S04.E00: Making the Cut

[Drogo]

The teams for Season 4 are selected.

[OoogleEyes]

Kinda Alone 

[roamyn]

Let me be the first to say, I am rooting against the braggart red haired brothers from a Toronto.

The guy who lives only a few miles from AK (the scrounger who was digging in the soil), might have an unfair advantage, maybe not.  It didn't seem to benefit Jose.

So far I like the quiet brothers from IL, and the father/son where the son has the long hair and knows his plants.

Soap?  Seriously?  You just fell down on my list.

[MostlyContent]

Oh, I'm right with you.  Soap?  SOAP?   

I wonder who will take the fire starter.  The hiker, or the person dropped off at camp?   If they only have about a 10 mile hike, I suppose the dropped off person will.  The hiking conditions look dismal, so hopefully the hikers all make it in one day.  

Only one woman this year, it seems.  

I don't think the young brothers will make it far (19,23), but just watch them prove me wrong.  :)

I liked the Alaskan brothers from the large poor family.  

I liked the husband/wife team before the soap thing.  lol!  In the previews when she's freaking out about the wolf I wish she'd just stand up and yell, "HI"!  He'd be out of there so fast her head would spin.  

All in all, it's rather a different show, but still interesting.   It would be great if they lasted longer.  

I looked all over for a list of who took what 10 survival items, but couldn't find one for this year.   Anyone have a link?

Edited June 9, 2017 by MostlyContent

[GreyBunny]

I liked that someone chose soap. The woman contestant is right, feeling clean is a big psychological boost and this game is largely a mental game.  I might put soap on my list too.

As beautiful as Patagonia was, I'm glad they're back on VI.  It's likely the elements will drive them out before they have time to starve themselves into organ damage.  I'm surprised some of them didn't fatten themselves up beforehand, that should be Alone 101.

I love me some Alan Kay, I'm happy they've kept him as narrator.

Edited June 10, 2017 by GreyBunny

[MostlyContent]

9 minutes ago, GreyBunny said:

The woman contestant is right, feeling clean is a big psychological boost and this game is largely a mental game.  I might put soap on my list too.

I wouldn't.  A bar of soap vs 5 lbs of food (of their choice)?  

I think last season proved that it is not only a mental game, but a physical game.  The chubby person won!  He lost ......what......80 lbs or some-such?  The in-shape folks became skinny and lost their health and their minds.  

I couldn't help but notice during the 'this season on Alone' bit at the end, the woman was in front of a very good looking hearth saying, "I'm nothing but skin and bones".   I doubt that she could eat her soap.  

Very interesting, indeed.  I can't  wait to see how it plays out.

[humbleopinion]

Hey lady...a box of wine will give you the same effect as that little chunk of soap but still not the smartest choice for one of your 10 items

Watch the husband leave the soap out in the rain and it melts into the dirt...

[cooksdelight]

I fell asleep watching this, if that tells you anything. Tells me I'm probably not going to make it a full season with this.

[ProfCrash]

It is on my DVR list so recorded. I started watching at 11:15 and was asleep some time after the two younger brothers. I did see the soap thing and rolled my eyes. I did not see the wolf part so I am going to go with, maybe they can give the wolf the soap and he will leave them alone?

Pros: they only have 10 items between the two of them.

Cons: They are not alone hence the entire premise of the show is up in smoke.

[AZChristian]

I think they took the soap because . . . only man/woman/married team.  And they hope to be out there "alone" for months.  Think about it.

[cooksdelight]

The other thing I managed to see before I dozed off is the big explanation of the teams out there tracking them with GPS. The medical staff, etc. We all knew they were there....by boat, a phone tap away. If they become part of the show, it's doomed.

[ClareWalks]

7 hours ago, GreyBunny said:

I liked that someone chose soap. The woman contestant is right, feeling clean is a big psychological boost and this game is largely a mental game.  I might put soap on my list too.

I agree. It might not be the choice I'd make, but I understand it. Basically it's a substitute for emergency rations, which everyone else seems to bring. Honestly, 5 lb of food isn't that much of a game changer unless you are down to the last couple of days and you still hadn't touched it. I wouldn't want to feel fish-guts filthy for months, either. Ultimately, I can't condemn the choices of any of these folks' items unless they say as they tap out, "I wish I'd done this differently."

