Schizophrenic Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites Sends Yau-Man Packin'

No doubt, this season of Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites has been entertaining. The problem is, I feel like I'm watching a show with multiple personality disorder!

At times, I'm watching a show with old favorites -- hey look, it's James! Awwww, Cirie made a funny! But then, suddenly, I'm watching a show where I don't recognize half of the people. What's going on here?

Clearly the airtime of this season was going to weigh in the favor of, well, the favorites -- the audience knows and wants to see them. But aside from Joel, Cathy, Mikey (I think) and Chet, I couldn't name another fan. Oh, Tracy -- there's one more. I'd like to know these people -- I'm just not being told anything about them. It's an odd thing for a Survivor fan -- I'm used to rooting for the underdog, and now I'm rooting for the titular "favorites." But, seriously, how can I not? They are much more dramatic and interesting!

Speaking of the faves, they eliminated Yau-Man tonight, thanks to Cirie commandeering the game. It's too bad he's been eliminated so early -- he really didn't get the chance to show off his charming quirkiness this season as much as he did the last time he was on the show. The logic for his elimination is slightly shady -- apparently, as Jonathan Penner said, "he's either the weak link or the biggest threat, I'm not sure which." Bottom line -- the foursome needed to vote with Cirie or risk losing one of their own, and Yau-Man took the hit.

Cirie's power play was slightly out of character for the hysterical "couch potato," and, if I'm being honest, was ill-advised at this point in the game. She's still going to be the low man on the totem pole of the Ozzy/Amanda/James/Parvati alliance, but now she's made a power play and created a stink when a stink wasn't necessary. Why the two alliances didn't turn to each other and say "Let's just vote off Cirie" is beyond me.

Ultimately, I'm glad they didn't -- I like Cirie, and it looks like she's determined to make her presence felt in the game this go round. I'm not sure she chose the sturdiest alliance to join, but I'm curious to see how things will turn out.

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Survivor and Supermodel Recaps Delayed

As I spent last night with my Valentine's Day sweetheart not watching reality TV, recaps of Survivor and Make Me a Supermodel will be delayed until this weekend.

Sorry!

Conspiracy Theory: Did Jeff Probst Engineer Jonny Fairplay's Exit on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites?

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.

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IDOL MADNESS: THE GAME

February Premiere Dates and Specials: Survivor, Big Brother, Top Model and More!

February is just around the corner, which means a slew of new shows (Lipstick Jungle, Baby Borrowers) season premieres (Big Brother, Survivor, Top Model, Jericho), specials (Grammys and Oscars, Celine Dion) and TV movies (A Raisin in the Sun).

Here's a list of premiere dates

Sunday February 3

6:00 PM FOX Super Bowl!

10:15 PM FOX House

Wednesday February 6

8:00 PM The CW America's Next Top Model: Favorite Moments

Thursday February 7

8:00 PM CBS Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites

10:00 PM MTV Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew

10:01 PM NBC Lipstick Jungle

Sunday February 10

8:00 PM CBS Grammy Awards

Tuesday February 12

9:00 PM CBS Big Brother 9, Tuesday premiere

10:00 PM CBS Jericho

Wednesday February 13

8:00 PM The CW America's Next Top Model: Favorite Moments Part II

8:00PM CBS Big Brother 9, Wednesday premiere

Friday February 15

9:00 PM CBS Special: Celine Dion: That's Just the Woman in Me

Sunday February 17

8:00 PM CBS Big Brother 9, Sunday premiere

9:00 PM NBC Knight Rider: Pilot

10:00 PM CBS Dexter (cable run series premiere)

Monday February 18

8:00 PM NBC Baby Borrowers

9:00 PM The CW Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious

9:00 PM NBC Quarterlife

Wednesday February 20

8:00 PM The CW America's Next Top Model

Sunday February 24

7:00 PM ABC Barbara Walters Oscar Special

8:30 PM ABC 80th Annual Academy Awards

Monday February 25

8:00 PM FOX Moment of Truth

8:00 ABC TV Movie: A Raisin in the Sun

Exclusive: Survivor's Jonny Fairplay Propsoses to Top Model's Michelle!

Here's an Idol Thoughts exclusive for ya, straight from the mouth (or e-mail) of Idol Thoughts reader Thomas...

At a public fundraiser in Danville, Virginia on New Year's Eve, Survivor's Jon Dalton (aka the notorious Jonny Fairplay) proposed marriage to a very pregnant Michelle, who is best known as the sexually confused contestant from America's Next Top Model. She accepted his proposal.

According to Thomas, Jonny was clean shaven and introduced himself as "Jonny Fairplay", but gave a nod toward tradition by actually getting down on one knee as he took the micrphone from the band to make it public.

Quite the couple, no?

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SPOILER: All-Stars For Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites Revealed!

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

Always take spoiler info with a grain of salt, but the internet is buzzing with rumors of the ten returning all-stars for Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites this February. Here's who I'm hearing it will be:

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

James (Survivor: China)
Amanda (Survivor: China)
Yau-Man (Survivor: Fiji)
Jonathan (Survivor: Cook Islands)
Ozzy (Survivor: Cook Islands)
Parvati (Survivor: Cook Islands)
Cerie (Survivor: Panama)
Ami (Survivor: Vanuatu)
Eliza (Survivor: Vanuatu)

and...believe it or not...

Jonny Fairplay (Survivor: Pearl Islands)

Fairplay? Really? Ugh.

As for the rest of the list, there were a few names I had to wrack my head to remember (Eliza?), but all in all, they are not bad choices. They clearly decided not to go with previous winners, and they've only brought back all-stars who have been on the show since the last all-star edition.

What do you think? Do you believe these? Is there someone's name you wish was here but isn't?
Source: Cold Leftovers

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Which Favorites Will Return for Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites?

Now that we know the next installment of Survivor will be called Fans vs. Favorites, the question becomes...which favorites will return?

Jeff Probst announced last night that at least one contestant from Survivor: China will be returning, and I'd be shocked (shocked!) if he was not referring to James. The big guy was loved by nearly everyone who watched the show, and due to his Immunity Idol blunder he was prematurely voted off, so it's seems a bit of a no-brainer that he will return.

Who else will be back? Will it be limited to contestants since the last All Star version of the show, or is any contestant fair game?

Here's a few of the folks on my wish-list...who's on yours?

Yau-Man Chan
Earl Cole
Dreamz
Cirie Fields
Yul Kwon
Stephenie LaGrossa
Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth
Rob Mariano
Kathy Varick O'Brien
Tom Westman
Ethan Zohn

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Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites: I'm Freaking Out!

Survivor just announced that this February, super-fans of the show will go head-to-head with all-stars from the show's past, in an incarnation called Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites. I'm freaking out!

This is so much better than an all all-star version, as the former castaways will have to band together to fight off the superfans. It's gonna be awesome.

Stay tuned for a full recap of tonight's finale...

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