Board 8 > CBS Reality Show topic: Two years late is better than never

(+) Yeah! (+)

Naye745 posted...

on a similar note, your "[season]'s best moments" vids have been excellent the past couple weeks! i think it's been neat that the netflix seasons have brought in new fans and a renewed interest in the old seasons

Thanks! Yeah, a lot of newer fans -- even a good friend of mine started watching the show again for the first time since like... Australian Outback.

I'm enjoying getting to pick out some of the better moments from each season. It's a nice pick-me-up.

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Whos buying the Boston Rob cookbook

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Inside it says "there is no free lunch. Here's a blank page and a pencil to write a fake recipe"

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There is no free lunch but there was a free million dollars for whoever pulled that orange buff.

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Peridiam posted...

As someone who's in front of the online fans a ton, I'm curious to hear more of your thoughts on this.

I can definitely elaborate on this sometime, but a lot of it definitely gets into "reopening old wounds" territory so I'll not do that right now.

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also peridiam is sus

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Naye745 posted...

i also think rob has a pretty diverse group of panelists and does a good job at getting out of the way of letting them speak, i get that large parts of survivor fandom has can be frustrating but i'm impressed with the series so far

not enough chinese panelists imo. We get Peih Gee relatively often and Ken sometimes? But they dont really count as panelists anyways.

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The new season of TAR Australia has two big twists:

The winning team of a non-elimination leg, gain two massive advantages:
1. They do not have to compete in the next leg. Instead, they receive a First Class Pass and are rewarded with some kind of luxury experience while the other teams continue to race.
2. They will return to the Pit Stop for the arrivals of the final two teams and
choose to Salvage one and Sabotage the other.
Salvage: A bonus or advantage of some kind given to one team. For example, the team may receive a personal driver for the next leg, they may get extra money, or they may be allowed to know what the Roadblock challenge is, before they choose who attempts it.
Sabotage: A disadvantage or setback given to one team. For example, the team may need to complete the leg with one of the team members blindfolded or tied together, they may lose all their money, or they may even have to do it barefoot.

T-Junction: A huge challenge day, only once in the Race, where all racers are split into two massive super-teams. The super-teams will be chosen by the first racers to reach the T-Junction board at the head of the episode. They will pick their super-team and the remaining teams form the second group. The teams will move through the entire race day in these two groups. Whichever group checks in second at the Pit Stop, will choose to eliminate a team from their group themselves.

I don't like either of these and hope they don't come to the American version.

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Honestly, 1 doesn't sound that bad. Plus, it might help break up the current "let's all be friends and form alliances" attitude that's become more and more prevalent in US seasons recently, by inspiring some jealousy at teams that get to bypass the hardship of an elimination leg.

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1. TAR5 - Colin & Christie
2. TAR2 - Oswald & Danny
3. TAR1 - Kevin & Drew
4. TAR3 - Teri & Ian
5. TAR17 - Brook & Claire
6. TAR9 - BJ & Tyler
7. TAR13 - Nick & Starr
8. TAR12 - Ron & Christina
9. TAR7 - Rob & Amber
10. TAR11 - Oswald & Danny
11. TAR14 - Mel & Mike
12. TAR16 - Dan & Jordan
13. TAR6 - Gus & Hera
14. TAR15 - Zev & Justin
15. TAR10 - Dustin & Kandice
16. TAR8 - Paolo Family
17. TAR4 - Jon & Al

Took my time on this one because I wanted to enjoy it, and I did! It holds up about as well as I remember. I was actually ready to put this at #2 early on, but I do think the season has a few issues that push it just below the classic seasons, though its definitely the best of the post All-Star batch. To start off, the cast of this season is great. There are very few duds, and there aren't any teams I outright hate. Jill & Thomas are probably the worst because they're just boring, but they have some value later on in the season too. Brook & Claire are obviously the standouts, and I don't expect this is a controversial statement. They're amazing all season long, and easily still my favorite TAR team ever. It's an absolute crime that they haven't been able to make it back on the show despite being asked like 3 times. Nat & Kat are great too, and excellent winners - probably top 3 up to this point in the series. When the season first aired, I was a little sore that Brook & Claire didn't win, and I think I unfairly took it out on Nat & Kat, but I appreciated them a lot more this time. They're still a little "winner boring", but that'll tend to happen with all the other big personalities on the season. Even some of the early boots were enjoyable. I would have loved to see more of Ron & Tony, Andie & Jenna and Connor & Jonathan (even though I think the singing would have grated if they stayed too much longer). Michael & Kevin were fun to watch, even though that team was doomed eventially by Michael's dead weight. Chad & Stephanie were pretty funny because Chad is such a stereotypical...well...Chad. Nick & Vicki I'm a little bit torn on. They definitely had their entertaining moments, but Nick is pretty emotionally abusive to Vicki in ways that actually become a little uncomfortable at points, so I'm not entire sure where I land. Oh, yeah also Mallory was here.