This will be an interesting season. I think I'll like the team dynamic, although it certainly isn't being "Alone" out there. I think the ginger brothers will have a lot of drama. I also peg the brothers where one has a new baby and the other is attached at the hip to his wife as early tap-outs. Overall, lots of impressive teams out there. I think the married couple will last a long time, soap notwithstanding. They have complementary skill sets that I bet a lot of siblings and father-son teams won't have, since as married folks they survive together a lot and have filled in each others' knowledge gaps, whereas families who grow up together learn the same things (or teach what they know) but might not practice as much together consistently to develop differing skills from each other.

[ProfCrash]

I suspect they told people that because of the new hiking element. They want it clear that while alone during the hike, the contestants are monitored. The GPS thing has been mentioned before. I think it was the second season when one of the dudes hit his button because there was a bear or some other animal really close by, maybe a wolf, and he was worried about being eaten. They sent the rescue teams out and they were checking the dudes location on a GPS tracker. It still took them a few hours to get to him because of how far they had to hike in at night and with a dangerous animal known to be near by.

I doubt that the support staff will become any more involved then they have in the past. We have seen the one major rescue, a few medical evacs and the medical team determining the winner last year.

I get that the married couple wants to have sex but I am going to suggest that they would have more energy for sex later on if they took the five pounds of food and just heated up water to wash themselves with and leave the soap at home.

The lack of females is killing me. After they had three women survive a long time last season they managed to cast only one woman. And she brought fucking soap. And yes, I do believe it is fucking soap.

[roamyn]

There are many different thing you can use to clean:  sand, dandelion, aloe Vera being some.

You don't waste one of your 10 items on soap, when you have to split those 10 items up.

The guy who requested the nite time rescue was S1.  He put the team in danger, because of his fear of bears.

Edited June 9, 2017 by roamyn

[rainsmom]

Oh my God, it just hit me. This season was filmed last winter and spring. 

I live in the PNW. Between October and May it barely stopped raining. We had our annual rainfall amount by the end of February. We were trying to get our house ready to sell and couldn't find two consecutive days where it didn't rain. I don't mean sunny days -- I mean where it didn't rain.

Vancouver Island gets MORE rain than we do. 

This may be a season of sitting in shelters wishing they could fish.

Edited June 9, 2017 by rainsmom

[ramble]

There are some interesting folks on this season. I think I'd like to see them on a show about surviving alone in the wild, but this show isn't that freaking show! Yes I'm still mad and no, I haven't let it go yet. I don't want to watch people chatting with each other as they struggle to survive, or worse bickering about how to do things. There are other shows about that. Arrgghh! 

The Canadian brothers already annoy me and they haven't started yet. That's a bad sign. The blacksmith brothers could be contenders or quarrel their way of there out quickly. (Yet again part of not being Alone!) The brothers from the large family seem pretty easygoing and as though they may truly have a good shot. The Southern brothers seem set to tap. They both are already talking about their family, and I don't know how much experience they have in cold, rainy VI type environments.

The husband and wife seem interesting, but they lost me a bit with the soap. Yes, the mental game is huge, but I would think something, anything, that helps with staying dry or finding food would help the mental side more than being clean. I am interested in seeing if the soap is ever mentioned again.

The two father/son teams didn't make much of an impact on me. Maybe that means they won't be high drama, but everyone has mentioned potential conflict. Maybe that's producer driven, but still it drives home the point that this isn't an alone experience. I know I'm harping on that, and I apologize. The fact that Alone is not about being alone spoils one of the things I found the most fascinating about the show. I think they used the word team a million times. Maybe they should rename it Team. 

Adam, one of the survival consultants, had a very pleasant voice. I also was glad to hear Alan as our narrator again. 

This season: a wolf (we promise), a few self-inflicted cuts, several "hey bears" and lots of disagreeing, fighting, and general non-alone whininess. 

[rainsmom]

1 hour ago, ramble said:

Adam, one of the survival consultants, had a very pleasant voice. I also was glad to hear Alan as our narrator again. 

I agree with your whole post, but I meant to mention this. Was he the one who was assessing the teams' survival capabilities? He was adorable. He can come stay at my house and watch the season with me.

