Survivor 9: Vanuatu
 

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor9/

The contestant list has now been posted....interesting one of them is an amputee

This is the ONLY reality show that I watch...I've been addicted since Season 2 (Australia)

Are there any other TFPers that are fans?

I'm a huge fan. Survivor and The Amazing Race are really the only "must see" TV for me besides Cubs games.

I was hooked for a few years but I think around Season 5 I stopped watching. Got back into it for All-Stars.

Oh, and I watched the season with Johnny Fairplay since he grew up where I went to college. Oh those Danville boys... They're so... stupid.

Ha! Loving the Mechanical Bull Operator/Model guy. Classic.

Go Chad Go! But yeah... That's going to be a huge disability in the game. Even though the guy is an athlete, they almost always have some weird obstical courses which would be hard for him to get through I'd imagine.

I'll check out the opening night... Lets see if I get pulled in or not.

18 survivors again like All-Star. 3 tribes again?

I'm definately looking forward to this :)

Yeah its going to be real intersting to see how he handles the challenges with a prosthetic. I have to admit Im going thru Jeff Probst withdrawal I've loved that man since Rock n' Roll Jeporady.

I hope they dont do the 3 tribes again...I didnt like that as much

I'm guessing that's how it goes though, as I don't imagine they'll do 9 members per tribe. Some of these names this season are just awful. Scout? Dolly? Rory? Twila? What is this, the all cracker edition of Survivor? Next Spring: Survivor 10: Deliverance!

And I wouldn't worry about the amputee.....his bio says he completed a triathalon just 9 months after losing the leg. That's bad ass!

Its interesting they have two people that are suvivors of two different very rare forms of cancer

Looks like an interesting bunch of folks.
I'll definitely tune in and watch. :thumbsup:

Love survivor, but being in Oz haveta be careful not to spoil anthing for myself

S

There are already 9 Survivors? Jesus Christ

Ive been watching it since Season 2 as well. :) The only other 'reality' shows I watch are Big Brother and the Apprentice.

my sentiments exactly. I have wasted as much as 20 seconds watching any of this show's incarnations.

Great, thanks for contributing. You figured out that the secret motivation behind this thread was to hear from everyone who doesn't watch. You win the prize! The certificate is in the mail :thumbsup:

My thoughts exactly

Yeah I asked if there were any fans...not anyone that wanted to trash the show :lol:

Uh, it's been on for 9 seasons already? WTF? I thought the first season was in 2000?

Its not "seasons" They run two a year one from Jan-Mayish and one from September-Decemberish

2000 there was only Survivor 1

not my intention to trash the show, I know that I have some interests that people would have the same complete disinterest in. Whatever grabs people's interest people is fine; I usually do not barge into threads abut ER, Friends, or other shows that rank just as low as Survivor on my personal radar.
Just out of curiosity, what is the overall appeal in these completely staged shows with minimal risk like Fear factor, Survivor, and others? I can see where the Roman Coliseum games had an edge to them when actual death or severe maiming was a very likely outcome, but something this tightly controlled for safety (for obvious reasons) removes any real risk or thrill in my opinion.
Not advocating the return of bloody gladiator games by any means. At least with basketball, NFL, football, and other sports there is a clear goal or some kind of ultimate champion game to contend for rather rather than 15 minutes of faux fame

Survivor is a show about social relationships, not risks. Might not be exciting to some, but very entertaining to me.

Exactly, it's not about the games for me but rather the human social relationships. That's what keeps me interested. If I don't find the people interesting then I won't watch the season.

I agree...thats how I felt about season 6...I'd catch it here and there but I didnt have fits if I missed an episode and I didnt schedule my thursdays around it. Australia will always be my favorite one

Yeah I liked Australia too.

that makes sense. I do find watching how a diverse group of humans interact fascinating but shows like Survivor or much else on television that I have seen has never provided for me.

I got bored with the show during season 4 or 5. It's always the same. Haven't seen Allstars yet though, because we're a bit behind here in Europe regarding TV shows.

i love the show. i check in every season to find out which female contestant is going to be "the hot one" of the bunch. im suprised that this year no one really sticks out as being that attractive. i guess we'll have to wait until the season starts to see their true colors.

I've been watching Survivor since the first series, and imo it's the only reality TV show that always delivers and therefore worth watching.

Now I have to wait until some NZ network buys the rights to screen the new series, while dodging spoilers left right and centre.

What the fuck!?!?! There have been 9 seasons of this ALREADY?

Fuck when is reality TV going to die?

At first I thought it was a stupid fad. But I think it's here for good now, in one form or another.

