Judging from how many of them have freaky hair, makeup and facial hair, I would guess that those hairstyles were either provided or encouraged by the production crew to make them look more interesting.

Or that's why they were cast in the first place which would partially explain their lack of brains!

It's stunt casting at its finest. I'll never understand why the producers turn down hundreds of people who want to be on reality shows, instead picking people they saw at Starbucks who had a "look" they liked.

Why should Pirate Master be any different??

I just cant put my finger on why I don't really like this show, I just know that around the 1/2 way mark, Ra and I seem to lose interest in it. It isn't the obvious costuming of the pirates, making them dress up is kind of a fun idea. It's not the treasure hunting, we like that too. The host is likable, although it bothers both of us that no one ever seems to TALK to him, or call him by name. If the credits didn't roll his name at the end, I would never have known what it was.

And it isn't even the obvious stunt casting. We knew going in that MB was going to choose less then steller thinkers, that's his MO.

There is just something MISSING from the show.

I completely agree with you, bunny. I can't quite figure out why I'm not lovign this show. It has so much potential to be good. Maybe it's the cheezy staged set lighting for the cutting ceremonies? Maybe it's the characters? Maybe it's just not knowing the game or what will come next? Not sure. I'm an avid Survivor fan and had huge hopes that this would be the new "big" show, but so far my reaction is merely...meh.

I'm not excited about the ghost tribe concept either. It was bad in Survivor, so I can't imagine EPMB trying to rehash it in this new light. Maybe these people will be the ones "voting off" the remaining pirates? I wonder if they've been sequestered away from each other?

LAST EDITED ON 07-13-07 AT 03:52 PM (EST)

>"Maybe it's just not knowing
>the game or what will come next?"

I once heard a sport commentator (cricket if I remember) say that if you'd know the rules, you'd be able to appreciate any sport if it's played by the best players. I guess Burnett wasn't watching then! Now, not knowing the rules makes it like that "Friends" episode where Chandler invented a game of cards, "cups" I think he called it, with weird rules made up just so Joey would win. For all we know, there could be a jury awarding the final treasure to one of the Final 2 or 3 Pirates. At least, Survivor started as a simple game. Only later did the twists come in.

We also have the problem of not having "the best players" but some aren't bad. Louie is funny and has a good background for this. Jay's portrayed a lot like Brian H. Christa and Nessa are quite athletic. Laurel, who started as a Courtney clone that wasn't delivering the laughter, is now showing more moxie than the fire dancer ever did. Seeing her laugh at Azmyth and putting him in his place has been moderately amusing. Of the eliminated crew, Cheryl and JD had impressive credentials for the show and Joy was likeable.

We just had too little time for discussion on the boat, it's all about the expeditions and the money. Even the expeditions have come down to a free for all with everyone digging in the same place. The crews shouldn't be able to follow each other but solve the clue before being allowed to go on. Water in the telescope...too bad, you have to fix it and spot the clue before going on.

Oh cool, another Newbie!!! Welcome to the boards, Flystorms.

Maybe it's the cheezy staged set lighting for the cutting ceremonies? Nah, we are used to that, most TC areas look like a Pier One Imports store blew up in them.

If I was going to try and figure it out, at least some part would be that it's boring after they all go out on their ONE challenge. And do we get to see anything remotely new on these treasure hunts? No. See Azhatt row, see Rupert2 run, see Kendra not swim. Yawwwn!

They need something else to do besides run around different islands, wear funny hats, and speak with really, really badly done accents.

It just seems like the show should be called "Castaway" as in MB had to do something to fill the spot so he castaway any semblance of thought and just tossed a formula onto the screen for a few weeks.

I think part of the problem is that the contestants are too limited in what they can do to put themselves in a better position in the game. I thought it might be like survivor on the water, but no, you can't form alliances that well because you never know which crew you may be in.

Because of this, it's almost impossible to get much stategy going. From what I've seen, the contestants can only react to situations once the hunt for gold is over. The only ones I ever see doing much planning are the Captain and his two officers.

The game seems to be that they have all the power and it's next to impossible to get them out unless your crew beats them. The problem for this show for me is that the balance of power never seems to shift, and there are only a few things that can ever accomplish that. I don't have a great plan on what they should do if there is ever another season of this, but I think they need to have more reason for the crew to be plotting with each other. Possibly the problem is that one crew has won so many times, there's no one left to upset the apple cart. *steps down off soapbox *

Agman,
Stay on that soapbox, I think you are right! The whole revolving crew thing sucks, there is not way to get a good alliance going and hard to come back after being on the bottom. I fast forward through the challanges, no sense in watching, you know who will win.

LAST EDITED ON 07-14-07 AT 11:58 AM (EST)

"I think part of the problem is that the contestants are too limited in what they can do to put themselves in a better position in the game. I thought it might be like survivor on the water, but no, you can't form alliances that well because you never know which crew you may be in"

Actually, the whole revolving crew thing I think was a good idea, and his (MBs) thinking was most likely that since EVERYONE has figured out how to work Survivor, that this would practically eliminate pagoning. But you are right Sidecar, they didn't really think through the logistics of how a crew could bounce back once they ended up on the bottom.

I'm wondering if they thought crews would mutiny more often. Perhaps they believed that 1) Winning crews would rotate Captains, even if the same team won the booty each time, or 2) they believed that the Captain would rotate his officers. Had either of these things occurred, mutiny might happen more often. As it is now, keeping the same Captain and officers, along with paying off cooks etc, gives the losing crew no option of mutiny.

Perhaps if this show is picked up again, they should have the pirates actually compete in a challenge that would determine the two officers, then the Captain would not be able to "stack the deck" (pun intended) quite as easily.

I also agree with Michal that the they have totally botched up the treasure finding. Having everyone go after the same clue in the same area has made this a rather elaborate game of follow the leader rather than searching for treasure. As for the hunts themselves, they are not even all that challenging (well, except from an athletic standpoint.)

John assumed that the compass was going to be an integral part of the game play; that is why her rather stupidly tried to use them as bargaining chips in the first episode. As far as I can tell, they were really just props for effect, rather than valuable searching tools. You dont need them if all you have to do is follow a river, a coastline, a well honed mountain path, and the team ahead of you.

*steps down off own soapbox* lol

ETA: thanks for the great post, Cherelyn!

Or, he didn't really have much to do with figuring out how his shows would work, opting instead to have his minions "follow the formula" that had worked well with Survivor and other rtv shows. That is of one of the many things wrong with On The Lot, as well.