Deidre Woollard
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Despite living in Los Angeles, Deidre Woollard does not work in the "industry." She does, however, see a lot of reality TV folks when she goes to Starbucks, the dry cleaners, etc. Despite loudly claiming to a friend in 2000 that she would never watch "that boring reality crap" she has become a reality TV junkie known to schedule plans around Survivor (it's just not the same when you Tivo it) and inexplicably fascinated by the social experiment that is Big Brother. She's the editor over at Luxist and is also a fiction writer working on multiple projects, one of which involves what happens when three Hollywood women decide to do the unthinkable and get really fat.
Deidre Woollard
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Despite living in Los Angeles, Deidre Woollard does not work in the "industry." She does, however, see a lot of reality TV folks when she goes to Starbucks, the dry cleaners, etc. Despite loudly claiming to a friend in 2000 that she would never watch "that boring reality crap" she has become a reality TV junkie known to schedule plans around Survivor (it's just not the same when you Tivo it) and inexplicably fascinated by the social experiment that is Big Brother. She's the editor over at Luxist and is also a fiction writer working on multiple projects, one of which involves what happens when three Hollywood women decide to do the unthinkable and get really fat.
Posted May 13th 2007 11:30PM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S14E14) Oh my. Yau-Man made this season one of the most interesting to watch right up until the final episode. This was nearly the season that proved to me that Survivor should just be retired. But then we got to see some very interesting twists, not the ones by the editing team, which were haphazard and ineffective but by Yau-Man as he became one of the most loveable longshots the game has ever seen.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: You've Got A Puzzled Look (season finale)
Posted May 10th 2007 10:56PM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Survivor, Episode Reviews
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S14E13) Will the car curse last another season? Certainly anyone who is a student of
Survivor has seen the effect that the car reward challenge can have on the game. But this season, figuring out who would get the curse is tricky. You see, it depends on who you think would be cursed - the person who won or the person who ended up with it. This unique situation along with the fact that Yau-Man was in jeopardy made this episode one of my favorites of the season.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: I Wanna See If I Can Make A Deal
Posted May 4th 2007 9:21AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
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S14E12) Episodes when there is one member of a decimated alliance still struggling to avoid getting voted off can either be fascinating or a snore. This one is actually a bit of both. I generally have a soft spot for the underdog but Alex is flatly unlikeable. Case in point, early in the episode, the increasingly needy Stacy approaches Alex to try and be friends after the show, his response, later to the camera is to say "like I care." Nice.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: A Smile, Velvet Gloves And A Dagger In My Pocket
Posted Apr 27th 2007 1:40AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Survivor, Episode Reviews
(
S14E11) Some of you took me to task for only giving last week's episode a 5 rating. And perhaps rightly so, after all it was easily the best tribal council of the season. But I had my hopes set on tonight's episode because the most interesting thing is often the fall-out from a big shakeup. And sometimes players that are outnumbered and cornered suddenly become brilliant strategists. Not tonight.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: Blackmail or Betrayal
Posted Apr 20th 2007 7:18AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S14E10) After last week's rather blah episode this week redeems the season with some very interesting last minute machinations. This may be a season with a really good last few weeks because unlike in some other seasons were alliances were set in stone, this crowd tends to be flighty and unsure and neither core team has enough votes without trusting some of the fringe players.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: It's A Turtle?
Posted Apr 13th 2007 6:38AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S14E09) Merge! Well, sort of. This week's episode throws in a bunch of shakeups trying for that "ooh" moment that usually keeps the audience so ensnared in Survivor. This week's twists however, seems sort of anti-climactic and don't lead to any really interesting shake-ups in the long run.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: Are We Going To Live On Exile Island?
