Board 8 > Survivor Off-Season Discussion Topic: Survivor is Big Brother Now

(+) Yeah! (+)

KujikawaRising posted...

It wasn't that I hated him as much as I do now. It was fatigue. Any Hantz is a tiring person to watch and they're only decent TV in smaller quantities

Peridiam posted...

wow, just noticed that ghost island is gonna be the first season since samoa to feature a newbie cast that was randomly divided into starting tribes (regardless of gender, age, profession, etc.)

weird

Huh? What about Redemption Island (significantly older Zapatera tribe), South Pacific, and Philippines? Those all seem possibly random as well, with the only stipulation of one veteran per tribe. SJDS seemed like the loved ones were randomly placed as well, with Hunahpu being a significantly better tribe.

*entirely newbie cast

SJDS doesn't count because the BvW twist was the theme.
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Okay, yeah, that changes things.

It's refreshing that we're getting a more old-school season in several ways, honestly. All newbies, no gimmicky way to divide tribes, and a central twist more along the lines of Exile Island, only with it tying into Survivor history (including the old school).

I just hope that 37 follows a similar formula. I'd love for 39 to be "Survivor: 39 Days" and be a straight-up good ol' fashioned 18-person game of Survivor with a final two, complete with a double TC and a total of three idols. One thing I liked about HHH was that they didn't shove the gimmick down our throats. I hope they're listening...
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well honestly imo the "gimmicky way to divide tribes" is just a way to add some flavor to all the new faces early game - i dunno if i feel that any of the BBB seasons, HHH, or Worlds Apart really needed the divisions other than as a way to divide the 18 people into 3 groups lol
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Is that the first time they have ever put Phil in the theme song like that?
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Lmfao Jess
Lmfao Cody

Making this season already as expected.

Hotdog guys are annoying as fuck
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is this the only non-double episode of the season?
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That was fucking insane. I couldn't tell who was who at the end, so I didn't even know how the ending went down.
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Are they doing double episodes? I didn't know that.
I'm glad the goat girls are still in. I kinda liked the ring girls but not to the point where I'm devastated they are gone.
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What the fuck?!?!
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I hope there comes a point, maybe final 5 or final 4, where any original teams left in tact may swap back if they want
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Jason, winner of TAR23, currently on my local 11:00 news about the snow situation tomorrow.
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Pretty fun premiere for TAR. My first live TAR episode since season 2.
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Are you all caught up?
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Nope. Didnt watch TAR28 or 29. Kinda ran out of steam and those two seasons arent available on any of the streaming services.
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28 is skippable but you should watch 29 if you get a chance.
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Oh, TAR was on last night? Forgot about that. It's the last season, right? I should probably watch it...
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KujikawaRising posted...

It's the last season, right?

Is this confirmed? This is the first I've heard about it.
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andy, i guess you forgot when you said "meh" to me announcing it was on

i don't think it's the last season, it just hasn't been renewed yet. i haven't heard anything about it being the last, though if i did i wouldn't be surprised.

jess & cody are pretty good though.
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Yeah over the past few years it's gone from Sunday primetime, to Friday Night Death Slot, to mid-season replacement, to inter-season "hurry up and air this before Survivor comes back." It's also gone from two seasons per year to just one, so it's definitely on its way out.
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Bad signs:
They're trying to burn through 12 episodes in two months.
The show barely got renewed last year.
Nobody posted "Who's watching?" in this topic.

That said, initial ratings were pretty strong. We'll see if those hold.
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Peridiam posted...

jess & cody are pretty good though.

tbh this is the only reason I'd care

Cody is TV gold. And Jess is awesome.
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The premier was very good, and I liked most of the teams

Love:
Jess & Cody
April & Sarah
Henry & Evan

Like:
Kristi & Jen
Alex & Connor
Dessie & Kayla
Lucas & Brittany

Mixed-Leaning-Positive:
Cedric & Shawn

Neutral:
Trevor & Chris
Eric & Daniel

Hate:
Joey & Tim
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havent seen amazing race

saw naomi's video, wish you showed more of cody being stonefaced and unimpressed in the diary room. it was basically 1 clip with megan, you need to give more proof to make people watch the amazing race

although cody's comment at the end was funny
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Yeah I shouldve made a montage of his stonewalling. I used him in the frog suit, his talk with Megan, one convo with Paul, his end remark about crying.

Tricky thing is I cant use clips that extend beyond 25 seconds, otherwise I get copyright claims. I wanted to use his reaction to winning 25k but the clip was too long.
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Next video is talking about all of the worst twists in Survivor.
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Peridiam posted...

Next video is talking about all of the worst twists in Survivor.

Please don't mention the Medallion of Power. People shit on that SO much, but that's only because it flopped. It wasn't a bad twist in theory. It's just that the La Flors were so much stronger than the Espadas, so once they got their hands on the Medallion, they just kept winning and holding onto it.
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We had the Medallion of Power twist show up for a brief stint in Survivor: Nicaragua. I can barely muster the words to care about this. I know a lot of people like to say this twist is one of the worst but the truth is that it's so negligible it really doesn't even matter. It was a non-event for the few episodes it existed and like many other failed twists, will likely never return.
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I will defend the Medallion of Power to the death. Back in the day when alliances actually mattered and people didn't just betray each other every other episode, the best we could hope for was a balanced merge leading to an exciting merge vote. So having the tribes trade immunity wins works really well. Having the medallion of power as a way for a weaker tribe to even the scales is a really interesting twist. It's something I think could work really well if they tried it again.