[piequinn35]

So there are 2 teams Mainers (from Maine), 1 blacksmiths, 1 married, 1 scientists, the Wilkes (I don't have nickname for them) and always rooting for Canadians, Jim and Ted Baird, who said last night: Hi I'm Ted and this is my brother Jim, and we are brothers! :->

[Liberty]

As the format changes, it really moves away from the unique qualities that season 1 offered.  We have had some wonderful competitors in the first 3 seasons, but some super-dud competitors.   It seems quite unlikely viewers will ever be as enamored by a winner as they were by season 1's Alan Kay.  It's great they keep him involved

[rmontro]

Eh, I'm over the anger at the format change for now.  It still looks interesting enough to give it a chance.

IIRC we have four brother/brother teams, two father/son teams, and one married couple.  A little disappointing that there is only one female this season.  If the wife gets too skinny, she may get pulled out by medical, and that's a loss for the team.  If your partner starts getting too skinny, might be worth your while to sacrifice some eating to fatten him up.

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

 If the wife gets too skinny, she may get pulled out by medical, and that's a loss for the team.  If your partner starts getting too skinny, might be worth your while to sacrifice some eating to fatten him up.

Ah well, I haven't watched yet, but as I remember it, women survive starvation better than men - so if I ever get stuck in the woods, women, you ain't getting any of my slugs!

As for the married couple and sex... nope, don't see it. Ok, weeks or even months alone, sex would no doubt occur between a couple of married - except for the fact that every contestant except those who failed to last more than a day or two end up losing major weight. Somehow, sex with a partner who looks like a scarecrow doesn't appeal - in fact, I could see wanting to tap if my wife lost so much weight I was counting her ribs.

Edited June 10, 2017 by SRTouch

[cooksdelight]

I wish they'd have a two-woman team. I finally watched my recording earlier this evening. I'm already predicting the two brothers with wives and kids (one has a new baby) will go first, they are such close-knit and loving families I can see them missing their loved ones.

The two redheads are going to come to blows before it's all over.

The father son duo, with the son who has the really long hair, I liked them and their combined knowledge. 

My fiance and I both laughed at the guy who said he'd kill a bear with his one red arrow. Dude, you better reload fast and shoot a couple more.

What was up with all the dead raccoons? Feast du jour! I can't imagine boiling that already-tough meat.

[muffkins]

4 hours ago, rainsmom said:

Oh my God, it just hit me. This season was filmed last winter and spring. 

I live in the PNW. Between October and May it barely stopped raining. We had our annual rainfall amount by the end of February. We were trying to get our house ready to sell and couldn't find two consecutive days where it didn't rain. I don't mean sunny days -- I mean where it didn't rain.

Vancouver Island gets MORE rain than we do. 

This may be a season of sitting in shelters wishing they could fish.

I was just saying to my husband, that this has been one of the worst winters in about 10 years here.  We live in the southwest corner of BC, so what we got, they got, and it also snowed A LOT this year.  I was in a house and I was depressed and sad this winter because it was so horrible.

[LeighAnne]

Although I'm not thrilled with the "team" aspect of this season's Alone, I'm still onboard.  As long as the show focuses on the actual mechanics of living off the land --- like, during the submission tape of one of the father/son teams, they found a raccoon and skinned it using primitive tools --- I'm watching.  I like that this challenge is so merit based; a lot of these people really know how to survive on very little.

[OoogleEyes]

I hope that this show, that I really liked during the first couple of seasons, doesn't turn into a hate watch for me.

Those are fun, don't get me wrong. But, I did admire the original premise.  It looks like the "reality show" producers have gotten their mitts on this and it's not a good thing. 

[TVbitch]

Sigh. They must be hoping for more drama, but participants like Larry gave fully enough drama just within themselves! 

Bummed only one woman. I kept waiting for the two woman team to be featured. I will be generous and assume they judged 00on merit. 

I take exception to the "two family members" concept, cuz there are some people (like me) who do not have any "family" as defined by the show. I think friends and non-marrried partners should have been allowed. 

I did appreciate them being more transparent about how close help actually is.

[rmontro]

9 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

I take exception to the "two family members" concept, cuz there are some people (like me) who do not have any "family" as defined by the show. I think friends and non-marrried partners should have been allowed. 

Maybe next season.  I was actually a little relieved when I saw it was going to be pairs, because when I first heard about the "team" concept, I thought it was going to be something like Survivor (nothing against Survivor).

I think one reason for the change is they wanted to avoid what was happening late last season - with people starving but having too much will to tap out.  With the pairs, you might have one guy wanting to tap out, and the other trying to convince him to hang in there.  I think it's possible the "find your partner" trek could be interesting as well, but it might also be fairly routine.  I'm willing to give it a watch.

