Survivor In The Media

[Guest]

Yeah, good points.  I figured even with Ross's open air ones they must be segregated like all the open air DR/confessionals in the show itself must be.  If other players could hear what you say in your confessionals, your game would be ruined. The entire game relies on those being confidential.  

 

If they asked me in earshot of anyone playing who I'd align or malign and why, I don't think I'd be busting out gems like Vytas is arrogant and creepy, Phoebe (sic) is annoying, Kass is not trustworthy, Ciera is naive, etc.  All it takes is one insult to get you removed from the game at any given tribal, if you insulted the player in power.

[LadyChatts]

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015/09/15/survivor-second-chance-monica-vytas-stephen-spencer-are-easy-people-to-flirt-with/

 

I still don't remember much about Monica, but my impression is she thinks she's better at this game than she really is.

 

And Jeff's cast assessment:

 

Edited September 15, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Guest]

Nice, thanks for posting that.  

 

I love Jeff, you guys know that, but holy cow-- are his smile lines real or did he have them chiseled deeper or something?   Wow, they're like chasms now.  I mean, he looks great but who has smile lines like that?  So the rest of us age and get wrinkles and he just gets more chiseled looking?  Men...

[LadyChatts]

http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/09/15/survivor-john-cody-candice-cody-welcome-daughter-beatrix-leigh/

 

Congrats to Candice and John!  I wonder if Candice being pregnant was a reason John might not have been part of second chances.

 

Nice, thanks for posting that. 

I love Jeff, you guys know that, but holy cow-- are his smile lines real or did he have them chiseled deeper or something?   Wow, they're like chasms now.  I mean, he looks great but who has smile lines like that?  So the rest of us age and get wrinkles and he just gets more chiseled looking?  Men...

 

 

Jeff's smile has always creeped me out.  My guess is he had a little help with those smile lines.  I actually thought this was one of his more boring cast assessments, though considering its returnees, maybe that's why.  A lot of "so glad they got a second chance" coming from him over anything else.  I thought Joe's bit at the end seemed shorter than the rest of the cast, but maybe I'm wrong.  From reading cast interviews and watching videos, seems to be no shortage of healthy egos this season.  Makes me wonder if the cast ever sits back and thinks that the only reason they may have gotten any votes was because people had to pick 10, and they were better than someone else (kind of the lesser of two evils).  Cagayan wasn't that long ago, but Spencer looks like a little boy from the clip they show here (the cast assessment from that season, where Jeff said he had 0.0% chance of winning).  From various interviews and articles I've read, there seems to be a lot of pre-season hype on Kelley Wentworth redeeming herself.  Will be interesting to see if she lives up to it.  

Edited September 16, 2015 by LadyChatts

[KimberStormer]

She sort of fits the Amber/Parvati mold of almost-forgotten young women taking the top prize in a returnee season.  Kelley W blossoming into a Survivor badass, Parvati style, would be pretty much my dream come true for Second Chances, which on the whole I am extremely pessimistic about.

[Hera]

I thought Joe's bit at the end seemed shorter than the rest of the cast, but maybe I'm wrong.

I thought Woo got a shorter assessment than everyone else. It's a bit dull, like you said, but I mostly agree with the assessments: Kass has no chance of winning, Monica is an extreme long-shot, and Terry is bad at strategy. The only one that stuck out to me as odd was Jeremy: I think, if anything, having Val out early helped his game since she was pretty terrible for the short time that she played. I think she would have been a millstone around his neck if they had had to play together.

[kikaha]

Terry is bad at strategy.

I think Terry is fine at strategy.  He had the absolute right idea about his idol: use it as leverage to influence members of Casaya.  His weakness was execution.  His attempts to lure the others to his side were pretty ham-fisted. 

 

But I doubt that mattered much.  By about the 3rd episode, Terry was the biggest target in the game.  As Aras said, Terry would win if he made F2.  All the people in Casaya had zero incentive to align with him.  Their overriding goal was to boot him.  This was so strong that Danielle, after Aras stabbed her in the back and tried to toss her, still chose him to go to finals over Terry, who was the one responsible for her staying. 

 

Several other members of Terry's tribe also used his idol to try and pull in people from Casaya.  They also failed.  That dog simply wouldn't hunt. 