It's like my Big Brother twist idea. Player gets evicted, they're having their interview with Julie, and she asks them who they would like to give an advantage to in the upcoming HoH. Then that person gets a minor advantage. Not enough to guarantee victory, but enough to give them a leg up. We've had a bunch of seasons in a row where the same alliance wins EVERY HoH for long stretches, leading to a Pagonging (plus when one alliance stays in power, they become unbearable and arrogant). Giving the opportunity for a defeated player to have a chance to fuck over the people who evicted him would be pretty fun to try out just one time.
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Id be OK with that twist.
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Medallion of Power sucked because they didn't implement it well. The idea is a good one. Their execution wasn't.

Inviso's twist idea for Big Brother is very needed. "Summer of Retribution" or something. I'd hope they'd make that permanent afterward. Would have been awesome for Jess to give a "present" to Cody and XOXO it, then for him to win HOH. Who would he nominate, though? Would Paul have gotten evicted over anyone?
...sorry, I shouldn't have. My apologies.

Worst Survivor twists ever are, in my mind:
The Outcasts in Pearl Islands
"Haves vs. Have Nots" in Fiji
Post-merge Redemption Island with returnee at 4
Vote out a juror in Kaoh Rong
Unannounced fire-making in HHH in lieu of a vote-out

RI pre-merge is fine. Big distinction. The more I think about that fire-making, the more I hate it. Isn't the way to earn your spot to survive votes?

Dishonorable mentions:
Combined unannounced "team challenge" at Fiji merge, followed by immediately going to Tribal
The "swap" in China
One returnee as designated leader of each tribe of newbies (RI/SP/Philippines)
Tyler Perry Idol
Legacy Advantage
Randomly decided vote nullifier in HHH

These ultimately didn't impact as much as the above ones did. Yes, they screwed over Michelle Yi, Aaron Reisberger, and :angry: Cirie Fields (and to a lesser extent Alan Ball, but Joe's idol), but Michelle's closest ally Earl and Aaron's second-closest ally Todd (Amanda appeared to be his #1) won the game despite, so it didn't change who had control. The Legacy Advantage only screwed Cirie over because of how many idols were sat on.

I'd be fine with the nullifier returning provided it requires skill to get, as opposed to random chance.
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The shock F3s in Cooks/Fiji are huge on the twist scale, to an extent only later seen in Kaoh Rong.
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Still have not seen it
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zombie game is fun
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"I've made a huge mistake."
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Update on Australian Outback



You know, I came into this rewatch hoping (maybe even trying) to discover that Amber was like some hidden gem that we've all been overlooking all these years (especially given that she's on All-Stars), and that didn't happen.
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Yeah Amber's just kind of.... there. I don't know how she got on All-Stars. I mean, yeah, Elisabeth said no because of her contract with The View, but they could've given us T-Bird or Neleh instead of making sure almost a third of the cast was folks from Outback. Having four people from their most popular season is still enticing.

That said, without that, we don't get the iconic Power Couple that ensured no other romance/showmance was going to make the end together. Survivor history is a completely different beast if Amber's not on All-Stars and I don't even know where to start with that.
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The real crime is that Pearl Islands only had one. I know it was because 7 was supposed to be the All-star season and they squeezed Rupert in after the fact, but it felt weird not having Fairplay on that season as well. Especially since he would have had the Russell-esque advantage of the others not having seen the dead grandma stunt yet.
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Amber had one purpose on All-Stars. Why Neleh couldn't have that job I don't know but I'm okay with it. Also, All-Stars was the sacrifice we needed to not have Big Brother esq showmances happening ever season
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Hold the phone... I just looked at the episode schedule for Amazing Race and they aren't even airing it on a regular schedule. Even with double episodes they're scattering them over the next two months rather than on a weekly basis... Yeah, this show is done.

Also looks like Survivor premier is going to be a double yet again.
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I'm watching the amazing race right now very legally.

Apparently the premiere in Canada is in February
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Underleveled posted...

The real crime is that Pearl Islands only had one. I know it was because 7 was supposed to be the All-star season and they squeezed Rupert in after the fact, but it felt weird not having Fairplay on that season as well. Especially since he would have had the Russell-esque advantage of the others not having seen the dead grandma stunt yet.

Fairplay would probably have been the only other one, though. Queen Sandra was considered but said no because she was still sick from her first go and didn't want to destroy herself. And who would they have booted? ...Boston Rob?

eaedwards6400 posted...

Also, All-Stars was the sacrifice we needed to not have Big Brother esq showmances happening ever season

I am behind this. I get sick of showmances. However, Big Brother has them more often for a few reasons. One is the length of the game and necessity to have a confidant, which can naturally go places when you're shut off from the outside. The second is that there's no escape and you can't go hide in the jungle by yourself for an hour just to calm yourself. Another is booze. Survivor is a faster-paced game with opportunities for escape.

