topic Re: Survivor is back tonight! in TV and Movies

Survivor is back tonight!

gardenman — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:03:39 GMT

Survivor kicks off season 42 with a two-hour premiere tonight! This was filmed right after season 41, so expect the same progressive messaging we saw in season 41 as they try to be ultra-socially conscious. No more "come on in guys" allowed. We must be pronoun neutral these days to avoid offending anyone as we nearly starve them to death on an island and have them compete against one another for survival to entertain us. (Come to think of it nearly starving people to death and having them compete against one another to amuse us doesn't sound all that socially conscious, but whatever.)

This is the last of the pre-taped CBS reality shows, so we'll find out in the not-too-distant future if CBS will stick with the script they're using now, or just let players play. Big Brother 24 will give us a better feel for where CBS will go moving forward. That should be the next CBS reality show that hits the airwaves.

So, we get a two-hour premiere tonight then back to the normal one-hour shows on Wednesdays going forward. I'm not sure Survivor is "must-see TV" these days but there's not a lot else on, so I'll give it a look.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

Bri369 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:55:33 GMT

I was truly disappointed last season. I'm not expecting much different this time. It was one of my very favorite shows and I've been watching since day one.

I'll give it a shot, but I'm not expecting to love it

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

deeva — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:59:58 GMT

I hope they get rid of those stupid clues where you have to say a specific phrase to activate the advantage.

Bring back the old Survivor without umpteen hidden immunity idols.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

Effie54 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:01:16 GMT

We haven't watched it in several years....it's just strategic moves and back biting

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

ThinkingOutLoud — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:15:39 GMT

@gardenman wrote:
Survivor kicks off season 42 with a two-hour premiere tonight! This was filmed right after season 41, so expect the same progressive messaging we saw in season 41 as they try to be ultra-socially conscious. No more "come on in guys" allowed. We must be pronoun neutral these days to avoid offending anyone as we nearly starve them to death on an island and have them compete against one another for survival to entertain us. (Come to think of it nearly starving people to death and having them compete against one another to amuse us doesn't sound all that socially conscious, but whatever.)

This is the last of the pre-taped CBS reality shows, so we'll find out in the not-too-distant future if CBS will stick with the script they're using now, or just let players play. Big Brother 24 will give us a better feel for where CBS will go moving forward. That should be the next CBS reality show that hits the airwaves.

So, we get a two-hour premiere tonight then back to the normal one-hour shows on Wednesdays going forward. I'm not sure Survivor is "must-see TV" these days but there's not a lot else on, so I'll give it a look.

Agree and give CBS a thumbs down for it. Looked over the cast and wish it were a more accurate depiction of the country. The show was so much better in the beginning.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

CelticCrafter — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:38:40 GMT

Hope it's better than last year. I don't remember if I even finished watching the whole season. I don't think I did.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

DrKelli — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:41:13 GMT

I hope we don't have all the 'twists'. That made the game very annoying last season. But it did allow the winner to win . . .

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

KingstonsMom — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 19:31:32 GMT

I recently read that they'll be having a contestant who is male, but is transitioning to the female gender.

He/she still has male equipment, but also female breasts, I guess that's considered being "ultra-socially conscious"?

I'll bet that the other contestants have a big surprise coming....

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

CelticCrafter — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 20:54:13 GMT

@KingstonsMom wrote:
I recently read that they'll be having a contestant who is male, but is transitioning to the female gender.

He/she still has male equipment, but also female breasts, I guess that's considered being "ultra-socially conscious"?

I'll bet that the other contestants have a big surprise coming....

Well, after reading this I'm out.

People can be what they want and do what they want but why do they feel it's necessary to publicize the fact and shove it down the throats of everyone else.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

Bri369 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 22:42:48 GMT

Zeke from Millennials vs. Gen X was transgender female to male. Jeff Varner outed him. I believe he played twice.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

Pantsonfire2 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 02:00:38 GMT

@gardenman ... I'll be watching ... unless they go to "WOKE" this season ... then count me out. I have plenty of other shows to watch !!

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

jellyBEAN — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 04:36:15 GMT

I always enjoyed and looked forward to Survivor. Last season was the pits or so I thought anyway. I agree that people should be who they wanna be and thats fine, but don't shove it down my throat and harp on it all season long.

I'm also sick of the challenges = go thru an obstacle course and then solve a puzzle.

Jump in the water, retrieve this, swim there and then solve a puzzle.

It wasn't only the cast I didn't care for last season, it was that Zander didn't get one vote and I think he was deserving of the win. Not one vote!! I guess they thought he was privileged in some way, thus not deserving.