Posted Apr 6th 2007 7:10AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
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S14E08) This really has been the most lackluster season ever. Even tonight's episode which had some very funny moments isn't really enough to redeem the banality. As the more obnoxious people get voted off I wonder if even the more appealing characters will be enough to sustain the interest in the show. I also wonder, after the last few seasons, if it is possible anymore to have two tribes that are equally matched up to a merge. But at least Yau-Man and Earl consistently rock each episode.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: So You Think You Can Meke
Posted Mar 30th 2007 6:50AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
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S14E07) Tonight I learned that I am not so much cheering for any tribe as I am for two players, namely Yau-Man and Earl. In this rather lackluster season these are the ones who keep me interested in the game. Not necessarily for their shrewd playing, although they are good players, but for their ability to keep themselves and the audience entertained with their antics.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: An Evil Thought
Posted Mar 22nd 2007 6:51AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
(S14E06) For Ravu, the starved and perpetually losing tribe, hope springs eternal. After all, a change-up turns Ravu into the He-Man Woman Haters club. What could possibly go wrong with all these muscle men around? I think I have a clue, he's loud, he's obnoxious and he's from my hometown.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: I've The Strength Now To Carry The Flag
Posted Mar 9th 2007 6:37AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
(S14E05) Just when I think, maybe, maybe I can enjoy this season we get more Ravu humiliation. This could be the season that breaks my Survivor love. Last week offered a tiny reprieve but mainly this is just relentless misery. Underdog stories are great. Aitu's wins last season made some of the best Survivor viewing ever. But you had some very physically and mentally adept players on that team and they seem to have had better access to natural resources. Here we have less hardy players who look like emaciated players from Survivor Australia or Survivor Africa and they are just being beaten. And worst of all, being beaten doesn't even make them likable for the most part.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: Love Many, Trust Few, Do Wrong To None
Posted Mar 2nd 2007 6:34AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
(S14E04) One of the reasons I still remain interested in
Survivor is because it is fascinating to see how people react in various situations. So far this season hadn't really been too interesting to watch on that level despite the allure of the premise. It's been more painful than fun, Tonight changed that for me with a twist that asked a rather simple question, if you had to choose between your tribe and your comfortable camp, which would you choose?
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: Let's Call Jeff on the Jeff Phone
Posted Feb 23rd 2007 7:21AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
(S14E03) This season's concept is rapidly getting boring. Not just sort of pointless the way last season's was but boring to the point of making me wonder if Survivor has, at long last, finally lost its appeal for me. We've had underdog seasons before but when the underdogs aren't particularly likable and they are only underdogs because the game is rigged against them I have to wonder what the fun in this. There was not an element of tonight's game that held any sort of surprise or joy for me. Has Survior run out of twists?
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: It's not Survival, It's Thrival
Posted Feb 16th 2007 7:21AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
(S14E01) A friend and I had a debate last week on whether or not the posh pad would be a liability for the Moto tribe and for Survivor as a game. First of all, the experience shifts for the viewer, it is impossible, for me at least, to be happy for a tribe that has everything without really working for it. Often inequality happens organically over the course of a season. It often seems that the one tribe has string of wins for reasons of teamwork or brute strength. But when one team is purposely handicapped the game is a bit different and it highlights the fact that these are people being tortured for our entertainment.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: Snakes are Misunderstood
Posted Feb 9th 2007 6:36AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
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S14E01) Season 14 and how are they going to mix it up this time? We've had old versus young, men versus women, and last season's controversial race against race season. This is the season of haves and have-nots because nothing provokes discord like sleeping under a tree with the knowledge that members of the other tribe are living it up with a couch. A couch? I wonder if the team living in the lap of luxury will later be at a disadvantage from living too soft. And didn't I already see this concept on the latest season of The Apprentice? Still, the overall tribe looks to be a bit more compelling than the usual and maybe a bit more feisty than last season's precision fighting team over at Aitu.
Continue reading Survivor Fiji: Something Cruel Is About to Happen...Real Soon
Posted Dec 18th 2006 2:04AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, OpEd, Survivor
(S13E14) Ah, we've reached the end of a very satisfying season of
Survivor. It was one of my favorites in a long time because there were some incredibly strong players out there and some very sharp moves. The main twist of the finale is the introduction of a final three instead of a final two. While it doesn't really impact the voting I think it did mean that two of the most deserving got into the finale rather than one strong player picking the player they believe they can beat.
Continue reading Survivor: Cook Islands: This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3... (season finale)
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