SIXTEEN AMERICANS, MAROONED: To go back and watch the first season of Survivor, as I've been doing with Lucy over the past few weeks, is to watch a radically different show. You may recall that it's much more about the survival/"building a new civilization" stuff than the more overtly strategy-focused show we watch now, but it's more than that.
Some examples: the challenges are all framed as more jaunty competition than meaningful battle, with Probst not even shouting "[X] ... wins immunity!" at the end but more of a quiet congratulatory handshake thereafter. (Heck, Probst doesn't hector the competitors during the challenges at all, there's no come on! dig in!) There's barely any strategy talk shown at camp between the immunity challenge and tribal council, and tribal council isn't the Probst-led interrogation it is today but more of a group therapy session. (Throughout the whole thing, Probst is much more Buddy than Boss.) There's less misdirection as to who's going home because there's barely any direction as to strategy in the first place, though there's frequent Probst voiceovers on the walk to tribal council (itself described as arduous) as to possible at-risk castaways. Indeed, the whole method by which the game's going to be decided isn't even introduced until the ninth episode, when Greg (the second post-merger elimination) is announced as the first member of the jury. It's that different. (Also, Rudy's less lovable the second time, and more of a crotchety dick.)
So here's my question: what season do I show Lucy next? I feel like Australia is good enough (Skupin, Colby, Jerri, beef jerky) to be worth watching, but after that I don't feel like every season is essential. Marquesas, maybe (Boston Rob, purple rock, peeing); Amazon, probably; but I think only Pearl Islands is a pre-All Stars one must-see, with Africa and Thailand being utterly skippable. Thoughts? I'll go tally the votes.
Is Greg as awesome as he is in my memory?
ReplyDeleteHe pretty clearly doesn't care about winning the money and is there for fun.
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask a similar question about Amazing Race- at the suggestion of one Stephen Thompson, my wife and I watched TAR Australia and loved it. We even enjoyed the heck out of TAR AU Season 2. We have been bored silly by the starts to seasons 1, 5, and 13 of the US version, and have quit a few episodes into each. Any recommendations?
ReplyDeleteHmm Season 1 is great, but it's hard to separate its greatness-for-being-new from the overall drama. (Actually, as I think it through: stick with it.) 5 happens to finish pretty swell; I'm surprised you find Charla and Mirna boring. Season 13 is not among hte best.
ReplyDeleteTAR3 is my favorite of all the seasons, with TAR2 right behind.
Is TAR3 the season with the broken Ox?
ReplyDeleteNo, that's TAR5. TAR3 has Heather and Eve, John Vito and Jill, Flo and Zach, Teri and Ian, and the twin models Derek and Drew.
ReplyDeleteIs Dr. Sean as dumb as he is in my memory?
ReplyDeletePossibly dumber.
ReplyDeleteIs Survivor: Battle of the Races too charged?
ReplyDeletePlenty of seasons to sort through before we get to that point, including the Palau/Guatemala double.
ReplyDeleteMeh, why go in order?
ReplyDeleteI thought about this. Other than the obvious "don't watch an all-star season until you've seen most of them in their first seasons," I think there's a ramping up of the strategic complexity which could get missed if I jump forward too quickly. You have to go from one-way Pagonging to competing alliances to folks trying to destabilizing and flip between them, and then the HII game.
ReplyDelete