Archive through October 28, 2001

The ClubHouse: Archives: -- GENERAL ARCHIVES --: November: Of ratings and likeability: Archive through October 28, 2001

Crazydog

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 03:24 pm Click here to edit this post
There's been a lot of ballyhoo in articles etc. about the fact that Survivor 3 is failing because its ratings are down and that it's getting beaten by Friends. I must say that I am not at all surprised. I think the ratings are down because 1) the terrorist attack and those who rant that reality tv has no more meaning, 2) the resurgent Friends (you have to admit it is much better this year, last year sucked), 3) the lack of novelty of Survivor, and in my opinion the most important 4) this year's version is BORING and the people are so UNLIKEABLE.

On Survivor 1, there were people I felt so passionate about winning and losing. I hated Richard and wanted to see him lose. I loved Colleen and wanted to see her win. On 2, I felt strongly negatively towards the "bizatch in the blue bikini" and so wanted Elisabeth or Colby to win. This was all by the third episode. Now.....on Survivor 3, at the same point in time, I just feel....eh, who cares. There's no gripping personality that I hate. Sure I don't like Frank or Linda and could do without Clarence, but there's no passion like before. Sure, it'd be cool to see Lex or Silas win, but ya know, I don't feel so strongly this time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a survivor fan and will still watch. But the people are boring, the landscape is boring, even the challenges are boring. The blood thing - big deal, I'd rather see them eat squirming bugs. Or like on Fear Factor, lay in squirming bugs.

Anyone else feel the same or disagree?

Kep421

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 04:17 pm Click here to edit this post
I agree Crazy. I don't think Friends has anything to do with it. I'm a huge Friends fan, but I am watching Survivor (and taping Friends).

I think the lack of location, likeable people and novelty has a lot to do with it, but I think ratings are down mostly because another reality show has shown us what a really good, fully thought out production is really like. While the premises of the games are different, Survivor pales in comparison to AR when it comes to entertainment value.

While surviving in an environment that is alien to the tribemembers is entertaining, I think Survivor stacked the cards against the tribes too much this time. The heat and lack of adequate water is going too far, IMO. I don't think the production of this show was thoroughly thought out.

Mahrajah

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 04:24 pm Click here to edit this post
im not even watchin this s**t

Goatgirl

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 04:56 pm Click here to edit this post
Last night some of the same thoughts had occurred to me when all of a sudden I realized that it was Thursday and, oh yeah that reminds me Survivor is on tonight. For the prior two every time an episode was over I was like, is it next week yet so I can watch Survivor again? Not so this year. I am still semi-hooked but definitely less so.

Watching one of last night's challenges it came to a point where I almost laughed out loud, not at anything funny anyone was doing or saying, but just the challenge itself - rolling those giant boulders around, I mean what is up with that? So pointless and so not entertaining.

Twiggyish

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 05:49 pm Click here to edit this post
I'm having fun discussing it with other people in the Survivor Deadpool game. I agree it is not as interesting at times, but there are still strategies and alliances within the game.

Hippyt

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 06:20 pm Click here to edit this post
Well,I've been trying to deny it,but after last nights show,I finally turned to my husband and said,"It's not as good this season."
The location stinks,it's boring. And I only like maybe two of all the contestants. I can't stand anyone on Samburu at all!
I tape it to watch later,and usually I'm glued to my seat,last night,I kept getting up and walking off.
Oh,well. Maybe Mark Burnett will get off his smug butt and pay a bit more attention for the next installment. He needed to be knocked off his self-made throne!

Gail

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 06:26 pm Click here to edit this post
I have a "Survivor Buddy" - a friend I see once or twice a month and we talk about survivor - we did this a lot during S2. I saw him today and he said he did not like anyone on the Samburu tribe either. He said he just wasn't into it.

One thing I pointed out to someone else today is that (for me at least) I did not get into Survivor 2 until Jerri pulled that crap with the beef jerky and Kel. Then I was watching to see if she would get voted off. By the times she got voted off, I was pretty well hooked and like everyone.

Cigartop

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 06:46 pm Click here to edit this post
I don't know if they changed casting directors or what ... but I really don't give a damn about ANY of this season's survivors ... and I truly HATE the mallrats!

