TV: Survivor: General Discussion

[hoglund]

Is there going to be a new Survivor this year?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Is there going to be a new Survivor this year?

Yes, there is a fall season. They are suppose to begin filming in the next couple months.

 

[izzy]

What would be preferable for the next all-star season?

Rivals (Dominic-Chris, Sugar-Randy etc)
or
Duos (Denise-Malcolm, Dom-Wendell)

 

[Prairie Habs]

What would be preferable for the next all-star season?

Rivals (Dominic-Chris, Sugar-Randy etc)
or
Duos (Denise-Malcolm, Dom-Wendell)

One idea I've seen that would be fun is zero vote finalists vs players eliminated right before final tribal (so 3rd or 4th place depending on if its a final 2 or 3). I won't list any names because it sounds like there are some unspoiled folk in the thread, but both categories have a good mix of players.

 

[izzy]

One idea I've seen that would be fun is zero vote finalists vs players eliminated right before final tribal (so 3rd or 4th place depending on if its a final 2 or 3). I won't list any names because it sounds like there are some unspoiled folk in the thread, but both categories have a good mix of players.

Also a good idea

I think they should do a few themed all-star seasons down the stretch (under the assumption the show may sadly end at 50)

I’d like a way to get a bunch of the medevacs back but there arent enough women (I think only 1 somehow??)

 

[JabbaJabba]

I would like a season with runner-ups. People who finished 2nd or 3rd. That season would definitely have to have...

Spoiler

Russell and Amanda, two time runner ups.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

One idea I've seen that would be fun is zero vote finalists vs players eliminated right before final tribal (so 3rd or 4th place depending on if its a final 2 or 3). I won't list any names because it sounds like there are some unspoiled folk in the thread, but both categories have a good mix of players.

You’re the real MVP for this lol

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I’m about halfway through Fans vs. Favorites right now. It’s pretty awesome! It’s a shame I only know handful of the favorites though. :/

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Just finished Survivor 35: Kaoh Rong last night for the first time.

Very very good season! Great gameplay, memorable and mostly enjoyable cast (shoutout to Debbie and Tai), but with a few villains to speak of as well. I thought it was a high level of gameplay from a lot of the players with interesting power shifts throughout. The brutality of the game was on full display early on in day 9 when multiple contestants suffered severe heat exhaustion, even resulting in a med-evac. 3 Med-evacs over the course of the season.


Something that my wife and I discuss often is how the longer seasons of Survivor do so much more for the social game. They give players time to forge deeper connections which results in stronger bonds, deeper rivalries, and sneakier gameplay. The contestants obviously still share deep connections in modern seasons, but it's no where near the level it used to be on both ends of the spectrum. The limited number of twists also makes them much more meaningful and straightforward. I'm often caught noticing how much awesome action happens in the game after the 26 day mark, which is the current length of the seasons.


The only problem I had with this season was the winner...

Spoiler: Survivor Kaoh Rong winner

Very very disappointed in Michelle winning. I liked Tai a lot, but didn't think he'd had much of a shot toward the end. Aubry played incredibly well and had a mostly strong game throughout and deserved the win.

.

All in all, great season though, but watching it so soon after the most recent modern season really contrasts the decreased quality of the game and production quality.

 

[Apex Predator]

Just finished Survivor 35: Kaoh Rong last night for the first time.

Very very good season! Great gameplay, memorable and mostly enjoyable cast (shoutout to Debbie and Tai), but with a few villains to speak of as well. I thought it was a high level of gameplay from a lot of the players with interesting power shifts throughout. The brutality of the game was on full display early on in day 9 when multiple contestants suffered severe heat exhaustion, even resulting in a med-evac. 3 Med-evacs over the course of the season.


Something that my wife and I discuss often is how the longer seasons of Survivor do so much more for the social game. They give players time to forge deeper connections which results in stronger bonds, deeper rivalries, and sneakier gameplay. The contestants obviously still share deep connections in modern seasons, but it's no where near the level it used to be on both ends of the spectrum. The limited number of twists also makes them much more meaningful and straightforward. I'm often caught noticing how much awesome action happens in the game after the 26 day mark, which is the current length of the seasons.


The only problem I had with this season was the winner...

