Are you watching Survivor?

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Are you riveted in spite of yourself? I keep missing it because our local affiliate has early primetime, so it's on at 7. Who watches television at 7? Whatever. Anyway, I read the MightyBigTV recaps and place my bets along with everyone else.

Are you horrified? Mystified? Electrified? And would you do it, for a million bucks?

Any thoughts on any of the contestants?

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

Answers

I watch Survivor, and my husband and kid watch it with me. It's pretty good - better than The Real World, because there's a variety of people, instead of a bunch of kids in their 20's. My only complaint is that there are so many people that it's hard to keep them straight.

I hated - HATED - Stacey, because she was so obnoxious, but I watched her interview on The Early Show the next morning, and she was surprisingly nice and likeable. She did mention that she hadn't eaten for 9 days, which might explain all the whining.

I'd do it for less than a million bucks. Hell, I'd do it for free!

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

I haven't been watching. The concept is really cool, but I don't think I want to jump on the band wagon this far in. If I had caugt it from the beginnig, maybe I'd watch it, but we're on the 5th episode now (I think) and I'd have too much trouble figuring out what's going on.

Did they really eat rats?

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

I don't watch it, nor do I intend to. The show has gone too far just for ratings.

What did it for me is an article I read somewhere about how these hungry people played this long, tedious game for a can of dog food. That's just cruel. I have no use for that.

Whatever happened to theatre & educational shows? Bring those back.

And I live in CST - so I *always* start prime time at 7 - which means I miss "Friends," among other things. (Not that "Friends" is educational, now, but you get my point. In fact, it does kinda stink now. I'm ready for the end to come.)

Boy am I 'a wanderin' today....

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

...heh...funny, i wrote about this on friday --- b/c i'm lame i'll recap my rhetorical questions here:

Now is it me or,....

...so ms. xeney-beth, check it out sometime --- it'll make you giggle.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000
I have not had a chance yet to watch as there have been Pacer Playoff games every night that it has been on. After the Pacers finish off LA this Wed. night, then I'll check it out on the 28th. Go Pacers!

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000
I haven't been watching. I'm just not very interested.

And I don't think it Says Something about our Society or anything like that.

I wouldn't do it.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

I can't work up an interest in it. I thought I'd have something pithy to say, but, nope.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000
I'm woefully addicted. It's like the Real World on crack. I'm a closet Real World fan. And Road Rules. And anything else even vaugely similar. It's probably a good thing that I don't have cable, or I'd never be able to pry myself away from all the Real World/Road Rules marathons that MTV seems to have these days.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2000
My wife and I saw "1900 House" on PBS last night. I like it better than Survivor! It's a "living museum" concept, a family was chosen from several hundred applicants to live in a turn-of-last-century era house for three months, and to live as if they were actually in 1900. Pretty fun. They're doing it 'just because.'

They're having a rough time, "everything takes three times as long as it should!" (Well, yeah, that's why they call the things built since 1900 'labor saving devices.') They had a pretty miserable first week, until they got the coal (ick) stove figured out - the stove provides all the energy for the house, including the heating for the bath water. The mother realized pretty quickly how perfumed everyone was who came to the door, and thought it was because of all the fabric softeners that are used. I guess she never noticed before, she was just used to it.

Go without the internet for a month? How about no electricity for three months?

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2000

I am completely addicted, although the time slot is awful. And I'm totally jealous -- I would do this, even without the million dollar reward. In a heartbeat. Come on, trying to survive on a tropical island for 39 days, with the safety net of a film crew that you know isn't actually going to let you die or anything? Oh, yeah, I'd be eating rats and all that. I'd even wear the damn bikini for that.

But this thread is dull, so tell us what you think would liven up the show. We all know Richard and Susan are going to totally turn on Kelly ... should Kelly be making underhanded deals with Dirk the Religious Guy and Sean the Bald-Chested Neurosurgeon? Should they kill and eat the emcee? Should the teams send secret emissaries to one another to rig the challenges? How about group sex on the beach? Blow jobs for the film crew?

Or do you think those things are already happening?

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Did you see what Gervase did on the show last night? When it was his turn to run and find the key, he took off running, and as soon as he was out of sight, he stopped running and started walking slowly - apparently he'd been running a little TOO fast - and panting for breath. After he found the key, he wandered back toward the beach, and right before he came into everyone's sight, he started running like hell again!