Lilliegirl

Friday, October 26, 2001 - 07:04 pm Click here to edit this post
Cigartop you got that right, all they do is whine and cry like babies, how did they ever get on the show, Mark must have picked these people in his sleep. I was not excited about seeing the show Thursday night like I did last year.

Fruitbat

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 05:49 am Click here to edit this post
Survivor One was terrific. It was brand new, exciting and the idea of living on a tropical island in a hut on the beach, intriguing. The luxury rewards of food were senuous and pure joy to watch. They were clean from swimming, and hardship was mixed with fun. It was entertaining. I could go on, but we all know the rest.

On trying to improve on this, already winning, formula they have failed.

Survivor II....Lack of food and building a third camp drained the energy and we watched depravation, depression and lethargy.

-Doritos and Mountain Dew that they could not even enjoy due to the subsequent digestive failure was dissapointing and paled in comparison to Sean and Jenna's lobster dinner, complete with wine, linen and beds for the night.

Survivor III came too soon. One a year is plenty to maintain interest.
-The water situation is grim and it is difficult to watch someone suffer the pain of dehydration.
-What can their rewards possibly be? A saline IV? A stomach tube? A visit from a doctor to rid parasite infestation? Oh goody.

Kep421

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 06:10 am Click here to edit this post
LOL Fruitbat!!!!

Mahrajah

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 07:29 am Click here to edit this post
as my friend highlander would say... maha u stupid <beeeeeep> its all about the ratings.. lol

Sandyc

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 09:54 am Click here to edit this post
I find I'm more interested in Survivor after this week's show than I was before. It takes time to get to know the people and start to care about them. Right now I have no favorite person, but a favorite team - Boran.
It will be interesting to see how they resolve the generation gap in Samburu and also interesting to see if Boran can survive. They are definately the weaker team but at least they work together and seem to like each other.
The generation gap at Samburu is caused as much by the adults. They could have asked and taught the others to pitch in and help. Instead they right away just gave up on them. Not that the younger ones are nice people or anything.
I thought Jeff's questioning of them was right on.
The lies the young ones told... stupid.
I was glad to see Carl go. He was an arrogant opionated sob. Didn't like him right from the first shots of him.
JMHO.

Blonde

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 10:53 am Click here to edit this post
I'm not that much into the personalities yet, either, although I remember feeling that way early on in S2, also. I think maybe you compare it to your old favorites and expect to feel the same way too early in the game.

I am interested in the group dynamics on the teams, the generation gap in Samburu, and Boran coming from behind after losing so many challenges at the beginning.

I also thought the first two episodes were pretty dramatic with the wagon race where people could barely move by the end (just brutal) and the blood shots at the Survivor bar (quirky mix of African and American cultures and over the top on the gross out factor). The giant balls weren't as good, except for cheering for underdog Boran. And Ethan, who is my favorite. (So I do have one already.)

Give it time, I think it will grow on you again.

Oregonfire

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 11:43 am Click here to edit this post
I like the professional soccer player--he's cute. But he kept on falling down all the time while hauling that oxcart in the first challenge...I thought to myself "how does he keep his day job?"

Blonde

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 12:13 pm Click here to edit this post
Hi Oregon, That's Ethan! My daughter, daughter-in-law, and I are all cheering for him! He does fall down a lot, doesn't he though? I guess they do that a lot in soccer maybe, run around, fall and get back up? Anyway, I was even on my cell phone calling home from my hotel room to cheer with my girls during the giant ball race! Go Ethan!

Lancecrossfire

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 12:29 pm Click here to edit this post
All great perspectives by everyone. Although I think Bat gave them too much credit for bringing in a doctor for an RC. They won't be getting a doctor till it's over!

I'll throw in my thoughts into the pot here. I've heard comments that the scenery is boring, and I have to agree. Although for e, it's been that way for all of them. S1--water and sand. S2--water and shrubs. S3--ground and animals. OK, the animals are cool. Other places exciting?? Where it's cold--you get to rock at snow. In the mountains??--you look at rocks. Anyone can believe any setting is boring--grass, rocks, sand, water. Take your pick. You can choose to see beauty or boredom in any of those.

