The Survivor Cast

[Trekker4747]

Every season of Survivor (give or take) has Sixteen contestants.

These contestants can often be fit into the following roles:

1. The Hunk. He's the good looking guy all women want to bed, all men want to be, and all nerds got beat-up by in high-school and maybe some were fortunate to be protected by. Notable example: Colby

2. The Douche. This is the guy who pretty much does and says whatever he wants and doesn't care how it may make him look or effect his game. Notable example: Boston Rob

3. The Lovable Old(er) Man: This is the guy who often gets cast into the role of the "father figure" or someone everyone looks up to/pals with. This guy's strategy is to be liked by as many as possible. Notable example: Rupert

4. The Hottie: She's very easy on the eyes, often will use her buff as a top and flaunts the T&A to win over the men. Notable example: Amber

5. The Mary-Anne: She's The Hottie's counterpart, the Mary-Anne to her Ginger -if you will. Usually she's the cuter of the women on the show but uses less of her sexuality to get what she wants and more of her cuteness. Notable example: Colleen.

6. The Mom: Counterpart to the The Lovable Old(er) Man. She's the mom figure of the tribe and can sometimes be seen fussing over the state of the camp, failing miserably at challenges, or otherwise not providing much use. But she'll often last until near the end because no one want to vote off Mom. Notable example: Lil.

7. The Himbo. Seemingly similar to The Hunk but he offers less redeeming character qualities. He's just the bland, depth-less, hunk. Notable Example: Sean.

8. The Underdog: The geeky viewer's connection to the show. The 98lb weakling you root for because you just really want to see him make it because you've seen too many terrible 80s teen movies. Notable example: Kenny.

9. The Ass: Seemingly similar to the douche but this person has a lot less personality with it and charisma. Douches you might be able to "like" to a degree but The Ass is just unlikeable. Notable example(s): Randy, Johnny Fairplay.

10. The Grandmaster/The Gameplayer: The guy who makes landfall on the location and is already putting together his plan. He's got it all figured out and he's going to be willing to manipulate and use whomever and whatever he can to get there. Notable example: Richard

11. The Rube Goldberg: The guy who doesn't have much of a plan put makes it far anyway, or even wins. The chain of events leading to his win or his near-win is Rube Goldbergian in hindsight. Notable example: Bob.

12. The Diva: Often the sassy black woman who sets stereotypes back 20 years. Notable example: Cirie.

13. The Dead Weight: Many times this person is "cast" with a black-man (again, pandering to shitty stereotypes) but can at times be of other races. This guy is, well, a dead weight. The rest of the tribe has to support and carry his sorry ass through the game as he contributes nothing and is only still around because others have stood out more to get voted off. Notable example: Osten

14. The Gay Guy: Yet another pandering to stereotypes/demographics. Usually will express his lust for The Hunk or The Himbo in one of his earliest interviews. Notable example: Charlie

15: The Bitch: The Ass to The Diva's Douche. The Bitch is a lot tougher to like as she has little redeemable qualities. Notable example: Corinne

16: The Token: Someone of another race or other demographic (someone other than white or black) slipped in just to balance out the demographics of the tribe(s). Asian, Hispanic, middle-eastern, you name it. They've even done a deaf person to subscribe to that demographic. Sometimes there may be more than one of this player and they may take on multiple "parts."

That's how I see it. Pretty much a cross-section of every player ever on this show. I'm sure there's more "parts" people are cast in.

And I'm sorry for any offense that may be construed from my analysis. It's meant in light-heartedness and more as an example of what is wrong with shows like this and their "casting" of roles and none of my "ethnic" descriptions of these "parts" reflects my personal views on race relations. Anyone who's familiar with my posting history here knows that I harbor no bigotries.


Trekker, well except toward stupid people.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I have to disagree with the Sugar and Bob placements, though the rest is pretty much true. Bob I would place more in the lovable older man area. And the whole Rube Goldberg category I would change to "Coat-Tail Rider" and give Susie as the perfect example, as well as countless others like her that always seem to make it to the final four.

I would say that the perfect example for the Mary Anne is Amanda from Fans vs. Favorites. Sugar is more...well honestly, like I said in the other thread, I don't think she fits in any of these categories. I have met her type in real life, but they don't usually cast them on reality shows. She can be tough and confident, sweet and emotional, conniving and vindictive all at once. It's different.

I would also add a category for the Dopey One. There is always someone who just. doesn't. get it. Who is sweet and innocent and completely gullible and naive. They think they are playing the game but they really aren't...they don't seem to realize that all of the other players are on a whole different level. Great example is Matty this season. Sweet and all, but totally clueless. Another example is Parvati.

 

[Trekker4747]

I have to disagree with the Sugar and Bob placements, though the rest is pretty much true. Bob I would place more in the lovable older man area. And the whole Rube Goldberg category I would change to "Coat-Tail Rider" and give Susie as the perfect example, as well as countless others like her that always seem to make it to the final four.

I would say that the perfect example for the Mary Anne is Amanda from Fans vs. Favorites. Sugar is more...well honestly, like I said in the other thread, I don't think she fits in any of these categories. I have met her type in real life, but they don't usually cast them on reality shows. She can be tough and confident, sweet and emotional, conniving and vindictive all at once. It's different.

I would also add a category for the Dopey One. There is always someone who just. doesn't. get it. Who is sweet and innocent and completely gullible and naive. They think they are playing the game but they really aren't...they don't seem to realize that all of the other players are on a whole different level. Great example is Matty this season. Sweet and all, but totally clueless. Another example is Parvati.

Yeah, after 17 seasons of this show I was having a hard time remembering everyone for my examples. But I, sort of, agree that Sugar doesn't fit in the "Mary-Anne" role, and I could see adding a "Coat-Tail Rider" and a "Dope" catagory.

There's certainly other catagories to add into the "mix."

 

[JNG]

This may sound strange, but I don't think the consistency in casting you have identified hurts the show. Rather, it creates some expectations which are useful to the producers both in setting up conflict and in surprising viewers when it doesn't go in an expected direction.

I think this series is underrated.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I'm pretty neutral about it. I mean, most people you meet in every day life fit into these categories. Sadly, people are not as unique as we like to claim. Some people truly are, and the more you know someone the more you realize their unique qualities, but on a not-so-deep level people definitely fall into groups like this. So is it surprising that these types end up on the show? The producers want to choose people who are different from each other, since the same personality types living together would get boring. So they end up usually picking one or two people from each of these categories. Thinking about my personal life, I honestly don't know many people who wouldn't fall in line with one of these groups...

Except, that is, for all of the really introverted and quiet people, who are all around in real life but would never be cast on a reality show for obvious reasons.