Survivor 50 "In the Hands of the Fans" Discussion Thread

[CynBeth]

Dee and Rick Devens are slated to be on Big Brother 28. I will still not be watching.

Boo! I also heard Angela from BB and AR will be on. Double boo!

 

[PUSH]

Another thing that is such an extremely small spoiler for season 52's cast that I won't even bother hiding it...

None of you will care, but there's a rumor someone from Madison, WI is on the cast. That'd be the first person cast from Wisconsin since Andrea in season 22. It would also be the Survivor who lives closest to me... I'm about an hour away.

 

[dmw]

who would have thought that being a reality-tv contestant could become a career...?

CBS is really pushing the cross-show participants. We've seen BB and Survivor contestants in The Amazing Race, now Survivors in BB. To me, seeing the same faces takes away from this being reality-tv where anyone can be on the show and represent the viewers. Preference seems to be given to past participants and participants from other shows.

 

[PUSH]

who would have thought that being a reality-tv contestant could become a career...?

CBS is really pushing the cross-show participants. We've seen BB and Survivor contestants in The Amazing Race, now Survivors in BB. To me, seeing the same faces takes away from this being reality-tv where anyone can be on the show and represent the viewers. Preference seems to be given to past participants and participants from other shows.

BB is definitely trying to capitalize on the success of the Traitors with casting familiar faces. I don't think Survivor will ever do that while Jeff is in charge. They did it a bit in the 20s with Hayden, Natalie & Nadiya, and Caleb. While most of those turned out to be a success, you can tell Jeff did not like being forced to cast them.

 

[rd805]

I'm not saying this will DEFINITELY get me to watch this season of BB, but i have watched some (more in a binge-ish format) in the past; but I love Devens, and being familiar with Dee may get me interested. Curious if BB will have a handful of other universes represented, as i do know that someone from Drag Race is on too (this does NOTHING to move the needle for me, just saying what I remember my buddy shared lol).

 

[PUSH]

I just finished the finale of the Kaoh Rong rewatch. I have not watch the reunion yet. While I fully believe Michele deserved the win, I still think Aubry played a better game. It came down to the jury having egos and being unable to accept that others can have different play styles. I think Scot and Jason had a lot of pull at Ponderosa. Julia was under their wing, even though she's very good friends with Michele and would have voted for her regardless.

Seeing Debbie give Aubry so much praise in her jury question, only to have her vote for Michele is very weird. It seems like their relationship still isn't great. In a Talking with T-Bird podcast, T-Bird had Debbie record a short message for Aubry, and it was very strange and not really personal towards her at all. Instead it was a "hey, do you remember when this weird thing happened on the island?!" Normally they're heartfelt messages to the person being interviewed.

I'm not really sure what Aubry did to rub others the wrong way. I get that Michele is great socially, but the jury's vibes of Aubry were just off. Michele also had a Mike Holloway-esque run at the end of the season, which I think is overlooked. She's viewed as the scrappy underdog. She was on the bottom for multiple votes and continued to win immunities when it mattered most. That's big for a jury. Especially one with the personalities of Scot and Jason.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I just finished the finale of the Kaoh Rong rewatch. I have not watch the reunion yet. While I fully believe Michele deserved the win, I still think Aubry played a better game. It came down to the jury having egos and being unable to accept that others can have different play styles. I think Scot and Jason had a lot of pull at Ponderosa. Julia was under their wing, even though she's very good friends with Michele and would have voted for her regardless.

Seeing Debbie give Aubry so much praise in her jury question, only to have her vote for Michele is very weird. It seems like their relationship still isn't great. In a Talking with T-Bird podcast, T-Bird had Debbie record a short message for Aubry, and it was very strange and not really personal towards her at all. Instead it was a "hey, do you remember when this weird thing happened on the island?!" Normally they're heartfelt messages to the person being interviewed.

