I GUESS THIS MEANS NO TONTINE? So as we all knew, Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz are returning for this of Survivor. Jeff Probst insists, "I’m not concerned at all about any Russell fatigue — that people have had too much. If you’ve had too much of Russell, I dare say you’re not really a Survivor fan."
Bullshit. I love Survivor, and I've had enough of Russell for now. I appreciate the need to theme each season, but that can be done through structural shifts (Redemption Island, hidden immunity idols, three-person final tribal, etc.) or through casting choices (I'm still waiting for an all Law Enforcement/Military season, or an all-female season). We don't need to recycle Russell for the third time in four seasons.
Agreed. Am actually less likely to watch with Russell, especially given that Jeff thinks he's such a great player...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the decision process on survivor casting is sort of hamstrung by their shooting schedule. While previous seasons had been spaced out more, each pair of Samoa/Heroes vs. Villains and Nicaragua/Redemption Island were shot essentially back to back.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget: CBS was moving Survivor to a new night (Wednesday) starting with this fall, so they had to commit to both the Nicaragua and Redemption Island casts without knowing how well the show would migrate to the new timeslot. Perhaps they were hedging their bets with a sure draw so that they wouldn't, in a worst case scenario, lose an entire year of Survivor ratings in case the Wednesday thing didn't work out.
Also, the first reputable Russell/Rob rumors starting popping up in June and July, which is right around the time they were filming Nicaragua. Maybe they just immediately recognized a dud concept/cast and scrambled to beef up the following season.
Pretty soon they'll be able to do a "Survivor: All Stars - Dallas Cowboy Edition." Perhaps right after "Survivor: Revis Island."
ReplyDeleteThis show is still on?
ReplyDeleteTwo of the last three seasons were pretty good. Heroes v. Villains is in the top 3-4 of all the seasons.
ReplyDeleteTwo thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Remember that for the first time ever, I think, Survivor is going up against Idol on a regular basis (and CBS would have expected that when they did the move to Wednesdays, though they're now going up against performance show rather than results show). They may have wanted a "high concept" for the Spring as a result, and someone at CBS seems to think Russell=high concept.
2. Both from concept description and because Rahb and Russell are well-known, would seem that they'd likely be targets for elimination early on. (See, e.g., Jimmy Johnson.)
Do we think the same person at CBS who thinks Russell=high concept thinks Alex O'Laughlin=magnetic leading man?
ReplyDeleteNo--there's a whole department for "poor leading man choices" at CBS--Alex O'Laughlin, Chris O'Donnell, Jerry O'Connell, Jim Belushi, David Caruso, William Shatner. (Some of these people can be fine in other circumstances, but are badly miscast in their current role.)
ReplyDeletePotential Spoiler (or maybe this is mentioned in the announcements - I haven't read through all of them b/c I basically knew what the announcement was) - my understanding is that Rob and Russell won't be able to be voted off for the first few tribals (maybe even not til the merge?). Otherwise, I totally agree - smart players would get rid of them immediately. However, as we've seen for 21 seasons now, the casts of Survivor are not exactly stacked with smart players - just a few per season.
ReplyDeleteI wish the success of Heroes v Villains had led CBS execs to realize that part of the reason that season was such a hit was because of how good the players were at the game physically AND mentally. Why can't we have a season of new players who are all fans of the show and who understand the underlying strategy? Every new season otherwise becomes "fast forward through the first few eps to see which old person who can't pull their weight they boot."
That's actually not in the announcement.
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy (1) all campers/outdoorsy-folks who actually have outdoor skills and/or (2) all lawyers/B school grads/consultants, who would go all crazy game theory (basically, an all-Yul season). Ok, maybe just the second one.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I made it up - probably read it on a blog that had inside intel? Who knows, maybe I dreamt it, I guess we'll see soon enough.
ReplyDeleteSo in other words, Survivor: University of Chicago?
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the preseason rumors, but according to EW they have no special immunity.<span> </span>
ReplyDeleteIf that were the optimal iteration of the show ...
ReplyDeleteI still think a cold weather Survivor would bring an infusion of both interest and new winning skill sets to the show. Survivor: Kamchatka would also benefit from the recurring appearances of Vladimir Putin, who would serve as an uberhost and would weird Probst out.
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