That ticked me off in a big way, for some reason.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

I followed a link from target="top">Dave Grenier about Survivor. Apparently, the crew is living la vida loca -- they even had pizza and fried chicken flown in.

I would like to see the tribes band together and stage a raid on the production compound. Or hold some of the camera operators hostage.

As for that smarmy, annoying host, I'm thinking some kind of tribal sacrafice ceremony. They could even make it an immunity challenge.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

This show has all the elements of a good story in its design. I can't help but find it interesting.

However, I'm sure network execs everywhere are trying to figure out how to clone this show and reproduce another version of it on every major channel. They, of course, should be taken to the island, buried up to their necks, and have honey poured on their heads.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Finally next week we get some sex. I mean, they hinted about it in past episodes, but apparently next week there is some action. Although it is 8PM and it is CBS, so I don't know how exciting it will be.

I think this show is evil. I watch it every week, and I sit on the couch and fret over who will win the challenges, and who will get voted off. The alternating nature of challenge winners is starting to make me suspicious though. If Tagi has to vote someone off next week, it's way more than coincidence.



-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000
Just wondering if any of you know.. Are the interviews they do on the morning show anywhere on the net? Im never up that early and I always forget about the vcr.. would be really interesting to see what is said the day after (well at least the day after we see it)

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000
Yesterday was the first episode that i saw in its entirity. I had no idea how exciting it gets while waiting for the voting to be finished at the tribal council... wow!

I had guessed Ramona would get the boot if Pagong lost; i figured Dirk for Tagi. Personally i don't like Susan much, she's a bit overbearing and she seems to enjoy going back on her voting alliances.

I think Colleen is pretty useless as well. Sure, she's cute, she's perky and she's friendly. But she doesn't seem to actually do much of anything.

As for Stacey, if you go to the CBS site and read everyone's last words after being booted, you'll note something interesting. Regardless of how they may have all actually felt inside, they were all very gracious - especially Ramona. However, Stacey ranted on and on about how she couldn't believe they voted her off and that if it wasn't for her they would have lost the bug challenge, blablabla. It's okay to feel that, but she should be more tactful on air, no?

It's so horribly addictive. When's the Australian Outback being filmed?

I also wonder how many people the survivors have already spilled to. After all, this was filmed a few months ago. I wonder how often they're begged to talk about who lasts for how long.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

I can't see the suspense- whoever is featured on the first part of the show (to the exclusion of everyone else) is the one who will be voted off at the end of the episode. So their tribe will also be the one who loses the challenge.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000
I watched with the sound mostly off, while talking on the phone, for the last half last night, so I have only one simple comment/question:

Where are these women finding the time/soap/razors/wax to remove the hair from their bikini lines while stranded on an island?

On the rhetorical side of things: I suppose it's obvious why everyone is so buff and beautiful, huh? Ratings are better for toned bodies . . . sigh.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Heather: they've only been there for a week or so at this point, right? They probably all got a leg wax beforehand. They wouldn't be too hairy at this point.

Man, I'd never make it as a castaway, because I would have NEVER thought of that!

Sean does have a razor ... maybe the bikini girls are sneaking over to Tagi in the middle of the night to trade sex favors for his chest-shaving razor?

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Ah, well, that shows how little I've been paying attention! I thought they'd been there awhile, not just a few days. The total time on the island was 7 weeks, right? How much time does each episode cover?

Y'know, I got the email with the link to the webpage that sollicited for people for this show last fall. I knew it was going to be big, and I even printed out the application form and started filling it out. But then it seemed like it was too much of a side-show to be a part of it. I also knew that I would be voted off immediately because of my refusal to eat meat, and that I would come across as incredibly prissy . . . Anyhow, it just seemed better not to try and risk nation-wide humilation were I actually chosen.

Of course, I don't look that good in a tankini, so it's not like I would've been chosen in any case. The point about the outfits is a valid one (how are they changing so often? shouldn't they be in smelly, awful clothes that they have to figure out how to repair and clean? That would be much more interesting.).

Fighting over a can of dog-food? Geez, maybe I'm glad I *haven't* been paying that much attention!!

