Survivor 26: Fans vs Favorites Discussion

[Roger Wilco]

Skywalker wrote:

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I love that Francesca was the first one voted out again! I really don't understand why they brought her back as a "favorite." A favorite of who? Jeff Probst? Because I highly doubt she was high on anyone's list as a fan favorite.

A favourite of the producers, because she's apparently very good friends with a bunch of former Survivor player, who went absolutely crazy on Andrea on twitter after the episode aired...

[Skywalker]

Roger Wilco wrote:

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A favourite of the producers, because she's apparently very good friends with a bunch of former Survivor player, who went absolutely crazy on Andrea on twitter after the episode aired...

Yeah, I heard about that. High school really never ends, does it?

[JirinPanthosa]

DigificWriter wrote:

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^ Yes, it does; the ratings for seasons that have featured returning players have generally outperformed seasons that haven't ratings-wise, and are generally considered to be among the best seasons of the show from a popularity standpoint.

Heroes & Villains is generally considered the best season, but the others? All Stars was boring and predictable. The first Fans vs Favorites was pretty average. Rob's season was pretty good, I guess. Coach's season was passable, and last season was average. Guatemala, yeah, I would consider that among my favorites but not because of Stephanie and Bobby Jon. (And why haven't they ever brought back any of the great people from that season?! Danni, Rafe, Brian, Amy, the entire cast was gold that year.)

Other than Guatemala none of the seasons where only two or three cast members came back have been that great.

I have to question your statement that the seasons where cast members came back have better ratings, looking at the Wikipedia page.

Yes, All Stars and Heroes vs Villians got higher ratings. South Pacific, One World and Phillipines did not. They seem to just be normal seasons in the gradual decline of ratings. Guatemala got lower ratings than the season before. The first fans vs favorites got lower ratings than the season before and after.

It seems that bringing back old players only generates higher ratings if the entire cast is old players.

If I were to rank the best seasons:

1. Heroes vs Villains
2. Guatemala
3. Season 1
4. Pearl Islands
5. Australia
6. Amazon
7. Russell season 1
8. Vanutatu
9. Season Todd won (Todd & Stephen, why have they never come back?)
10. Rob 4th season (Okay, that was a pretty good season.)

If they were going to bring back somebody who was voted out early, why Francesca? Why not Betsy? Why not 'Beat you down' Amy?

[wissaboo]

there is the possibility that people don't want to come back

[Garak]

Someone needs to tell the cool kids that math can be your friend. Going in 4 strong against 6 will get you in trouble every....single.....time.

Well she was nice to look at but I can't even remember her name, so I'm not really too chuffed that she was voted off.

The odds of the guy finding the immunity idol, then being spotted with a bulge then being called out on the first tribal about it are pretty incredible! Although people see a bulge in my pants all the time, so there's that.

Brandon is just messed up, I said to my wife that if I was in his tribe I wouldn't even be able to converse with him, he's just a lunatic and no good can come of even speaking to the guy. Cochrane NAILED It when he said that Brandon goes from saying harsh, incredibly bad things and then following it up with a nice friendly comment.

Phillip thinks he's a superstar even though Rob carried his ass the entire game when he last played. I like how the girl is keeping the Marine in her pocket as her Phillip.

So far so good. Me likey.

[Spot's Meow]

If Philip thinks you're crazy, you've REALLY gone off the deep end.

[Roger Wilco]

Garak wrote:

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Phillip thinks he's a superstar even though Rob carried his ass the entire game when he last played. I like how the girl is keeping the Marine in her pocket as her Phillip.

I like her a lot so far. She's funny and clearly understands the game far better than the Cool Kids (which isn't saying much).

I also think Shamar is probably a really good guy in real life, although he's behaving like an idiot on the island.

[Garak]

Yeah, but the strategy of intentionally acting like an idiot on Survivor has never really worked......I don't think.

Laying on your ass and not doing any work is one of the most damaging things you can do in Survivor. Jurors also always seem to respect the people that do work around the camp.

[Skywalker]

Acting like an idiot and ostracizing the jury is a good strategy if you're aiming for the runner-up position. You latch yourself on to a strategic player and ride them to the end. You may not win, but you still get a solid chunk of change.

[Yoda]

Thought the second ep wasn't every interesting... Hantz was a let down, and it looked like they advertised the same thing for next week again? Fool me once guys...

I don't really see Shamar as being a good guy in real life either personally. Seems like the kind of dude who gets off on starting trouble at dive bars to me. In San Diego that type of marine is a dime a dozen.

Here is what I like about the Fans vs Favorites format... It cuts way down on figuring out all the new players. 24 new people for each season is just too much. When they just give one returning player per tribe or whatever... it's not enough. This way it will take me a matter of weeks to figure out which blonde chick is which instead of the usual months. That's how I want my brainless reality TV. Extra brainless.

[JirinPanthosa]

The way it's usually cut though, you don't need to learn all the characters' names at once, you don't need to learn them until they do something interesting or get voted out.

But, I do like 'All star cast' seasons. The ones I don't like are the 'Only two or three returning players' seasons. I like it when new strategic players like Todd or Stephen or Yau-man get to come into their own.

Brandon has to be one of the creepiest players ever to play. He talks about how he used to be a bully but isn't anymore, then chooses someone to hate and bullies them, and tells the camera how he's doing it because he's morally better.

We've seen three Hantzes on TV, and Russell seems to be the most well adjusted one.

Shamar seems to me like someone who's a fun guy to hang out with, but comes in to work late every day and then acts like he's doing you a favor whenever he does his job.

[Greg Cox]

Brandon seems to be a very troubled young man, who can't make up his mind as what kind of man he wants to be. He wants to be a badass and a good Christian, a Hantz and not a Hantz. So he swings wildly back and forth in a frankly scary manner.

And then there are his issues with women . . . .

[Snaploud]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Brandon seems to be a very troubled young man, who can't make up his mind as what kind of man he wants to be. He wants to be a badass and a good Christian, a Hantz and not a Hantz. So he swings wildly back and forth in a frankly scary manner.

He reminds me of abusive husbands who go crazy and then apologize later.

And then there are his issues with women . . . .

No kidding. He's the type of guy who probably invented the phrase "she was asking for it" when it comes to rape. He thinks every good-looking woman is trying to steal him away from god.

[Roger Wilco]

I'll have to revise my opinion about Shamar. He's probably just an asshole after all.

eta: still amusing to see the Cool Kids Alliance get picked off one after another though.

[Pegaritaville]

I was a little confused about the fans' plan to flush out the idol. They split the vote, but the only "Cool Kids" alliance member they didn't vote for was the guy that actually had the idol. Why not target him and force him to use his idol?