CBS / Probst forgets that all this is, is a game show where someone wants to win $1M dollars. Its not the great social experiment of the century like they claim it to be. I'll have to be really bored this weekend to maybe catch this On Demand, but my gut is telling me not to bother.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

Etoile308 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 07:38:51 GMT

Another season where I'm underwhelmed. Not a fan of these twist and changes in the game.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

bayflwc — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 10:04:19 GMT

Glad I recorded it because I fell asleep 5 minutes in. From what I saw of the people playing, I wasn't very impressed, but will re-watch it in case my first impressions can be changed.

I've watched since the first season and tend to agree with most of you that it just isn't as good as it was when it started. The game has evolved a lot, and I can see why they keep trying to add the new twists. I think it has a lot to do with some of the players having watched and studied the strategies that work and don't work in previous seasons, so they have to switch it up to make it interesting and keep them guessing.

I also agree that the challenges are pretty routine anymore, ending up with a puzzle, and the food situation is not as dire as it used to be. I think the contestants themselves are very different and that has more to do with their ages and mindset. As far as the transgender guy being on and being up front and revealing it to everyone, I think that was a good move on his part, rather than hiding who he is. I have no problem with it. People are people.

I will continue to watch and look forward to the discussion here. Thank you, gardenman, for taking the lead again to get it started.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

gardenman — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 13:02:34 GMT

My only real issue with the transgender guy is the way CBS exploited him. They knew before filming started that he was on lithium and couldn't compete, but they put him on the show anyway, had him tell his story, then excused him for medical reasons. That was exploiting him and using him simply to create a narrative rather than have a real player on the show.

Reality shows typically have at least two spare players (one male, one female) in sequester with the rest of the cast in case they're needed. (Given the covid situation, I'd be surprised if they didn't have more than two these days.) Whoever the spare guy was this year lost a chance to compete because he didn't have as good of a story as their transgender guy.

You just know the producers loved the guy's story. Born a girl, transitioned to a guy. Shunned by his family, then comes back to care for his dying mother, the family reunites and comes back together as Mom lies dying. Now he's on Survivor telling the world his story. Rather than put someone on who could play the game, they opted to include him instead, knowing he couldn't play the game, but they loved his story. That was tacky on their part.

As to the rest of the show, it's another challenging season with way too many twists and turns already. We have three people allied with some power, that if they stick together, they retain, but if they can kill off the other two it becomes an immunity idol. We have the stupid island with the ship's wheel in play again for more twists. We have the roll the dice thing still in use also. Ugh! I don't want to have to be taking notes on who's got what when I'm watching a show. Can we please just get to a show where I don't need a spreadsheet to know who has what power?

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

ThinkingOutLoud — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 15:56:11 GMT

Agree with you @gardenman about CBS caring more about the person's story and it being unfair to someone else that could've played. I also think it was unfair to that team.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

mimomof4 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 16:20:48 GMT

I use to love Survivor but didn't watch the fall season and dont' know if I'll turn into this season either. I guess after over 20 years, I've lost interest.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

VanSleepy — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 17:28:56 GMT

I figured all the dumb twists from last season would still be around since they filmed this one immediately after. I do not understand the advantage with the three people (who put the mud on each other). Hopefully it will become clearer as time goes on. And the guy smears fake blood on himself? Did he not think about the fact that he'd have no cuts or

scratches when the blood washed off? And they didn't show the other tribe members asking any questions to those three or the three from the prisoner's dilemma.

I don't think the guy with the dislocated shoulder is going to make it. It looked like it was reinjured already.

Totally agree with @gardenman about the transgender guy. CBS needed their moment again and denied someone else a chance.

At least I don't hate anyone yet.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

nekodaisy — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 17:32:23 GMT

Tried watching it this morning but like previous poster after all these years I think I am done with it. Deleted it 20 minutes in and will no longer be recording it.

If I need a fix can always go in and watch older seasons. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Re: Survivor is back tonight!

DrKelli — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 17:54:10 GMT

So all the stupid 'twists' remain.

I'm glad both teams solved the puzzle and got their basics. There are a couple of people I already don't like. I don't know their names yet, but the young lady who is the seminary student needs to dial it back a few notches. Annoying people do not last long.

As for the transgender contestant, I think CBS was absolutely wrong. If they knew they were going to pull him, they should not have put him through that. (I think it's a female to male, correct? I want to be sure I have the right pronouns) The fact they were transgender doesn't bother me. That's their story, not mine.

The whole smear each other with fake blood and mud was just stupid.

And I did notice that the season is short again. I wonder if they will go back to a 39 day pattern after this. I think Fiji is going to be a 'permanent' home for Survivor, yes?