Spoiler: Survivor Kaoh Rong winner

Very very disappointed in Michelle winning. I liked Tai a lot, but didn't think he'd had much of a shot toward the end. Aubry played incredibly well and had a mostly strong game throughout and deserved the win.

.

All in all, great season though, but watching it so soon after the most recent modern season really contrasts the decreased quality of the game and production quality.

Winner of that season has been very debated for a while.

 

[zombie kopitar]

Winner of that season has been very debated for a while.

yup the bullies (Scott and Jason are their names right?) apparently canvases pretty hard for Michelle cause they were salty. Too bad, but both Aubry and Michelle have great returnee seasons and showed they are both good players

 

[Rodgerwilco]

yup the bullies (Scott and Jason are their names right?) apparently canvases pretty hard for Michelle cause they were salty. Too bad, but both Aubry and Michelle have great returnee seasons and showed they are both good players

Makes sense to me, I figured those two would be very mad about the big Scot blindside. Jaison is a very persuasive person. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if he was able to pull that off.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Just finished Season 33: Millennials vs. Gen X. Really really great season!! A lot of eye-roll inducing clichés about the generations, but it was palatable.

They sure don't make Survivor like this anymore. Strong and aggressive gameplay out of the gate, nearly everyone was playing a strong game. Mostly like-able cast with great personality arcs all around between David, Hannah, Adam, and even Jay. Nearly everyone was strong in challenges, especially after the first few "trim the fat" moments.

Lot of epic moments with idol play, fake idols, a legacy advantage, and live tribal councils. The one thing I like about these older seasons I've been watching is that there are not over-the-top twists. While I do enjoy some of the modern twists, they're going way too far with it and I generally prefer the simplicity of older twists, it makes them more meaningful when there's not a thousand of them.


I was actually really happy with the winner, which seems pretty uncommon for the past few seasons I've watched. I think there were really 3 people that deserved to win the season.

Edit to add: The story of Adam's mother might be the most heart-wrenching story in Survivor history.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Finished another season last night... Survivor: Philippines (Season 25).

Another great season, really liked this one a lot. The opening twist was that there were 3 med-evac'd players returning in Michael Skupin, Russell Swan, and Jonathan Penner. I really like Penner a lot, so enjoyed seeing him. Skupin played surprisingly well and I was totally shocked how far he was able to make it this time, despite people targeting him most of the game.

Very minimal "twists" which actually creates much better gameplay. The game is so much more serious without a thousand stupid gimmicks to keep track of. Mostly like-able cast with a perfect amount of villains thrown in with Abi-Marie, Peter, and Artis.

Really couldn't stand Abi and I don't understand how she made it so far. Maybe the least aware and like-able Survivor player ever. It was kind of annoying how they kept trying to spin her grating personality as a "culture difference". I wasn't aware being a passive aggressive brat was a "culture" lol.

I was very content with the winner of this season, as well.

Spoiler: S25 Winner

As much as I wanted Malcolm to win, I was totally cool with Denise winning it. She played a nearly flawless game, weathered the storm early on when her tribe lost every single challenge. Denise is the only player that I can think of who attended every single tribal council of her season. She competed hard in challenges and camp and really didn't piss anyone off, despite being at the helm of mostly all the votes.

All in all, great season!

 

[Rodgerwilco]

@These Are The Days Welcome to the general dead thread lol

 

[These Are The Days]

Finished another season last night... Survivor: Philippines (Season 25).

Another great season, really liked this one a lot. The opening twist was that there were 3 med-evac'd players returning in Michael Skupin, Russell Swan, and Jonathan Penner. I really like Penner a lot, so enjoyed seeing him. Skupin played surprisingly well and I was totally shocked how far he was able to make it this time, despite people targeting him most of the game.

Very minimal "twists" which actually creates much better gameplay. The game is so much more serious without a thousand stupid gimmicks to keep track of. Mostly like-able cast with a perfect amount of villains thrown in with Abi-Marie, Peter, and Artis.

Really couldn't stand Abi and I don't understand how she made it so far. Maybe the least aware and like-able Survivor player ever. It was kind of annoying how they kept trying to spin her grating personality as a "culture difference". I wasn't aware being a passive aggressive brat was a "culture" lol.

I was very content with the winner of this season, as well.

