The Survivor Thread

[Azazel]

That's what I figured.  They would have been better choices than Jenna and Alicia for sure.  You know Thailand really sucked when Shii Ann is the allstar.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I wish they had've brough T-Bird back.

[Alex.]

Yep agree on T-Bird! All-Stars just got too ugly and personal to see. You were watching actual friendships from before the show being destroyed.

[GhostMachine]

I saw a commercial for Fandango (the movie ticket service, not the wrestler) about their phone app, and Woo, from Cagayan and Cambodia, is in it.

 

 

[Azazel]

Finished All Stars, I knew who the final 2 were going to be so no shockers there... except how they got there.  This was All-Stars, how did nobody do anything about them?  Kind of baffles me.  Watching the reunion thing I can understand both sides of the "its a game" and "its personal" arguments.  Rich was right in that people will perceive them how they perceive them, but at the same time I completely understand why Lex and Big Tom were pissed.  I actually laughed when Big Tom made peace and then immediately called Rob stupid and wouldn't shake his hand during the final tribal. 

I also think Jerri was on point on the America's Tribal Council show when she gave Jeff shit for not controlling the audience, half the time people didn't get to talk because the crowd wouldn't shut up (be it booing Jerri or Lex, or cheering Rupert or Colby).  Glad that Rupert won the favorite all star million, he did deserve it.

All Stars was a much different game, so I'm looking forward to going back to the more mellow 16 strangers style for a bit.

Also, I just realized Jenna was THAT Jenna from TNA.  Also, Johnny Fairplay plugging TNA WEEKLY PAY PER VIEWS made me realize how long ago this was.

[RPS]

All Stars was a fucking terrible season in real time. Could you imagine how epic and iconic this show was and you wait 4 years to see the legends return and it ends up with Jenna Lewis, Amber and Boston Rob in the end? Had the All Stars seen Rupert play, he 100% would have been toast pre-merge. People enjoy it on a rewatch or a binge because you are not sitting around 4 years waiting for it all to come together. There is a few moments in the show's history where I almost gave up and All Stars was one of those moments. 

Also, Lex 100% is the maker of his own fate. All Stars suffered because it was played on a different level than future returning seasons. In All Stars, Lex voted off Richard, Colby and Ethan back-to-back, you take out all your challenge strength, you start to lose all the immunity challenges and you deplete your own tribe so he goes into the merge down. I understand his thinking - he has a pre-game alliance with Boston Rob and Tom. The issue being - you have not had a chance to talk with him the entirety of the game. Plans change in Survivor. Knowing Richard and Ethan are threats is valuable information, but voting them off immediately is terrible gameplay. 

[Azazel]

A friend of mine that has watched all the seasons mentioned this to me, I know they tape a few months in advance, but with what you said I want to know.

Do they actually take the next season before the current one airs?  So in this case Pearl Islands hadn't even aired so nobody knew anything about Rupert?  They did ask trivia questions about Pearl Islands so I'm not sure if it hadn't aired yet, or some of it had since you say they hadn't seen Rupert play.  I'm just not sure of the timeline of it all. 

Even binge watching I was a little pissed that the final 3 were Jenna, Amber and Boston Rob (I think Rob was the only person on All Stars who didn't even make it to the jury?).

[RPS]

I think some of it had aired when All Stars was filming, but not the entire season. I think they knew bits and pieces about him, but did not really know where he finished and the extent to the fan reaction to Rupert. They had maybe seen half of his season if that. That comes up in the next full on returning season, where there is players that people have only seen parts of their games. 

In the older seasons, there was a much bigger delay between filming seasons (several months) and they moved locations. In later seasons, they filmed them pretty much back-to-back to save costs. In later returning seasons, there is players who do back-to-back seasons where they play 20-30 days apart from their previous game. That basically means that nobody they play with knows anything about their game or where they finished. 

[Azazel]

I had to look this up and holy crap

Pearl Islands taped June 23rd to July 31st
Pearl Islands aired September 18th to December 14th
Allstars taped November 3rd to December 11th

So the last thing the All Stars would have seen was the episode where the Outcasts (Lill and Burton) come back as that aired October 30th.  Rupert got back from All-Stars and 3 days later did the reunion show for Pearl Islands.  So when he says he got home and left again, he was only home for 6 weeks.

What really gets me is that during the reunion for Pearl Islands, Johnny Fairplay mentioned All-Stars.  I would assume he knew it was already done and he wasn't part of it?

[RPS]

It was common knowledge amongst the Survivor community that All Stars was happening. Many past Survivors (like Jeff Varner and Mike Skupin) were openly discussing it prior to it being actually filmed and got on productions bad side. The people playing on All Stars were contacting one another for pre-game alliances and openly talking about strategy. Jenna Lewis taking out the winners was not isolated to her - it was the mindset of everyone who was not a winner playing because they talked about it before they got to the island. The subtext to Lex being so angry with Boston Rob is not that they were just friends - Kathy, Tom, Lex and Boston Rob had a solid pre-game alliance that they would form the majority post-merge. It obviously did not pan out because Lex and Kathy were bigger jury threats than Alicia and Jenna Lewis and Boston Rob knew it would be suicide to go to the end with Lex and Kathy, who nearly won their seasons. 

