Topic: New Season of Survivor

[addicted2dvd]

I really wasn't planning on watching Survivor this year. It has been a bit boring to me lately... think I am getting out of it. But then I see a commercial for it last night... and for one reason only I am now considering at least watching a week or so of it....

This season they have a classic sitcom star on the show. Facts of Life's Lisa Welchel (Blair)...

So I think I may check it out and see how she manages for a while.

[Kathy]

I've never seen an episode - and I never will.

[addicted2dvd]

I didn't start out watching it... but I did check out a season and ended up getting hooked on it for a while. But decided to drop it. Now with her being on there I think I need to check it out when the new season starts.

[MEJHarrison]

When I was in college, I had English class with Kim Fields (Tootie).  Of course I was already planning to watch the show.  I half space out these days, but the boys still enjoy it.

[addicted2dvd]

That is pretty cool about Kim fields. I never met anyone that was really famous.

[Jimmy]

I never met anyone that was really famous.

I've met many but I don't think you would know them anyway as they are French Canadian personalities (I was with at least one person who is now on TV when I was at the university)... but I've met two French Canadian Prime Ministers (Jacques Parizeau and Bernard Landry, they were both really friendly and it's good memory for me).

[addicted2dvd]

That is cool Jimmy! 

[Kathy]

My cousin Pam, who recently passed after a heroic 5 year battle against stage 4 ovarian cancer, was quite a character.

Not only was she a tall and gorgeous, she was loving, kind and an amazingly gifted artist.

I always picture her as a bohemian or a hippie from the 60s whose home was a place that artists flocked to be with one another.

I remember once she hand crafted gifts for the musical group Cheap Trick. They loved her work so much that they became friends.

I've met many famous people over the years but since they didn't become my friends their memories have faded over time.

They always just seemed to me to be just regular people - nothing more special about them than anyone else.

[Blair]

Pertaining in part to this and so many)other shows, not enough credit is given to the hundreds of others that makes them possible through prep or behind the scenes. I've known a few people that did that sort of work, and if you heard everything that I have about so many of them, it would probably ruin the show for you.

In the case of Survivor, take everything that is "fake" out of the show (added for drama and realism) and all that you have are:

(click to show/hide)

a bunch of people sitting around camping until they are told to get up and do a few challenges (while most of the rest of the stuff you hear about but don't see except in bits and pieces are done off camera by hired personnel) then they can go back to bed for the rest of the day if they want. However, a man laying in bed all day is, of course, has no camera time and is likely to get kicked off first because they haven't established a presence with the other contestants.

If they "must" catch food, they have to try for the challenge. If they can't, an area is bated to guarantee that they do in one way or another. Before they go into a "dangerous" area, every inch of the path they are told to follow is scoped out to make sure there aren't any thorny vines they could get trapped in, hidden animals like snakes, hidden or holes they could step in and badly twist and ankle, but just in case there medics on hand and two or three people hidden away behind the camera or higher above with shotguns and sniper rifles ready to kill anything that gets within 50 yards.

The show isn't just a collection of contestants, and a few filming/production crew members. There are 10-20 other people there at all times with uncredited roles doing a lot of extra work.

... and that's just one show.


Coming up: Next week we will discuss Trading Spaces.   (An old friend wanted to go on that show until I was told by a relative about a major negative side that I never would have expected.)

[MEJHarrison]

They always just seemed to me to be just regular people - nothing more special about them than anyone else.

Very, very true Kathy.  The first week of English class was all "Oh... it's Tootie!!!".  After that first week she was nothing more than an annoying student.  Sweet as pie, but she knew the answer to everything and her hand was always the first up.  It got tiring after a while.  I also had her step-brother Jomo in a bunch of my computer science classes, but he disappeared after a year or two.  Not sure if he dropped out, transferred or flunked out (a distinct possibility).  He and his sister certainly didn't share the smart parent! 

I also lived next door to Montel Jordan in the dorms my sophomore or junior year. But that was prior to This Is How We Do It and his moderate fame.  Then he became a record producer.  Now he's the worship leader at Victory World Church in GA.  Another great guy except that he got too excited playing video games one night and broke my bed.

I think that's my two big celebrity stories.

On a related note, in a few weeks I'm taking a road trip to New Mexico and will get to stop by Pepperdine for the first time in probably 20 years!  I'm very excited.

And back on topic, I'm quite sure that most of Survivor is very contrived.  I don't mean cheating.  Just that I think that all the drama and whatnot is setup either directly or indirectly (by picking people who will most certainly clash or make good TV).  I also realize that each week, we see 42 minutes out of their 72 hours.  Still, it's entertaining.  I love seeing random strangers thrown together and forced to lived and cooperate.  From a psychological point of view, I find it fascinating.

[Dragonfire]

I started to watch Survivor when it was first on.  I didn't make it through one episode and I haven't watched it since.