[Quilt Fairy]

56 minutes ago, rmontro said:

 I think it's possible the "find your partner" trek could be interesting as well, but it might also be fairly routine.

I'm kinda confused about that.  They're dropped off 10 miles away with their 5 items and a compass direction. I would assume that that would be a one day trip, but I swear I heard someone talk about a couple of weeks. That can't be possible, can it? (Of course, I would totally watch that show.)

The new title should be Alone...... Except Not.

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'm kinda confused about that.  They're dropped off 10 miles away with their 5 items and a compass direction. I would assume that that would be a one day trip, but I swear I heard someone talk about a couple of weeks. That can't be possible, can it? (Of course, I would totally watch that show.)

The new title should be Alone...... Except Not.

I suppose how long it takes depends on how rough the terrain is.  Someone said there were no trails.  I doubt that they could make it in one day, but a couple of weeks sounds kinda long.  If I could make it in one day, I'd tell my partner to have a hot meal waiting for me.  Seems like as long as you stay by your compass point, once you hit the shoreline, it shouldn't be too hard to find your camp.

Maybe they put in this part where they are separated so there would still be a time when they are "alone".

[roamyn]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

The new title should be Alone...... Except Not.

But...they are Alone.

The show doesn't advertise one-person alone.  It just says alone.  And the pairs are alone.

[MostlyContent]

3 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'm kinda confused about that.  They're dropped off 10 miles away with their 5 items and a compass direction. I would assume that that would be a one day trip, but I swear I heard someone talk about a couple of weeks. That can't be possible, can it? (Of course, I would totally watch that show.)

When I was backpacking in the Big Horns frequently, 15 miles was a one day trip.  That included getting there after a long slog of 8 miles straight up, and setting up camp before dark.  But WY is not horribly wet and slippery and all that shit.   

If someone said something about 2 weeks, then the only explanation I can imagine is that they don't know how to use a compass.  ??

3 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

he new title should be Alone...... Except Not.

Or simply 'Not Alone'.  lol! 

 

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

The show doesn't advertise one-person alone.  

Well, it used to.  Therein lies the angst.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the 10 items.  

I think that's the part that makes it interesting this year.   Dividing the 10 items?  How?  Do they both have to have 5, or can they decide that for themselves.  I guess I need to watch it again.  

I assume they'll both need sleeping bags, so they're already down one.  

If they only chose one ferro rod, who gets it?  As I said earlier, I'd assume the camp person and not the hiker........but who knows?

Knowing that they get 2 10' tarps in advance, I would assume that if they also chose a larger tarp for one of their 10 items, the camp person would take that, and maybe the hiker would take one of the tarps they are granted because who would want to hike over rough terrain with the large one in their backpack.

Also, wouldn't they chose a knife and either an ax or a hatchet?  And a pan of some sort?  

So, of the 10 items, camp person would have a sleeping bag, ferro rod, large tarp (if they chose that),  probably the ax or hatchet (as those are heavier than the knife that would probably go with the hiker).

That's 4 for the camp person.  No extra rations accounted for yet, but it would be easier, if rations are chosen, for the camp person rather than the hiker to deal with them.  So maybe if the hiker expected to get there in one day, he/she'd also have the ferro rod.  

Hiker:   sleeping bag, knife, pan.......that's three.  

If fishing hooks/line are chosen, easy for the hiker.  That's four.  

Now I'm driving myself crazy and nobody yet has extra rations.  LOL!   

I wish we knew who chose what 10 items.   

Edited June 10, 2017 by MostlyContent

[MostlyContent]

Oh good lord, I'm still thinking.  If the hikers expect to get there in one day, maybe the camp person has at least 8 of the 10 items.  That would really suck for the hiker if it takes them an extended period of time to get there.  

And what hasn't been explained to us yet: Who has all the stuff they are granted?  The clothes, the bear spray, the boat horn thingy, etc.   Does the hiker have to carry his own, or can they pick and choose those items, too?  

Oh, hell's bells.  I think I'm going to watch some sort of real housewives episode and quit ruminating.  :)  

[GreyBunny]

On 6/9/2017 at 6:05 PM, muffkins said:

I live in the PNW. Between October and May it barely stopped raining. We had our annual rainfall amount by the end of February.