 

I think Terry's problem in season 31 is that he is nowhere near under-handed enough.  IMO it's impossible for a straight-and-narrow player to win Survivor now.  And Terry is pretty straight and narrow, at least for Survivor. 

[ByaNose]

I want the old guys like to Terry & Savage to go far. As a fellow old guy (51 & no where the studs they are) and, a huge Survivor fan it would be nice to see someone over 45 to win. LOL!!! I guess Bob Crowley was the last old guy (to win) but I think was way older than those two. I'm not sure what the average of the winners are but it can't be near 50, right?

[choclatechip45]

I thought Terry's social game was terrible. I'm the same age Aras was in Exile and even though I agreed with Terry's reasoning on why he chose the people he did for the family reward the way he explained himself was so condescending and rude. Plus that torch fight also showed Terry has a hard time relating people IMO. Hopefully he has worked on that in the last ten years.

[Donny Ketchum]

Opening sequence revealed for Second Chances, along with TAR27:

 

http://www.eonline.com/news/697307/get-ready-for-survivor-cambodia-second-chance-and-the-amazing-race-27-with-their-new-opening-credits?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

 

Gotta say, it looks pretty sweet.  Too bad they'll forego it every week on TV like they've done for several seasons now.

[LadyChatts]

Opening sequence revealed for Second Chances, along with TAR27:

 

http://www.eonline.com/news/697307/get-ready-for-survivor-cambodia-second-chance-and-the-amazing-race-27-with-their-new-opening-credits?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

 

Gotta say, it looks pretty sweet.  Too bad they'll forego it every week on TV like they've done for several seasons now.

 

Love that intro!  I've wondered why they don't show the full intros anymore.  This is one of the better ones, even compared to the old days when they showed the full intro. 

 

Wonder what makes Tasha cry.

[Guest]

Love that intro!  I've wondered why they don't show the full intros anymore.  

I don't know if this is why they don't but we find ourselves binge watching past season stuff over streaming services more than we watch live, weekly tv now.  So when you sit down and watch 3-4 episodes in a row, the long title sequence is an annoyance.  You can fast-forward but I've yet to find a streaming service that does it well.  For a 2-min. sequence it's faster to just sit through it (and resent it).  Though I guess it'd pay to get good at FF because then you could also skip the 'previouslies', from the episode you just watched.  I really miss my DVR remote's 'fast fwd 30 seconds button'.  

[KimberStormer]

I like the intros once; after that, I prefer 2 minutes of strategy talk and character moments and even nature photography like those little crabs beckoning with their big claws.  I always think they will help me remember names, but in actual fact nobody ever looks anything like they do in the intro, which always uses footage from before they get all dirty and bearded...

[LadyChatts]

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/survivor-cambodia-second-chance-jeff-probst-scoop-129596111700.html

 

Jeff's take on this season.  As to this part:

Interesting! So how do you think this season stacks up against others?
I was burned again last year, or reminded again last year, that I thought White Collar/Blue Collar/No Collar was phenomenal, and of course, I hear one person say it sucked, and I go, “OK, I’m never again going to predict if a season is good or not.” But I really think people are going to like this season, and I think they’re going to see a different game. It’s going to be interesting what it means for the future.

 

 

 

So much for him keeping his promise not to overhype a season again if WA failed.  It was definitely more than a few who said it sucked.  Somehow, though, Jeff's response to this season has been kind of canned and generic.  Could be it really is a great season but he wants the fans to determine that for themselves before he lets his pre-show adoration ruin it.  Or, it completely sucks and he's obligated to say something good about it.

[ProfCrash]

Based on everything I heard and read, Worlds Apart could have been seen very differently if it had been edited differently. All of the contestants said that they had a ton of fun out there and thought that the season would be seen very differently then it was. Jeff said the same thing. I think the editors saw the footage and picked up on currents that most of the players were not aware of. The sexism that we saw came in bits and pieces. Shirin said that she had either forgotten some of Dan's idiocy (Shirin and the water scene with Dan and the talking head heard around the world) and whatsherface (Woman who we all wnated to flop and never did that Dan went off on after tribal) said that she was over Dan's tirade pretty fast and wanted him to stop apologizing.

