Board 8 > Reality TV Discussion Topic: Big Brother Over, Survivor and Amazing Race Ongoing

(+) Yeah! (+)

Eddv posted...

Thats pretty commonly the case though.

Im not gonna remember a damn thing about the post merge cast from 44 this time next year.

I have a pretty good memory and have seen most pre-40 seasons at least twice and usually there ends up being one or two people that I just can't tell you anything about but there are a couple of extreme examples where there is a significant chunk of the cast that just makes me throw my hands up and Cook Islands is one of those. Ghost Island is another.

Yeah, with Cook Islands, the relevant characters are basically Jonathan, Yul (only because he won...it's not like he's a dynamic personality), Ozzy (mainly for challenge wins), Candice (for the Billy moment, and the mutiny), Cao Boi, and Billy. Despite being a returning player and current legend, Parvati's Cook Islands appearance is a whole lot of nothing, and the same could be said about 6th through 3rd place, not to mention most of the pre-merge.

As for Australia and Africa, while cultural impact is important, they really don't hold up well, and it's important to make that distinction, because a season like Borneo, or a season like Marquesas DOES hold up well.

Honestly, I'd say Survivor was still very much a cultural phenomenon up through at least Vanuatu. I do remember your everyday people, plus radio DJs, talk show hosts, etc. still chatting about what happened on last night's episode at that point.

Yeah, Cook Islands only had a handful of fun characters, and two of them ended up going pre-jury (in a season where 12/20 made jury or F3). And one of them was the second boot. Post-merge it was carried by Penner and the strength of Yul's game (even if he did have the god idol that made it easy).

Inviso posted...

Despite being a returning player and current legend, Parvati's Cook Islands appearance is a whole lot of nothing

This has me thinking about a recent Survivor "what if" that I've been mulling over, and it's a pretty big impact that begins with a largely-forgotten player.

Tina Scheer, the first boot of Exile Island, was originally supposed to be on Guatemala, but dropped out shortly before filming due to her son's death. They gave her an open invitation to come back whenever she was ready and she opted to participate in the very next season. First off, obviously it's terrible what happened to her and her family, and it's definitely too bad that we didn't get her on Guatemala because I think she had a much better shot on that season (given that her replacement, Amy, narrowly missed making the merge on an injured ankle), and I can say that, her being one of two Survivor contestants I've had the pleasure of meeting personally, she's an absolutely lovely and naturally entertaining person and I think she could have been an all-star had she made a deep run.

But more to the point of Panama, let's say she wasn't on that season. Depending on who is there in her place, I think it's extremely possible, maybe even probable, that Cirie is the first boot that season. So not only do we get robbed of a Survivor legend before she's even born, but the cross-season implications mean that she's almost certainly not on Micronesia, meaning that season goes completely differently and I think there's a very good chance Parvati goes early (and almost 0 chance she wins). Thus, she goes down as yet another "oh, they brought her back?" young woman returnee.

If Amy's there instead of Tina, I think it's a pretty good chance that Cirie goes first. It seemed like Tina's problem was that she just didn't get along with the other women, and Amy was pretty well liked by the rest of her tribe. And I think Tina would do better on Yaxha than a tribe entirely composed of "older" women.

it's fun to think about how general things impact survivor, like how the pandemic allowed erika to win by completing changing the s41 cast. her twist of fate was realistically the pandemic even moreso than the hourglass

big news, both erika and parvati came out today and i am LIVING for it

from 0 to 2 queer women winners in one day, this rules

Natalie knew

KateMarsh posted...

Just finished up Big Brother Reindeer Games...

Ugh, what a disappointing finish. So close to a great winner and instead we got a terrible one.

I also just finished and I feel the same. Especially because Nicole was the only player out of the 9 that I didn't want to see win.

i was dogsitting for a friend and ended up watching a few episodes of it while at her place. the competition at final 7 where they had to nominate a new player with a minute less time each round was genuinely brilliant and compelling; that had no business being so good for such a dumb spinoff lol

They added Pearl Islands to Netflix. It's so different with such epic challenges. I really wish they could do even just 1 unique challenge like the village bargaining in the new seasons. But I'm glad the show has dropped the bodily torture aspect tbh.

Pearl Islands is the best season.

I've talked to very few people who don't have it in like, their top 5 or so.

I was shocked that Rupert, Sandra, and Johnny were all in the same season and the same team too

The other characters are absolute ass so far tho

There are a few other characters that get really good later. But yeah, I will admit that it's a very top-heavy season where 6 or 7 people are just SO GOOD that they carry an otherwise relatively mid-tier cast to an insane level.

During the offseason, my fiance and I decided to go back and watch the older seasons of Survivor. She got into it watching 41 with me, and I got into it starting with 14 so I thought it was time for us to check out the original seasons. I know all of the winners but I don't know how a lot of these seasons play out.

3 episodes into Borneo and yeah it's interesting to see how the game was back then.

All things considered, 41 is a pretty accessible entry point.

Yeah it worked well with her because she enjoyed 41-45 and asked about potentially watching older seasons while we wait for 46 so I suggested we go all the way back and she was up for it.

I started with the netflix seasons which started with Cagayan and a couple other ones that everyone says to watch first (All Star with Parvati maybe?). They took those down for some reason though.

I kinda like the 41+ seasons and the pre-20 seasons more than those 20-40 seasons. The new ones have such different gameplay that is more mechanical like mafia, and the old ones are so high budget and wild to watch.

Updated my idol play rankings with 45.

http://clubsthatsuck.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=3949

KateMarsh posted...

I wouldn't have wanted to see Cody or Cameron win either, and would have been... okay with an Xavier win but I do find him to be extremely boring and generic. I really wanted either Taylor or Brittany to win and would have been perfectly fine with a Frankie/Danielle/Josh win.

Finally finished Reindeer Games myself.

This was the most likable Nicole has been since BB18, but Taylor winning would've been SO much better (Britney would've been my #1 choice, but Taylor's easily #2). It was fantastic to see the double-upset in the semis, though. Even if Frankie was nowhere near as insufferable as he was in BB16.

Overall, this had its ups and downs. The ending was pretty whatever though.

Inviso posted...

Updated my idol play rankings with 45.

http://clubsthatsuck.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=3949

I just wanted to let you know i read this whole thread

Eddv posted...

I just wanted to let you know i read this whole thread

I appreciate that. Idol plays are a subject big enough to rank, but not so big that they're overwhelming. And they've led to some solid story moments...even if that's not the case more often than not.