I live in the PNW too and the entire season was just one big sack of wet.    It still hasn't stopped raining much, we just had a thunderstorm today.

Even though I live in a rainshadow city (the Olympics stand between us and the Pacific), we still get plenty of precipitation and when it doesn't rain, it's overcast.  Constant grey and drizzle from late fall to mid summer.

20 hours ago, MostlyContent said:

They're dropped off 10 miles away with their 5 items and a compass direction. I would assume that that would be a one day trip, but I swear I heard someone talk about a couple of weeks. That can't be possible, can it? (Of course, I would totally watch that show.)

The terrain is brutal.  It's hilly, the ground is very uneven, the vegetation is dense and full of tripwire roots, it's dark, it's raining, everything is slippery, the mud and the muck will grab your boot in flat areas or cause you to slide and fall if you're trying to climb, in places the moss and other debris could form a fake surface over a hole that gives way like a trap door when you step on it... I'd be surprised if all of them made it without at least one getting a broken leg.  They're going to need the two weeks.

If I were the hiker, I'd just build a boat and paddle along the beach to my partner.

Edited June 11, 2017 by GreyBunny

[qtpye]

4 hours ago, GreyBunny said:

If I were the hiker, I'd just build a boat and paddle along the beach to my partner.

I just hope they don't pull a Jose and take forever to finish the boat, which tips over and causes them to tap.

[roamyn]

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

I just hope they don't pull a Jose and take forever to finish the boat, which tips over and causes them to tap.

Maybe they'll find the lost SS Barbara?  It's certainly more sturdy than Jose's Folly or even Mitch's Bag O Leaves

[Snarklepuss]

11 hours ago, roamyn said:

But...they are Alone.

The show doesn't advertise one-person alone.  It just says alone.  And the pairs are alone.

Alone is alone, period.  There is no "team" in alone.

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

Quote

Alone:

Having no one else present; on one's own.

as predicative adjective ‘she was alone that evening’

as adverb ‘he lives alone’

1.1 Without others' help or participation; single-handed.

as adverb ‘team members are more effective than individuals working alone’

Perhaps if they want this show to be about teams, they should call it "alone together".  Once they find each other they are together, not alone.  Or so I think.  I'm not even sure what the rules or the point of this new format are yet.  No one has mapped that out for me and I confess I'm not up on wilderness survival enough to figure that out for myself.

I also think this show has gotten so far away from its original concept and in danger of over-complicating itself to the point that I fear they'll lose a lot of the original audience.  I'm not a survival enthusiast, I'm just an armchair viewer.  I think it was more interesting to watch people who weren't obvious professionals push themselves to achieve something incredible for them than watching obvious professionals who are prepared to the max do something they do on a regular basis like it was nothing new to them.  Every season the participants look more and more professional and that really doesn't interest me that much.

@cooksdelight will appreciate this - it's as if they took "MasterChef" and changed all the contestants to professional chefs who work in teams.  It would not be the same show and perhaps on that basis not as interesting depending on what interests you about it.  Now that "Alone" seems to have been taken over by the professional enthusiasts, they'll probably lose a lot of the armchair viewers, like me.  I'll give it a chance but so far I doubt I'm going to love it.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Snarklepuss
Basic grammar, which I sometimes forget.

[roamyn]

I don't think this season has any professionals, other than Sam - the son who has a science degree.  The married couple just live that way, as does the older scrounger brother (his brother is the former military guy).

We didn't watch S3 (glad we missed it now).  Were there a lot of professionals on that season?

S1 had at least one pro that I remember- Chris, the 2nd tapper.

S2 had Jose, Nichole, Mike & Randy,  And maybe Dave since he started a survival school in Brazil.

Edited June 10, 2017 by roamyn

[cooksdelight]

10 hours ago, MostlyContent said:

If the hikers expect to get there in one day, maybe the camp person has at least 8 of the 10 items.

Each person per team has 5 of the 10 items. They have to decide before leaving who gets which items.

[MostlyContent]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Each person per team has 5 of the 10 items. They have to decide before leaving who gets which items.

Thanks.  Boy, that makes for some really, really tough decisions.   The good decisions and the bad decisions should become apparent quite quickly.   This might be more interesting than I at first thought!

[Canada]

I don't think I'll make it through this season.  I don't particularly like any of these people.  The format is stupid.  And there's only one woman?  Really?  After how well the women did last season? 

[walnutqueen]

Of course, I will watch; it's Vancouver Island, eh!