There are a couple things that hold this season back, namely the route. The first half of the race is really good. London is maybe the best premier in the series (or one of them), the Ghana legs and Sweden are good too. But after that it gets a little less interesting, the tasks aren't super noteworthy, and the final leg is sort of an abomination. There was very little skill involved in any of the tasks, so they were basically first in first out. It's even more exasperated by additional stratification of the teams by a helicopter ride that just make it really hard to swap positions throughout the whole leg. Nat & Kat basically won because they left the airport first. Granted, Jill & Thomas did get dropped to 3rd due to a bad cab driver, and while it was fun to see Thomas get dunked on by the girls, that's also a really frustrating way to see things shake out. I think Nat & Kat still win if that doesn't happen, but Brook & Claire almost certainly come in third. There was just no way to make up time that leg, and it was really anticlimactic because of it. But really, I could probably watch that first episode over and over and not get bored. And it does have probably the most iconic moment in TAR history, even though they really go ham on showing that clip over and over.

Seeing as I have an All-Star season coming up, a quick note on the cast. Other than the weird season 14 fetish, I think they basically nailed it. I think if you swap Amanda & Kris and one of the other S14 teams with Toni & Dallas and Brook & Claire, the cast is pretty much perfect. I know Brook & Claire were unable to race, but I'm not sure why Toni & Dallas got snubbed. Even Ken & Tina would have been fine, but I think S13 deserves some representation, and Toni & Dallas were the OG passport losers.

NOW it's finally time for HD. I watched the first few episode of 18 when it aired, and then dropped off. All-Star season seem to kill my interest for some reason (the same thing happened with 11 & 24).

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Fun fact about TAR18:

At some point between TAR14 and TAR18, Jodi (of Christie &) was put in charge of casting for the show (or at the very least, she had a high-ranking position in the casting department). As such, when it came to casting TAR18, Jodi went with people she knew and had become friends with, and that's why you get Amanda & Kris, Mel & Mike, Kisha & Jen, Margie & Luke, and Jaime & Cara making up almost half the cast.

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Ah, well that makes the S14 bias make sense.

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TAR17:
1. Brook & Claire
2. Gary & Mallory
3. Jill & Thomas
4. Nat & Kat
5. Connor & Jonathan
6. Andie & Jenna
7. Katie & Rachel
8. Ron & Tony
9. Michael & Kevin
10. Chad & Stephanie
11. Nick & Vicki

I just rewatched this a year ago and already can't remember why I had Jill & Thomas so high which is probably a good indicator that I over-ranked them. Kevin's attitude towards his father really turned me off, and Nick's abusive behavior toward Vicki totally negated any hilarity their dumbassery brought to the season. I remembered ranking both of those teams highly when the season first aired. Never liked Chad though. His "LET'S GO STEPHANIE" is right up there with Karyn's "LENNYYYYYYYY!"

And since I never posted my full rankings...

TAR15:
1. Maria & Tiffany
2. Sam & Dan
3. Mika & Canaan
4. Zev & Justin
5. Brian & Ericka
6. Meghan & Cheyne
7. Flight Time & Big Easy
8. Gary & Matt
9. Marcy & Ron
10. Eric & Lisa
11. Garrett & Jessica
12. Lance & Keri

TAR16:
1. Jet & Cord
2. Carol & Brandy
3. Jordan & Jeff
4. Steve & Allie
5. Joe & Heidi
6. Dan & Jordan
7. Jodi & Shannon
8. Monique & Shawne
9. Dana & Adrian
10. Louie & Michael
11. Brent & Caite

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rhap ranked edge of extinction as #36 and while i think its a not-good season, i actually think the ending is pretty rad and satisfying, and everyone's too low on it for that (bad) reason

the main problem is that the edit sucks and kama are the most important people in basically everything that happens post-merge and we don't ever learn about them in lieu of more of rick devens. i hope rob and co. do a decent job of getting to this point but i'm not holding my breath there

still seems weird to me that this season is placed below ghost island or caramoan

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Yeah, Edge of Extinction isn't good but it's not bottom 5 bad.

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it is according to RHAP!

