turnoff for me. Right now, I’m just waiting for the official cast reveal for Season 39. I need me some Survivor and quick.

[BK1978]

On 9/2/2019 at 8:50 PM, ByaNose said:

I’ve listened to a few but stopped. I can’t with T-Bird. She is sooooo annoying and interrupts everyone.i wish it was just Rob and the guest. It’s great hear from the old timers since I’ve been watching since Day 1 but T-Bird has made a big turnoff for me. Right now, I’m just waiting for the official cast reveal for Season 39. I need me some Survivor and quick.

You could always check out the Aussie version, it's current season has been excellent.

Does Rob do what Joe Rogan does and post his podcasts on YouTube?

[Hanahope]

I like listening to Josh Wigler's pre-show interviews.  I do a Survivor pool and in the last few years, I make sure to listen to his interviews before I make my choice.  I usually make an initial choice of 5 from the bios, then listen to the interview and almost always I end up switching several choices. I submit those 5 to the pool organizer and I'll get one of them. I don't usually pick the winner, but all but once I've been able to get in the top 5.  Hoping for a winner this time.

[Libby]

I just listened to this week's episode of The Wiggle Room. Josh Wiggler announced that he was going to stop covering Survivor on both Rob Has a Podcast and The Hollywood Reporter.

Apparently he has been unhappy covering Survivor for a while and the lack of an adequate response by production regarding the Dan problem was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Libby

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, Libby said:

I just listened to this week's episode of The Wiggle Room. Josh Wiggler announced that he was going to stop covering Survivor on both Rob Has a Podcast and The Hollywood Reporter.

Apparently he has been unhappy covering Survivor for a while and the lack of an adequate response by production regarding the Dan problem was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Wow

[ozziemom]

I think Gordon Holmes stopped doing his Survivor power rankings too. I think production had no clue how all this would go down.

[fishcakes]

Yeah, I don't know. People are bailing right and left, and it's starting to feel like ... the end? I hate to see it go under this cloud, but the theme and cast of season 40 might be a way to end the series on a good note.

[LadyChatts]

I listened to that podcast where Josh said he's not covering it anymore, and good points were made all around.  This past episode was a cross roads for the season (and possibly the series), and boy did it go wrong.  I really don't think TPTB expected the backlash to be this severe, or assumed they could control the narrative and exploit the situation later on down the road.  

I haven't heard anything about Survivor being renewed beyond S40.  Usually the next two seasons would start filming in March through July, and I've heard nothing about any casting process or anything.  

Edited November 20, 2019 by LadyChatts

[ByaNose]

Josh did make a good point how Jeff “previewed” last weeks episode in EW with Dalton Ross. He totally downplayed the whole thing and just said it was another merge episode. Again, they had months & months to prepare for this and they were anything but. I’m amazed they just didn’t edit around the whole subject and make the Kellee & Jamal boots “normal” boots. Even, the Ponderosa videos were absent of any concern from Kellee & Jamal about what just happened at Tribal Council. Where do they go from here? I'll still watch but I’m sort out on the remainder of the season in general. Even Rob isn’t sure how to cover it going forward. 

[RescueMom]

9 hours ago, fishcakes said:

Yeah, I don't know. People are bailing right and left, and it's starting to feel like ... the end? I hate to see it go under this cloud, but the theme and cast of season 40 might be a way to end the series on a good note.

Honestly, I've been feeling the same way but didn't realize it until I read what your wrote. I hate to lose my favorite show this way but the silence from Jeff and TPTB is deafening and they way they have handled this is appalling. I don't know that I can - or should - get over that. 

[LadyChatts]

Yeah, initially I thought production handled it well-now I’m wondering just what they handled.  Dan seemed surprised by the accusations and annoyed by the firing squad.  So either he’s really that clueless, or TPTB didn’t really give him an obvious warning.

And I agree with how they’ve handled it post episode.  Josh made a good point that, aside from the beginning of the ep, there was no warning what the episode was going to be about for people who might have felt triggered, and nothing in the end where victims could turn for help.  Once again, it seems like a moment where the show is going to milk a sensitive and serious situation for their own gain.

[Bryce Lynch]

9 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Josh did make a good point how Jeff “previewed” last weeks episode in EW with Dalton Ross. He totally downplayed the whole thing and just said it was another merge episode. Again, they had months & months to prepare for this and they were anything but. I’m amazed they just didn’t edit around the whole subject and make the Kellee & Jamal boots “normal” boots. Even, the Ponderosa videos were absent of any concern from Kellee & Jamal about what just happened at Tribal Council. Where do they go from here? I'll still watch but I’m sort out on the remainder of the season in general. Even Rob isn’t sure how to cover it going forward. 

