Posted Nov 27th 2009 2:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E11) Oh my. Evil Russell from
Survivor looks like some sort of deranged Buddha gone bad in this screen capture from tonight's episode. Tonight, like every Thanksgiving episode, was the clips show boasting previously unseen footage. It's not surprising that they do this each year. With the format of the show, they can't run a real repeat. And, if they were to air a new episode on the holiday, many folks would end up missing it. I'm usually disappointed with the footage shown, but tonight we did have a few surprises and interesting bits -- nothing earth-shattering, mind you.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - The First 27 Days
Posted Nov 20th 2009 12:30AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E10) Now, isn't this a good time to be a
Survivor fan? Part of the problem with long-running reality shows is that they've run out of ideas and it's hard to keep things fresh and new. They end up depending on whatever outlandish and over-the-top characters they can line up for the season. Some are a dismal failure. Case in point, "Coach" Ben Wade last year. Sure, he was a nutty kind of guy. But he couldn't play the game well despite all of his bravado. This season is casting done right. And tonight's episode was just as good as last week's show.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - The Day of Reckoning
Posted Nov 13th 2009 1:09PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Sports, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Survivor, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Ratings, NCIS, The Mentalist, The Big Bang Theory
"Did you hear who's going to play during the Super Bowl halftime show?"
"No, who?"
"That's what I just said. Who."
"No, seriously. Which is the band that's going to appear?"
"It's Who."
"I'm not talking proper English. Which band will be on CBS's halftime show on February 7 at Landshark Stadium in Miami?"
"The Who -- you know, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend. 'Tommy, can you hear me?'"
"Oh! Why didn't you just say that!"
Okay, I couldn't resist the nod to Abbott and Costello's
Who's On First. But the fact is that
Sports Illustrated has spread the word that
The Who will star in the Super Bowl big, overblown half-time pageant. This follows the safe pattern the NFL has been employing since the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake costume malfunction; that is, stick with classic rock stars who are guaranteed to do their hits and not disrobe. That's why we've had Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and now The Who. All superstar acts, no controversy.
Continue reading CBS plans Super Bowl halftime and... what comes on after the game
Posted Nov 13th 2009 1:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E09) If you haven't watched this episode of
Survivor, stop right now. Watch it. Oh, don't go by the expression on John's face. That's the face I had when the show started. Yet now I'm downright perky and alert. For me, this started off being a real iffy season. But, as folks really play the game, I'm all excited about it all over again. Some play it poorly, but there are a few movers and shakers this season.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Tastes Like Chicken
Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:00AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E08) I know this photo might be considered sort of spoilerish for the front page. But since last week's
Survivor promo showed the merge going down, I know you all know Evil Russell will attempt to work everyone. Heck, that's what the guy does. To me, he comes off akin to a snake oil salesman. Yet he seems to get people to believe his wily ways. I bet he could have sold a lot of snake oil a century back.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - All Hell Breaks Loose
Posted Oct 30th 2009 12:50AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E07) Even though we're down a Russell this week on
Survivor, I'll continue to refer to the remaining Russell as "Evil Russell." It just somehow fits even without a confusion of Russells. However, there is just one Shambo. Although she's a good worker in camp and works hard on the challenges, that might be a good thing. One Shambo is quite enough. Perhaps she's just too nice to be on the show. Perhaps she is a bit dim. I just don't know.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Houdini Magic
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 8:30AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Survivor, Celebrities, Big Brother (US)
Lately, what we've been hearing about reality television has been awful. The winner of
Big Brother became a drug dealer by using his prize money to bankroll his illegal activities.
A family that appeared on Wife Swap perpetrated a hoax involving their six-year-old son and a helium balloon. Is there anything good to say about reality TV?
Here's something.
Survivor: Cook Islands winner Yul Kwon is joining the FCC. He has been named deputy chief of the consumer and governmental affairs bureau for the FCC.
That's the Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Julius Genachowski made the appointment, and it wasn't because Yul did well in challenges.