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I am also super jealous of Peridiam becoming a famous RHAPper now

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EoE is dragged down both by its main twist and by the result of its main twist.

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Not sure if you mean in regards to Rick or Chris, but if you mean Rick then I agree, but Chris winning in the fashion he did is probably the best result the twist could have realistically provided.

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So... is that real Preston on the board or a imitator with too much time

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GTM posted...

So... is that real Preston on the board or a imitator with too much time

It's the real deal.

Dunno why people default to imp when these notorious users keep coming back. We've never really had a successful imp.

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or maybe we have and they were so successful

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That's kind of the point of imps.

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1. TAR5 - Colin & Christie
2. TAR2 - Oswald & Danny
3. TAR1 - Kevin & Drew
4. TAR3 - Teri & Ian
5. TAR17 - Brook & Claire
6. TAR9 - BJ & Tyler
7. TAR13 - Nick & Starr
8. TAR12 - Ron & Christina
9. TAR18 - Zev & Justin
10. TAR7 - Rob & Amber
11. TAR11 - Oswald & Danny
12. TAR14 - Mel & Mike
13. TAR16 - Dan & Jordan
14. TAR6 - Gus & Hera
15. TAR15 - Zev & Justin
16. TAR10 - Dustin & Kandice
17. TAR8 - Paolo Family
18. TAR4 - Jon & Al

For an all-star season, 18 is actually pretty good. The route was actually great for a later season (does 18 still count as later?), and most of the teams were enjoyable to watch. I still have some nitpicks here and there - I just straight up don't like Jaime & Cara, Kent was a bit too whiny this time around for my tastes, and I'm pretty sick of the Globetrotters at this point, but otherwise everyone was fine. As winners, I think Kisha & Jen are alright. They were much better than their initial season, more positive, and better racers. They did get beaten with the "winner boring" stick a bit, but that's just how things go on this show for the most part. I really like Zev & Justin and it's a bummer they didn't get to make final 3, because I think they had a real shot if they did, but I think they mismanaged some of their road blocks along the way and leaving Zev to do a bunch at the end probably wasn't a great plan. I also think I like Jet & Cord more here than their original season because they weren't quite the same screen hogs this time around. I think that's about all I have to say, 18 is a solid season.

S19 up next, and back to seasons I haven't seen before. I'm looking forward to seeing Jenna & Ethan and I'm sure they'll be on the show for a long time and make it very far. /s

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Honestly, I think it's between TAR18 and HvV for the best All-Stars (or half-ASS) season CBS has produced.

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I could see the case for that, yeah.

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Yeah that sounds about right.

If I could just give it to the post-merge of Winners at War I probably would, but the pre-merge just drags it down way too much.

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Underleveled posted...

Yeah that sounds about right.

If I could just give it to the post-merge of Winners at War I probably would, but the pre-merge just drags it down way too much.

The premerge has a bad boot order, but is a good pre-merge. The post-merge is really bland to bad, with the finale redeeming it a bit.

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Nah, see to me, the season was looking to be awful, but starting with Adam's boot episode was phenomenal to the end.

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@Inviso TAN2 starts tonight, are you going to watch it?

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Not live, but yes.

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So apparently the rumored white/gray buff for Redemption Island inhabitants was real. Someone found one in the wild.

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Do you have a picture of it?
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https://i.imgur.com/kXA4HSV.png

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https://twitter.com/arisacox/status/1362032707086213122?s=19

I am hype

(Remember when we had a pandemic so we had to cancel bbcan8?)

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So, I hate Mikey, and he's clearly a jerk, but I'll take him over Danny since he at least has a personality and is bringing real drama instead of being a gamebot.

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So I started a free Prime trial in hopes of watching The Amazing Race aaaand... it's not available in my country. Time to unsub.

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That certainly was an ending to an episode.

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Underleveled posted...

The new season of TAR Australia has two big twists:

The winning team of a non-elimination leg, gain two massive advantages:
1. They do not have to compete in the next leg. Instead, they receive a First Class Pass and are rewarded with some kind of luxury experience while the other teams continue to race.
2. They will return to the Pit Stop for the arrivals of the final two teams and
choose to Salvage one and Sabotage the other.
Salvage: A bonus or advantage of some kind given to one team. For example, the team may receive a personal driver for the next leg, they may get extra money, or they may be allowed to know what the Roadblock challenge is, before they choose who attempts it.
Sabotage: A disadvantage or setback given to one team. For example, the team may need to complete the leg with one of the team members blindfolded or tied together, they may lose all their money, or they may even have to do it barefoot.

