castaways-related stories
Posted Feb 12th 2009 10:07PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S18E01) Yep, we're into the 18th season of
Survivor. Why, it seems like it was only yesterday that Richard Hatch was wandering about Borneo naked. Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm a big fan of the show. But what can they show us that's new and fresh after so many seasons, so many strategies? You see, I want to be entertained. I want fresh castaways, fresh locales, fresh challenges ... and even fresh monkeys! After all, no season of the show is complete without a monkey. If I had my way, every reality show would have a monkey.
Continue reading Survivor: Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start (season premiere)
Posted Mar 6th 2008 11:14PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S16E05) "Chickens have a pecking order. They peck at the weakest until they kill them. It's just like
Survivor." - Chet
The promos this week made this seem like a show not to miss and they didn't steer us wrong. As promised, the tribes were mixed up and one challenge went beyond brutal. Schoolyard picks and wounded people? Now, there's a good episode!
Continue reading Survivor Micronesia: He's a Ball of Goo!
Posted Sep 27th 2007 11:22PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S15E02) Oh, sure ... it looks sweet and innocent, doesn't it? But it looks like we're in for a season of rough and tumble challenges, lots of mud, and even more blurred spots covering body areas not normally seen on network television. Oh, my.
Heck, the line they used for the title of the episode is all because of those um ... blurred areas. But, I promise you -- the loyal
Survivor China TV Squad readers -- there will be no nudity in this review! Wait! Where are you all going? You didn't just come here for the nudity, did you? Did you? Read on ...
Continue reading Survivor China: My Mom Is Going to Kill Me!
Posted Sep 20th 2007 11:41PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S15E01) I think it might take me a bit longer to warm up to this latest season of
Survivor. Don't get me wrong -- I am indeed an addict. But I miss the days of the two-hour premiere. When it's all over and the first boot is at the end of an hour, I feel strangely unfulfilled.
Oh, I'm entertained. I definitely see some interesting possibilities coming from the China setting and the castaways themselves. But, after tonight's episode, I have some reservations, too.
Continue reading Survivor China: A Chicken's a Little Bit Smarter (season premiere)
Posted Sep 20th 2007 7:48PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor
Okay, I'm the kind of person who likes to take a quick peek at the end of a novel as I'm reading it. For some reason it doesn't seem to spoil the journey along the way for me. Perhaps I'm impatient; perhaps I just want to assure myself it will be worth the trip. I just don't know.
I'm the same way with my favorite television shows. Sing along with me ...
Listen ... oo-ah-oo
Do you want to know some spoilers ... oo-ah-oo
Do you promise not to tell ... oo-ah-oo
Closer, let me whisper in your ear ...
Beware --
extreme Survivor China spoilers after the jump!
Continue reading Survivor China spoilers abound
Posted Sep 20th 2007 1:21PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Survivor
Say it ain't so!
Survivor China (as well as every other season) host Jeff Probst recently
answered some questions posed by TV Tattler's Angel Cohn. Now, are there folks who watch the show just to see scantily-clad women? Who out there does that?
I realize the main reason that they don't shoot the show in a colder environment is because the castaways would have to be all bundled up and that's apparently bad for television ratings. How shallow have we become?
Jeff answered some questions about the clothing -- or lack thereof -- in the interview and I bring to you those answers ... and my two cents!
Continue reading More scantily clad Survivor castaways this year?
Posted Aug 20th 2007 4:02PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Survivor, Casting
It's hard to believe, but next month marks the 15th installment of
Survivor. This season, they're in China and the producers are getting all literary and stuff. The teams will begin in Shanghai and then go to a Buddhist temple where they will be stripped of all "worldly possessions" except the clothes on their backs. They will split into two teams and be given a copy of Sun Tzu's
The Art of War, which will apparently come in handy this season.
Today, CBS introduced the new 16-member cast. You can't tell much about their personalities from the general biographical information given out, but there are a few stand-outs already. For instance, there's a grave digger, a chicken farmer (whose name is 'Chicken'), a Christian talk radio host, a professional wrestler (Ashley Massaro), and a hiking guide from Kalispell, Montana. Okay, that last one is only interesting to me because she comes from my hometown. You can read more about the castaways
here.
Survivor: China debuts on CBS at 8 pm on September 20th.
Posted Mar 28th 2007 4:42PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, CBS, Survivor
Finally, one of my wishes might come true: Survivor is seriously considering moving the show to a colder climate.
Canada, to be precise. Host Jeff Probst reveals that show creator Mark Burnett is thinking about doing the next season in Canada, because they're running out of jungle/island places to go to. They probably aren't really running out of places to go, but after a while all of these places start to look and feel the same.
Probst is worried that a colder place would a.) be worse for the bodies of the contestants and b.) you wouldn't have chicks in bikinis. Well, for the first concern, I think that's the reason to do it. Give these contestants a challenge the other contestants of other seasons never had. And for the second concern, I have the solution.
Hot tub!
Seriously, the show needs a kick in the pants, and a colder world would really reinvent the show a bit.
[via TV Tattle]
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
