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PLEASE NOTE: The Reality TV World Message Boards are filled with desperate
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with me, correct me--but don't tell me to shut up. That's not the American way."
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"Another press preview"
TeamJoisey 3558 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Thong Contest Judge"
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01-30-04, 04:17 PM (EST)
 
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"Another press preview" |
From The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJThree tribes: Eighteen ex-’Survivors’ take another shot at the prize “Survivor: All-Stars” (Tomorrow night after the Super Bowl, Ch. 2) Eighteen former contestants return for another shot at the million-dollar prize.
BY ALAN SEPINWALL
‘Survivor” creator Mark Burnett never met a tale he couldn’t make taller. How can you tell when he’s hyping something? His lips are moving — usually to form a sentence like “This season is the best work I’ve ever done.” But with “Survivor: All-Stars,” a tournament of champions and almost-rans from the previous seven seasons, Burnett may finally have a project he can’t oversell. The rats and the snakes, the hunks and the lunks, the winners and the whiners, they’re all back. Some are here in Panama to defend their titles (devious original champ Richard Hatch, “Survivor: Africa” hero Ethan Zohn), some for a second chance at a trophy that slipped out of their grasps the last time (“Australian Outback” muscleman Colby Donaldson), some just because they love playing the game (“Survivor: Amazon” chess wizard Rob Cesternino). And judging by a preview tape of the first two-thirds of the “All-Stars” premiere, this reunion is everything “Survivor” fans could have hoped for. The environment is tougher, with contestants deprived of any supplies other than a machete and some canteens. (And the water is unsafe to drink before boiling, which no one can do without figuring out how to build a fire with no matches.) New alliances are formed — one so unlikely and yet perfect that the new duo is shown walking the beach in slo-mo, stirring martial music underscoring their new bond. And Richard Hatch is as smug — and entertaining — as ever. So how did Burnett, host/producer Jeff Probst and the rest of the “Survivor” team decide which 18 alums deserved to come back? “First of all, the casting was really, really scientific,” says Burnett. “I got a yellow legal pad and wrote down 24 names and cut down to 18. It was that quick.” Probst says they tried to create an eclectic mix, sometimes choosing great personalities over great players and trying to avoid too much duplication. Cold-blooded “Thailand” champ Brian Heidik wasn’t asked, for instance, because his style was too similar to Richard’s. Some players were invited as much for their bond with others — like the Ethan/Lex/Tom troika from “Africa” — as for anything they did individually. Squeezing Burnett’s original two dozen names down to 18 wasn’t easy. Gonzo “Outback” player Mike Skupin, who stalked and killed a pig, then had to be flown out of the game after falling into a campfire, was one of the toughest cuts. “Who do you take off, then?” asks Probst. “Do you take off Ethan? Do you take off Colby? He was always that asterisk. Skupin was talked about and talked about and talked about, and we ultimately decided there wasn’t an open slot.” Only two of Burnett’s targets passed. Colleen Haskell, the series’ prototypical America’s Sweetheart, has shied away from the cameras ever since she did that Rob Schneider movie, and regrets having ever been under the glare of the spotlight. Elisabeth Filarski Hasselbeck, the Colleen of the Australian season, turned Burnett down so she could compete for the lucrative co-hosting job on “The View,” a position she won while her old friends were starving in Panama. (“She made a good choice, huh, not going?” Burnett says.) Sandra Diaz-Twine, the champ from this fall’s “Survivor: Pearl Islands,” was briefly considered at the last minute, but her husband didn’t want her to go through the same ordeal so close on the heels of the last one. One “Pearl Islands” contestant wasn’t nearly as reluctant. Woolly, mountainous youth counselor Rupert Boneham, one of the most popular “Survivor” players ever, was an obvious selection. And he’s one of several All-Stars who show up for the new game determined not to repeat their original mistakes. “What Rupert did was really smart,” says Probst. “He came out on day one and said, ‘I’m a workhorse. I’m your mule. I’m strong. Pack me up.’ And instead of doing what he did in his first season, which was, ‘Okay, here’s what we’re doing!,’ he just said, ‘What do we need to do?’ And therefore, people are like, ‘He’s okay. He’s all right.’” A lot of the players were making these New Year’s resolutions — “Outback” vixen Jerri Manthey decided to keep her lip zipped, while her mousy ex-sidekick Amber Brkich was determined not to be as naive this time — but not many stuck to them. “You are who you are,” says Probst. “The layers get ripped away fast. So there is no way to come out and say, ‘I’m going to be nicer this time.’ You either are nice or you’re a b—.” For the first time, a “Survivor” contest will feature three regular tribes instead of two. That’s the only significant rule change that Burnett and company cooked up for the alumni, who were so paranoid about twists that some spent the days leading up to the contest wearing four layers of clothing, lest they be unceremoniously dumped on an island like the “Pearl Islands” contestants were. “When we were sitting in the creative meeting saying, ‘How are we going to outthink 18 people who have done nothing but think about this game for the last three years?,’ we realized, let’s just go back to the basics,” says Probst. “They’ll never expect nothing.” But the fact that all of these people, save Rupert, know each other from reunion specials, charity events and the rest of the post-celebrity circuit creates its own wrinkles. Ethan, for instance, has been romantically linked to Jenna Morasca, Amber and Jenna Lewis, which could either give him an easy core alliance or a bunch of angry exes out to boot him. (Probst adds that this season will see the show’s “first bona fide romance. Not a hook-up. This isn’t, like, sex. This is romance.”) Even if they spent years rethinking their strategy, few of the players were prepared to submit themselves to another physical and emotional battering from 39 days in the wilderness, living and working alongside people out to get them. “Colby said something in there that I don’t think anybody anticipated,” says Probst. “And it’s that feeling of when you did something a long time ago, you know, you dated somebody and...it really wasn’t that great. But somehow over time, it seemed better. Then you see them again, and you remember how lousy it was.” Alan Sepinwall can be reached at asepinwall@starledger.com, or by writing to 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102.
These reality show contestants need a reality check!
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miracle1969mets 183 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Blistex Spokesperson"
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01-30-04, 05:00 PM (EST)
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3. "RE: Another press preview" |
I was one really looking foward to seeing Mike Skupin on it, and I'm dissapointed that they didn't find a spot for him. However, if Probst is telling the truth in the article, and Skupin was #21 (with Colleen and Elisabeth's replacements 19 and 20), at least he was seriously considered, but they definetly could have ditched Rob Mariano for him. (and ditched a S2 female for S4's Gina or someone else if they felt that would make too many S2 contestants)
Mike Skupin and Paschal English, the only two contestants to leave the game without a vote against them deserved spots (I hope they never bring the Purple Rock of Death out EVER AGAIN)
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Brownroach 15341 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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01-30-04, 05:52 PM (EST)
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7. "Description of the opening sequence" |
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/ae/tv/2377712Jan. 29, 2004, 5:43PM CBS hopes viewers sit tight after game for 'Survivor'
By MIKE McDANIEL
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Even for producer Mark Burnett, reality television's master showman and thrill-seeker extraordinaire, the opening minutes of Survivor: All-Stars are outrageously over the top. "To ensure security," shouts Jeff Probst, riding in a Panamanian air force helicopter, the 18 people picked to play this "ultimate" game of Survivor are shown receiving "a full military escort. The airspace has been shut down and the water cleared." As cameras zoom in on the waters below, we can make out Richard Hatch and Rupert Boneham and other faces familiar to us from Survivor editions past, standing on the bow of motorboats racing toward an unknown destination. On each side of the boats are bigger boats belonging to the Panamanian naval force. The camera cuts to Probst, who now has one leg outside the helicopter, which is banking hard right. "Thirty-nine days," he shouts, the centrifugal force the only thing keeping him upright, "18 all-stars, one survivor." And, cue the music, we're off on what Burnett calls the best Survivor yet. The elements of every Survivor, he says, are great scripts, a great producer, great production values and unknown actors. Survivor: All-Stars has all of those elements but, using movie terminology, "very big box-office stars," said Burnett. "Survivor: