On Television

So it’s 39 days later, and the sole Survivor was crowned last night. Yao-man was favored to win, but he also had a huge target on his back going into the final 5. As luck would have it, Yao once again pulled off the seemingly impossible, and won the final immunity challenge, securing his place in the final 4!

Earlier this week Jim beat me to a rant about the many things CBS is doing wrong with its video storefront. Charging $1.99 for an episode of Survivor that expire in 24 hours is ludicrous. It’s such a bad idea that there’s a special room reserved for CBS in the Medialoper Hall of Shame.

For instance, with each new episode of Survivor they soak up, aren't we teaching kids that duplicity and betrayal are character traits to be rewarded? For every gratuitous tongue-lashing they hear delivered by American Idol judge Simon Cowell, aren't we saying it's OK to be cruel? Doesn't The Apprentice tell them that cutthroat is the only way to go?

Today I slept in late (rare for me) finished cleaning up party stuff, and hubby and I ripped up the rugs in the girls' rooms. The new carpet is going to be installed tomorrow, knock wood, and then we can assemble their furniture and start unpacking their boxes. We're off to finally see the new Harry Potter this afternoon, and after dinner we vegetate some more in front of the Survivor finale. Life is good!

I’m not a happy camper. No Survivor, Apprentice or CSI. I called the satellite company and they said they’d try to have someone out in 48 hours. 48 hours? Don’t they know I’m a tv junkie and I’m not doing so good. I’ve been sick all week and all I wanted to do was lay on the sofa, covered in a quilt, hugging the dogs and watching my shows. Geez, is that too much to ask for?

Now moving on to Battle of the Network Reality Stars on Bravo....has anyone seen this??? OMG, this is the craziest show!!! Basically, its the same as the 80's version of Battle of the Network Stars w/ Lynda Carter, Tom Selleck, Million Dollar Man, Suzanne Somers, etc. where they do all these easy events like run through tires, monkey bars, rope swing, climb a wall, dunk tank....there is everyone from ALL of the reality shows in the past 5-6 years like Survivor, Big Brother, Joe Millionare, The Apprentice, MTV Real World/Road Rules, Average Joe, The Joe Schmo Show, Amazing Race, etc. They all compete for fabulous prizes & the host is the guy that used to host American Gladiator !!!! I love him!!! This show is pretty funny & to see all these people kill eachother in stupid events is the best!!!

Time for another round of Survivor folks. This time it’s “Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire“…yes…that is the official, longer than my arm, title. Anyway, time to start picking on them before we even see them.

I’ve never been a fan of Rob Scheider’s work, the majority of his films just seem a little bit too retarded for my liking. But that was until I saw The Animal. At first I thought it was going to be just another knock-off the Duece Bigalow movie, which probably is in a way if you think about — some animal kinky stuff going on there, anyway that’s not the point. The real main reason which kept me glued to the television screen watching for non-stop 90minutes of animal behaviour is by one main star in the film… no not Rob Schneider, but a beautiful survivor/actor, Colleen Haskell, and now I’m thinking, why haven’t I watched this film when it first made it’s appearance?

Yes - the moment you’ve all been waiting for! I must thank you for your immense patience - I finally found time to watch the Survivor Finale that my friend taped for me - and yeah - it was totally worth the wait to see Ian give up his chance for a million $$ like that. Is he on crack? I love my friends and all - but seriously - who’d give up their chance for a million?

They then go into the reunion show to relive how Ulong was the biggest loser tribe ever on Survivor, how James got the crap beat out of him by Coby (although, I have to say that James was a much bigger man about it than I would have expected. He gave Coby his props), how Stephanie is one of the most popular Survivor women in the history of the show, how untalented Wanda is with her songwriting (and singing for that matter), and to clear up whether Probst influenced Janu's decision to leave. Only Coby felt that Probst had pressured her.

Now, last week, a Baptist minister in North Carolina told nine members of his congregation that unless they renounced their 2004 vote for John Kerry, they had to leave his church. Well, if we're that certain these days that George Bush is always that right about everything, then going to Iraq to fulfill the glorious leader's vision would seem the least one could do. And, hey, if it makes it any easier for you, just think of it as a reality show: "Fear Factor: Shitting Your Pants Edition." "Survivor: Sunni Triangle." Or maybe it's a video game, "Grand...

oh it's been hot here - and i have been lazy! but with may sweeps underway - you can't afford to miss a pop beat! and tonight is no exception - besides all the hoopla over on ABC (extreme home makeover, desperate housewives, and grey's anatomy) - tonight is the 2-hr finale of survivor palau (and don't forget the reunion show afterwards!) - and i will say this has been one of the best out of 10 seasons of this reality monster! i think tom will take the prize - and being a nyc firefighter - one of the most admirable jobs - i think he should - and for an older guy he is quite sexy - who knows maybe the other three could gang up and get him off before he takes it all - ok out for now - i will try to be back later!

Katie from "Survivor: Palau" must go - not only is she a pain in the neck, she's a bitchy little homophobe, using Ian's need for a good washing as an excuse to air a little grudge on Palau. Perhaps you missed it - Ian, who hasn't bathed since setting foot on the island, decided to do just that after host Jeff Probst told him he reeked. While he was out in the water (clothed mind you) he asked business consultant Gregg (yeah, two 'g's) to scrub his back because he couldn't reach it. And he did.