Spoiler: S25 Winner

As much as I wanted Malcolm to win, I was totally cool with Denise winning it. She played a nearly flawless game, weathered the storm early on when her tribe lost every single challenge. Denise is the only player that I can think of who attended every single tribal council of her season. She competed hard in challenges and camp and really didn't piss anyone off, despite being at the helm of mostly all the votes.

All in all, great season!

One of THE best seasons in the history of the show and one of the better winners ever. Survivor Phillipines is a shining light to the world in an era of darkness and mediocre as f*** seasons.


Re watching Guatemala. I am convinced New Era wants to kill these people the same way they did in Guatemala but using Jeff's Fiji bungalo every year makes it impossible. So they just take the flint and don't feed them. This is Survivor Africa and Outback levels of "Holy shit I hope they don't die"

 

[Peasy]

One of THE best seasons in the history of the show and one of the better winners ever. Survivor Phillipines is a shining light to the world in an era of darkness and mediocre as f*** seasons.


Re watching Guatemala. I am convinced New Era wants to kill these people the same way they did in Guatemala but using Jeff's Fiji bungalo every year makes it impossible. So they just take the flint and don't feed them. This is Survivor Africa and Outback levels of "Holy shit I hope they don't die"

Depriving the contestants of any form of substance (even just a bit of rice a day) does way more harm to their TV product than it does any positives from a viewing perspective. Im not sure why Jeff is so hell bent on making it so "hard". Most fans dont give a f*** if they get a bit of rice or not.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I've watched multiple seasons so far since Philippines.

Edge of Extinction (38):
Garbage season, so full of memes. Dogwater players with dogwater strategies, except for one player....

I absolutely love Rick Devens. If he never returns to play it'll be a disservice to the game. He dominated the game and was a great overall player. It seemed like the was the only one who was truly playing the game after the merge. He was the quintessential survivor player. He found idol after idol, he did great things to secure his place in teh game. On the outs the entire game but they could never get him out for so long. I knew it couldn't last to the end, but goddamn he was incredible. One of my favorites ever.

Island of the Idols (39):
Goddamn, could a season get any more woke than this? I am the last person ever to complain about "wokeness", but my god. Every episode seemed like it was a lecture on race, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever else. Dan is definitely a Hollyweird creep and I can't believe it took so long fo rthem to take care of them. Even by season 39, I thought CBS and Jeff were aware enough of societal issues to not let a weirdo like Dan continue after what he did. Glad they finally took care of him, but it was way too late and spoiled what could have been solid gameplay in the end-game.

Dean got robbed, and I imagine that the main reason is that he got way too cocky in the final 3. Noura was an absolute loose cannon and I can't believe they allowed her to go so far. I guess she's the typical goat in terms of someone you wanna drag along so they won't get any votes, but she blew up so many peoples' games.

 

[These Are The Days]

I've watched multiple seasons so far since Philippines.

Edge of Extinction (38):
Garbage season, so full of memes. Dogwater players with dogwater strategies, except for one player....

I absolutely love Rick Devens. If he never returns to play it'll be a disservice to the game. He dominated the game and was a great overall player. It seemed like the was the only one who was truly playing the game after the merge. He was the quintessential survivor player. He found idol after idol, he did great things to secure his place in teh game. On the outs the entire game but they could never get him out for so long. I knew it couldn't last to the end, but goddamn he was incredible. One of my favorites ever.

Island of the Idols (39):
Goddamn, could a season get any more woke than this? I am the last person ever to complain about "wokeness", but my god. Every episode seemed like it was a lecture on race, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever else. Dan is definitely a Hollyweird creep and I can't believe it took so long fo rthem to take care of them. Even by season 39, I thought CBS and Jeff were aware enough of societal issues to not let a weirdo like Dan continue after what he did. Glad they finally took care of him, but it was way too late and spoiled what could have been solid gameplay in the end-game.

Dean got robbed, and I imagine that the main reason is that he got way too cocky in the final 3. Noura was an absolute loose cannon and I can't believe they allowed her to go so far. I guess she's the typical goat in terms of someone you wanna drag along so they won't get any votes, but she blew up so many peoples' games.

