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New York, 2:58 AM
Mon Nov 30
13 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/17/09
Survivor is still the class act of reality TV, if there is such a thing. There's a purity to it - it's not full of gimmicks designed to up the drama, or lots of fakery. It is just a bunch of people in the middle of nowhere trying to one-up each other any way they can. It is pure social experiment, and every challenge and everything else the producers throw at the contestants is just so seamlessly integrated into altering the group dynamics in subtle ways that you almost don't even notice the manipulation. (I only do because I've watched all 19 seasons.)
And every year is surprising. Not every season's a winner overall, but last year, with the fake immunity idols? That were actually really good and fooled people?! That was awesome shit. The stuff the contestants come up with every year, I mean I'm sure the producers themselves are surprised and delighted half the time. There's an unpredictability to Survivor that other reality series don't have, because they're so completely controlled where Survivor isn't.
You've also gotta talk about the show's production values, especially now that it's in HD. It is just a beautifully produced show. Most reality shows look like they were shot with a $300 camcorder in somebody's basement. Survivor looks like some sort of IMAX nature film.
This is still one of the shows I look forward to every year (er, twice a year), and I'll be disappointed when it's gone.
09/17/09
My only gripe? Every season, we're treated to a completely useless, incompetent tribe - you know, the one that never wins a challenge, can't make fire, never has any food, and built a crappy shelter. This is Survivor, right? Then let them survive, dammit. Producers, stop engineering ways to give them food, shelter, or fire. I want to see incompetent tribes starve until and unless they pull it together and figure shit out. Show me vultures following them (okay, maybe vultures don't exist on tropical islands, but still). Sadly for me, the producers may find this approach a tad harsh.
@misslinda: Yes, I think Russell's tribemates will eventually figure him out. He's much dumber than he looks. Amazing, though, that people mouth off during the early TC's. It's as if they never watched the show before.
And good for you for having what it takes to audition for Survivor. I wouldn't last a week.
09/18/09
Yeah, I really need to get an HD TV so that I can check out Survivor in all its beauty.
However, if you skip the nature footage and the slo-mo of the tribes celebrating after the challenges, you can shave a good 5-10 minutes off of watching the show.
09/18/09
09/18/09
You'll understand when you get an hdtv :)
09/18/09
I do agree that it seems like the show has gotten easier over the years, but I think I know why. I do remember in season 2 that it was brutal for some of the contestants. They ran out of rice at one point and the producers never gave them a chance to get any... or at least it was about 6 days before they did. And I remember at least one major injury that season too. It's been getting easier ever since; they never let them starve anymore.
In Japan, around the time that Survivor started, there was a whole genre of reality show that was basically about being as cruel to the participants as possible. It eventually got so out of hand that the government had to step in and ban certain practices on TV - the shows ended up basically being a form of torture. I think the producers of Survivor first of all did not want to go that route; that's not what Survivor's about, and it's a slippery slope once you start trying to make it as hard for people to survive as possible.
But I also think that the essence of the show is really the group dynamic, and watching people starve just doesn't really play into that much. So it was unnecessary. It's more like Big Brother than a true survival show, it's just a lot better produced. The settings and challenges are just to aid in the group tension, and I actually thought that seeing people wasting away and having no energy was detrimental to that.
I also agree about the gimped tribe every season, though it's always interesting seeing how the producers react to that. It's also obvious that they know it always happens, because Jeff calls the sucky tribe out for being sucky pretty much every season now.
09/17/09
09/17/09
Can't wait till that Russell asshole gets voted out. Dude's trying way too hard to be the Survivor villain; more like the village idiot, to me.
09/17/09
09/17/09
But maybe I'll watch the premiere tonight, just because Brian is so persuasive ...
09/17/09
Cuz we're gonna live-blog it on Gawker like we do every week. So join us - you'll be glad you did!
(This has been a pubic service announcement.)
09/17/09
09/17/09