On food--S1 had rice and the potential for fish and gathering starchy roots. S2 had rice and the potential for fish. Yet, in S2, they ran out of rice because they screwed up the portions. I blame that on the players, not the production staff. Everyone can give Mike a bad time about being a crazy guy, although all in his tribe sure liked the pig! (except Kimmi, and she stuck to her guns) S3--they can't really get anything extra. This is a big flaw, IMHO. It puts the issue of food squarely upon the production staff, and takes it away as part of the game. No one can gain or lose by being able (or not) to gather food for the group.

Water--for me, this was one of the complaints I had about S1. If you think about the issue of survival, let's face it folks--if you have a tap of running water, you aren't really in a survival mode. You get stranded or lost, and you come upon a water tap???? Get real! It doesn't work that way, so if you really want a bit of reality with the concept of survival, then water (and food) need to be hard to obtain. Yet obtainable for the game's sake. So, you can't have it both ways folks. S3 provides for the closest to how it would be if it really was a survival situation. Did someone say reality TV?? (although that phrase is a topic for a new thread)

Personalities. I think all 3 have provided for people to "hate" or "love". For me, I prefer to call if root for or against strongly. For me, S1 provided for someone to root against strongly. I didn't have any favorites really. I gained a lot of respect for Kelly as she continued to win challenges at the end, thwarting Hatch's plans. In the end, she picked Richard over Rudy figuring she had a better chance against Richard. Of course by doing that she gave Richard at least second place money. We all know how well it worked for her.

Or Colby picking Tina because for him it was more important to go up against the strongest competition so that if you won, it was because you were the very best, and not because you beat someone that you know wasn't well liked by everyone.

S2--lots of folks to be passionate about. Jerri, Colby, Roger, Elizabeth, maybe a couple others garnered passion one way or the others. S3--I think there are plenty to gain passion about either in a positive or negative way. Frank and his drill sergeant approach. Clarence and his extra cherry and beans. Brandon for giving extra portions to his friends. The young 4 for not working and burning the extra food so the old 4 couldn't have any.

I'd like to note that there seems to be a pattern for the people they pick. It seems like you could put someone from any show in place for someone in another show. Could just be my thinking though.

The harsh reality of it all. S1-3 are nothing compared to Ecochallenge for what a person goes through. The difference?? People on Ecochallenge all know what it's about, and that is all they focus on. One one dumps water of food. No one spends time just playing and making necklaces. No one spends most of their time sitting in a creek bed drooling over Colby and whining about everything else. No one holds it against someone for working hard in their life and having something to show for it.

The dynamics of the tribes. This to me is what makes the show for most folks. The trials, tribulations, the folding or growing stronger together, the bonding or breaking apart. The choices the members make to get to any one of them. The passion to do your best, or the desire to set back and play while others do the work. The approach to only work, only play, or try for a little of both. The approach that it's just a game, or the approach that it's a game and an experience to enrich your life.

I think S3 would be a great game if they could get food on their own. It's tough out there--people are getting sick. Now it's them against Burnett for food, not them against nature. I'd like to see them mix up challenges a little bit. Have very tough RC provide for the best rewards. Have some RC's that are easy, although proved for only a minor reward. That way people are dropping like flies, and by using their brains can devise strategies to conserve energy for the times they really want to use it. Smart thinking helped Colby go for a power bar and a sports drink in S2, while others put their money into something that would give them the runs for a day or two. It should also be about smart choices.

Well, enough for me. Great thread Crazydog.

Llkoolaid

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 03:24 pm Click here to edit this post
I like this show as much as the others, I really wasn't that interested in the scenery, it doesn't play into the game. The people on S3 are just like lancecrossfire said, you could substitute a double from either of the other two survivor shows. I wonder what the formula is:

1 one old babe with a great body
2 1 military type
3.4 bimbo's with"I wish they had a mall here mentality"
4. 1 sugar sweet polly pure bred
5. an older guy
6. 3 pieces of eyecandy for the female and gay viewers
7. 2 token gays
8. 2 token minorities
9. A mouse
10. a Jerry type girl that rhymes with itch
11. a boring guy

I love it all the same, and I can't wait to see Generation x blow themselves up.

