Board 8 > Off-Season CBS Reality Show Topic: This might actually last until TAR32 airs.

(+) Yeah! (+)

1. Joe & Bill
2. Kevin & Drew
3. Nancy & Emily
4. Paul & Amie
5. Frank & Margarita
6. Dave & Margaretta
7. Pat & Brenda
8. Rob & Brennan
9. Matt & Ana
10. Kim & Leslie
11. Lenny & Karyn

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1. Oswald & Danny
2. Mary & Peach
3. Peggy & Claire
4. Gary & Dave
5. Tara & Wil
6. Deidre & Hillary
7. Blake & Paige
8. Chris & Alex
9. Shola & Doyin
10. Cyndi & Russell
11. Hope & Norm

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1. Ken & Gerard
2. Teri & Ian
3. Flo & Zach
4. Tramel & Talicia
5. Heather & Eve
6. Derek & Drew
7. Michael & Kathy
8. Gina & Sylvia
9. Andrew & Dennis
10. Andre & Damon
11. John Vito & Jill
12. Aaron & Arianne

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1. Kelly & Jon
2. Amanda & Chris
3. Steve & Josh
4. Millie & Chuck
5. Steve & Dave
6. Jon & Al
7. Debra & Steve
8. Tian & Jaree
9. David & Jeff
10. Monica & Sheree
11. Russell & Cindy
12. Reichen & Chip

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So I went ahead and made a quickie list of who I believe are the top 30 most iconic Survivor players of all time, and roughly my level of certainty with which they belong on that list.

Richard Hatch (certainty - 95%)
Rudy Boesch (certainty - 100%)
Sue Hawk (certainty - 80%)
Tina Wesson (certainty - 95%)
Colby Donaldson (certainty - 90%)
Jerri Manthey (certainty - 100%)
Rob Mariano (certainty - 100%)
Sandra Diaz-Twine (certainty - 100%)
Jon Dalton (certainty - 95%)
Rupert Boneham (certainty - 100%)
Stephenie LaGrossa (certainty - 80%)
Cirie Fields (certainty - 100%)
Ozzy Lusth (certainty - 100%)
Parvati Shallow (certainty - 100%)
Yau-Man Chan (certainty - 90%)
Amanda Kimmel (certainty - 95%)
James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. (certainty - 90%)
Benjamin "Coach" Wade (certainty - 100%)
Tyson Apostol (certainty - 100%)
Russell Hantz (certainty - 100%)
John Cochran (certainty - 85%)
Kim Spradlin (certainty - 95%)
Ciera Eastin (certainty - 80%)
Tony Vlachos (certainty - 100%)
Kass McQuillen (certainty - 85%)
Spencer Bledsoe (certainty - 95%)
Natalie Anderson (certainty - 100%)
Jeremy Collins (certainty - 100%)
Joe Anglim (certainty - 85%)
Tai Trang (certainty - 100%)

Firstly I want to address the lack of Cesternino. He was the last person I cut to make it 30. While he's extremely popular with the online Survivor community, I think at this point, with how far back he goes, to the general viewing population (the people who watch on Wednesday nights and don't obsessively analyze/rank everything or listen to podcasts/watch Youtube, aka the overwhelming majority of Survivor viewers), every single person on this list is more immediately memorable than him. This is why you also see me put people like Colby and Fairplay, who would have easily been given 100%'s ten years ago, lower than that.

Also, I made Tai the most recent person on this list because I feel like pretty much everybody who debuted in the last few years is simply too recent to judge their status as an icon. They need to be given more time to let their place in Survivor history sink in.

But for what it's worth, these are some other names I considered while making this list:
Ethan Zohn
Rob Cesternino
Eliza Orlins
Tom Westman
Aras Baskauskas
Terry Deitz
Yul Kwon
Jonathan Penner
Candice Woodcock
Earl Cole
Courtney Yates
James Clement
Stephen Fishbach
Andrea Boehlke
Denise Stapley
Malcolm Freberg
Kelley Wentworth
Aubry Bracco

Malcolm and Andrea were also late cuts with Cesternino.