I give TPTB credit for editing it honestly, instead of trying to cover the terrible behavior by Dan, Elizabeth, Missy and others.  

IMO, Dan is a pig.  But, I think it is debatable, at best, whether production should have kicked him out, based upon what happened and the way the women in the tribe responded to it.  

Remember, back in Season 2, when Skupin fell in the fire, Burnett famously said that if the cameraman stopped filming to help him, he would have been fired on the spot.  Survivor is often not a pretty game and sometimes it is ugly. 

After Kellee complained about Dan in her confessional, production spoke to everyone individually and gave Dan a formal warning.  As far as we know, he never touched Kellee again, after that.  This seems much like what would happen in the real world.  Typically someone is not going to get fired on the spot for one complaint about the sort of touching Dan did to Kellee.   And the standards on a dog eat dog competition show like Survivor are lower than in a real world workplace. 

If some of the other women who Dan touched in what appeared to be more overtly, sexual ways, stepped up and complained, then then he should have been ejected. 

But, Elizabeth claimed the touching didn't bother her (though I'm not sure I believe her) and Missy decided to use it as a move, to get rid of Kellee, make Janet an outcast and take over the game.  Even Kellee was originally going to blindside Missy and save Dan and stay in an alliance with him, until she was duped into thinking there was a groundswell of support for removing Dan.

Only Janet (who was not a victim, herself) stood strong for what was morally right.  Karishma and Noura seemed happy that they weren't on the block, but didn't seem to be taking a moral stand.

If Dan's victims think their game play is more important than standing up against Dan's inappropriate touching, I'm not sure TPTB should have done anything more than warn him.  I am 100% for giving women the tools to fight harassment and backing them up in that fight.  But, if they prioritize other things above that fight, I'm not sure what should be done.  

The tribe members had the power to remove Dan. There were 8 women and 5 men voting and 4 of those 8 "strong women", voted to keep the groper and vote out his victim.   That was the real disgrace, and I'm glad we saw it, because it shed light on an aspect of the sexual harassment problem that has been largely hidden.  

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I give TPTB credit for editing it honestly, instead of trying to cover the terrible behavior by Dan, Elizabeth, Missy and others.  

IMO, Dan is a pig.  But, I think it is debatable, at best, whether production should have kicked him out, based upon what happened and the way the women in the tribe responded to it.  

Remember, back in Season 2, when Skupin fell in the fire, Burnett famously said that if the cameraman stopped filming to help him, he would have been fired on the spot.  Survivor is often not a pretty game and sometimes it is ugly. 

After Kellee complained about Dan in her confessional, production spoke to everyone individually and gave Dan a formal warning.  As far as we know, he never touched Kellee again, after that.  This seems much like what would happen in the real world.  Typically someone is not going to get fired on the spot for one complaint about the sort of touching Dan did to Kellee.   And the standards on a dog eat dog competition show like Survivor are lower than in a real world workplace. 

If some of the other women who Dan touched in what appeared to be more overtly, sexual ways, stepped up and complained, then then he should have been ejected. 

But, Elizabeth claimed the touching didn't bother her (though I'm not sure I believe her) and Missy decided to use it as a move, to get rid of Kellee, make Janet an outcast and take over the game.  Even Kellee was originally going to blindside Missy and save Dan and stay in an alliance with him, until she was duped into thinking there was a groundswell of support for removing Dan.

Only Janet (who was not a victim, herself) stood strong for what was morally right.  Karishma and Noura seemed happy that they weren't on the block, but didn't seem to be taking a moral stand.

If Dan's victims think their game play is more important than standing up against Dan's inappropriate touching, I'm not sure TPTB should have done anything more than warn him.  I am 100% for giving women the tools to fight harassment and backing them up in that fight.  But, if they prioritize other things above that fight, I'm not sure what should be done.  

The tribe members had the power to remove Dan. There were 8 women and 5 men voting and 4 of those 8 "strong women", voted to keep the groper and vote out his victim.   That was the real disgrace, and I'm glad we saw it, because it shed light on an aspect of the sexual harassment problem that has been largely hidden.  

