Let me be honest -- I am no fan of Jonny Fairplay. I have no problem when Survivor contestants lie and deceive, but I have no respect for the way Fairplay plays the game, and his appearances on other reality shows have shown him to be a real-deal headcase. Yeah, I'm just not into him.
But there's something fishy about the way he became the first tribemate eliminated on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites. Within the span of what seemed like hours he went from being in a position of power (the swing vote between the two alliances of four), to the pawn in the plan of Parvati, of all people. There may have been some self-sabotage in there, and the feeling that he couldn't live up to his infamous name. Maybe he really did miss his now-wife and mother of his child Michelle (the lesbian from America's Next Top Model). And perhaps he had already convinced everyone to vote for him by the time they got to tribal council and it just was not shown on tv.
But then there's Probst.
It's been well documented that Jeff Probst and Fairplay don't get along, and that he objected to Fairplay's casting on the show. In fact, from the first moment the favorties were assembled, Probst shot a zinger at Fairplay ("I like to know that you have aspirations to get out of your current place in life") that was a personal assault, masked as playful jibe.
But at tribal council, it appeared to be his mission to call Fairplay out. 90% of the questions Probst asked (that were shown on tv) were to or about Fairplay, as he tried to uncover whether Fairplay was interested in quitting the game. In fact, he essentially challenged him to quit the game, forcing himself to defend his ability to be a good father. Consider the following (kinda hysterical!) exchange:
Fairplay: "All I think about is my little baby Piper okay. I mean, am I being a crappy father by being here?"
Probst: "But...you're not a father yet."
Fairplay: "Yeah, I'm this close."
Probst followed that up with "So you wanna go home?" and every subsequent question he asked was about Fairplay -- whether he was making an excuse and wanted to go home, or if his tribemates thought it was a scheme, peppered with comments like "Fairplay has a reputation of pulling scams and lying," which seemed to be subliminal suggestions to vote him out. And, of course, he asked Fairplay straight out "So it's a quit?"
Perhaps I'm just being a conspiracy theorist -- there is obviously a lot of footage that is not televised, and what happened in tribal council may have had no effect on the end result.
But still...I'm watching you Probst.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Conspiracy Theory: Did Jeff Probst Engineer Jonny Fairplay's Exit on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Rumor Mill: Will Survivor Go All Star Again?
According to Marc Berman over at Mediaweek, there is a rumor circulating that next spring's edition of Survivor will be an all-star edition. The show's first all-star edition, featuring the likes of Richard Hatch, Susan Hawk, Ethan Zohn, and Jenna Morasca, took place in 2004 . Of course, this was the version of the series that was won by Amber Brkich and led to the reality television ubiquity of "Romber" (Brkich and Rob Mariano).
Here's my question -- would the new all-star version only include contestants that have appeared on the show since the last all-star version? Because here's the thing -- I can't remember any. Sure, if I wracked my brain I could come up with names like Tom Weston and Yul, and I know Fiji's participants Earl, Yao Man, and Dreamz. But, really, there haven't been the kind of characters in recent seasons that are as memorable as the ones who populated the show's first several seasons. I mean, who can forget Colby? Or Rupert? Or Kathy? If I, a loyal viewer of the show since the beginning, can't immediately summons the names of contestant's from the past few seasons, I can't imagine the casual viewer will find another all-star edition very interesting. Does CBS expect this latest version to be a hit?
Or maybe it will be open to all-stars from all seasons, allowing for some repeat participants. In other words, bring back Ethan!!
Stay tuned for more info on the all-star version as it comes in...
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Monday, May 14, 2007
Earl Wins Survivor Fiji
Earl Cole has, very deservingly, won Survivor Fiji.
In a controversy-laden finale, which found Dreamz reneging on the deal he made with Yao Man to give Yao his immunity necklace in exchange for the truck that Yao won at an earlier challenge, the most level headed, smartest player ended up taking home the big prize in a unanimous vote. I couldn't be happier.
No matter how many season finales of Survivor I have watched over the years (and there's a whole lot of them), I always get excited when the final Tribal Council rolls around. Invariably one or two contestants totally embarrass themselves by revealing how petty they are, while a couple other contestants generally prove themselves to be more mature than I may have originally given them credit for. Alex and Lisi definitely fall into the former category, as both made total asses out of themselves. Alex -- we get it, you're a lawyer. You're also lame.
Stacey, meanwhile, asked a very valid question that gave Earl an opportunity to remind the jury that the prize should not be awarded based on need, but based on merit. Apparently, the jury members all listened.
Yao, too, was a very good sport, considering he probably should have won the top prize. He was constantly surprising and entertaining, winning tons of challenges, and strategizing like a madman. To be honest, I can't say I blame Dreamz for his decision -- to pass up a chance at $1 million dollars just because he gave his word is totally contrary to the way the game should be played, and Yao has to have known that he took a big chance in making the deal in the first place.
I didn't like, however, that Dreamz refused to admit that he had originally taken the deal thinking he was going to honor it -- anyone who watched the show over the past few weeks could clearly see that was his original intent, and he later changed his mind when he realized what he had agreed to. It was, however, pretty dang amusing to watch Jeff Probst try to draw that out of him!
All in all, a pretty entertaining season, and a deserving winner. See ya next year in China, Survivor!
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