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Depending on what it means to be iconic, your three late cuts are three I think deserve to be in there. I think I would have andrea and rob over kass and joe. I want malcolm in there but cant find anyone else I would cut.

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I think yauman and Tina are the next on the bubble but I cant QUITE justify putting malcolm, James, and Kelley over them.

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I would say to replace Ciera with Cesternino, and Kim Spradlin with Penner.

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Looking at your 80s, ciera and sue I would have at 100, stephenie I would have at 95

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I would also have Erik in the mix ..

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GTM posted...

I would also have Erik in the mix ..

I thought about Erik but I think his move is more iconic than he is himself. I think more casuals remember him as "the dumbass that gave up immunity" than ice cream scooper Erik.

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yes, I think being the dumbass that gave up immunity and the move itself makes himself iconic. They dont necessarily have to be known as their original occupation to be iconic

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Well I guess my point was that people remember the move as opposed to him.

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amanda ahead of james is 100% wrong imo

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James was extremely popular while China/Micronesia were airing (he won fan favorite in both against some stiff competition), but in hindsight he feels very "flavor of the month," and didn't really have that lasting impression that similarly popular players like Rupert had.

Also his "dumb move" has not only been overshadowed by similarly dumb moves by other players that I did put on my list, but as of last year has been repeated.

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I just don't get how you would put Ciera Eastin on the list over many of these other characters.

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I think ciera will be on 100%. People don't remember her last 2 games, they will just remember shes the one (exhaggerating yes) female that gives Jeff a boner for her play that he will keep reminding the audience that shes an icon.

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Inviso posted...

I just don't get how you would put Ciera Eastin on the list over many of these other characters.

She voted out her mom!

I guess for what it's worth Ciera is, I would venture, in Jeff's top 5 female players of all time.

Of course, this is also the guy who said he'd have Ben on his Survivor Mount Rushmore, but I have a feeling that's mostly a tounge-in-cheek jab at the fans who dislike modern Survivor.

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I find Ciera Eastin (and Spencer Bledsoe) most responsible for shaping up modern Survivor.

Just like I find Derrick Levasseur most responsible for shaping up modern Big Brother.

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Frankly, I still blame Russell. That was the point where both the producers and the players decided they had to one-up themselves every single season instead of just making minor tweaks and letting the characters drive the season. This James/Amanda talk has prompted me to rewatch China again and it's amazing how stark the contrast is to modern Survivor. There's still strategy talk but it's got substance. We learn what makes these people tick and what their approach to the game is instead of just going on and on about alliances and advantages and blindsides. It's really jarring watching this coming out of the 30s.

That being said I also blame the fact that people know the shoes they've been cast to fill. Go read Maddog's 40 Casting Archetypes. A really fascinating read. But now more than ever, people seem to be aware that they are cast to fill that role. Ryan, Bradley and Gavin know they're cast to be "the new Spencer." Joe and Wardog know they're cast to be "the new Tony." And so they try to play exactly like those people and it just gives us a more repetitive and overall lesser experience.

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Yeah, it's definitely Russell. That was the first season where the producers realized "Why the fuck should we give a shit about the entire cast when we can just have one central character who's gonna make moves and water cooler moments (which will be promptly forgotten about within one season)?"

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Inviso posted...

Yeah, it's definitely Russell. That was the first season where the producers realized "Why the fuck should we give a shit about the entire cast when we can just have one central character who's gonna make moves and water cooler moments (which will be promptly forgotten about within one season)?"

Coach was the prototype; Russell refined it.

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bwburke94 posted...

Coach was the prototype; Russell refined it.

Coach (and Sugar) were both big characters who got a lot of screentime. But neither of them were ever so overbearing that the rest of the cast was ignored in order to further their stories.

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Sugar was definitely overbearing and terrible.

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FFDragon posted...

Sugar was definitely overbearing and terrible.

Not compared to Russell.

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Russell had like double the confessionals as everyone else

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GTM posted...

Russell had like double the confessionals as everyone else

Triple.

Second highest was Shambo with 39. Only one he DIDN'T triple.