 

I think that the editors saw the massive fight with Will and planned the season to lead up to that fight. They saw the sexist crap from Joaquin, Vince, Mike, and Dan and showed that knowing that there would eventually be this massive fight. The massive fight had nothing to do with sexist behavior but tossing it in there after a season of laughs and good friends and all that would have looked weird. So the editors built a story from an underlying current and dropped the fight into that.

 

The editors could have shown the isolation of smaller alliances on its own but that would be boring. Here is the majority alliance stomping on the minority alliance, again. Boring. Here is footage of Dan being an idiot that causes everyone to wonder why whatsherface won't flop over. Ugh, so annoying maybe she will lfip next week. Then "He said what?"

 

The closeness of much of the players points to a very different reality then what we saw. we don't see/hear much from So, Joaquin, Will, Dan, and Carolyn. Will and Dan make sense, they would be stupid to be poking their heads out too much after what we saw. Joaquin came off as a tool. So was only on one episode nad we kind of see stuff from her because of Malcolm. Carolyn is a bit more suprising. But Max, Rodney, Mike, Tyler, Shirin, Joe, Hali and Jenn are tight. Annoyingly so. If the actual enviroment had been as toxic as what we saw, then I doubt that that group would be hanging out the way that they were. And while none of them have really defended Dan or Will, they have never really taken them to task or said that the show was representative of the two of them. Which makes me think that what we saw happened, they have the footage, but really was a very small, and mainly forgetable to the people who were there, piece of what happened.

 

While Probst is an Executive Producer, I do wonder how much say he has over editting and he might have been caught off guard by how the show was stitched together.

[LadyChatts]

http://parade.com/425284/joshwigler/survivor-premiere-heres-what-you-didnt-see-at-the-first-tribal-council

 

Kind of an interesting behind the scenes at tribal.  If Varner didn't want to force a tie and draw rocks, I wonder if that is why PG went along with voting for Vytas, too.  I thought for sure she'd vote Abi.

Edited September 24, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Trick Question]

Damn, that question of Varner's sounds like a great TC moment.  I can see why it might've been edited out, however, since it might've kinda revealed who was getting eliminated, and it also cuts through the "ooh, immediately Tribal Council, no strategizing!" gimmick when you have to figure that players could (and have) talked things out with their tribemates during Tribal itself.

[LadyChatts]

http://www.hngn.com/articles/134320/20150928/survivor-second-chance-news-two-contestants-caught-trying-smuggle-stuff.htm

 

This article touches on the two contestants who were caught smuggling stuff into the game.  I know that PG tried to smuggle stuff in, but didn't know Monica also did.  PGs items made more sense (flint, fishing line).  But Monica tried bringing in sleeping pills.  Makes me wonder what she planned on doing with those-and if she attempted to use them on another contestant, if that would have automatically disqualified her from the game.  Seems dangerous.  Unless they were for herself to make sure she was getting sleep and would be prepared for the challenges *shrugs*

[ProfCrash]

Contestants regularly complain about sleep deprivation

[LadyChatts]

I would assume she brought sleeping pills for herself.  Do you think Peih-Gee brought fishing hooks to hurt someone?  lol.  

 

I'm pretty sure physically hurting another player intentionally has got to mean immediate expulsion.  It's not a Mark Burnett show but Big Brother removed a Hantz right on the spot for pushing another houseguest.  Drugging someone could possibly also get the player criminal charges.  

 

Even in that environment, I would think taking sleeping pills for yourself could be dangerous.  I suppose it would depend.  Since I remembered nothing about Monica, I also forgot she is a lawyer, so I would think/hope she of all people would know better.  I wouldn't put it past PG ;)  Hey, you could bring the fishing line and claim it is for one use, but if someone got hurt, say it was all an accident lol  Okay, not funny, but there are some castaways out there I wouldn't put it past to try something like that.  I remember that from Big Brother, and between that and Brandon's meltdown during Caramoan hopefully CBS learned their lesson about casting anymore Hantzes.  However, I remember Dick dumping a glass of water over a housemate's head, and I thought he had other behavior that crossed the line with her.  Yet he stayed.

