Best and Worst of the Reunion Shows

[NutMeg]

I'm with you in disliking the cut-ins, they take us right out of the finale story, which is when things can get pretty intense and sometimes surprising. I sometimes think that I would like the finale to start with the final 2 or 3 and have the rest play out in regular episodes (in some seasons). Also, that would maybe allow the return of Reward Challenges up to the end, with potential crazy strategizing and last minute alliance ditching. 

[ljenkins782]

So another reunion has come and gone, I'm going to have to file this one under the "worst" column (maybe not THE worst ever, but pretty damn bad). Not even a 2-word check-in with the majority of the cast? Sia going on and on about Tai in what Probst clearly thought was a fascinating, spontaneous moment, which I highly doubt it was unplanned but whatever? The whole thing was weird. Glad she is donating money to animal causes and fine that she wants to randomly give money to Tai (which means he finished third but made more money than the 2nd place person who actually earned some votes) but that segment could have been way shorter. And poor Keith gets to find out that HE could have had a free $50,000 last year, but Sia didn't go through with it. Maybe Twitter can ride her ass to make a post-season Keith donation. ;) Also, the Price is Right plug could have been accomplished via commercial break or could have been announced by Jeff to make that shorter as well. 

At this point, I almost feel like the reunions aren't even worth having. What did we really learn about the season from this reunion? Jeff recycled his speech to Joe that we saw during his medevac, Caleb recounted the story that we all watched during HIS medevac, and Debbie got to recount all the jobs that we already saw flashed on the screen during the season. Aubry's a Cochran fan and sees herself as being like him? Yep, we knew that too. 

I used to really enjoy the reunions and even the crappier ones usually had some interesting moments but this one fell completely flat for me. Hell, we didn't even get to see what everyone looked like fattened up, dressed up and overly made up, because not only did they not talk to everyone, I'm pretty sure the camera hardly even panned to the non-speakers! 

[LadyChatts]

I still think the AS reunion show is the worst of the worst.  But this one is down there in the bottom 3.  I get the Drew Carey/TPIR plug.  That actually had to do with Survivor, and Drew at least seems to realize that once you make your plug, you sit down.  The cast looked pissed at that point.  First their season is pushed back a year, their reunion is upstaged, and I don't think any of them got an invite to TPIR so it had nothing to do with them, even if it was Survivor related.  The whole Sia thing, and Probst pretending to be surprised?  Really Jeff?  Like I said in the ep thread, stick to snuffing torches and giving annoying commentary during challenges.  I will say, at least Sia gave to a good cause.  But that went on way too long.  I've often missed the early days of reunion shows, when everyone got screen time (and more than a 'hi, how are you feeling?' before moving down the line).  Of course, that was also back in the day when everyone got screen time during the season, and we didn't get people finishing in 5th place that we didn't even remember being part of that season.  Still, there was something way less biased about it.  Now, we ignore all but 5 people, and anyone that has any claim to fame or story in the audience can upstage the contestants.  I can see why people would take the Dan Foley route.  At least you'd be guaranteed air time!  

I will say, the only thing I was happy about during the reunion was the lack of Scot and Jason.  And that the only mention they got was because of Scot's blindside.  I don't know if, after the WA finale and the ugliness with the bullying that season, if Probst was going out of his way to really avoid those two or what.

[LadyChatts]

I think everyone talking was possible with 16 people.  I should re-phrase and say that I would want it in that situation.  But in an 18-20 person cast?  No thanks.  Still, a little acknowledgement for everyone would be nice.  Yet, I think this will be the state of reunion shows going forward.  If there isn't a fan voted cast reveal to take up time, we'll probably be getting some 5 minute sneak peek of a new CBS show that's only going to last 3 episodes.

I question if Jeff was lying about Mark.  I hate to think he was, but maybe he didn't want to say what really happened.

[laurakaye]

If Jeff is only going to talk to a small percentage of the cast, at least let the camera pan on each person as Jeff says their names, or let them get an introduction as they walk in, or something.  I like to be reminded of who was on the cast - it's easy to forget the ones who were voted out early.  I didn't recognize, nor really even see, at least a third of this season's cast.

[ljenkins782]

52 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

If Jeff is only going to talk to a small percentage of the cast, at least let the camera pan on each person as Jeff says their names, or let them get an introduction as they walk in, or something.  I like to be reminded of who was on the cast - it's easy to forget the ones who were voted out early.  I didn't recognize, nor really even see, at least a third of this season's cast.