I agree that it's good they showed it but it's the after (7 months) part where they have been sucking lately. I am curious about the Dan part. Either he's too embarrassed to speak or Survivor has him on lock down. It will be interesting to see how the rest of season plays out and if Dan gets voted out and goes to Ponderosa. What happens then? The whole thing is creepy. Maybe, he makes the Final 3 and Survivor will throw him to the wolves of the live audience. Yikes!!!

[Libby]

Jeff Probst gave a couple of interviews shortly after the episode, mostly touting Survivor's bravery when it comes to addressing difficult issues.

Since then, Survivor commentators have quit their jobs, multiple victims have voiced their deep pain that this episode has triggered, people are bailing on the show left and right and absolutely not a word from Jeff Probst. I find his silence deafening.

It appears that he only wants to address difficult issues head on when they don't involve anything that the show did wrong. 

No apology, no we blew it, no anything.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Libby

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, Libby said:

Jeff Probst gave a couple of interviews shortly after the episode, mostly touting Survivor's bravery when it comes to addressing difficult issues.

Since then, Survivor commentators have quit their jobs, multiple victims have voiced their deep pain that this episode has triggered, people are bailing on the show left and right and absolutely not a word from Jeff Probst. I find his silence deafening.

It appears that he only wants to address difficult issues head on when they don't involve anything that the show did wrong. 

No apology, no we blew it, no anything.

He’s probably butt hurt that Sia isn’t on his front lawn with a check calling him the greatest, bravest ever and that people aren’t saying Survicor handled this better than any licensed professional could have.

To be a fly on the wall.  I cringe to think how they will address this at the reunion.  

[Alice Mudgarden]

This is purely selfish - I more than understand and respect his decision - but I'm bummed Josh won't be covering Survivor anymore, mainly because of The Evolution of Survivor. I've been chipping away at each volume (I'm up to season 28) and have completely enjoyed his analysis and humor the entire time. So much so that I've been looking forward to volume four after next season ends, and now... ?

Like I said, I'm not criticizing his choice at all; I'm just disappointed because I really liked listening to what he had to say. 😞

[zscore]

13 minutes ago, Alice Mudgarden said:

I'm bummed Josh won't be covering Survivor anymore

Maybe he already had done S40 preseason interviews. If he did I hope they will be made available.

[gsnrocks92]

4 minutes ago, zscore said:

Maybe he already had done S40 preseason interviews. If he did I hope they will be made available.

He wasn't on location for 40. He was covering the Game of Thrones finale for THR at the time.

[himela]

I was expecting that Rob would ask Karishma her point of view regarding the Dan issue but I was disappointed when he didn't. This strengthens my opinion that CBS and Jeff wants to keep this matter without being discussed by players until the reunion because he wants to exploit it for numbers as I had predicted from the start when there were no exit interviews and Kellee's interview was vague. Some people in here were telling me that no, this can't happen, but I bet this is Jeff's plan and that's why nobody has talked about it yet.

Edited December 8, 2019 by himela

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, himela said:

I was expecting that Rob would ask Karishma her point of view regarding the Dan issue but I was disappointed when he didn't. This strengthens my opinion that CBS and Jeff wants to keep this matter without being discussed by players until the reunion because he wants to exploit it for numbers as I had predicted from the start when there were no exit interviews and Kellee's interview was vague. Some people in here were telling me that no, this can't happen, but I bet this is Jeff's plan and that's why nobody has talked about it yet.

Kirishma has already stated in early interviews that she was not involved in that mess and doesn’t have anything to add other then her opinion. I get why he wouldn’t ask her when he knows her answer.

[himela]

31 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Kirishma has already stated in early interviews that she was not involved in that mess and doesn’t have anything to add other then her opinion. I get why he wouldn’t ask her when he knows her answer.

I didn't know players could give interviews before they are voted out of the game. Where are these interviews? Rob could / should have asked her what she thought about the merge episode and the impact it had on people, how the players viewed it while in the game and after watching the episode etc. There were so many questions that would give us some clarity but I suspect there was a reason he didn't ask and it's not the one you said.

[ProfCrash]

12 hours ago, himela said:

I didn't know players could give interviews before they are voted out of the game. Where are these interviews? Rob could / should have asked her what she thought about the merge episode and the impact it had on people, how the players viewed it while in the game and after watching the episode etc. There were so many questions that would give us some clarity but I suspect there was a reason he didn't ask and it's not the one you said.

