This is a bit of old news, but Lynne Spillman was fired from Survivor recently and I have to admit that the show has gone downhill in more recent seasons. I'm really not sure how they cast anymore, but where do they find the casts they get: under rocks at the bottom of giant lakes? The last season I actually followed obsessively and liked was Heroes vs. Healer vs. Hustlers. I didn't get into Ghost Island too much and I only liked the fact that it ended with a tie vote and the final member of the Jury breaking the tie.
Anyway, I may not even watch the new season because it looks like crap according to the previews, but I AM curious about the four returnees, so we'll see. The rest of the cast seems overly boring and I don't feel like I'll connect with any of the newbies on an emotional level deep enough to root for them if I do watch the season. I'm still debating that, though, as I am genuinely curious about the retunees. I didn't mind those who are returning and I want to see how they do, but nobody else really appeals to me.
Shane Powers made a point a while ago about how how it's a SOCIAL game and all it does is focus on twists. The twist for the Final Four takes away the social aspect that is involved in getting to the finals and I wish they'd take it away. There are so many things I would change if I was in charge like putting one idol for each tribe and once it's gone, it's gone. Too many advantages and idols have enabled the castaways to be lazy as far as the social aspect goes.
In terms of casting, I'd also like to bring up the Second Chances season even though that is FAR in Survivor's past. Is it just me, or was it suspicious how the results turned out? My ideal cast out of the ones on the poll would have been Kelly Wigglesworth, Kimmi, Jeff Varner, Teresa Cooper Carroll, Max, Shane, Jim, Carolyn, Troyzan, Terry, Woo, Andrew Savage, Stephen, Joe, Keith, Kelly Wentworth, Kass, Tasha, and Jeremy.
I'm still at a loss as to how Spencer, Abi-Maria, Ciera, Monica, Shirin, Peih-Gee, and Vytas got the votes to get on that season when they were either psychotic to the point where we didn't like them or they were a boring part of their respective seasons. Since when is voting out your own mother considered a memorable move in a game where anything appropriate goes? Vytas was even dumb enough to get banned from the finale for leaving sequester early without justification, so there's a wasted spot right there. I have always felt there was something fishy about the poll 'results.' I won't even talk about Culpepper, as his previous behavior made it pretty obvious that he wasn't going to be picked.
I'm still convinced that Probst rigged the Second Chances vote so that castaways like Shane and Teresa wouldn't get to go on even though lots of fans voted for them. During the time the poll was open, I watched a lot of people all over social media sites clearly outline who they voted for and who they did not vote for. People truly underestimate how much influece Jeff Probst has in casting a season and in getting what he wants. I'm sure that Jeff demanded 'more attractive' players for that season, so Shane and Teresa and many other amazing players were conveniently screwed because of 'King Jeff'. How in the heck did barely memorable people make that cast over historically memorable players? I stand by my thoughts that Probst disregarded the votes of the fans and demanded his picks whether or not people might consider it fair. The whole 'casting' process of Second Chances felt rigged.
Now, I really want to get a discussion going on this, but let's be respectful in expressing our thoughts. We're all adults on here and we are capable of having an intelligent, amusing discussion on this topic. Now...let's have some thoughts!