TVSquad

From the "We Should Have Seen This Coming" department comes word that Survivor winner Tom Westman has quit his FDNY job. He's hired an agent and hopes to become a motivational speaker and an advocate for helping the hearing-impaired, after an acting stint.

When I say "we should have seen this coming," I don't mean it in a snarky way. There's nothing wrong with Westman taking advantage of the opportunities the show has given him. And after 20 years as a firefighter, he's more than earned it.

[via TV Tattle]

Please, someone help me understand the logic in this move. GSN (formerly the Game Show Network) has just picked up the rights to rebroadcast all past episodes of The Amazing Race, while Comcast's Outdoor Life Network has picked up all ten seasons of Survivor. Does anyone really want to watch reruns of these shows, especially when the outcome is rather well known? I thought the ability to own the DVDs of these shows was already enough.

So, you come in second place in perhaps the most respected of the reality game shows. You win some money and you really feel like you could do something great with your life. So what's your goal? Well, if you're Katie from Survivor, you want to go on The Surreal Life. Keep reaching for those stars Katie, keep reaching. 

It starts off friendly, our final four, Ian, Tom, Katie and Jenn party it up with a boozy brunch.  Jeff shows up to show everyone a million dollar check to whet their appetites and start the action with a climbing, untying, unlocking everything-but-the- kitchen-sink challenge.  First round, Tom and Ian move onto the final which is no big surprise considering that they have dominated the entire season.  Tom wins immunity and Jenn and Katie both look seasick. Hopefully Katie and Jenn are beginning to realize that they really messed up by not maintaining the female advantage last week.  Tom tells Jenn that she will be leaving and he won't vote for Ian even though it is tempting.  Ian who can't seem to play this game to save his life, tells Tom that he was glad that he didn't have to make that decision.  This angers Tom and he confronts Ian who admits he would have voted Tom out if he had immunity.  Jeff stirs the pot at tribal council and Katie gets angry because she feels that Ian is not being straight with her.  It comes down to a tie between Ian and Jenn and after a second vote there is a fire challenge which Ian easily takes.  We're down to three. 

After last week's Gregg ambush it seemed likely that his double consonant sweetie Jenn would be next to get the axe.  After all, Katie and Ian have an alliance and Caryn and Tom now are bonded.  The reward challenge is for a Corvette and the challenge involves rowing out to getting five mileage tags and then assembling them in the proper order.   Ian wins and takes Tom along which really frosts Katie and doesn't really thrill Tom since his plan was to split up the ladies so they couldn't gang up on them.  Of course the women collude, Katie spills all and Jenn seems startled to know that there was an alliance there at all (all that Gregg time must have had her in a fog).  When the boys get back Caryn immediately confronts them and asks for loyalty.  Ian indicates he still hasn't decided if Caryn or Katie is going which makes Tom upset.  Ian takes Katie for a little walk and things get weepy quickly.  Lots of mea culpas later they seem to have reached a truce.  Scrambling Tom tries to bully everyone into playing his way and nice guy Ian starts to realize that this is "Survivor, not Parcheesi." 

With Stephenie gone all of the tribe members are getting nervous.  The reward challenge offers tribe members a night on a luxury yacht.  The challenge lets tribe members sabotage each other which creates a little discord in the rapidly tetchier by the moment "happy family."  Gregg wins and picks Jenn and Katie as his evening companions much to the annoyance of Tom and Ian who fret that Gregg is a slave to the ladies.  Castoff Caryn sees the chance to make her move and get Tom and Ian on her side.   On the yacht,  Jenn, Gregg and Katie get family visits (not exactly tearjerker unions) which irritates the other tribe members and might change some alliances.

The immunity challenge combines a variety of tests from past episodes.  In a shoot-out past immunity winners Ian and Tom battle it out and Ian wins immunity again.  He's a much stronger competitor than I think anyone has figured.  Tom, Ian and Caryn plan to vote Gregg out but Ian spills the beans to Katie (I just don't understand why he's so devoted to her).  At the tribal council, Gregg is stunned to be voted out and little blonde Jenn looks scared to death.

Next week:  the women compare notes and Ian and Katie have a blow out

Stephenie goes back to camp and she's flaming mad.  The tribe tries to smooth her ruffled feathers but Stephenie begins to plot.  She goes running to Tom and finds no satisfaction.  Tom worries that his strong showing in immunity challenges will make him a target.  Meanwhile, floundering Stephenie tries to organize a women's alliance.  The reward is a Survivor auction where the tribe bids on treats.  No-expression Jen finally cracks a smile when she wins a sweet treat.  The crowd gets giddy over hamburgers, spaghetti and other familiar favorites as well as letters from home.  

Welcome back to Burnett's personal torture island.  Janu, who thought she was going home, doesn't seem happy and everyone knows it. When Katie begins to gossip about her,  Janu overhears and a confrontation erupts. The reward challenge pits two randomly chosen teams of four against each other to build a tower in the water. The reward is a Palau feast. SuperTom carries his team toward reward and Janu seems almost hysterically happy to have won. Flash forward to the middle of the feast, when Janu starts barfing. The winning team returns to the tribe with some small bits of dessert. Suddenly Janu gets her appetite back and eats some of the food that her winning team brought back for the other part of the tribe.  Girlie is not making points here.

Should we just title this "Sinners in the hands of an angry Burnett" since it really does seem like one tribe is being punished. It's another week on drastically unbalanced Survivor. Eight against two. A tribe full of accomplishment and the standard Survivor infighting versus two defeated campers going it alone. Koror has the luxury of complaining over who is doing the most work while over at Ulong the fight to stay alive seems to keep Stephenie and Bobby Jon well-occupied. How much can two people take?

I've had a hard time getting into this season and the continued inequality between Ulong and Koror doesn't make it any easier.  The whole David and Goliath thing only works if David gets a shot at some point.  The way it is currently set up it is as if we are watching two different Survivor phases.  The earlier honeymoon phase is still going on at Koror, while Ulong is in the traditional end-of-season death throes.  While this is different from other Survivor seasons, it doesn't make watching any more enjoyable.  Instead, it's a bit excruciating.

No one even knew American Idol would be an hour long until yesterday morning, but somehow the mismash of reran performances and fresh judges commentary won the 9 p.m. slot with 20.6 million viewers. That was Idol's “worst” performance this season. But can you blame them? Survivor: Palau also fared better than expected in a new slot due to basketball coverage and drew 19.2 million viewers at 8 p.m. CSI managed 15.1 million with a repeat. And CBS finished the night with CSI: NY's 16.5 million viewers and the evening's prize as most watched network. Alias is struggling and had a season-low average of 6.9 million viewers.