Fairplay mentioned All Stars to piss off Probst and production because he was overlooked for a spot. All Stars had not been announced by that point. Production was not sure how the Dead Grandma lie would be perceived and purposefully did not cast Fairplay as a result. Sandra was also going to play, but Queen Sandra was actually quite ill when she returned and was unable to come back. 

[Azazel]

Thank you for all that info!  Now a lot of things make more sense outside the context of the show.  This thread led me to starting a massive binge on this show and I'm glad there are people to kind of fill in the blanks of things I wouldn't know about watching it a decade and a half later.

Another question that I can hopefully get a non spoiler answer for.  I know other cast members come back, but does the game kind of cycle through a few seasons of all new players then do another "All-Stars" and repeat?  Or is it kind of a mixed bag?  I'm kind of hoping there is a season of former cast members that didn't make it very far (like only people who didn't make the Jury are allowed).

[RPS]

Mixed bag. Between 9 and 20, they try some interesting ideas with returning players and each iteration is different than the last. One features two players returning from the season right before it with a cast of new players, another involves fans of the show taking on "favorites" of the show and a show that pits the Heroes of the show versus the Villains (widely considered the best season of the show). In this time period, 25% of the seasons will feature returning players. It'll feature some familiar faces, but mostly new faces to come. 

Between 21 and 34, they overuse returning players substantially. And the returning players during this time period are more heavily concentrated on the seasons that surrounds it (aka, if season 25 is a returning player season, seasons 21-22-23-24 will be HEAVILY represented). And they experiment with casting ideas...  they'll feature returning players playing with their loved ones and promising players receiving a "second" chance at redemption. You'll have a few players return from the first 8 seasons past season 20, but the show is more concerned with the more recent players. In this run of seasons, 50% of the seasons will feature returning players in some capacity. 

Without spoiling who returns, you'll see people from faces who have not returned from Borneo, Australia and Pearl Islands and you'll see some people from All Stars try a third or fourth time. 

[Azazel]

In Vanuatu supposed to be considered a good season?  So far I'm kind of struggling to give a crap about anyone outside of thinking Rory is a jackass.  Hopefully it picks up and they stop voting off all the physically capable people.  I think we can also just go ahead and give Eliza the award for biggest eyeballs in Survivor.

Seriously though, how are some people in this game that incredibly stupid?  Why did Rory think it was a good idea to constantly yell while Sarge was directing blind people around and refused to shut up?

[Alex.]

I don't remember Vanuatu at all and I have it on DVD. Guess I thought it sucked.

[RPS]

4 hours ago, Azazel said:

In Vanuatu supposed to be considered a good season?  So far I'm kind of struggling to give a crap about anyone outside of thinking Rory is a jackass.  Hopefully it picks up and they stop voting off all the physically capable people.  I think we can also just go ahead and give Eliza the award for biggest eyeballs in Survivor.

Seriously though, how are some people in this game that incredibly stupid?  Why did Rory think it was a good idea to constantly yell while Sarge was directing blind people around and refused to shut up?

Vanuatu has a pretty weak beginning, but a lot of people enjoy the ending.  That said - I do not like the season very much. At the time, a lot of people saw it as extension of the nastiness of All Stars and it was not received very well. Whereas Amazon was more light hearted in the male/female dynamic, it's a lot nastier in Vanuatu. The men aren't really objectifying the women so much as kind of looking down on them. That said, the best part of the season is the end narrative. I think you'll love the second half of the season but the first half is a struggle. 

Palau, 10, is considered topish tier season but many. So hold on for some greatness. I think it is a good not great season, but it is a season that holds strong throughout. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I don't love 9, for sure. But there are some interesting characters in there. Eliza is fun (even if she's gotten on my nerves on stuff like RHAP), Chris is fine, Twila is funny. It's nothing stellar, but it's decent.

10 is really good. After that there is some stuff you have to slog through to get to 15 or so. There are a couple of really great players thrown in there in the meantime though, which might be its saving grace.

[RPS]

I actually was never a hugeish fan of 9-10-11, but 12 is fucking amazing. I actually stopped watching Survivor after 11 cause I wasn't a big fan, but got back into the show because of Cook Island's big twist. 

[Katsuya]

Sweet lord, Amazon was amazing. That blows everything else out of the water. I loved so many characters in it, the amount of twists and turns throughout it...just so good. I can see why Thailand looks especially bad when sandwiched between those two seasons.

[RPS]

@Katsuya loves Oslo the next season is even better.

[Azazel]

I understand that people do dumb things on this show, they are tired and hungry and whatever, but holy shit Bubba and Lisa shot themselves in the foot pretty damn badly.