Jan Gentry
TV ClubHouse: Archives: Jan Gentry
Fruitbat | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 05:22 am     No pole? Did I hear Car say there may be no pole? <<happy dance>> I definately have been a little bored this year, largely due to the lack of discussion it has generated. I have always ejoyed the boards speculations more that the show. This board is very diverse so other topics have taken the lead. Sucks is focused on the TV shows and get into it more, even this year with not all that much action. I am expecting the next one to be better. MB has to see his lack of twists reverted to pagonging, something he bent over backwards to sucessfully avoid on Marquesas. |
Essence | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 05:26 am     Car you're not the only one. I like this season just as much as any other. Sure it's a little predictable, and has been a bit boring at times, but that's been the case for all of them to some extent, except the first season. Each season (even Africa) has brought me some sort of amusement and satisfaction, and I am on pins and needles for the finale of this one. While it's true I'm not a fan of anyone left, it wouldn't bother me if any of them won...even Clay/Helen who I have serious issues with. |
Webkitty | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 06:07 am     Well, I thought I was the only one who has not been bored or disapointed. I still love Survivor and don't want to see major changes. I like new twists and turns if they keep within the framework of the original concept. One thing I didn't like was the non-merge this season, even more than the purple rock. And, I don't like the idea of two tribes competing agaist each other but living as one. I know many do, but it just grates with me for some reason. Other than that, I'm still happy with the show and will be sad when the franchise is done. ABout tvch and Survivor. Tvch was orginally started as a Big Brother fan club (BBFC) and its the place to be during the season, if BB is your passion. During the "off" season, Survivor is just one of many other topics discussed, and it doesn't dominate the board like BB does. (not complaining, just an observation) This is still my "home" but during Survivor I feel the need to lurk at Suvivor intensive sites. Speaking of which, I would like to give kudos to Hermione for jumping in this season and bringing fresh new enthusiasim. Good job Herm! (even though we don't agree on our opinions of the players)  |
Car54 | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 08:15 am     Bat, I firmly believe there will be some endurance based challenge equivalent to the pole...it is MB's way of bringing someone who may not have the physical strength into the F3. It just may not be vertical this time. |
Tabbyking | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 08:57 am     i think there is so much more to post with BB than with the other games because of the 24/7 live cams. however, a lot of the time, it is boring watching! i like amazing race and survivor more than i do BB, but i think this year's BB choice of houseguests did that for me. i do wish we got survivor twice a week. i know each week we have to wait is only 3 days in reality, but i would like to see more of what goes on during those 3 days than have it all whittled down to 44 minutes. i am still amazed at how long teresa and clarence were able to keep their arms up during the bucket of water challenge. it was hours! my arms used to go numb putting rollers in my hair! i think that challenge was tougher than hanging onto a pole. i know that jeff has said on interviews that all challenges, date of merge, etc., are worked out way in advance of the game actually starting and nothing is changed along the way. for example, if a challenge at this time involved swimming 2 miles or something, it would seem to favor helen, but would have really been planned last year...before they even had a helen who teaches navy swimming apply. i am looking for something similar to the pole again, too. i thought the balancing on a pole was harder than keeping your hand on a pole. (especially for lex, who had been sick all night)... this year will probably be hanging from a pole or something! one of those things that will last minutes as opposed to hours! |
Lyn | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 10:25 am     I haven't been bored at all this year, but I do wish they wouldn't edit quite so tightly |
Hermione69 | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 11:43 am     Awww, Webkitty, you are so sweet! I am having an awful day at work and you brought a smile to my face! THANK YOU! |
Fruitbat | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 11:57 am     Car said >>>It just may not be vertical this time. <<< Cool, we can watch them nap, shit I could win the pole challenge this way. I would like a drink with an umbrella in it too.  |
Webkitty | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 12:09 pm     Herm, you are welcome Also, I don't want to see no stinkn' pole this time! Vertical or otherwise, booorrring! The purple ROCK was more exciting. |
Hermione69 | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 12:13 pm     The pole is getting old. It is definitely not exciting. I do enjoy the Fallen Comrades, though. It's interesting to see who knows what about whom. |
Grooch | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 12:16 pm     I like the pole.  |
Tabbyking | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 12:21 pm     maybe they'll have to pole vault! and see who can stay in the air for the longest time! lol you're right, if they took a poll, the pole would definitely be out. i don't recall that much personal info being shared--at least not from what we saw. it seems as if on the africa one, for example, we knew about tom's kid, teresa's kids, what lex did for a living (he spent all his days in a tattoo parlor, right?!) and all kinds of things. what i have on most of these people this time is from their profiles, not what i learned from watching the episodes. i remember robb being upset that no one spelled his name with 2 b's, and yet he must not have shared that with them in all the(way too many) days he was there. |
Zipsdaddy | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 01:44 pm     Maybe we'll all get to see Brians "pole"??? Awwwwwww. just kidding.... go rent the video. |
