LAST EDITED ON 03-20-08 AT 10:54 PM (EST)

No complaints about the favorites except for Fairplay who acted like he didn't want to be there.

But looking at the fans you get: one genuine player- Tracy; two players whose strange strategies helped get them voted out early-Mike B. and Joel (the second becoming a cartoon character in the process); two players who appear in awe of the favorites (i.e. Ozzy)- Erik and Jason; two players who did not belong on the show - Chet and Kathy; and three players who remain largely anonymous mid-way through the season- early disappearing Mary, Alexis and Natalie.

Have to think at least some of the problem is the format. Must be hard enough to play against other first timers without having to deal with repeat players; especially players some of the fans appear to hero worship.

Think favorites vs. favorites (without any former winners) would have been a better idea.

• RE: fans vs. favorites = bad idea?,XXL Survivor, 11:13 AM, 03-21-08
• RE: fans vs. favorites = bad idea?,mia rules18, 12:06 PM, 03-21-08
  • RE: fans vs. favorites = bad idea?,XXL Survivor, 03:45 PM, 03-21-08
• Fans vs. Favorites = A Demonstration,michel, 07:59 PM, 03-21-08
  • RE: Fans vs. Favorites = A Demonstration,dabo, 00:45 AM, 04-02-08
    • RE: Fans vs. Favorites = A Demonstration,Wacko Jacko, 09:43 AM, 04-03-08

Hopefully Bebo doesn't lock this thread again for me daring to critique Burnett & Co.'s casting on the "fanatic" forum, but this is all on them. It was quite clear from day 1 that Kathy and Chet didn't have a competitor backbone in their body. You could see it in their interviews. Even their teammates knew there was not even a remote chance they would seek let alone find the idol on Exile Island. That's pretty telling. At least Kathy was nuts, making her a decent interview, but what did Chet ever contribute (in camp, in challenges, in interviews, anywhere). What did the selection committee see in him???

And Fairplay - what an obvious goof that was to include him on this. Spot should have been reserved for Terry, Ian, or even Judd.

They probably thought there would be some cool Joel/James showdown, but that didn't happen. Yeah, Mikey and Joel overstrategized. I guess Rob C had success in S6 by over-strategizing but normally it just makes you a target.

I was ALL for this idea...when they announced it was fans vs. favorites, I was pumped and excited for the season to start...I still think it was a great idea, even though the fans cast were sub par at best...I think I'm in the minority here when I say that I like the idea of bringing previous players back for another shot, I loved it when they did All Star Survivor and All Star Big Brother...you already know they characters so there's not that introductory period when you're wondering who's who, and it's great to see them interact with people from other seasons and see how it affects their game play. I even like the idea of favs. vs. favs, Also, it was suggested in another thread that a good idea would be to do a season with early boots...like that idea too!

I too like the idea of all-star episodes, as it gives us a chance to see (in most cases) the more compelling contestants from the prior seven seasons. Where the selection committee goofed was how they picked the "fans". I can understand picking Joel and Mikey though their problem was that they thought/strategized too much.

The one risk with bringing back people for a round two is if they lost their fire/hunger. Look at All-Stars #1 - Sue was firey, controversial, and a great character in Borneo. In All-stars, she no longer needed the money, she wasn't expecting to win, so she found some creative (though still controversial) reason to back out. You could also argue that people like Hatch weren't giving 100% the second time around. Hell, even Ethan (former pro athlete) came in only half in shape and BRob (former construction worker) ran circles around him in challenges. At least Burnette realized this in not inviting back former champ millionaires for this second all-star season (thus no Tom or Yul or Danni). He failed to realize, however, that Fairplay and his new MTV/Pro Wrestling career posed the same "no longer need the money" problem. Can't believe nobody at CBS didn't see that one coming a mile away.

I have to disagree that putting Chet and Kathy on the Fans' tribe was a mistake of casting. In fact, it could be seen as a gift to the nervous Fans, Burnett telling them "you have two free boots to settle in."

Burnett put Chet and Kathy in for less than a week on the island, Joel and Tracy decided to drag them for almost 3 weeks and to count on them.

What has been demonstrated is that the real Survivor game isn't the same as an on-line survivor game where booting a player sitting at a computer has no consequence to the tribe.

I'd have to agree with that, from the very first season they've always cast a few probable first/early boots. Of course, they don't really know how things will go down, Burnett was certain one of the early boots in the first season would be that fat nudist guy.

I can not complain about this season. It has been entertaining. Definitely not one of the worst.

My complaint is the females are dominating. Males generally make for more exciting players. But sometimes this happens.