That was what really struck me in this reunion, the extremely tight camera shots that focused only on who was speaking. I honestly didn't even get a look at about 4 or 5 of the early boots. 

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I don't miss the old "talk to everyone" reunions because it was even worse.  Like ljenkins listed for the people Jeff did talk to, it was just that times 18. "Alecia, the guys were mean to you!"  "Peter, you were a little arrogant!"  "Linda(?), you had a bug in your ear!"  Yeah, we were there.  

I don't know what would make them better.  Actual new facts?  I do like when Jeff polls the jury on "If ___ , would you have voted for ___?"  

 

I agree that the awkward check-ins weren't any better, like when someone goes to speak more than one sentence and Probst cuts them off. BUT, due to a lack of cable and internet at home right now (thanks, Verizon strike!), I've been watching old Survivors again and some of the early reunions were genuinely fun to watch. 

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I will say, the only thing I was happy about during the reunion was the lack of Scot and Jason.  And that the only mention they got was because of Scot's blindside.  I don't know if, after the WA finale and the ugliness with the bullying that season, if Probst was going out of his way to really avoid those two or what.

Yes, I was very pleasantly surprised at the complete lack of attention to Scot and Jason. I was positive there would be a long rehash of their shitty behavior. Hopefully they were expecting the spotlight too and were disappointed. ;) Clearly from his jacket, Jason was angling for attention.

[Special K]

I agree that the camera should at least linger on everyone so we can see them/be reminded of who they are.

And practially every reunion seems to have long shots of someone talking, with someone else's rack photobombing from the second row.  Can't they position the seats so that doesn't constantly happen?  I saw more of Julia's breasts at the reunion than her face!

And who knew that Jason was such the height of fashion?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/fashion/bill-cunningham-peacocking.html

[vibeology]

I was just going to suggest an online component to the reunion. How hard would it be to post videos of everyone on the cash saying hi, talking about seeing themselves on TV, what they've been up to since the show ended and whatever else might be relevant on CBS.com? Two or three minutes a person and people could watch the videos for everyone they're interested in.

Plus, I'd do even more online content. Give Jeff time to ask about surprise votes or difficult challenges or favourite rewards. Throw them up on the website and have Jeff promo one or two of them on twitter. Heck, just give each cast member a video camera and have them interview each other during the rehearsal, makeup process, while the actual show was airing etc. These are people who want to be on TV; I can't imagine any of them would say no.

[phlebas]

The highlight for this reunion show (sorry, Sia) was when Debbie was rattling off that list of jobs, and Cydney just says "water."  It was the only word out of Cydney's mouth all night, and it was perfect.

[ByaNose]

I can't recall a good reunion. It was probably during seasons 1-10. After that, it went off the rails and Jeff doesn't care how bad they are. I don't understand why it's so hard to do a good reunion. We spent a whole season watching 16,18 or 20 people on an island trying to win a million dollars. How about we actually just talk to those 16, 18 or 20 contestants?! It's not that hard of a concept. I'm sure if Jeff had a cast from his favorite television show (The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones or whatever it actually is) on a reunion show I'm sure he wouldn't leave 1/2 the cast sitting there and not ask them anything. 

[needschocolate]

I think a big step to improving the reunions would be to stop doing them in front of a live audience.  I can see how they want the enthusiasm and reactions of the audience, but if they didn't have an audience, Jeff couldn't ask prepubescent girls about their Survivor crushes, or ask little boys if they want to be on the show, or waste time talking to celebrities and "celebrities," or corner a player's mother make us listen to her response, which often has nothing to do with the question he asked, and all the other things that I find to be time-wasters. 

After the winner is announced, they could introduce everyone by showing what they looked like right before being voted off, then show us what they look like now.  Then have a 10 minute segment where they highlight each player with a montage like they used to have at the Walk of the Fallen while the audio is the player tells a little about their Survivor experience and tells us what they are doing now (this woudl amount to about 30 seconds per player).  Then Jeff, or preferably someone who is not Jeff, asks questions that were posed online by viewers and/or were voted by viewers as the things they really want to know about.  The producers could throw in a few questions about the finale, since there wouldn't be time for viewers to pose questions about those.

[Nashville]

On 5/20/2016 at 9:40 AM, ljenkins782 said:

Clearly from his jacket, Jason was angling for attention.