Tabbyking | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 02:45 pm     oh zips!! still giggling.... |
Seamonkey | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 02:49 pm     Maybe they have to hang on a horizontal pole and try to outlast Magilla.. if Magilla outlasts them all.. he chooses who stays and who goes. |
Gina8642 | Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 07:36 pm     I've been bored this year. It just really felt to me there was very little to discuss. I've also been really, really busy in real life. So just taking the time to tune in Thursday has been difficult. I've had more fun (in previous seasons) when I've been able to immmerse myself in the show. I guess that's why BB is so facinating. Yes, it's pace is incredibly slow, but you have the chance to see real dynamics. This season too, I've been very ambivilant about the survivors. They all seemed somehow unlikable. It made it very hard to root for anyone. I liked Shi Ann, but she was doomed. Helen has only recently emerged as interesting. Everyone else was either a non-entity or edited to look like a jerk (Brian, Ted, Robb, Ghandia, Clay, Steph, Jed, even Penny.) |
Bastable | Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 09:21 pm     I thought for a while that Jan was a smart cookie, that she hooked up with Clay and Brian to take it to the end... but it turns out she really WAS clueless. She just Mr Magooed her way to the end of the game, blithe as a lamb. What a ninny! I still love her, but whoa--she didn't clock in at the start of that game. |
Ladytex | Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 09:28 pm     Yeah, I was kind of disappointed in finding out just how clueless she really was. |
Webkitty | Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 09:50 pm     Yep, no one home. I was going to say she Forrest Gumped her way through, but Mr Magooed works for me too. Nice lady, but tonight confirmed she wasn't playing the game at all. No "secret" strategy, she was just there. |
Babyruth | Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 10:08 pm     LOL, Bastable! Love and agree with your take on Jan. |
Car54 | Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 10:28 pm     Probably my favorite moment of the finale...when Jeff asked her why she didn't take Helen and Ted up on their offer and she looked at him like what?.... And Helen is saying...We DID ask you Jan...I begged you! She has been home 3 months, watched the whole series on TV and still didn't figure this out! What grade does she teach? |
Northstar | Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 11:50 pm     In the end, it's not that she forgot to turn in her book report, she just didn't realize one had been assigned. 4 beers a pizza a used cigar We love her anyway. |
Hermione69 | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 05:50 am     I think she plays dumb when she doesn't really want to answer the question. She did it with the one about Ted also. I don't think she really deserved the million, but in the end, she was the only one left that I liked. Congrats to Jan for making the F3! She had the experience of a lifetime and still got anice chunk of change. |
Car54 | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 06:05 am     Nope. She did not have a clue. Jan/strategy...not happening. Nice lady...just not a player...the triumph of niceness is all. |
Hermione69 | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 06:07 am     Whatever you think. I see her differently is all. |
Car54 | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 07:45 am     Did you watch her last night? She said directly that she totally missed what was going on with Helen and Ted. |
Rslover | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 08:06 am     I agree. Jan was clueless. For a second I thought she was finally using her noodle when she mentioned to the boys that Helen & Ted were in cohoots about something. Helen must have been so pissed when she heard that she was the reason she got voted off. |
Cynthia57 | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 09:43 am     I, too, agree. Jan WAS clueless. It really showed how clueless as she struggled to answer Jeff's question and when she indicated that she didn't know about the Ted/Helen agreement. However, Helen indicated on screen that she went to Jan and told her about Ted's plan because she promised to, so I don't think she did much "begging." I think at that point she was still thinking that her alliance with Brian was really strong but she wanted to keep her word with Ted. That being said, Brian deserved to win since he did outwit, outplay, and outlast every stupid (for not having discreet conversations with the other tribe members)player. When Brian told them not to talk about their individual alliances, it worked for Brian. Very interesting. |
Car54 | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 09:59 am     I think there is a big difference in people smarts and strategic thinking. I bet Jan is great with people...she seems to be able to get along with a lot of different kinds of personalities without a lot of effort, and her comments about Clay say she is not naive about what people are really about. I also thought her Jury question and how she handled it spoke volumes about her style...she asked a very pointed question in a very simple, polite, non-accusing way...about how they felt they contributed to the work... They answered and IMO, it was clear the point she was trying to make...but she didn't beat a dead horse...she said just said thank you and sat down. I thought she was very classy, but made a very important contribution...as well as a statement to to the F2. I just suspect she is not a schemer or a controller ...she said herself she has never been a leader...that requires a different kind of thinking and skills. Unfortunately it is usually the other kind of thinking that wins you Survivor. |
Seamonkey | Friday, December 20, 2002 - 10:35 am     AGain this morning Jan said she should have allied with Helen and Ted.. so she's stickin' to her story.. "Mr Magooed".. yep that hits it dead-center for me too.. |