They give interviews through out the day but the first normally goes to EW. She Gordon Holmes on xfinity she wasn’t involved and wouldn’t discuss it. Rob would have read that before his interview. 

ETA to correct who conducted the interview.

Edited December 9, 2019 by ProfCrash

[Hanahope]

There also seemed to a limited amount of time to ask Karishma about events that did directly involve her.

[himela]

6 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

They give interviews through out the day but the first normally goes to EW. She Gordon Holmes on xfinity she wasn’t involved and wouldn’t discuss it. Rob would have read that before his interview. 

ETA to correct who conducted the interview.

I see, thank you for the clarification. Still, isn't her not wanting to comment on this matter that made everyone talk about it weird to say the least? Doesn't it seem that it is requested by production to not bring it up until the reunion?

[ProfCrash]

7 hours ago, himela said:

I see, thank you for the clarification. Still, isn't her not wanting to comment on this matter that made everyone talk about it weird to say the least? Doesn't it seem that it is requested by production to not bring it up until the reunion?

No. I point to Ponderosa and the game play that we have seen. I don't think that this was an issue during the game. I think that Kellee was clearly uncomfortable and was willing to switch her vote when she knew other women were uncomfortable and were going to vote with her.

Kellee had no clue how Elisabeth and Missy played this until the episode aired. The Ponderosa video shows Kellee laughing and goofing off with Elisabeth. None of the little snippets that we have seen look forced or faked, I don't think for a second that Missy and Elisabeth told Kellee "we totally lied to Janet and yourself because we were on the bottom and choose to ignore your very real physical discomfort with Dan."

None of the other players really had a read on the situation at the time. Janet knew that Missy and Elisabeth had used this in game play context, she called them out on it. There were a good number of players who had no idea that Kellee was that uncomfortable with Dan, Aaron was one and it sounds like Karishma was another. Dan probably was not touching Karishma and no one said anything to her.

Survivor Production has not pushed back on the narrative told by Aaron and Missy about the "conversations" held with Production. Missy was at the center of this mess and she had no idea that Production was checking in on the Dan situation when Production did that. IF Production issued more clear warnings or asked about peoples comfort level more clearly, we would have seen that video out of CBS by now.

As soon as Kellee was voted out and after that second Tribal when Jamal was voted out, the issue was dead at camp. It is very likely that even after that tribal council those not involved in that insanity had no idea what the hell Janet and Jamal were talking about.

The backlash comes now as what happened was exposed. The cast is really just dealing with it because most of the cast was clueless as to what was happening as it was happening.

Karishma was more focused in the game on her being pushed to the side and treated like crap by everyone. I fully believes that Noura's rant, which included a good amount of Karishma bashing with Karishma sitting there, is indicative of how Karishma was treated. I think the "should we call medical" that we saw a bunch of times was a small bit of what Karishma claims was people trying to remove her from the game through an evac. I think there is a good amount of evidence that Karishma was not treated well by most of the cast and that she withdrew because of that. And I think that was her focus during the season.

So why would she have a lot to say about something that was a non-issue to her during the game play, during Ponderosa, and during the time between when the game ended and those episodes aired. Karishma was not involved in any of that drama, she did not know it was happening, and she only really learned of it when she saw the episode. It wasn't a part of her journey so asking her to comment on it is unrealistic.

ETA: I am not saying any of this to defend anyone. Dan is an ass. Missy and Elisabeth were wrong. Production should have issued a clear warning to Dan in the first week of play.

What I am saying is that what appears to be a huge issue to us, the viewer, was not an issue in the game or afterward for many of the people in the game. The serious nature of the issue dominates this discussion board and other areas, as it should, but not the game because the people playing the game did not know that there was an issue.

This is no different then my work place, or lots that I know of. I had a friend who charged a senior individual with sexual harassment and a series of friends who were outraged because they knew person X and they never saw him do X so maybe my friend was lying. I pointed out that said friend had discussed this with me long before she went to HR and just because I didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I fully believe that this was not an issue around camp after the Jamal vote. I fully believe that many people at camp had no idea it was an issue at the Kellee vote. I think that Missy and Elisabeth should be called on the carpet for how they played the game. I fully believe that dan should be called to the carpet for his wandering hands.