Rick Devins is by far my closest comparable as a human being that you will see on Survivor. If I ever got on, that's what you're getting. I will probably take it upon myself to narrate my experience ala Bernie Mac show with stuff like "America! They're coming after your boy. I need your support now more than ever" and if I didn't get voted off "America. I got more lives than a cat"

I am literally not kidding




Would also dress in all black for Tribal because I look at it as a funeral and would leave some kind of flower (if I could find one) by the fire after the vote off

 

[shakes the clown]

Rick Devins is by far my closest comparable as a human being that you will see on Survivor. If I ever got on, that's what you're getting. I will probably take it upon myself to narrate my experience ala Bernie Mac show with stuff like "America! They're coming after your boy. I need your support now more than ever" and if I didn't get voted off "America. I got more lives than a cat"

I am literally not kidding




Would also dress in all black for Tribal because I look at it as a funeral and would leave some kind of flower (if I could find one) by the fire after the vote off

Agree 100%. Love it when the contestants break the 4th wall and narrate or maybe even eye roll to the audience at home.

It's one thing I'm mad about when I did my show. I never broke that wall and treated the camera crew like they weren't there to try and make it more realistic. If I could go back in time I would 100% be talking to the camera. I had lots of dramatic shots where I'm standing by the boat rail gazing into the distance deep in thought. Would love to replace those with snarky comments to the camera instead.

Oh well, live and learn.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Posted it in the Season 46 thread, but I'll put this here too.

Met Venus tonight at a viewing party in Pittsburgh! I thought for sure she was getting voted out out, at one point she was looking really upset, shaking her head and all that when they were discussing who to vote.

She was pretty friendly, but getting pretty drunk by the time we met them.

Also met Wendell and Yam Yam. Both super nice. Wendell took a pic with me and texted it to Johnny FairPlay . I was wearing one of FairPlay’s merch shirts lol.

 

[Peasy]

Posted it in the Season 46 thread, but I'll put this here too.

Met Venus tonight at a viewing party in Pittsburgh! I thought for sure she was getting voted out out, at one point she was looking really upset, shaking her head and all that when they were discussing who to vote.

She was pretty friendly, but getting pretty drunk by the time we met them.

Also met Wendell and Yam Yam. Both super nice. Wendell took a pic with me and texted it to Johnny FairPlay . I was wearing one of FairPlay’s merch shirts lol.

Wendell moving onto Venus next ?

I kid.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Wendell moving onto Venus next ?

I kid.

Nothings out of the question with that guy lol.

 

[cheechoo]

Friend and I are going through random seasons.

Just finished Cook Islands, which was so so good.

Spoiler

I really loved Ozzy. He was such a monster on challenges. Yul was a good winner and it made sense to me after the vote why. I think the idol was way too overpowered in that season. The fact that you could hold it in your pocket and not use it until post-vote made him essentially untouchable. He also had NPCs like Becky and Sundra in his pocket.
On the flip side Candice/Jonathan/Parvati/Adam were hilarious in their own ways. They weren't the strongest players but added interesting dynamics to the show.

On the flip side Candice/Jonathan/Parvati/Adam were hilarious in their own ways. They weren't the strongest players but added interesting dynamics to the show.
8/10

Started watching Fiji (14) right after. Shambolic. I don't think I've ever watched a season before and disliked every single participant. Torturous trying to trek through these episodes.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Friend and I are going through random seasons.

Just finished Cook Islands, which was so so good.

Spoiler

I really loved Ozzy. He was such a monster on challenges. Yul was a good winner and it made sense to me after the vote why. I think the idol was way too overpowered in that season. The fact that you could hold it in your pocket and not use it until post-vote made him essentially untouchable. He also had NPCs like Becky and Sundra in his pocket.
On the flip side Candice/Jonathan/Parvati/Adam were hilarious in their own ways. They weren't the strongest players but added interesting dynamics to the show.

On the flip side Candice/Jonathan/Parvati/Adam were hilarious in their own ways. They weren't the strongest players but added interesting dynamics to the show.
8/10

Started watching Fiji (14) right after. Shambolic. I don't think I've ever watched a season before and disliked every single participant. Torturous trying to trek through these episodes.

"Candice...? From Raro Tribe????" one of my favorite Probst moments of all time lol. Billy was a casting director's dream, surely they knew this dude was a loon and made for some great TV.

I love all of the players you listed from Cook Islands