Each contestant will be driving a pink Volvo with Illinois license plates and a large bumper sticker that reads: I'm gay. I'm a vegetarian. Bratwurst clogs your arteries. The Green Bay Packers suck! Go Bears! Cheese is high in cholesterol. Hillary in 2008. Deer hunting is murder and I'm here to confiscate your guns! The first one that makes it back to Milwaukee alive wins.

Rob and Amber (sorry, Ambuh) from Survivor and The Amazing Race got married on Saturday. Weren’t invited? Don’t worry, CBS was there. They have their own TV special in May. Can they please go away now?

You may want to reconsider before wanting to be a receipent of such good fortune on shows like “Survivor,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Renovate My Family” and any other show where you win cash and prizes. It’s struck many winners this past year that it can...

CBS has officially announced information on the finales for the current seasons of The Amazing Race and Survivor. The Amazing Race 7 finale will air as a special two-hour episode on Tuesday, May 10 at 9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT. The finale will feature the final three teams racing to the finish line. Phil Keoghan will host.

Survivor: Palau will air a special two-hour finale on Sunday, May 15 at 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT. Immediately following the finale will be a one-hour reunion show that will air live from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York from 10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT. The reunion show will reunite the 20 castaways for the first time since their stay on Palau. Jeff Probst will host both the finale and reunion show.

Posted by Joe Reality on April 16, 2005 at 01:19 PM in Reality TV | Permalink

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Watched Survivor with Pat when she arrived since she's a Survivor fan also. She was wondering what was happinging with the lone Stephanie (the only member of Koror left). So while we're watching I'm like I can't stand Colby he's gotta go and with the way he's been acting so cocky, sure enough the rest of the people agreed and he got voted off. Now next to go should be Janu then Jenn.......I'm cheering for Mr. Tom but love Stephanie, Ian and Caryn. Let's see what happens! As far as The Amazing Race I really think Rob and Amber are the best competitors...

Well, it was the Worst Week Ever for pretty boys on the island... as an increasingly skeletal looking Bobby Jon got knocked out of Survivor... as Ulong continued its winless streak in immunity challenges. What do you think will happen next week? Do you think they will just have Stephenie compete in an immunity challenge with Koror and if she doesn't win, she's out?? Have to give the show credit for surprising us and just letting the Ulongs disappear without an emergency/intervention tribe merger.

Am I the only one who feel that they don't even know some of the members of Koror? I see some of the women every week and I honestly could not tell you their names! I don't think we have ever got this far into a season, where I feel that I do not have clue about some of the participants... but you only get to really know them once the mental game begins... and with only one trick tribal council, Koror hasn't yet had to start scheming.

Alas, we will probably be bidding a Fine Wine adieu to Bobby Jon soon... but I will let him hang on for a few more days.

Survivor duo Rob & Amber led the pack out of the Pit Stop in Botswana as the teams were to fly in stages to Lucknow, India, making their own arrangements for the Mumbai-to-Lucknow leg. The Survivors made common cause with POW/beauty queen Ron & Kelly as Rob obtained flight info and tickets on the sly and asked the clerk not to share the info with the other three teams. For the life of me, I do not understand why competitors leave Rob alone even to use the bathroom. Rob got this opening solely because those other teams were engaged in their...

Once in Lucknow, teams had to make their way by open-air taxis to the palace called Bara Imambara (which means "dwelling place of the holy Imam," incidentally), there to don traditional headscarves (or caps if you prefer, though Rob did both) and then find their clue. The instructions tasked teams with traveling by tonga (a horse-drawn carriage) to a steel emporium (a place that sells metal items such as tin boxes, apparently)...

The task at the emporium was a Roadblock: one team member had to search among the steel boxes for the next clue. Kelly rather tried to make an alliance with Amber to find the clue, but that would hardly have worked out as the clues were all scattered among the boxes. Amber promptly found her clue and made tracks, leaving Ron to rue not having Yielded the Survivors when he had the chance. With weak-minded competition like this, it's no wonder Rob & Amber have pretty much had their way in this contest.

The Survivors were first to snag their clue, which should have instructed them to head for the Pit Stop. The clue was oddly worded, however, as Amber noticed: it did not mention the phrase "Pit Stop," but merely told them to meet host Phil Keoghan on a rooftop. You can guess the rest: this was not the end of the leg, but merely another relay. "You're still racing," Phil informed the Survivors with a smirk of his own.

I also really like Tom and Ian. I had to laugh at Ian saying that he had to one up Tom by catching a blue whale next. lol I really felt bad for Janu. She is so tiny and I'm sure treading water for that period of time is exhausting. Anyone else a little tired of Katie?

I really couldn't get over Jennifer being miffed that Gregg has "his head in the game". Hello? It's a game!!! It isn't Love Connection. I thought maybe she was just young, but I just checked the CBS website and it says she is 32.

Okay, I'm off to catch up on The Apprentice and knit some more on Sophie. G'night!

Prior to his stint on "Survivor," Varner worked as an Internet project manager in New York City and earned a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Still, he says his "Survivor" ties have created some career challenges.