All-Stars is our blockbuster." To qualify as a TV blockbuster, the new Survivor will have to post huge numbers when it premieres after Sunday's Super Bowl. There is precedent; Survivor already has appeared in the post-Super Bowl slot and performed well. According to Nielsen Media Research, the premiere of Survivor: Australian Outback in 2001 was the second most-watched post-Super Bowl show in history, drawing 45.3 million viewers. CBS would like nothing better than to cash in, of course. That's why it intends to keep the post-game black slaps and trophy ceremonies to 30 minutes, if possible. It doesn't want what happened last year to ABC and its postgame show, Alias. A measly 17 million stuck around for that, the lowest post-Super Bowl audience since 1975. Burnett is reality TV's King Midas, a man whose golden touch has made Survivor the medium's most popular unscripted show and The Apprentice a midseason NBC hit. The Restaurant, which he also produces, will be back this summer. And his Eco-Challenge series on cable, the granddaddy of Burnett's shows, continues to be a cult fave. For Survivor: All-Stars, he rather blithely concocted a list of contestants he wanted to see again, and virtually all of them agreed to participate, even some of the millionaire winners. Survivor 1 winner Hatch will be there, in all his naked glory, as will Survivor 2's Tina Wesson. Only two would-be all-stars declined to participate, Survivor 2's Elisabeth Filarski (who's now on ABC's The View) and Survivor 1's Colleen Haskell, who, Burnett said, "genuinely didn't want to go through that again." That's a question the contestants will be asking themselves before Sunday's episode plays out. The players, divided into six-person teams, don't know who their competitors are. They are boated to a secluded beach, where they find a machete and a map showing where water can be found. Beyond that, nothing. "They say they're the best of the best," says Probst, Survivor's savvy host. "Well, it's time to prove it." Without fire, the players cannot boil water to make it safe to drink. Without water, fatigue becomes a factor. Thirty minutes into Sunday's show, some players are second-guessing their decision to play again. "Everybody's paranoid," says Hatch, who gets naked before 15 minutes go by. "I don't trust any of you SOBs," says Colby Donaldson, the handsome North Texan. Determined not to dehydrate, Susan Hawk drinks the well water without boiling it, rationalizing that she grew up on a lake. "I drank enough beaver poop in my life that my body can handle what might be growing in there," she says. Alliances will form. Deceit will play out. A rigorous immunity challenge will ensue. These players have been here before. They know what hunger feels like. They know the psychological quagmires of the game. By the end of Episode 1, you will see suffering. "Their fortitude impressed me," said Burnett, who boasts of being 100 percent Scottish. "In my mind, real Americans are tough people. That's what this country stands for. And all these people (the contestants) have great fortitude." The unanswered question: Will America step up and watch?
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volsfan 19846 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
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01-30-04, 08:17 PM (EST)
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8. "Who is the alliance?" |
LAST EDITED ON 01-30-04 AT 08:28 PM (EST)New alliances are formed — one so unlikely and yet perfect that the new duo is shown walking the beach in slo-mo, stirring martial music underscoring their new bond. So, who would shock us as being in an alliance? I happen to catch the CBS preview this morning and I noticed...Tina and Jerri were all touchy feely at the group photo. I am going to go over to the vid caps and see if I can find it there. ETA: This isn't the pic I saw this morning but in the group pic below, Tina has both of her hands on Jerri's shoulders. 
I just think that is strange...does any one else?  
Director of Public Relations for GAWKUR!
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TeamJoisey 3558 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Thong Contest Judge"
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01-31-04, 02:30 AM (EST)
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9. "RE: Who is the alliance?" |
The septugenarian SEAL and the hippie?John Wayne and Jerry Garcia? Rudy and Rupert!!!
These reality show contestants need a reality check!
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mavsfan 693 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
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02-01-04, 00:24 AM (EST)
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14. "RE: Who is the alliance?" |
I'll vote for Rob C & Sue Hawk.
With my back up vote being Colby & Richard.
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