Edited September 29, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Oholibamah]

Even in that environment, I would think taking sleeping pills for yourself could be dangerous. I suppose it would depend. Since I remembered nothing about Monica, I also forgot she is a lawyer, so I would think/hope she of all people would know better. I wouldn't put it past PG ;) Hey, you could bring the fishing line and claim it is for one use, but if someone got hurt, say it was all an accident lol Okay, not funny, but there are some castaways out there I wouldn't put it past to try something like that. I remember that from Big Brother, and between that and Brandon's meltdown during Caramoan hopefully CBS learned their lesson about casting anymore Hantzes. However, I remember Dick dumping a glass of water over a housemate's head, and I thought he had other behavior that crossed the line with her. Yet he stayed.

His other behaviour was repulsive, and is the reason I no longer watch Big Brother.

I will join those who say Peih-Gee's items should have been fair game, but I guess that would be making more future work for themselves in having to search them better. Easier to just have zero tolerance and call it a day.

[kikaha]

His other behaviour was repulsive, and is the reason I no longer watch Big Brother.

 

 

I've only seen a few seasons, but the one that just ended (17) was dynamite in a good way.

[cooksdelight]

If you have a prescription for any drug, and it's something you are taking on a regular basis, they will let you bring it with you. They have a medical tent set up where you go to get your daily doses of whatever it is you are taking -- birth control pills, insulin, blood pressure meds, etc. So if Monica was caught smuggling in sleeping pills and they were taken away from her, it must not be something she listed on her medical needs paperwork.

[Special K]

In case you haven't seen it:

 

Survivor in the New York Times today

[rose711]

I'm adding this Dalton Rossarticleecause Jeff casually mentioned bombshell about this season:

You didn’t end up showing it in the episode because you can’t fit everything in, but there was some last minute scrambling that went on at Tribal Council when Jeff Varner asked Kelly Wentworth and Peih-Gee in front of everybody to confirm to him which way they were leaning before the voting started. Did you notice a difference in the energy or tone of TC by bringing them straight to Tribal from the challenge instead of letting them go back to camp and strategize?

There is a definite slow burn shift in how the game is played this season. You may not notice it out of the gate, but it slowly begins to shift and in a way that does impact the game in a very significant way. I’ll be curious how it plays with the fans. I am also curious if it carries on in future seasons or was simply a byproduct of having true “second chance” players who came in with a very different motivation. And glad you mentioned that we can’t show everything. It’s one of the only drags of the show, there simply is not enough time. There wouldn’t be enough time if CBS gave us two hours for every episode. But it’s a good problem to have — too much great material!

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/24/survivor-cambodia-second-chance-premiere-jeff-probst

Edited September 30, 2015 by rose711

[KimberStormer]

Yes, I was meaning to bring that up.  I find it vaguely ominous.  What could be this new style of gameplay?  Probst seems dubious, which at this point I'm willing to see as a good sign.  (I was never really on the "if Jeff likes it it must suck" train until Worlds Apart, which might be the worst season ever.  You've lost me, Probst.  Your taste is just totally different than mine.)

[LadyChatts]

I think having more time could be a good thing, but also a bad thing-more time to focus on the producer pets.  It doesn't guarantee they would still fit in things like the TC drama from last week.  I would have much rather seen the TC drama than the time spent on braceletgate or Vytas's yoga session on the beach.  I thought the first episode dragged in places.

 

Not sure what to think of what Jeff is saying.

[peachmangosteen]

I don't know what to make of that. Like KimberStormer said, it's sorta ominous, which actually is intriguing.

[LadyChatts]

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/01/survivor-talk-shirin-cambodia-second-chance

 

An exit interview from Shirin.  Apparently she told everyone as she was leaving that Terry had the idol (which wasn't even true, and was probably done to save Spencer).  I think she's got a chip on her shoulder about Terry. 

[Jextella]

Surgeons worked all through the night, but now Danny has a new heart.... Terry said he should be brought into ICU shortly.

 

Wow.  I read that he had a sick son but I didn't realize the extent.  Any status update?

 

Abi broke up with Pete? News to me.... and she's got a great job as a high-end realtor, a booming business with her partner in the Acai Cocktail line. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about if he's quoting that from Kass. Or she's lying on purpose.

 

Wow again.  I didn't realize Abi is a high-end realtor much less doing well at it.  And, she is a business owner in Acai Cocktail line?  I have been selling this girl very short!