Underleveled posted...

Hold the phone... I just looked at the episode schedule for Amazing Race and they aren't even airing it on a regular schedule. Even with double episodes they're scattering them over the next two months rather than on a weekly basis... Yeah, this show is done.

Also looks like Survivor premier is going to be a double yet again.

Amazing Race really seems like something they're just burning off this year. It's also quite expensive to produce. I don't give it a good chance to be renewed unless its ratings continue to be as good as they were for its premiere.

Yeah, another double episode for the Survivor premiere. Shame - I'd rather have the 90-minute variety that allows us to get to know everybody while making strategic sense. I'd love for all episodes to be that long. Hey, that works well for Australian Survivor! Can't see why it wouldn't work with a season half as long episode-wise.
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BlueCrystalTear posted...

Fairplay would probably have been the only other one, though. Queen Sandra was considered but said no because she was still sick from her first go and didn't want to destroy herself. And who would they have booted? ...Boston Rob?

Most likely. They both fit the smart-ass strategic villain role. And then suddenly Survivor history is totally different. Rob likely doesn't come back until S31, if ever.

Also I once read that they contacted everyone from the first seven seasons about the possibility of appearing on All-Stars, but only ever seriously considered about 30 or so.
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amazing race 30-1 beated
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i also watched the new episode of Amazing Race because people here were talking about it. it's the first time i've seen the show.

the whole time i'm thinking about how much fuel is being used.

yeah i'm not going to be sticking with this show. i know it's probably not a good representative or the best episode necessarily but i'll pass.

also would anybody here ever go on one of these shows if they had the opportunity? definitely not for Survivor for me. i would die so fast.

i'm kind of feeling burned out on Survivor buut still kind of curious about the seasons i haven't watched. going to watch the first episodes of the seasons i haven't seen and see if i want to continue any of them. i've seen enough spoilers at this point so i pretty much know who the winners are but not really any of the other placings. i couldn't name any of the winners by name but when they come up i'll probably be like "yeah that name sounds familiar."

Caramoan
San JUAN del SUR
Worlds Apar
Kaoh Rang
MIL vs. GENX
HHH?

Throw Cambodia between WA and Koah Rong.

Side note: I almost hate to say it but Survivor needed Boston Rob. Despite the ugliness in the way he played, there is something about the "no holds barred" way he played that allows the game to be as dramatic as it is. People aren't taking this as personally as they have. Between the strategic play of Cesternino though you can say Marquesas did it first. But he did it on an individual level and the "no holds barred" way of Boston Rob. The Robs formed the way Survivor is played.

That men All-Stars cast is hard to change. I think Big Tom is probably the weakest one on it but he's fantastic for diversity (in age) and TV. And this mostly because if how dynamic Boston Rob is in confessional. The women on All-Stars always left me curious. 4 spots that seemed 'eh when I did my straight through watch in 2012-2013. Alicia, Amber, Shii-ann, and Jenna.
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man remember when Bryant Gumbel hosted the reunion shows? i actually skipped out on those

Shii-Ann was necessary because they wanted someone from Thailand and felt that it should go to who was the most screwed person ever at that point in time.

Alicia was needed because they had to have somebody from Kucha and couldn't just cast Ogakor on All-Stars when Australian Outback was their most popular season.

Jenna was only "eh" because she quit for a legitimate reason and never should've said yes in the first place for that reason. I like Jenna a lot more after she got humbled by how atrociously she behaved in Amazon.

Amber was controversial at the time - our local paper had pre-game hype on that season and the columnist's second paragraph was "And they pick Amber?" I mean, yeah, Elisabeth and Colleen were the logical picks for that archetype, but both said no. Neleh would have been best. And T-Bird should have been there, but they already had three from Africa - a popular winner and two guys they promised spots because of the Lindsey Richter piercing snafu.

kateee posted...

man remember when Bryant Gumbel hosted the reunion shows? i actually skipped out on those

The only thing those were good for is when they were mocked in TEOS. Which was frequent, because those reunions were so awkward. Then came the Rosie O'Donnell one, which was a glorious trainwreck. Fun to watch for all the wrong reasons. After that, Probst just took over. And now reunions aren't a thing anymore.
(TEOS: http://robhasawebsite.com/evolution-of-strategy-chapters/)
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kateee posted...

i also watched the new episode of Amazing Race because people here were talking about it. it's the first time i've seen the show.

also would anybody here ever go on one of these shows if they had the opportunity? definitely not for Survivor for me. i would die so fast.

TAR is great, but has a really different appeal than survivor. not for everyone, though I think a regular season of TAR stacks up better than a regular season of survivor or BB. my biggest issue with TAR is how indistinguishable each season is. maybe its just me but all of it blends together and very rarely does anything stick out.

Id do Survivor in a heartbeat. I think I could do well too.
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Kateee watch San Juan then skip Worlds Apart to Cambodia. There will only be two people in Cambodia you won't know from having skipped WA and you can easily be caught up on who they are and what they did.
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