I reserve judgement on the new format, but am inclined to be pissed, just because they have fucked with my show.

I am, however, looking forward to seeing some real RAIN.  As a PNWer transplanted to sunny SoCal, I am frequently annoyed at what these locals consider precipitation.  Just this morning some guy at the convenience store was bitching about the "rain".  It was BARELY even misting, much less drizzling - I made it all the way there & back home without needing my windshield wipers (which have been shredded & useless for at least two years).  Yeah, I don't commute or work anymore, but STILL.  :-)

I know it is truly raining here when my roof leaks like a sieve; maybe a few times a year.  So, shutty, SoCal putty.

[GreyBunny]

11 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

I am, however, looking forward to seeing some real RAIN.

I've love to invite your SoCal buddies for a winter in SE AK.  Rain, mud, muck, snow, dark, and more rain!  

I think the team from Wrangell will adjust the easiest, they already live in this kind of environment.  I wonder about the Louisiana pair, they might have  backwoods and swamp experience, but a dense temperate rainforest is a whole other animal.

[Quilt Fairy]

8 hours ago, MostlyContent said:

Thanks.  Boy, that makes for some really, really tough decisions.   The good decisions and the bad decisions should become apparent quite quickly.   This might be more interesting than I at first thought!

Your earlier post about how to divide up the items got me thinking maybe this was planned by TPTB to avoid a team taking any of the available extra rations.  You wouldn't want the hiker to carry any extra weight, so he wouldn't take them, and you wouldn't want the camper to have no tools so he wouldn't take them, either.

Edited June 11, 2017 by Quilt Fairy

[MostlyContent]

I've been spending too much time thinking about this exact issue, Quilt Fairy!  Way too much time.  :)

I have no idea whether or not it was by design, but it sure looks like it's going to shake out that way.  They already have one less choice because of needing two sleeping bags.  

I sure wish we could find a list of who chose what, and it would be great to find out in advance which person took which items.   

Patience is not my strong point.  

[walnutqueen]

4 minutes ago, GreyBunny said:

I've love to invite your SoCal buddies for a winter in SE AK.  Rain, mud, muck, snow, dark, and more rain!  

I think the team from Wrangell will adjust the easiest, they already live in this kind of environment.  I wonder about the Louisiana pair, they might have  backwoods and swamp experience, but a dense temperate rainforest is a whole other animal.

They would DIE.  As would I, because even though I grew up in and around Vancouver, B.C., I have, over time, become Californicated.  Shorts, tees & flip flops with open windows 99.9% of the time - I may miss a lot about my Beautiful B.C., but the climate here is kind to us old folks.  :-)

People who think they are prepared for a North Vancouver Island wilderness hike ... aren't (unless they've been there, done that).  'Nuff said.

[cooksdelight]

7 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

the climate here is kind to us old folks

I know exactly what you mean. My beloved late aunt lived in Glendale since 1960 until her death 2 years ago. Near the end of her life she toyed with the idea of coming back to NC, but a few visits reminded her of the cold weather we have during fall and winter. 

I'd love to know Alan's thoughts on this team concept.

[raven]

21 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

Perhaps if they want this show to be about teams, they should call it "alone together". 

"Alone....Some of the Time".

I'll watch and see what happens but I'm not happy they messed with the format either.  No one really made a huge impression on me in the intros, though with the red-haired brothers, I thought the same thing the evaluator did- those guys are big and are going to require a LOT of calories. 

Also not happy about the peeks we saw of the inevitable bickering.  I enjoy some good suffering-while-hiking so that part should be interesting.

*Sigh* these shows should realize that it all comes down to the personalities/casting/environment, not major tweaks in the show's theme. 

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, raven said:

*Sigh* these shows should realize that it all comes down to the personalities/casting/environment, not major tweaks in the show's theme. 

Especially when, AFAIK, the show was a huge success.  Did the ratings slip?  Did they think we were bored?

[ethalfrida]

I also wondered about the shark jumping...

Do they think we would get bored with the original format?

We watched sitcoms like Lucy for years and the format was always the same. Lucy would talk Ethel into doing something nutty and then try to keep Ricky from finding out. It may be the longest running show ever.

[cooksdelight]

Same with Law & Order. For more than 20 years we knew Jack McCoy would get his man. This show is no different. I think producers today freak out if they drop one rating point. Impatient little twits.