February 16, 2001

12:51 PM

Casting call goes out for Survivor IIICBS issues a cattle call for idiots to broadcast their idiocy on national TV this fall. Is it me, or are the two current cast members who work in the computer industry total dolts or what? Who's the bigger embarassment to the high-tech industry, this guy or this guy?
posted by darren (19 comments total)

one of my good friends is preparing a tape. i don't think he's an idiot -- he's just a guy who enjoys pushing himself to the limits hiking, camping, etc.
posted by sugarfish at 1:02 PM on February 16, 2001

Survivor would be cool if it didn't suck so much. I mean, the whole premise of "fuck people over to win a lot of money" just doesn't spark me the way something else might.

Y'know, like more attention given to activities of, well, survival. That might be cool. I like the whole problem solving & teamwork stuff. Somebody oughtta rip off the idea and do it better, with the "winner" being determined by who stays the longest... yeah!

Anyway, if I were to enter, I'd put on the "food allergies" part that I'm allergic to eating all nasty bug-like things, and fish. :)

But I won't enter - got a small kid, don't trust the producers, etc.
posted by beth at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2001

If I were rude I'd say the biggest dolts are those who watch the show.

But I'm not, so I won't say it.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 1:32 PM on February 16, 2001

with the "winner" being determined by who stays the longest

Kind of like a Life or Death Hands on a Hardbody?

If you did that, you'd have people literally dying within the first season or two.
posted by jpoulos at 1:46 PM on February 16, 2001

Sugarfish, what if your friend pushed himself to the limit *without* network TV, cameras, self-conscious hype, contrived scenarios, etc. People have been pushing themselves for years without a TV show to propel them.
posted by Karl at 2:25 PM on February 16, 2001

Oh hush, all you sour-pusses. Loosen.

Both mike and jeff are idiots. With any luck, the companies they work for went under while they were in the outback and they went back to selling used cars.
However, I personally can't wait to see who gets trichinosis (sp) first from eating wild pig :D
posted by Hackworth at 2:44 PM on February 16, 2001

I'd be happier if there was a modicum of honesty in the job descs: "aspiring actress", my arse. And I'm an aspiring Nobel Prize winner for Literature.
posted by holgate at 4:15 PM on February 16, 2001

Ah, Steven, I'll shrug that off. I wasn't addicted to the first one, but I watched, and found it fascinating, Burnett-inspired manipulation and ridiculously melodramatic editing notwithstanding.

The survival part of the game, of course, is not the essential part of winning. That's all covered in the book about Richard Hatch and the continuing columns by its author at the Stingray updates, or in this excellent list of strategy recommendations for future players. In fact, I'm actually impressed with some of the subtlety the producers are working into the quasi-simulated drama -- last week they showed Jerri saying something to the camera that contradicted what she'd just been shown telling another contestant, then cut to a shot of a black-widow-esque spider weaving a web. This week there was a shift in alliances that I didn't even catch (honestly -- I know I'd be eaten alive in this game), but the addicts who were paying attention to the placement of every pawn on the board caught instantly.

It's just dumb entertainment, some voyeurism, completely biased editing of people into "characters", and it's done with a lot more alacrity than any other reality game show out there (unless you count Millionaire). The host (nicknamed "Anal Probe" by msg board non-fans) is actually showing some personality this time around, toying with the contestants ("If you miss this trivia question, you'll really be in trouble with the team, right?" or "The other tribe's really kicking your ass right now. They caught a pig!"), and the editing is backing him up, warranted or not, so that we really DO think that team is a bunch of whatevers.

Even given all the artificial goo laden over the game, it's proven to be just as much of a challenge for fans to figure out what's real and what's editing, what's happening on its own and what's happening with producer prompting. The lawsuit issue just upped the ante on that meta-game discussion -- it looks to me like 90% of the fans are dismissing it as sour grapes of someone who knew what she was getting into.

I do wonder if it can all be sustained. That strategy guide suggests that each successive group of contestants will be more wary. We can already see that in how the first series had several people thinking they could get ahead by e.g. catching fish; this series if you catch fish for the tribe you're viewed as a transparent suck-up.