That was a jacket?  I thought TPTB had decided they needed to cover up some of Jason's tattoos at the last minute, and somebody pulled one of Grandma's old quilts out of the back of their car to do so.  ;>

[SVNBob]

On 5/25/2016 at 10:16 AM, needschocolate said:

I think a big step to improving the reunions would be to stop doing them in front of a live audience.

I doubt they're going to do that, so I have a better idea that i came up with earlier this week.  Instead of having the finale be a big 3 hour block, split the reunion to the following week, making the season one week longer.  They can still have the live reveal in front of the live audience, but while the winner is celebratory crying with their family, Jeff can invite us to tune in next week for the reunion, instead of just throwing to commercial. 

Then the live airing stops, but the cameras still roll for a couple hours or so.  They record the reunion episode with the live audience still there, but since it won't be aired live, they can cut reaction times down.  Plus all the issues of the season can be talked about, and all the players can get their 2 cents in.  Then it gets edited down to 44 minutes, still highlighting the moments of the season and the topics social media want to hear about, and the promo for the upcoming season.

TL;DR version:  Give the reunion it's own "live on tape" episode with an extra 15 minutes not cut out by the finale the week after the finale airs.

Edited July 8, 2016 by SVNBob

[Nashville]

3 hours ago, SVNBob said:

I doubt they're going to do that, so I have a better idea that i came up with earlier this week.  Instead of having the finale be a big 3 hour block, split the reunion to the following week, making the season one week longer.  They can still have the live reveal in front of the live audience, but while the winner is celebratory crying with their family, Jeff can invite us to tune in next week for the reunion, instead of just throwing to commercial. 

...at which point, pretty close to the only people tuning in next week will be fans of the winning player. 

Expect ratings share for the reunion episode to be 1/3-1/2 of the share for the reveal episode.

[LadyChatts]

CBS will never go for the reunion show being on a separate night than the finale.  Probst was asked about the reunion show being extended or actually starting on time, and he made it sound like that was CBS's call.  He said something about being happy to just have the reunion, and he tried allowing extra time for it.  So I doubt they would have it on another night (let alone the following week), unless there was a special circumstance.  I'd just like them to start on time, especially if they are going to have special pop up guests.

[needschocolate]

13 hours ago, SVNBob said:

I doubt they're going to do that, so I have a better idea that i came up with earlier this week.  Instead of having the finale be a big 3 hour block, split the reunion to the following week, making the season one week longer.  They can still have the live reveal in front of the live audience, but while the winner is celebratory crying with their family, Jeff can invite us to tune in next week for the reunion, instead of just throwing to commercial. 

Then the live airing stops, but the cameras still roll for a couple hours or so.  They record the reunion episode with the live audience still there, but since it won't be aired live, they can cut reaction times down.  Plus all the issues of the season can be talked about, and all the players can get their 2 cents in.  Then it gets edited down to 44 minutes, still highlighting the moments of the season and the topics social media want to hear about, and the promo for the upcoming season.

TL;DR version:  Give the reunion it's own "live on tape" episode with an extra 15 minutes not cut out by the finale the week after the finale airs.

I don't see how this will stop them from showing us random singers giving money to random players or wasting time on Probst talking to former players or children about how they liked this season or a players's mother or spouse about how proud they are.  The reunion could be longer if it wasn't shown live, which woudl give them time to discuss the stuff viewers like me actually care about.  However, even if they have more film to choose from, I don't have faith that they will actually choose the right things to air.  The reason why we see Probst asking about crushes and obscure celebrities getting too much aritime is because that is what they powers tha be want to focus on.  They could do a live reunion and tell Probst not to talk to audience members, but to ask the players more questions instead, but someone somewhere must think that the world really, really wants to know what what Mayim Bialik thinks about Survivor.

[KimberStormer]

16 hours ago, Nashville said:

...at which point, pretty close to the only people tuning in next week will be fans of the winning player. 

Expect ratings share for the reunion episode to be 1/3-1/2 of the share for the reveal episode.

I would be very surprised if it was more than a tenth.  I'm sure the ratings plunge after the winner announcement as it is, and this way they wouldn't even have the laziness factor keeping some people watching even though they don't care.  Even I don't watch the whole reunion!  CBS isn't Bravo, they've got better things to fill timeslots with than reunions.  I don't think it's a bad idea, by itself, but in the real world, no way.

[MrYunis]

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.