Edited December 9, 2019 by ProfCrash

[himela]

Thank you for replying, I haven't seen the ponderosa videos because I am not in America and honestly I don't care. The only thing I care about at the moment regarding this season is to find out the whole story about Dan, Kellee and all the other players that's why I thought Karishma could have given some clarification not about what was happening during the game but what she has found out happening after the merge episode. Has she talked to any other players? This is what I would like to know. I know for them what matters is their experience and their game but for me the only thing I care about is finding out the whole story with details because I still believe that Jeff doesn't allow anything to be discussed about this story until he exploits it during reunion. We will see Dan "wholeheartedly" apologize to Kellee, Kellee will be manipulated into "accepting" his apology, Jeff will talk about women having to speak up bla bla and this will be all. We will never find out what really happened.

Edited December 9, 2019 by himela

[Nashville]

5 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Survivor Production has not pushed back on the narrative told by Aaron and Missy about the "conversations" held with Production. Missy was at the center of this mess and she had no idea that Production was checking in on the Dan situation when Production did that. IF Production issued more clear warnings or asked about peoples comfort level more clearly, we would have seen that video out of CBS by now.

Would we?  

Right now the vast majority of the discussion has been based in social media posts and podcasts.  While CBS and Survivor Production have social media presences, those are not their primary focus; that would be network media, not social.  As we have seen time and time again, the asynchronous nature of SM provides a marked tendency for discussion threads to fragment and splinter - leading many (most?) discussions to devolve into multiple disjointed running battles.  That’s probably not a game CBS wants to play because (a) its potential liabilities far outweigh its benefits, and (b) it doesn’t play to CBS’s strengths - which are a network TV presence reaching millions of viewers (many of whom are totally unaware of the ongoing SM dust-up) and the bully pulpit microphone which goes along with it.

So - if *I* were a CBS exec AND I had video which invalidated the charges against my network, my approach would be more along the following lines:

1. Whoever is attacking my network...?  Let them keep running their mouths - for now.  Many times when a mouse pokes an elephant and the elephant doesn’t immediately respond, the mouse becomes emboldened - poking harder, and squeaking louder - and frequently the provocations become more and more outlandish, as time goes on and they continue to try eliciting a response to feed their SM grist mill.  Let them keep squeaking - but document everything they say, and every charge they make. 
2. Any video vindicating the network’s position is NOT going through a SM pipeline for its official release - it’s getting its initial airing as the climax of a network-broadcast on-air discussion on Finale Night, where the “opposition” will have little or no time to present an organized counterattack.
3. Part of the lead-up to the supporting video release could be discussion of the more reckless and/or unfounded pre-air SM charges - and after the video release, dissection of exactly WHY and HOW their charges are complete and total BS would then be part of the denouement of that discussion.  This would guarantee maximum discreditation of the SM source.
4. Afterwards...?  The SM warriors might dissect the videos and point out flaws or inconsistencies in the Finale-aired network footage, sure - but how many people will that reach?  One or two million podcast viewers, max, versus the 30-40 million who watched the Finale?  To steal a quote from Charlie Sheen - “WINNING!!!”

Not saying this is what TPTB are doing, or even have the supporting documentation to do - but if they DO have a viable counterpoint in the way of recorded footage, it’s definitely a moderately optimal option from their point of view.

[ProfCrash]

I figure CBS would distribute that video pretty fast only because it is taking a beating. My Mom knows about this mess and she doesn’t watch Survivor. It made all the major news outlets. CBS would be intentionally allowing 4-5 weeks of bad publicity by waiting to the finale to air anything that destroys Aaron and Missy’s assertions that the talk they had was anything but vague.

[Nashville]

That argument would be a definite point in favor of an early release, true - if CBS does have anything TO release in the way of a refutation, which they may not.

Still - I’m curious about all the virtual gag orders which appear to be in effect with recent evictees.  What end game is in play here?  IS there an end game?

[ProfCrash]

5 hours ago, Nashville said:

That argument would be a definite point in favor of an early release, true - if CBS does have anything TO release in the way of a refutation, which they may not.

Still - I’m curious about all the virtual gag orders which appear to be in effect with recent evictees.  What end game is in play here?  IS there an end game?

Is it a gag order or is it they don't want to conduct interviews? Missy and Aaron were willing to conduct email interviews, which many groups rejected. Elisabeth appears to have chosen not to conduct any interviews. Karishma conducted interviews over the phone but choose not to discuss the harassment bit because she was not directly involved. She did spend a good amount of time on the bullying element and added in some interesting details about how she was treated.