You should give it a shot Speed_Gibson. Watch a few episodes and see how you feel about it. I don't care for the challenges and games themselves. It's always the same ones each year. Gross food challenge, lifting things underwater, a puzzle. What gets me is the interaction. It's interesting how they throw 16-18 people together who outside of the game would never cross paths. You take these people out of their everyday environment and see how they deal with others as well as the challenges of living in the game. It facinates me.

But as I said before, if I don't care for the people I won't watch it.

I have never missed a single episode of any season. My wife forced me to watch the first one, and I was immediately hooked.

I downloaded an application and filled it out, but never sent it in. Have any of the rest of you applied?

I SO wanted to apply...I even went as far as you...but I knew physically I just couldnt handle it and I never sent it in.

my husband applied and denied :(

I want to, but seeing as I've been gone for a year and I have at least another 6 months before I get home..... Well, I think I just want to spend some time with my family now. Maybe if they're still doing it in a a couple of years.

I'm too skinny. They would probably reject me based on the fact that if I lost too much weight I'd disappear

I'm not hot enough. My boobs aren't big enough. And I'd never get naked for some peanut butter and chocolate. Well, not on national TV anyway :D

/temp off topic

Averett you're PLENTY hot enough woman!!
(I have peanut butter and chocolate right here beside me!!)

/back on topic

I honestly havent seen very many women at all that I would call "hot" on any of the previous episodes, now the guys on the other hand.....

Survivor and CSI are my only "must watch" TV shows... I rarely catch CSI so I usually just rent the entire season and camp out in my living room for a weekend.

I love Survivor, I also started watching it season 2 - I was very surprised that I liked it. Although I am sure that it isn't nearly as horrible as it would be to actually be stuck on an island, I think those people go through a lot more than most people give them credit for - try sitting anywhere for over a month with absolutely nothing to do except interact with strangers and think about how you can win a million bucks. Not to mention, those people certainly look hungry/thirsty... I just wish that they hadn't given the all stars fire - necessity would have eventually forced them to make it.

On a side note, my ex-girlfriends mother applied and actually got flown to the producers, but was turned down due to a recent LASIC surgery...

[Edit]

I am very curious to see how the FBI/Ex-military fellow performs, he hopefully will be a decent example of America's Best & Brightest...

Assuming we don't lose electricity Thursday night (thanks to Ivan), Survivor is coming.....

I think the wife and I will buy a battery-operated TV at Wal-Mart today, and we can return it next week if we don't need it Thursday night.

Do you remember from Survivor 3 or 4, they had a guy who was a Navy fighter pilot? The guy was 6'2" 190#, could start a fire with his bare hands, knew their exact location by triangulating the stars, predicted the weather because he knew the weather patterns of the world, etc....

Remember what happened? He was the first one voted off because everyone percieved him as the greatest threat to their winning the money.

As Averett said it is all about the interactions.

Can't wait, love this show

Watcher from the beginning, never really enjoyed any of the other reality shows. I like the games and challenges (most of them) except for the food. That would kill me right off the show. I love to hate the assholes. the longer they go, the more I enjoy it. I also really like Jeff Probst. He always has that little smirk and seems to have a good sense of humor. Like for the final where he jetskiied to new york, paid a salute to the statue of liberty, and then hopped on the subway.

*bump

ok so what did we think of the 1st episode?

Spoiler: I was real glad to see that Chris didnt get kicked out just because he couldnt make it across the board

I have seen every single Survivor episode. I got hooked on Rich in the series opener, and ever since then my Thursday nights have revolved around Survivor. I would like to see, eventually, a Survivor Millionaire, where every contestant is a former Survivor winner.

Interesting show tonight. People like personalities, good or bad. Wishy-washy doesn't cut it.

sad that the sheep farmer with the spectacular ass was voted off last night :(

Another one? I don't understand why this show is so populer. I don't like reality tv, I find it annoying. But I have found my self controle tested every day because of this show. Turns out I work with one of the former stars. Won't drop any names, but I'll give a hint.

Beef jerky.


So hard not to say anything smart ass.

Anybody else get pissed-off at the guys because they couldn't light their fire?
They just fuckin' gave up. Jeeeez! :rolleyes:
Weren't one or two of these guys soldiers at one time??

I as well am a big fan of survivor - this season looks great so far!

I was sad to see Dolly go, she seemed so sweet :(

Kel!!! Do you bring him beef jerkey every day? Is that his office nickname? Did he really have the jerky? Or was he just... you know... jerking? :o

I try not to say anything about it around him. Just prettend I have no clue. He seems like a nice guy, and he out ranks me by so much it isn't even funny. I don't work right under him, but he is around my position a lot. I felt kind of bad when i did find out who he is, because I do eat beef jerky almost every day. I love the stuff. Then, I findo ut out the good captins past. Opps. Hope he doesn't think I'm trying to be a dick.