Does anyone see Lindsay and Kim as another Jerry and Amber or is it just me?

Llkoolaid

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 03:31 pm Click here to edit this post
I should clarify when I say the scenery doesn't play into the game I mean whether I like it or not has nothing to do with the game.

Lancecrossfire

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 04:12 pm Click here to edit this post
Kool, which is your boring guy for S2 and S3?? LOL

I think that Tom, Rudy and Roger are the old guys, although Rudy and Tom are probably more alike. Roger was just a regular guy who was decent and worked hard. Rudy and Tom have big time edges to them. Although remembering back to Rudy, no one really called him on his anti-gay comments, or his sexist comments. He seemed to get away with it because he was "just that way". I remember for waiting for a thread on Rudy that went after him. It never showed. We've already had some be fairly bothered with Tom for his comments.

The one quality that is new to S3 is Linda, who relates everything to the spirits of the land. While others there may think she's weird for it, this approach for her will keep her centered as the game goes along. I don't think you will see her panic, get too sick, make weird choices about just living each day.

I think the issue of minorities is less token and more of distribution, if you were to ask the producers. Although so far we've only had one Latino out of 3 shows, no Asians, and no Native Americans.

The eye candy issue--as long as we have TV as the medium, there will have to be eye candy, IMHO.

The one thing people haven't learned yet is that going on the show with extra pounds is more healthy than going on with nothing left to lose. I think we saw that on S1 (Richard faired very well physically) and Keith on S2. A few on S2 that started out skinny looked pretty malnourished at the end. With how tough S3 is so far, I hope that the skinny folks don't get in too much duress.

Hippyt

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 05:48 pm Click here to edit this post
TWO token gays? Who am I missing?

Llkoolaid

Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 07:22 pm Click here to edit this post
My list was just sarcasim, nothing serious, two token gays, Richard and Sonja, Brandon and ?

Was anyone gay one 2, I am not sure about Jeff.

The boring guy on II was that musican guy.

I agree with you Lancecrossfire that Linda is going to stay strong as long as the young bums don't boot her off. I am not going to call them Generation X anymore because I think they are a very poor represtation of that age group as a whole, I know many kids that age who are nothing like that. Linda is too natural for this artifical bunch of whiney brats.

Anyway my point is my list was a lame attempt at humor, nothing more, although it is very easy to see the same types of personalities appearing on each show, I bet if we took each one from the first show we could find someone in 2 and 3 that would be close matches.

I love survivor but I would love to see it come to a colder climate, and the idea that they have to obtain their own food would be great, on survivor one, Sue's hunting for Tapioca and Richards fishing especially were important factors in the outcome of the game and who was the ultimate survivor. I'd like to see them somewhere that with knowledge of the general area and the plants there, with some work they could supplement their diets.

Fruitbat

Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 07:04 am Click here to edit this post
I am not sure about Linda making it far. Her spiritual spouting is laced with judgement. I think she and Frank share an agenda. That being.... there is a particular way things "should" be. That approach does not usually serve one well. I am willing to bet that she irritated everyone straight out of the gate and she will be first voted out by her own alliance when that situation arises if she is not gone by then.

Blonde

Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 08:03 am Click here to edit this post
I agree, Fruitbat, Linda's spirituality leaves something to be desired. She has been very judgemental towards the young people in her tribe instead of keeping the peace with them. I would expect a spiritual person to be more open minded, plus it might have been smarter not to openly burn her bridges with them. And then she complained about not getting a necklace! For all her "Mother Africa" talk, she could learn a thing or two from "Mother Tina" on S2.

Blonde

Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 08:28 am Click here to edit this post
One more thing about Samburu and the generation gap, as it pertains to likeability. Silas is now poised to be the negotiator between the two groups there, as he has the young folks following him and the older ones are smart enough to see that he is the power broker in that respect. Plus he is eye candy and appears to like to stir things up as far as playing the alliance game. He will also be far less abrasive in doing it than Jerri was in S2. A potent combination that will be interesting to watch.