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awww nicole

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Filming of S41 is now pushed to April. Meaning we won't be seeing any Survivor in the 2020-21 TV fiscal year.

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Watching last night's eppy. Christmas stfu about how hard it is to be HoH.

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Last night's episode is awful. It completely paints Tyler as a tragic hero whose trust was abused by mean Bayleigh.

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I hate every member of The Committee except Memphis and the ONLY reason I don't hate him is because the edit is painting him as a complete dunderfuck. He's still a huge douche and I'll be happy seeing him go soon. He's already guaranteed at least jury and a character like this has usually overstayed their welcome by that point.

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I do like that this season is revealing Tyler as an awful player though. His game in 20 was all smoke and mirrors that succeeded largely because the opposing alliance was so fucking incompetent.

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I really don't understand why you guys keep watching the show. Every season it seems like the worst people in the game get together and vote out anyone remotely likable. I feel like you've said that exact thing before but with different names.
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"this is the worst time to need a towel"

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Nicole's invisible.

And holy shit fuck Christmas.

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has anyone seen ian sitting on the couch tonight yet?

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Mewtwo59 posted...

I really don't understand why you guys keep watching the show.

Ive also been saying this about survivor!

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ian voted

that means he got his towel!

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aww kevin

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I'm stunned Ian has made at least jury. He was my top pick for a for-sure pre-jury boot based on the premier.

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Underleveled posted...

I hate every member of The Committee except Memphis and the ONLY reason I don't hate him is because the edit is painting him as a complete dunderfuck. He's still a huge douche and I'll be happy seeing him go soon. He's already guaranteed at least jury and a character like this has usually overstayed their welcome by that point.

Feel free to hate him for him mocking Ian's autism then (along with Nicole, Dani, and Christmas). It's making the media rounds right now and so far a bunch of brands have dropped Nicole as a social media sponsor or whatever it is she does.

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Underleveled posted...

I'm stunned Ian has made at least jury. He was my top pick for a for-sure pre-jury boot based on the premier.

i think right now he's screaming free double eviction boot, or that random non alliance member who gets knocked out at final 5

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Mewtwo59 posted...

I really don't understand why you guys keep watching the show. Every season it seems like the worst people in the game get together and vote out anyone remotely likable. I feel like you've said that exact thing before but with different names.

I think it's because we're holding out for a season that doesn't do that. Personally I thought All Stars would be a good season for that. Unfortunately I don't think they brought the right people back.

- Dan and Derrick should be here instead of Memphis/Cody
- I think Jodi would be a way better player than David
- As much as Vanessa and Paul got on my nerves in their respective seasons, they should both be here over Da'Vonne and Christmas.

I get All Stars is already a tricky thing to put together and Covid surely made things harder, but it really felt like they were reaching here.

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We as board 8ers do have a bad habit of enjoying being miserable at something that no longer makes us happy

it's one of the reasons we're still board 8ers!

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At least in 21, the majority actually fractured enough for two of the likable outsiders to make the final four (even though they got 3rd and 4th that's better than going much earlier), and in 19 the sole good option out of the awful majority won. This is shaping up to be a repeat of 20 where the awful majority make up the entire endgame.

And as far as Survivor goes, as much as I bitch about how the show in general has gone way downhill (and I still assert that), in isolation, three of the last six seasons are in my top half, so obviously there's still stuff about it I enjoy.

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calling it "All-Stars" was just marketing to the masses. they just got a bunch of returning players regardless of "all-star" status

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I just feel like if you have to say "there's still stuff I enjoy" instead of "I enjoy it", it's time to consider doing other things that you may enjoy. "there's still stuff I enjoy" sounds like grasping at straws to justify continuing doing things

but I know I bitch about people complaining and im still here so Im a hypocrite

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GTM posted...

calling it "All-Stars" was just marketing to the masses. they just got a bunch of returning players regardless of "all-star" status

Of the very quick and admittedly relatively-limited knowledge of pre-BB18 stuff list I made when All-Stars was first announced, only three ended up making the cast (Ian, Tyler, and Nicole A).

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