I felt sorry for Kel, he got so badly shafted for no good reason other than that bitch Jerri. I guess that's the way the game is played, it's just too bad tho.

One thing about the Vanuatu people though (and the previous players). Why the hell can no one build a fire? I can only assume you have seen the game played on TV before, you know you need fire....why the hell do you not learn to build a damn fire?

It's that kind of logic failure that makes me think the show is scripted.

I love this show and have seen every episode, BUT I have a huge problem with the way people are voted off. As you mentioned, the show should be renamed "Interactor" instead of "Survivor." This is the same reason "The Weakest Link" failed so badly; they always voted off the strongest players instead of the weakest players, and the show always ended with mediocre slugs playing for all the money. Survivor works the same way.

There should be individual immunity available to certain people going to tribal council who have proven that they deserve to stay and not get blind-sided. That comes into play when the tribes merge, but it should be available at the beginning, too.

I said something similar in the Survivor Pearl Islands thread (I believe).

I stated that through that season (7 seasons), only 3 of the 7 winners actually deserved to win:

Survivor 1: Richard
Survivor 3: Ethan
Survivor 5: Brian

The others won by being mediocre:

Survivor 2: Tina
Survivor 4: Vecepia
Survivor 6: Jenna
Survivor 7: Sandra

I think Rob should have won Survivor All Stars, but an argument could be made for Amber.

Interesting how it splits straight down the gender line, eh?

Derwood, great point. I had never thought of the gender split like that before.

Also, in addition to the obligatory shock at having to make their own fire, is anybody else getting weary of the "I will not compromise my integrity for a game" speech? Every damn episode. Have some of them never seen the show?

And what about the goofbag who always breaks down and cries on Day 4 because the game is "soooooo hard, boo hoo, I wanna go home ....." Give me a break! I always think about the poor slob she beat out for her slot in the cast.

not to mention:

*The idiots who can't paddle a boat
*or swim (I could maybe forgive that one)
I think the the thing that gets me more than this one is the, "I love so-and-so and will never jeopardize that by voting them off."

Oh bite me, you were in a 'tribe' for a week with them, cut the cord for chrissakes. If I am playing baseball against my brother and he crowds the plate, guess what? He gets beaned!

It's a game, play it like it's one.

If the show was perfect in that the strongest survived, and the weak were voted off early, would you watch? The creators of this show are geniuses at editing and have an incredible formula that works. They play the viewing audience just as much as they do the survivors. Just when you think you have it figured out, they tweak it again, and again and again. Hey, it works. I keep watching. What fun is a game when you know the strongest and smartest will win?

*yawn*

...still waiting for the "First 15 minutes that have more surprises than any other Survivor yet."

The challenges began 18 minutes into the episode, and the only thing of note in the first 15 minutes was the 5th grade playground fight between Mia and Twyla.

THAT was what we were supposed to be so surprised about????

I feel compelled to watch it every week, yet I hate the whole mentality of "Hey, let's vote out people that could actually survive for real! And the people we don't like!"

And is it just me, or are both tribes extra dysfunctional this season?

It's a strange Survivor this season. The dysfunctionality of the two tribes is a big part. But I think for me it's that there are no likable contestants this time. I've always had a favorite survivor. But this time, they are all unappealing in some way, and I don't want anybody to win. But I still watch. I'm addicted.......

I want that native dude with me on my next shipwreck trip. ;)

I agree that this is one of the weaker seasons so far. Maybe because I've been spoiled by Pearl Islands and All-Stars, which were great. The men are being so stupid, voting out 'threats' when a merger is in the distant future. Also, all the fake boobies annoy me. There used to only be one or two Saline Chests per series (Tina, Sarah J, Heidi) but in this series Eliza, Ami, and Lisa's chests look far too well endowed for their petite frames. The vast majority of guys I know don't like watermelon boobs but yet the number of surgeries go up year after year. Sadly, this seems to get you one "Survivor" recently.

The winning strategy in Survivor seems so obvious to me:

Part One) Keep your tribe as strong as possible before the merge in order to win the majority of challenges. When the merge arrives, you will have greater numbers than the weaker tribe. This strategy is accomplished by voting off the WEAKEST members first.

Part Two) After the merge, the game becomes an individual game, and the strategy shifts to voting off the strongest members, thereby dumping the contestants who pose the greatest threat.