T-Junction: A huge challenge day, only once in the Race, where all racers are split into two massive super-teams. The super-teams will be chosen by the first racers to reach the T-Junction board at the head of the episode. They will pick their super-team and the remaining teams form the second group. The teams will move through the entire race day in these two groups. Whichever group checks in second at the Pit Stop, will choose to eliminate a team from their group themselves.

I don't like either of these and hope they don't come to the American version.

Finally caught up on the episodes shown to date. They haven't had the T-Junction yet, but the Salvage/Sabotage has been used 3 times:

Salvages
One was getting to move to first at a challenge held where teams were separated by 5 mins, despite when they arrived(changing a truck tyre)
Onegave them a tour guide who knew the local area
Onwas a driver, so the teams didn't need to rely on taxis.

Sabotages
One person in the team couldn't speak for the entire leg.
One was the team had to wear a snorkel and mask for the entire leg.
The third involved both team members having to carry a stuffed kangaroo the entire leg, including during challenges.

It's not too bad, but it would be fine without it.

There's other things they are doing that I'm not a huge fan of such as:
Having a challenge where all teams hang from a bar above the ocean, whoever stays on the longest started that leg first, rather than the finishing order of the previous leg.
The team eliminated first comes back due to another team pulling out at the start of the second leg. I can live with this one though, I understand why they did it, but once you are out, you are out.
When they got down to 9 teams they introduced a new team at that point. Worse than that, based on the preview they are introducing ANOTHER team in the next episode when there's 8 teams left.

I doubt anyone is watching, or planning to, but spoiler tags just in case.

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I was looking through some stuff I had on my comp and found this gem I don't think I ever posted.

Survivors playing Among Us

Boston Rob - We're all gonna go around in buddies. Your buddy is found dead, or you leave your buddy, you're the impostor.

Russell Hantz - Vote to eject who I say or I'm gonna get them to eject you next.

Fabio - Man, I've never played this map before. I have no idea where I found this body but it looks like a Christmas ham and now I'm hungry.

Tyson - How do I vent like Sierra did?

Yul - Well, if you went into the reactor and then I saw you in the cafeteria, even if I made a stop in comms, you wouldn't have had enough time to get there without venting.

Carter - *vents in front of everybody* *comes back out* Um... that was nothing.

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if there's something i'm learning about the survivor fandom from the rhap lists, it's that they place waaaay too much emphasis on having a "good" winner for these rankings

the fire making twist in hhh sucks, but if you think any part of that season was worse than caramoan or ghost island, you're out of your goddamn mind

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HHH is legit top 10 material until the final two episodes. Even considering how bad those sucked, there's no way it should be anywhere near this low.

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Yeah, I think the rankings so far have been mostly correct with a few seasons maybe moving up and down a slot or two, but HHH being that low came as a real shock, especially when Ghost Island is somehow still in the mix.

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I'm not surprised. IIRC it was just outside the bottom 5 when EW did their fan-voted list.

It's still wrong, but I'm not surprised.

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it's funny, i think i was less bullish than both you and inviso on HHH at the time, but even i would say it's EASILY top 20 without the garbage ending, and i still have it near the top of the 20s. that cast is absolutely loaded, and i'm really hoping it gets the proper justification it deserves, rather than just a cursory "fire twist bad, chrissy/devon were robbed"

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The only two seasons from the 10 most recent ones that I consider unequivocally good were 37 and 32. 35 and 40 are also in my top half, but 35 had a bad ending that soured it, and 40 had EoE eating up screen time and a disappointing pre-merge. The rest of the 30s are all easily in my bottom half.

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Naye745 posted...

that cast is absolutely loaded

So true though. Literally half the cast I would totally welcome a return appearance from (Chrissy, Devon, Mike, Lauren, Joe, Cole, Jessica, Ali, Alan... also Patrick and Simone but they were just out way too early for me to really consider them worthy when 37 and, I hate to admit it but 39 are also stacked with people I'd love to see back).

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i still love 31 and 33, which are undoubtedly going to end up closer to my take in rhap rankings than in your list

not that that's an inherently good or correct thing or anything, but i won't get to experience the same frustration as with hhh heh

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i do feel like san juan del sur is gonna get way undersold by rhap though, hope i'm wrong about that one

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i mean we can't ignore the stain of dan on island of the idols but that cast was also absolutely stacked, i genuinely think it ends up being a top 20 fan season if kellee had played one of her idols at the merge tribal (or especially if he got dumped instead of jason linden at the elaine steal-a-vote tc)

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