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Let me second the poster who suggested that "The 1900 House" is the thinking person's "survivor".

What the Brits did is remodel a London rowhouse to be like it was in 1900, and they recruited a family to live like it was 1900 for three months. They did a super job with the restoration, the house looks like a dollhouse.

The family is interesting. The Dad is a Royal Marine, so I knew he could handle it. They even got permission for him to wear a 1900 Marine uniform to work during the experiment. I am 100% certain that Dad is taking showers at work. When you see him shaving with the "cut throat razor" it becomes clear why facial hair was so much more popular in those days.

The kids (three girls and a boy) seem to be handling it a lot better than their parents. They really seem like good soldiers.

Dad gets to go to work, and the kids get to go to school. The wife keeps house and gets out only for shopping in preapproved shops that are cooperating with the show to sell 1900 items.

Mom is about our age (45), and she's clearly a former hippie. Before she moved in, she was going on and on about how wonderful it will be to go back to the essentials and live without the bother of any "modcons".

Both my wife and I had grandparents who lived in rural Texas, so we know second hand how tough life was in the old days. We both felt like the husband would be fine, but that the wife would break before it was over.

By the afternoon of the second day the wife (Mrs "I don't need modcons") was huddled in the back garden (houses don't have "yards" in England) whining and crying. By the end of the first week it was clear that she was headed for a physical breakdown. At the end of the last show they announced that she would get a "maid-of-all-work" to come in and help. This is a good thing, because she was clearly killing herself trying to maintain modern standards of sanitation and cleanliness with 1900 plumbing.

The whole thing seems a lot more "real" than "survivor", which I also watch.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Susan and Richard need to swim with the fishies....Susan, because all she does is politic, because she cannot otherwise pull her weight,and Richard, because he keeps coming out with that corporate trainer bullshite that makes me want to shoot my television.

Good thing I am not the judgemental type.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Beth, why do you say you'd do this even if it wasn't for a million dollars? What's appealing about it? I wouldn't do it even FOR a sure million dollars. But I'm a wimp who can't stand to go camping unless there are flush toilets.

Not everybody has bikini line hair, you know.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Lizzie said, "Not everybody has bikini line hair, you know."

Really? No, I didn't realize that! I knew that there were different amounts of hair that varies from person to person, but I guess assumed that among all those women wearing hi-cut bikini briefs at least one or two of them would have pubic hair that would naturally grow outside that tiny triangle covering their crotch. I guess I still don't believe you, actually - unless they made the women get electrolysis beforehand, it just doesn't seem natural.



-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

They were there for a maximum of 39 days. Each episode covers 3 days. So as of last night, we've seen 12 days worth of action. I don't know how long waxing lasts, but I know it would be okay for 12 days, but definitely not 39 -- assuming a woman makes it to the final days.

There's a part of me that really likes the Pagong tribe for being so gung-ho and positive (although Greg was bugging me with the coconut phone) and there's a part of me that likes the Tagi tribe for being so underhanded and conniving. I'm glad both sides are being represented. If they were both terrible to each other, I think I would feel even worse about watching than I already do.



-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000
That's something that bugged me about Greg too!

If he just did it when things were laid-back and relaxed it could be very cute and a funny tension release. But he kept doing it when they were working! Grrr.

And i forget (sorry) who said something about Gervase earlier, but that pissed me off too, the way that he made it *look* like he ran the whole time but didn't. I understand if he got tired but he didn't seem to make any effort at all once he was out of sight, as though he had already given up. And no one voted against him at the Tribal Council - i wonder how much that would have changed had they all been able to see him.

I also thought it was weird the way he went on and on about how he would vote Jenna off because she's so much more annoying than Colleen and he made a big stink about the annoyance factor with regards to Jenna, but then voted Colleen. Huh?

Here's my thing though - i also thought how weird it is that they have such nice and clean clothes. I also thought how clean-shaven the women are - not just bikini lines, but pits and legs too. But my big thing is this: What if one of the women is due for her period? On the Pill, you can postpone it so someone could have planned ahead of time for that, but what if that wasn't an option? Are they allowed pads/tampons? Or will they just walk around with palm leaves folded into their bathing suits?