I'm not really sure what Aubry did to rub others the wrong way. I get that Michele is great socially, but the jury's vibes of Aubry were just off. Michele also had a Mike Holloway-esque run at the end of the season, which I think is overlooked. She's viewed as the scrappy underdog. She was on the bottom for multiple votes and continued to win immunities when it mattered most. That's big for a jury. Especially one with the personalities of Scot and Jason.

It really shows why Survivor is such an interesting show and game. You can play the "best" or be the "most strategic" and lose because of the core element that you vote people off who then have a choice whether or not to vote for you to win.

It can be very hard to pull off when human emotions come into play.

That's why Aubrey's season 50 performance is so fun because it completes her story and she learned how to find that balance.

 

[PUSH]

Another thing I think I'll go out on a limb and say... I think Kaoh Rong was the last true "old era" season. It just feels different from anything after it. It's the last season that doesn't feel game-botty or advantage-focused. I feel like 33-39 was a soft launch of the vibes we're getting in the New Era. There were a couple good seasons in there (with DvG being great). But overall they start shifting the focus away from the players and into the hands of production.

I also just realized that this also coincides with the move to Fiji. And I think that's a big part of it feeling like the same product because it visually is exactly the same. Seeing a different location in Kaoh Rong was such a breath of fresh air.

Overall, rewatching Kaoh Rong makes me not care to rewatch any of the New Era seasons. They just aren't as good of a product. I love some of the players, but it's not the same. With all that said, I will continue to watch religiously.

 

[artvandelay]

Another thing I think I'll go out on a limb and say... I think Kaoh Rong was the last true "old era" season. It just feels different from anything after it. It's the last season that doesn't feel game-botty or advantage-focused. I feel like 33-39 was a soft launch of the vibes we're getting in the New Era. There were a couple good seasons in there (with DvG being great). But overall they start shifting the focus away from the players and into the hands of production.

I also just realized that this also coincides with the move to Fiji. And I think that's a big part of it feeling like the same product because it visually is exactly the same. Seeing a different location in Kaoh Rong was such a breath of fresh air.

Overall, rewatching Kaoh Rong makes me not care to rewatch any of the New Era seasons. They just aren't as good of a product. I love some of the players, but it's not the same. With all that said, I will continue to watch religiously.

Is that when they got rid of Lynn Spillman as the casting agent?

 

[PUSH]

Is that when they got rid of Lynn Spillman as the casting agent?

According to Google, she was fired after EoE, so Island of the Idols would have been the first cast under Jesse Tannenbaum. That checks out because I feel like the casting shifted with IoI. On paper, the casts look great from 39 on. But they cast so many educated 30-somethings from a white collar background. While the diversity initiative improved wider representation for all people, they forgot about age, career, socioeconomic status, etc.

While Lynne Spillman did produce some extremely bad casts, when she got a good one, it was better than what we have today. She casted for entertaining TV and encouraged conflict and drama. She casted for showmances. And while I don't think we need to fully go back to that, some of that is what made Survivor so popular and entertaining int he first place. To be honest, I don't care that you've lived this amazing, fulfilling life and have overcome a lot. I don't care if you are a die hard fan. I want to be entertained. So we need a mixture of those who know how to really play the game, as well as those who are there to be characters. I think Survivor 45-47 are the closest casts we've gotten to that in the New Era, and that's why they're pretty widely regarded as the three best New Era seasons.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Big brother is one of my favorite shows i’ll be watching

 

[artvandelay]

Big brother is one of my favorite shows i’ll be watching

Me too. Last season was really good.

 

[artvandelay]

Jeff Probst made an appearance on the Big Brother premiere.

Later on BB legend and past winner, Rachel Reilly, was chased by a velociraptor and pushed into a volcano. She did not survive, but it happened millions of years ago so it doesn’t affect the timeline! Things like this are why most Survivor fans are bit fans on Big Brother.

 

[PUSH]

Survivor 51 will premiere on Wednesday, September 23rd. Once we start getting preseason press, I'll create a new thread.