Continue reading Survivor winner appointed to FCC post
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 12:13AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E06) Well, this was the most unusual episode of
Survivor I've ever seen. Mind you, I've seen all of them since the first season. I won't get into why it was so unusual until after the jump just in case you've missed all of the hype over the injured castaway in commercials all this week. But it wasn't just the injury which made it unusual. It was all discombobulated.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - This Is the Man Test
Posted Oct 16th 2009 1:06PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Celebrities
Dear Rich,
You don't mind if I call you Rich, do you? I feel like I know you well. And it's not just because I watched you walking around naked on an island somewhere either. No, it's because you were on
Survivor twice and in both those instances, you really impressed me with your game-playing. You deserved to win that first
Survivor. You earned it,
Richard Hatch. You outwit, outplayed and outlasted all the rest, including Sue who probably wanted to kill you.
So,
now that you're out of jail -- hopefully for good -- I'm rooting for you to get your stuff together and move on with life. That means shut your mouth. Stop yapping about how the authorities are conspiring against you. Stop saying it's because you're gay.
The first thing you must do is pay the back taxes on the prize money you legitimately won. Surely, you know that's how they got Al Capone. Pay the IRS, man. Start a payment system, they'll accept that.
Continue reading An open letter to ex-con Richard Hatch
Posted Oct 16th 2009 1:55AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E05) We're into the fifth episode of
Survivor and I'm still getting some of the cast mixed up. True, they're mostly on the larger Galu tribe -- the ones who keep winning, yet we only see a focus on a select few. We all know "Good" Russell and Shambo. Did you know that someone named Brett is on the Galu tribe? No. Really, I'm not kidding. He got some airtime tonight. At this point, they could stick in stunt doubles and we wouldn't know the difference!
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: Walking on Thin Ice
Posted Oct 8th 2009 10:53PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E04) So far we've had one of those lopsided seasons on
Survivor. We've seen this happen before -- one tribe keeps winning, the other keeps right on losing. The numbers on the latter are decimated going into the merge which allows the stronger tribe to keep picking them off one by one. I prefer things a bit more evenly matched. The tribal losses affect both the strong and weak players across the board. Once a tribe keeps losing every challenge, morale goes down. Then they lose some more.
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: Hungry For a Win
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:28AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E03) If I had my druthers and could choose which weirdo to watch take over
Survivor between Evil Russell and Ben "Coach" Wade from last season, I'd surely go for Russell. Don't get me wrong. I don't like Russell. I wouldn't invite him over for dinner or send him a birthday card. But he's playing the game and, despite saying he's not there to work, he works around camp and at the challenges. However, his expertise in work at camp is playing mind games. Wade did diddly. Now if only I knew what a druthers was.
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: It's Called A Russell Seed
Posted Sep 29th 2009 12:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Survivor, Reality-Free
What happens when the producer of
Survivor collaborates with his wife, an actress who starred in
Touched by an Angel, in a story created by the guy who brought us
Dirty Sexy Money? Do you get
Touched by a Dirty Sexy Angel? I guess that's what CBS will find out because
Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are teaming with Craig Wright for a drama project for CBS.
Burnett, he of
Survivor and a half-dozen other reality shows, is married to
Angel star Roma Downey, and they're both executive producers while Wright is doing the writing for Sony Pictures TV. The show is the story of a lawyer who nearly dies in a car crash and gets a second chance at life when the ghost of his ex-wife appears to him.
Continue reading Mark Burnett gets real for CBS drama
Posted Sep 25th 2009 1:18AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E02) Controversy is good for a show, don't you think? When you think about it, we're on the 19th season of
Survivor. There are only so many fresh new challenges and twists you can do with a bunch of folks stuck in the jungle. What to do? We saw it last season -- come up with outrageous cast members. The same tactic is in practice this season, perhaps two for the price of one. Evil has a name and we know it's Russell. Stupid Jerk Bully has a name ... and, believe it or not, that name isn't Russell.
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: Taking Candy From a Baby
Posted Sep 21st 2009 7:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: The Amazing Race, Survivor, Celebrities, Awards, Emmys
Survivor host Jeff Probst won Best Reality Host last night, but the big news was when he told reporters that
The Amazing Race has already won for Best Reality Competition Show seven times and
should take itself out of the running!
So, is this just sour grapes or does Probst have a point? Maybe Probst should go on
The Amazing Race and Phil Keoghan should go on
Survivor and see who can last the longest.
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