Um, ewww.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

I cannot stop watching this damn show. I am a complete sucker for survivalist stuff -- though, uh, the whole concept of the film crew being there kinda nullifies that -- and have been fantasizing about a challenge soon, you know, something that would require me to eat rats.

Who do you think'll win? I think Richard's got a good chance. He actually has more "survival" skills than some of the others, and he's not a kid; he's been around the block. He might be annoying to some, but for all his corporate "softness", I think he's a hell of a lot tougher than the rest. Even the truck driver chick.

I, too, am concerned about the bikini line issue now. Thanks, guys, another thing to obsess about.

AND -- the 1900 House is wonderful, and I agree, it's much more interesting and real and gripping than Survivor. I felt exactly like the woman in the 1900 House -- I think I'm a trouper, but I've been known to cave.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

My friend and I were wondering about the shaving thing too. When you spend that much time on a hot beach and wearing a bathing suit, shaving has to become almost daily maintenance. At least for me.

Anyway, we noticed that there was contact solution in one of the huts. My guess is that they let/make the women shave. Pretty bodies are important, I suppose.

Laura

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Yeah, the shaving. That was bothering me, too. But then the viewers wouldn't find unshaved pits and legs as rivetting, now would they?

Another thing. The "comfort" challenge yesterday- where one of the luxuries being air-dropped to the lucky winners was to be a bar of soap.

My beau had a hoot over that one."What makes you think they don't have soap already? It's Day Eleven... now, do any of those women look like they haven't seen a bottle of shampoo in eleven days?"

Come to think of it... NOT!

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

AS for the shaving and clothes -- I know they were allowed to grab as much as they could of various items on the first show before they were "marooned". Maybe they grabbed lots of razors and clothes. (i missed the first show, so i didn't actually see what they got)

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000
According to one of the articles I read, they have access to "medical" supplies which includes tampons and pads. That would still suck though. They were also allowed to bring one "luxury" item, and Dr. Sean brought a razor as his, which is why I assumed they were not provided razors. The official site lists what each person brought as his or her luxury item.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000
I have dipped in to see Survivor for a couple of minutes, and these are a few of my observations.

I have had military jungle survival training, and have served in jungle patrols that have lasted up to 7 days. Based upon my experiences of those days, this is what I see.

1) These people are too white. Is sunblock provided? If not, where are the sunburns and peeling skin?

2) These people spend way too much time and energy on frivolous activities, and not enough time on searching for food. Where is their protien coming from? The search for food and other items for survival should take most, if not all of their waking hours.

3) Do these people have access to first aid supplies? Where are the bug bites, the sores that are inevitable when in a hot, humid climate with inadequate hygiene facilities ( I won't even bring up the blackheads )?

These are just some of my observations. I missed large parts of every show, so maybe my points have been explained. It just doesn't seem real compared to my gentle country walks through the Blize jungle in the early 80s, and we even carried our food, as well as other items deemed essential. I don't think the producers are telling the whole story.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Well, I'm not going to post a picture of myself, so you'll just have to believe me that some women don't have bikini line hair problems.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000
Nope not watching the show, to answer the original question. I can honestly say, that I have no idea what y'all are talking about.

Sabs paused to watch someone's exit interview re-broadcast on the evening news last night. They were pitching the application process for the next round of folks.

Buffy and all of my other favorite shows are on hiatus for the summer. Therefore I'm not really watching TV. Except for the odd movie here or there.

I can, however, weigh in on one issue brought up here.

If the women were smart, they grabbed an alternative to pads/tampons before they left.

There are items out there, though not regularly sold in stores that would be ideal for being stranded on a desert island.

I'm sure though, that the producers of the show weren't interested in showing that aspect of life.

The last thing I'd be worried about, if I was really stuck looking for food, is shaving though.

On the other hand, the premise of the show reminds me all too keenly of a horrific French movie and that Arnold Schwarzenegger flick where real people are sent on a chase with a hunter/hunters after them and they have to make it through all of these obstacles to win a huge pot o' cash, or they die on camera.

When I saw these films, I said to myself, "Oh that would never really happen, now would it?"

This show is just a thin edge away from that though ... and now that I think about it the Real World vs. Road Rules shows are too ...

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

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