Grooch | Saturday, December 21, 2002 - 10:44 am     Jan took unlikely path to 'Survivor's' $85,000 The first-grade teacher from Tampa takes a quirky path to near victory. Her strategy: Stay under the others' radar and stay alive. By ERIC DEGGANS, Times TV Critic © St. Petersburg Times published December 21, 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES -- It was so surprising, she had to ask a reporter to repeat the news, just to make sure she'd heard right. [AP photo] Jan Gentry, left, says she and teammate Helen Glover, right, remain friends. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It makes me nauseous," said Jan Gentry, upon learning her third-place finish in CBS's reality TV show Survivor: Thailand would net her about $85,000. "I just know the first (contestant ejected from the show) got $2,500. That would be a nice summer job for a schoolteacher." And that, in an instant, sums up the Tampa first-grade teacher's quirky path to success on the fifth edition of the reality TV survival game. Riding a mix of charisma, fortitude and good ol' fashioned luck, the 54-year-old Texas native found herself within a hairsbreadth of a $1-million payday during the show's three-hour wrapup Thursday -- even though she often looked as if she had no idea of the intrigue surrounding the game. "Frankly, I'm surprised Jan made it to the final three," admitted Survivor host Jeff Probst, standing at a huge after-show party held by the network shortly after Thursday's broadcast. "I'm still not sure if Jan was playing everybody or if she was just coasting. I don't think you get that far by really being as laid back as Jan appeared to be." Of course, a far more manipulative contestant wound up taking home the $1-million prize: used car salesman Brian Heidik, who controlled his teammates with the finesse of a born flimflam man. Wading through a sea of well-wishers, flashing cameras and reporters from celebrity TV news shows such as Extra, Gentry was philosophical about the game's results -- mostly because she never expected to make it this far, either. "It's very surreal to watch yourself on TV," she said, surrounded at the party by her 18-year-old son, William, daughters, Lisa and Molly, and other friends. (Husband, William Gentry, didn't make the trip west). "I stayed below the radar and I never quit." Decked out in a tight-fitting black bodice and pants, with a touch of mascara and lipstick, Gentry created a much different impression than viewers were used to seeing. Gone were the overalls and pigtails -- along with about 24 pounds she lost while competing on the show. Watching her sign autographs and pose for photos with fans, it seems obvious Gentry's success has made her something of a symbol for those who enjoyed seeing a fiftysomething woman reach the game's final hours. Her daughter Lisa said such fan encounters happen regularly these days -- especially when Gentry opens her mouth and looses that distinctive Texas twang. "We are so proud of her for getting as far as she did," added Lisa, who watched the show with her relatives from the reunion show's studio audience. "It was crazy and full of surprises, because we really didn't know what was going to happen. We were watching it right along with everyone else." Indeed, Gentry admitted she didn't tell her children, close relatives or her students at McKitrick Elementary School in Lutz when she would drop out of the game. "Kids would come up to me and say, 'My mom and dad say you're going to be the first one voted out,' And I'd just say, 'Really?"' noted Gentry, laughing loudly. "(Thursday) I called my school and they said, 'We heard it's you and Clay.' It's been fun to see what people say." Gentry's status as a schoolteacher was never far from her mind while playing the game -- leaving the longtime educator wary of committing too many lies or morally questionable acts, because she knew she'd have to answer to her students later. "If I was in a different profession, I could maybe cut and run and not think about (lying repeatedly)," said Gentry, who declined to sip a glass of beer while standing on the party's red carpet, for fear a wayward camera might capture the image. "But I have to teach morals and values." And even some acts that seemed accidental -- like her decision to stock her team with older, less athletic people -- were actually part of a thought-out strategy. "I remember sitting on my back porch, trying to make fire with sticks. My hands blistered up and I told (husband) Mr. Bill, 'I'm going to die out there!"' she said, adding that the experience made her pay attention during pre-game training sessions, noting who was good at survival techniques. When Probst told her and 61-year-old land broker Jake Billingsley -- the game's two oldest contestants -- to choose the competition's two teams, Gentry knew who she wanted. "I picked people who knew what to eat, knew how to make a fire ... it just so happened they were the older (people)," she said, noting some other contestants laughed at her choices. "They said they didn't want to be on the little old lady's team. Well, the little old lady's still here. Where are you, dude?" Despite talk of the show's waning popularity, Thursday's finale drew strong ratings, attracting 24-million viewers nationally -- about 2-million fewer than the last installment's finale, but more than the viewership for rivals NBC, ABC and Fox combined. The one-hour live reunion special that immediately followed the finale held onto 21-million viewers. Locally, the two-hour finale garnered 29 percent of the available audience, with 24 percent of those watching TV staying tuned for the live reunion show, easily winning its time slot. With an expertise that comes from hosting five editions of the series, Probst pinpointed the exact moment Gentry made the mistake that ensured she wouldn't make the show's top two finalists. "It was in the final four," he said, noting the moment Gentry was pressured by Heidik to vote off pal Helen Glover instead of Louisiana restaurateur Clay Jordan, who eventually won second place (worth $100,000). "She should have gone to Helen and said, 'Let's take one of these guys out."' But Gentry had little time for such recriminations Thursday, shrugging off behind-the-back insults from Heidik during the game (he called her a "disposable grandma"). Gentry also insisted she and Glover remain friends, despite her decision to join Jordan and Heidik in voting the Navy swim instructor off the game and into fourth place. "None of us are upset ... we're all a tight-knit group, very respectful of each other," she said. "I'm proud of what I did out there. I went in kind of clueless and just did my own thing." |
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