Haven't any of the guys in Lopevi ever, EVER seen this this damn show before??? It looks like CBS is going to have to step in next week and scramble the tribe membership in order to reduce the ineptitude of the male contestants.

Good grief, Jeff keeps telling the guys how to play the damn game, and they keep ignoring him. The same thing happened in the reward challenge. The goofbag guys would turn over two new objects instead of returning to a familiar object on their second turn. All they did was show the girls where EVERYTHING was located. Jeff even tried to tell them how to do it, but they're so God-awful stupid.

Yeah, the guys seemed awfully stupid this episode.

I download every episode as I have no TV :(

I forgot the Vanuatu native's name, but I hope to meet him if I'm ever shipwrecked!

What surprises me on almost every version of Survivor is just how few to none of the basic survival skills many of the contestants have. Not one of the contestants in this episode has evinced the least bit of curiosity about the island - no exploring, no "hey, let's hike over there & see what's on the other side", nothing. They just sit around all day waiting for the next challenge.

There does seem to be a lot more plastic mammaries this season, but there are also more pretty boys on the men's side too (the ones who are getting voted out unfortunately). The men just don't seem to be able to get their heads together, and the women are just a degree or two from boiling point. Eliza is a whiny snipe - she makes no other contribution than instigating dissension - she needs to be the next one on the chopping block.

Since the CBS screening process is so extensive for potential contestants, I can only assume CBS picked these morons specifically BECAUSE they're morons. I suppose if candidates showed up who were good at making fire and possessed flat chests and common sense, they were shown the door.

Personally, I hope they don't merge until there are about 6 people left. That will totally screw up people's strategies.

That's a great point! Everyone knows that TV producers will have a preference for more attractive (and likely well endowed) people better but I never even thought that they would weed out constestants who would be too good. Even Kel (army ranger) and Lillian (Crying Bitch/Boy Scout Troop Leader) were pretty awful in terms of survival skills. Lose the only Fishing Lure anyone?

Anyone besides me losing interest in this survivor?

The most interesting part of last nite was the earthquake

What a yawner! Methinks CBS is stuck with some really unlovable morons this season. I'll keep watching, but I don't care who wins; NONE of them deserve a million dollars. What they DO deserve, in my opinion, is to get their butts whipped by their grandmothers and then go stand in the corner for the rest of the afternoon. I haven't seen such an underwhelming display of cry-babies on television since Romper Room went off the air.

Ive been losing interest too. I dont seem to connect with either character this season.

**yawn**

The wife and I taped it last night and watched it later. I fell asleep during the immunity challenge.

This season clearly needs something short of a fatality to perk things up. Who got voted off? Lisa? Is there even a Lisa on the show?

**yawn**

yes it was Lisa....I was betting on Rory, and he got some votes...but not enuff

If things dont speed up soon Im going to give up and spend my time watching season one on dvd

I agree with the consensus. A weak season. Some not bad immunity challenges, but I've found the reward challenges to be of poor calibre.

Lots of fake boobies, and I don't mind one bit. The one fake tits that was gross was Lisa, and I'm glad they're gone. Now there's the lesbian boss woman (Erin?) and the hot chick who screwed up the reward challenge.

When Survivor ends forever ( I don't see that happening too soon) I would love to see a 'behind the scenes' show. A whole show on how Survivor is taped, edited, etc. I would love to prove to my friends that all the show is staged and the contestants get to brush their teeth when the cameras are off.

However, I still watch the show, every Friday. It's addictive, especially when you have a survivor pool and you only have one player left, and she almost got kicked off last night because she totally caved at the immunity challenge.

I thought the underwater challenge for immunity was pretty good, it was definately a hard one.

I was kinda suprised at Lisa leaving - although not dissapointed. I was more expecting Ami or Rory to go, although I hope Ami sticks it out, I like her, she's Hawt!

I have to agree with you Daval. Underwater challenge was hard for sure. Not sure what the women are thinking at this point...strategy? Anyway, as far as Ami is concerned at least she's honest to your face. Being 'hawt' dunno...leave that one to you guys.

Julie is my favorite for several reasons:

* She is actually someone who I wouldn't mind hanging out with in person. She has a decent sense of humor doesn't seem pretentious, mean-spirited nor condescending.

* At the same time, he's not stupid either and can think for herself.

* She has proven herself to be trustworthy so far.

* Her breasts are real (and she is not afraid to show them off while sunbathing). OK, that's shallow but Eliza, Lisa, and Ami's torpedoes were rather distracting and annoying. Plus she is the most beautiful contestant in seven seasons (since Elisabeth from Australia). What can I say? I'm a guy in my 20s, that'll affect my opinion.