Hackworth, trichinosis is rare in Australia. Anyway, the meat looked like it was practically seared. I just couldn't get enough of Kimmi going PETA (I think that's the term in play for crying and wandering away from hungry people eating meat). What kind of outing did she think she was on, anyway? One presumption about that hunt, though: they probably had a guy with a gun working alongside the camera crew in case the boar got dangerous. Michael still had to catch it himself.

Really, I don't take this seriously. I just have too much TV time this year. ;-)
posted by dhartung at 7:59 PM on February 16, 2001

My vote is for Jeff in regards to most embarassing. He had no shame whatsoever in filling out his profile. Watch out, ladies, he loves to finish his day with a round of "great sex", as opposed to lame or even rotten sex.
I'm not too concerned with the intelligentsia concensus, the show has it's amusing novelty aspect and shouldn't be taken seriously. We like it even of only to complain about it.
posted by xtrmntr at 9:18 PM on February 16, 2001

Dammit! Dhartung, your runing my fun! ;)

Well, it's still got a ways to go, I'm sure there are other interesting parasites in Australia...
posted by Hackworth at 10:00 PM on February 16, 2001

Hey, the cow brains could give them Creutzfeld-Jakob. SURVIVOR MAD COW SHOCK HORROR!
posted by dhartung at 11:19 PM on February 16, 2001

If I were rude I'd say the biggest dolts are those who watch the show.

I love Web addicts who look down their noses at people who watch TV. It's like someone at Burger King sneering at the people eating at McDonald's.

Count me as one of the dolts who loves Survivor. The show develops stronger characters than most of the dramas on TV, because of how wonderfully manipulative the editing is, and all the scheming, back-stabbing, and preening for the cameras is great stuff. The personal politlcs reminds me of the board game Diplomacy.
posted by rcade at 6:44 AM on February 17, 2001

Hey, Steven De Beste, I'll say it.The people who actually watch this crap are the stupid ones. Why people prefer phony TV nonsense over reality is beyond me. Sure, it's just 'entertainment', but why waste your time on it?Life is hard and I'm a proud snob (and I don't eat at Burger King or McDonalds). Feed people a diet of B.S. and that's exactly what they'll clamor for.
posted by Mr. skullhead at 11:57 AM on February 17, 2001

Now wait a minute, Mr. skullhead. I just popped over to your pitas page and the following is listed:

"One TV show I always felt cheated in missing was Space: 1999 (never even had cable television until I was twenty-three, grrrrrrrrrrr!). It has been widely criticised as being 'silly', 'inplausable' or worst of all 'Gilligan's Island in space' (oh yeah, like Star Trek wasn't all of these things at times), but the series still sounds pretty interesting to me.

If anyone out there wants to send me some VHS episode copies, let me know."

Are you also "stupid" since you'd like to watch Space: 1999? Sure, it's just 'entertainment', but why waste your time on it?

posted by gluechunk at 12:17 PM on February 17, 2001

Everybody has dumb interests, Skullhead. I was about to go to your Web site to find out yours, but I remembered that I already did.
posted by rcade at 12:24 PM on February 17, 2001

warning: excessive use of 'air-quotes' ahead
Thank you gluechunk. One person's 'BS' is another's 'entertainment'. I know perfectly well that the show is a horribly artificial stew of morally questionable behavior. I know that the 'reality' of the show is carefully 'scripted', both by the application process (which is designed to allow the producers to assemble a group of 'people' who are likely to have lots of interpersonal conflict); and by the selective and manipulative editing. I know my employer probably doesn't want me to ' waste [my] time on it '. Does this make it any less 'entertaining'? I'm enjoying the shit out of the whole spectacle. But then again, I always liked the circus.

As to the original question, I suppose the catty urbanite is a greater embarrasment to the high-tech community, but I'd much rather share an office with him than the pig-killing Christian. That guy seems to have read one too many Robert Bly poems.
posted by varmint at 1:38 PM on February 17, 2001

I miss Colleen.
posted by Chairman_MaoXian at 4:32 PM on February 17, 2001

Free Truman!
posted by valintin23 at 12:10 AM on February 20, 2001

What I love is that PETA and the Humane Society are pissed about the recent "Lord of the Flies" incedent, and this guy is selling "Survivor art"
posted by owillis at 1:25 AM on February 20, 2001