Is it possible we can put the whole concept of Survivor on Redemption Island somewhere? You know, to redeem the show and take it back to what it used to be?
I thought by the cast reveal and reading bios this would be a pretty good season. Yeah, its pretty much dull just like the last one. I wish there was a reality competition where the winner got to be in charge of the show for one whole season. Sign me up! What Survivor needs to redeem itself:
1.) An interesting cast. I don't mind recruits what I mind is boring recruits. Very few people are funny, interesting, relatable, AND pretty. I get that you're casting people to be on an island for 39 days and you need something to look at in a bikini and trunks, but c'mon... where do you find these people? Interesting people don't shop at Whole Foods stores. Fun personalities don't spend their day laying on the beaches of Malibu.. Target your audience. Relatable people aren't 23 and drunk in a bar somewhere.. You're not going to find a die hard villain willing to do anything to win if they have no desire to be there. They have to want it. Here's a few little pointers to how this show can redeem itself with casting:
- Cast TWO villains. One for each tribe. That way there is chaos on both sides so that no one tribe gets all the air time.
- Separate the old & young. Don't put 2 old folks with a tribe full of 7 young kids. 9 times outta 10 the old guys are the interesting ones and can REALLY play the game if they only had a chance.
- We need a villain, a hero, a gamer (which you have in Cochran, so kudos for that I guess) 1 floater (ONLY ONE! you need someone who will be easily manipulated to help with the upper hand. We don't need a repeat of Samoa. Only one) a black woman (sorry if i sound racist but you know what i mean) someone great in challenges (again, only 1! its fun to wait and see if they're finally gonna get voted out. its not fun to see 3 of them band together and form an alliance and run the show to create a predictable season) a flirt, a hillbilly, a gay guy, an old lady, a tomboy, a nutjob.
- If you're going to recruit, go to a rodeo. go to a gaming/sci-fi convention, go to a concert (and i don't mean adele or michael buble.. i mean an interesting concert!. nothing against those guys, but lets face it.. they're too "classy" classy and sophisticated are boring) find us a good down home southerner, a nerd who obsesses and over analyzes every little move, a fun free spirited person who is kind of clueless to the world and makes off the wall dumb comments.
If Cochran & Brandon are voted out soon this season will be unwatchable. I don't particularly like either of them, but they are fun to watch. Brandon is the kind of the guy that will shoot up a school full of kids and then blame it on the voices in his head. Cochran is the kind of guy who won't necessarily argue with you, but will spend 45 minutes explaining why he's right. Its that kind of delusion that makes a great show. I think Mikayla will come into it a little later on.. but aside from those 3 there's not really a whole lot look forward to on Wednesday nights. & this twist!! lord, this twist is horrible! i beg you to not do another Redemption Island! If you insist on a twist let me give you a few good ideas.. from a fans point of view. & just so you know, i've been a fan since season one.. I never thought I would see the day I didn't watch Survivor.. but that day came last season and this current one isn't doing much to make me change my mind. Try VETS vs Newbies or Brains vs Brawn. Bring back that kidnapping twist from Pearl Islands where the winning tribe gets to save someone from tribal, send two people from each tribe to exile at the same time and hope for a cross tribal alliance or something. Give them the opportunity for a mutiny.. we don't need redemption island to give someone the shot at letting them stay in the game. If they're in trouble or you want to give them a second shot, let them do what Candace did. Give them the shot to live alone and form their own tribe. Stephenie lived alone and survived just fine.
I read Jeff's analysis of the cast and his exact words about Semhar was "She's gone." that was my first thought reading her bio and watching her interview too! She said in a realitytvworld.com interview that she didn't apply to be on the show.. If the first impression people are getting from her is "She's gone" what makes you think she would be good enough to cast on the show in the first place!? There's a reason the season finale of Australian Outback drew in 30 million viewers.. and no its not just because the show was new and fresh. Its because you cast a relatable group of people. You cast an old lady who climbed on a limb above flood waters to get a canteen of rice. That rice was all they had! They didn't live on a beach where they could fish, they had to have that rice! You cast a 50 year old man who couldn't swim and forced him to jump off a 100 ft cliff! You cast a young lovable wholesome little blonde who captured the hearts of America as an underdog (with the exception of Sierra you guys haven't been able to do this sense. There's a difference in the girl next door and the girl who makes her way around the block) You forced a vegetarian to compete in a "take a chance and spin this wheel you might have to eat meat" competition. You had the boy wonder, you had the villainous, you had the over eccentric tatted up old lady, you had the big personality "I-will-always-wave-my-finger-in-your-face" black girl.. the casting, the location, the whole show was great! There was no lame twist, the age differences were scattered, the tribes were divided evenly, we had the relatable, we had the hero, we had the villain, we had the lovable, we had the "hate to love" we had the delusion, we had the unpredictable.. it was a great season.
Take us back to that. Survivor is slipping in the ratings year after year, and there's a lot that can be done to fix it. Just do it. If you can't, hire me. I'll do it for you.