That is why I like the mole - the smartest ones survive to go to the next round. Survivor has just too much back stabbing for my liking. I would've voted off Chris in the first show.

I'm enjoying it this time more than the last couple cause I think the challenges are more interesting and difficult.
That underwater challenge was a killer. I'm not surprised that at least 1 couldn't do it.
I'm a bit surprised that more couldn't do it.

I woulda loved to see if Eliza could do the course, I figure she would have trouble too.

I don't think she could've done it, perhaps that's why she was last? I don't think she tried very hard during the pig challenge either. I am interested in tonights episode. Waiting for something out of left field....spice it up a bit :)

Wow, not one person had a response to the merger episode. I guess I shouldn't be too suprised, this season hasn't exactly done it for me either. My two cents is that it was naive for the men to believe Twila and Julie (mmm, visual stimulation) would remain loyal to them after the merge and they are paying for it now. To top it off, they even voted off all the threats so that the women will have a picnic getting to the final days!

Yeah, I think everyone has lost interest this season, the men completely screwed it up and they all deserve the thrashing they are about to get. The last guy who at least halfway deserved a shot at the title was Rory. He played his ass off on the girls tribe.

I probably won't watch the rest of the season, it's stupid now.

During the water race, out to the where the flags. It showed a the second heat at the the starting line. Everyone face was seen except for Scouts'. her face was blured out. They showed pretty much everyone, but they only showed glimpses of her. I could of swore when they were running to the water, Scouts' back wasn't hers' like a body double. Anyone else noticed this?

I agree the men are screwed now.

But watch out for Mark Burnett. He could see what was happening so he probably changed it up or slanted the challenges toward the men or whatever.

I'll probably still watch :)

I noticed some blurring in the race but I assumed it was a boobie slip or something.

I will take some screen caps and see what I can find out.

Oh, that man-hating Ami is such a bitch. She makes lesbians look bad. And Twyla really pissed me off. This season was killing me, but the last episode was great. Ami really has some gender issues to work out and scout was holding on to Twyla for dear life. I wish rory could have burned the camp down when he left. I actually liked him the last two episodes. He played his ass off.

Next week is going to see some serious fireworks. Sarge is going to be pissed as hell at Twila, and the men are going to have scramble big time to get rid of Ami. The only thing Ami has going for her is a hot playboy spread from several years back. Otherwise, she's a calculating bitch without the charm of Jerri Manthey

Ami looks like she's aged a bit from the PB photos from a few years ago. Maybe the loss of her brother took it's toll. I have to say though, this survivor has been great. New, different challenges, and honestly, I am completely gaga over Leann, I think she's beautiful. I like her style, inside and out.

i think it was a set-up by twila -she showed ami that she is on her side & now can back-stab her next week - my prediction is that ami is gone

I was disappointed to see Rory leave, but there was really nothing that he (or the men) could have done. I agree that the next few episodes will have some calculated twists/changeups to help the men out a bit. Even though they show some "signs of weakness" in the women's alliance, I still can't help but think that in the end it will be the same story.

The men have been so fucking stupid this season. They should have dumped Julie when they had the chance. Sarge and his crew should have intimidated Twaila and Julie before the vote: "if you break your word you can guarantee that neither of you will recieve a single vote from us if you get to the final two". You never see people play that card when it could matter.

I agree kutulu. The men, as usual, are playing stupid this season, just like all the previous seasons. I just don't understand. The thing is, I am skeptical that we're really seeing the whole picture. I mean, the success of Survivor is dependent almost fully on its editors. For all we know the men have been playing smart and we just dont see it. However, I guess tribal council can't lie.
I didn't know Ami posed for Playboy magazine! That's neat. But it doesn't make me like her. She makes me angry the same way Johnny Fairplay made me angry, because they both were soooo good at making people (viewers) hate them. Basically they're good actors. I think J.F. rivals Rupert for my favourite Survivor of all time. Anyway...Did you all know that Amber Birkch (sp?) was an extra in the movie Wonder Boys? Neat eh?

We did notice. We had taped the episode so we were able to play it back, and Scout's face was blurred out. I agree, the "Scout" running to the water did not look like Scout.

So do you really think they'd use a stunt double?? Did Scouts team win that challenge? I forget.

This was the individual immunity challenge, so there was no team involved. Each survivor competed for immunity. I can't think of any other reason for blurring her face. The person shown from the back did not look like Scout at all. I'm sure there is an explanation, but I'd like to know what it is.

I didn't even KNOW she did a Playboy spread! Thanks, Derwood! I dug up the pics and posted them here:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?p=1521523 .

I'm not even sure Ami is that calculating. She just seems abrasive to me. Gooooo Julie!!