[cooksdelight]

From what I have read, Danny is doing really well. He looks good too, his color is back and he is happy to be out and about.

[cooksdelight]

Yes, she went to college in San Francisco, got her U.S. citizenship... pays taxes and everything.

[Wings]

That cocktail is not available here.  I would like to try it if it isn't sweet.  Is it sweet, cook?  

[cooksdelight]

No, it's not super sweet. Tastes a little like one of those cranberry juice mixes with the rum. I drank it over ice, nothing else added. Loved it.

[cooksdelight]

Terry just posted this publicly, of Danny, and he looks great!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153097326177341&set=a.10151159615862341.446377.624737340&type=3&theater

[Jextella]

Terry just posted this publicly, of Danny, and he looks great!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153097326177341&set=a.10151159615862341.446377.624737340&type=3&theater

Yeay!  Puts shows like Survivor in perspective.

[LadyChatts]

Happy to hear his son is doing well!

[cooksdelight]

This will make you smile... Danny returns to watch his football teammates play:

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Simsbury-Football-Player-Returns-After-Heart-Transplant/331855361

[KimberStormer]

I dunno if it's cool to self-link here, but anyway, I went a little loopy this weekend and wrote a ranked list of how various characters from Star Trek would do on Survivor.  This is probably not the nerdiest thing I've ever done, but it's up there.  I don't know how much overlap there is between Star Trek fans and Survivor fans, but if any of you are out there, I hope you enjoy it.

[NutMeg]

I dunno if it's cool to self-link here, but anyway, I went a little loopy this weekend and wrote a ranked list of how various characters from Star Trek would do on Survivor.  This is probably not the nerdiest thing I've ever done, but it's up there.  I don't know how much overlap there is between Star Trek fans and Survivor fans, but if any of you are out there, I hope you enjoy it.

Fun exercice! I haven't watched Star Trek since that time I got stuck procrastinating during some exam season and watched tons of reruns, so the only ones I remember clearly without pics are Spock and Kirk, and I really liked your analysis of their personnality/potential. I'd love a Spock, because that would be a novelty. We already had a Kirk, he used the nickname JT (or Kim? or was it Yul?). Memory fails but I'm sure we've seen that persona before. Spock on the other hand... 

[KimberStormer]

I actually was thinking of putting a "Survivor they're most like" for each person but I didn't really feel like going through early boots for some of the poor players of the past.  I was going to put Yul for Spock, and Tom Westman for Kirk.  Kim Spradlin for Jadzia, Tony for Janeway, etc etc....

[Way Wes Jr]

That was a very fun piece of writing.  I was going to tease you for making Dax sound like the Uber-Parvati, (and to campaign for Sisko - he's more ruthless than Kirk,) but ... you're right, Dax would clean up in a Survivor game. 

[KimberStormer]

Sisko's definitely more ruthless, but I feel he faces an uphill battle at Final Tribal.  People will be happier to lose to Kirk.

 

It was pointed out to me that I totally forgot Chief O'Brien...

[SVNBob]

It was pointed out to me that I totally forgot Chief O'Brien...

That's easy.  Think Skupin's second chance, but worse.  Constant injuries until an inevitable pre-merge (like the day before) medevac.  It's only fitting given Miles' position as the ultimate butt monkey of the Trek-verse.

[Lantern7]

Story from Reality Blurred about Ethan Zohn. Nice to see him up and about.

[cherrypj]

Why is Survivor Still on Television?

 

Complete with Coach's (? Is that Coach?) smug face. And this choice quote:

 

people who watched more reality-TV were significantly more motivated by “status” and “vengeance.”

 

All right THEN.

[LadyChatts]

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/biggest-loser-season-17-cast-includes-two-reality-stars-w158674

 

Richard Hatch will be appearing on the new season of The Biggest Loser (the other reality star showing up this season was a finalist on The Voice a few seasons back).

[fishcakes]

FFS, will Hatch's 15 minutes never end?

[Kromm]

So Hatch is no longer claiming to be THE BIGGEST WINNER? 

 

Hah!

[LadyChatts]

 

One last video from our Second Chancers thanking the fans for the opportunity to go back and play again.  Feel like a good chunk of this cast will fade back into the woodwork after this season.