I suspect that Elisabeth has a PR firm giving that wrote her apology and hat told her not to conduct interviews. She also removed Survivor from her twitter bio, at least I read that she had done that, I don't have twitter myself so I don't know for sure.

I think the silence is everyone hoping it goes away because it is not being discussed on the show. They are hoping it blows over. I suspect that there is a group of people who are already past it, they just don't post here.

I also wonder if something else happens with Dan and some folks are not saying much because there is something else happening.

[ByaNose]

17 hours ago, himela said:

Thank you for replying, I haven't seen the ponderosa videos because I am not in America and honestly I don't care. The only thing I care about at the moment regarding this season is to find out the whole story about Dan, Kellee and all the other players that's why I thought Karishma could have given some clarification not about what was happening during the game but what she has found out happening after the merge episode. Has she talked to any other players? This is what I would like to know. I know for them what matters is their experience and their game but for me the only thing I care about is finding out the whole story with details because I still believe that Jeff doesn't allow anything to be discussed about this story until he exploits it during reunion. We will see Dan "wholeheartedly" apologize to Kellee, Kellee will be manipulated into "accepting" his apology, Jeff will talk about women having to speak up bla bla and this will be all. We will never find out what really happened.

and, then Jeff can add his favorite line that Survivor is microcosm of society....blah, blah, blah.

[Nashville]

5 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Is it a gag order or is it they don't want to conduct interviews?

Contractually speaking, is non-participation in the show’s media promotions (including interviews) even an option for the players?  I’d have thought the player contract would require their participation.

[ProfCrash]

2 minutes ago, Nashville said:

Contractually speaking, is non-participation in the show’s media promotions (including interviews) even an option for the players?  I’d have thought the player contract would require their participation.

I don't have any examples but I know that there have been people who have not participated in interviews in the past. Rob is normally surprised but it has happened. I suspect that Production is not too upset that Elisabeth did not complete interviews.

[laurakaye]

23 hours ago, himela said:

...I still believe that Jeff doesn't allow anything to be discussed about this story until he exploits it during reunion. We will see Dan "wholeheartedly" apologize to Kellee, Kellee will be manipulated into "accepting" his apology, Jeff will talk about women having to speak up bla bla and this will be all. We will never find out what really happened.

I cannot express how much I hope that this is exactly what DOESN'T happen.  While it may not have made a pronouced dent in the game while it was being played (with obvious exceptions - Kellee, Janet), now that the shows are airing, the fallout has been tremendous.  Probst cannot possibly feign ignorance of what is being said about his beloved show.  The only palatable thing that can happen during the reunion is that Dan doesn't dare show his face on that stage.  And if he does, I don't know what would be worse - Probst ignoring him for the entire hour, or Probst giving Dan a chance to "explain" himself and let us all know that he's really a great guy, he's just misunderstood, blah blah etc.  I hope Probst is fully aware of the potential landmine he could be stepping on if he handles this poorly.

[Nashville]

59 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

I hope Probst is fully aware of the potential landmine he could be stepping on if he handles this poorly.

Peachy handle a sensitive topic poorly???  SURELY you jest.

[Whimsy]

As a reminder, this thread is to talk about RHaP. The Dan discussion, unless it’s in direct relation to what was mentioned on the podcast, is off topic. 

[ProfCrash]

Spoiler

Not surprisingly, Rob and Stephen lead with Dan. They are confused about everything as well. Stephen was interesting in that he said that women in the past have discussed this same scenario, inappropriate touching in the shelter and other places, and have not said anything because of fear of hurting their place in the game. It sounds like this is something that has been happening for a while and has been kept quiet for all the wrong reasons. Stephen also said that the Season 40 players were given very explicit instructions that they were too keep their hands to themselves and reminded of the rules regarding physical contact. Stephen said that the returning players were all saying the same thing so it sounds like Production took what happened seriously after the fact.

[laurakaye]

I just wanted to say that I think Rob has been handling this season extremely well.  He's treading lightly, admitting when he doesn't know what to say, he's brought in psychologists to talk this all through with him, he's invited several female past contestants to help unpack everything that's gone wrong with this season and he's not afraid to say that he's disappointed in Surivor, CBS and Probst.

In sharp contrast, I am currently re-watching Amazon, where we meet Rob for the first time and I sometimes want to smack him for some of his smarmy comments about the women.  He's clearly grown up.  He's not perfect but honestly, I have been so confused, angry and disillusioned by this season that it's nice to hear him attempt to break things down in a calm and logical manner.