Survivor: Cook Islands (1 Viewer)

[AnthonyC]

This is the first season since All Stars that Letterman's had any Survivors on IIRC (I was surprised when NY firefighter/Palau winner Tom didn't show up)...even though it's obvious he doesn't watch or care about the show, his interviews with them are usually fun to watch.

 

[Dheiner]

Whether he watches, or cares about, Survivor is open for debate. He and his writers play it for laughs, ya see. It is called comedy.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Yeah...but Dave, in his usual rebellious way was openly pissed at CBS executives for requiring his show to air the segments with the Survivor losers as they made their press rounds in NYC (usually same day as the Early Show).

It was that feeling of being "stuck" with the duty that caused him to get creative and not even allow the guest in the studio...so he had been doing via remote from Rupert Jee's Hello Deli. I found him to be generally disinterested about the entire Survivor connection and just tried to have fun with the guest in any way possible--leading to the dumb questions from Rupert Jee (any hanky-panky) and his assistant Stephanie (touching monkeys). I figured he had finally convinced the "suits" to leave him alone.

 

[Mike Frezon]

One of the things my wife and I are always surprised about is the lack of behind-the-scenes information available on Survivor. While I understand the desire to keep certain things under wraps and the contractual obligations of the participants...there are always ways around this sort of thing.

Anyway, fans of the show should get themselves a copy of this week's Entertainment Weekly. There is a nice story on the weeks leading up to the beginning of Cook Islands and it follows the fates of first "loser" Seiku. Not a LOT of inside information...but enough to make a fan like myself happy. The guy who wrote it (I think his name is Dalton Ross) also wrote a brief (kind of lame) piece last year for EW about spending a night alone on Exile Island. I think he's a big fan himself.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

That article also mentions that the cast was told about the racial divisions the day before the game started.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Much of it was interesting. For example, the info that each contestant gets an hour of time with a staff psychologist after they are voted off to help them deal with it and keep things in perspective.

The writer also spends a good deal of time on the period from when the contestants are told they are selected to up until the game begins.

 

[AnthonyC]

Tonight's episode was absolutely fantastic. One of the best ever, there wasn't a single slow moment.

 

[Mark Kalzer]

I agree entirely.

I had low hopes for this series, just because it seemed with 20 people on four tribes it was damn impossible to remember anyone of note. Now that were are in two seperate tribes with 8 person tribal councils everything is far more interesting. It's so much easier to get a feel for who everyone is when they are all involved in tribal council. I found those five person tribal councils at the beginning of the game just too dull for my tastes.

Brad (It was Brad who had the idol right) was lucky to get the vote his way, though I am sure he gave Becky the idol, there was no reason to just rest on that since her pulling it out signals to everyone the strength of their relationship.

I thought to myself though when he first told her he had the idol, that it may have been a bad decision to tell her, but when I think about it, perhaps the best tactic is to tell everyone you have the idol. Think about it, they won't bother voting for you since they know it'll be ineffective. You could perhaps deliberately vote just to get it out of his hands, but when that means you are giving him the power to pick who's torch goes out, and when you suspect you are the one he'll target, you'll be more willing to make game changing deals.

 

[Mike Frezon]

You see, Anthony? That's because they merged into two tribes. Easier to follow.




I agree. Great episode!

 

[Patrick Sun]

Not Brad, it was Yul.

 

[Tino]

Anyone who gives their idol away is an idiot and deserves to be voted off!

Hope it never happens.

Good episode.

 

[Matt^Brown]

Did I miss something? I thought they were two tribes of 9 not 8 which is still two more then they originally start the game. I think they should have waited at least another two weeks for the merge but I'm guessing it would have not been very PC for one or another tribe to lose very many of it's members. IMO a good idea that they threw away with an early merge just like they did last season.

 

[Andres Munoz]

I was expecting the 4 racial tribes to last longer than they did but I must admit that the dynamic of the show seems better now that there are only 2 tribes.

Let the strategies begin.

 

[Marianne]

I guess the original racial split was to get people to watch. Now that people are "hooked" they can revert to the regular format. I think that the two tribes are more racially balanced than any previous Survivor series.

 

[Andres Munoz]

That's rigth and I think for me, that's what makes this season a little more interesting.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

The press is already trying to make it sound like the producers were forced to do an early merge by the controversy. :frowning:

 

[MarkMel]

How is that possible? Isn't the show already in the can? We're not watching it live. I guess they could re-edit so the merge is earlier.

 

[MikeyWeitz]

I could not disagree more. Including the guy's name.

 

[Mark Kalzer]

So what you're saying is...Candace is voted off next? Is that why she went to Exile Island? !

 

[AnthonyC]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there were still a few people that got ignored.

I'd love to see them start a season off with two tribes of eight again, four men and four women--even though they aren't my four favorite seasons, I think that the first four are the strongest because they're entertaining but not too convuluted.