Board 8 > CBS Reality Topic 3.5: Purge-free through BB24, Survivor SA9, and Challenge USA

(+) Yeah! (+)

Pokewars posted...

Lol one of the most obvious merge boot in history.

Mewtwo59 posted...

And yes, I agree. It was obvious as soon as Elie said how awesome she was at Survivor before the challenge.

The early episode made it so obvious it was Jeanine or Elie. Let's not forget Jeanine talking about how she'd dreamed of "making the merge" since she was a kid. It was obviously going to be one of them, but it wasn't obvious which one.

But yeah, no tension. Just give everybody a merge feast. And go back to 39 days while we're at it. With just 26 days, people are less likely to lose their marbles. You want people losing their marbles. Though apparently Jeff just wants a likable kumbayah group of people, which makes for unwatchable television. If this continues, why would anyone keep watching this kind of Survivor? I have fun dissecting dynamics when the relationships are interesting. This season is devoid of relationships with soul; really, the Gabler/Elie rivalry was the only relationship that was anything to write home about.

Inviso posted...

Sami is more like Spencer, when Spencer is in a position of power.

Or when Spencer is talking about vaccines.

We can just say Elie is part Angelina, part RC, but without the things that made those two stand out. Angelina was hilarious for all the wrong reasons and RC was edited as a rootable underdog even though she sucks. Philippines is a massive improvement from the two seasons before it but doesn't hold up very well on rewatch. A middling season like that is still leagues better than this crappy season, which so far is in my bottom 5.

This season is not nearly offensive enough to be bottom 5. It's just a dud.

Philippines absolutely holds up on rewatch. It's a top 5 season.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Let's not forget Jeanine talking about how she'd dreamed of "making the merge" since she was a kid.

I think you're reading to deep into this tbqh.

I'm STUNNED that Aubrey & David aren't the medevac. I just don't understand why a team that has a story going on (constantly hanging by a thread) and has at least one member (Aubrey) that seems to have a personality that could be entertaining, is getting one of the most aggressively neutral edits ever.

Too bad for Abby & Will but they weren't like a huge loss. It's not like we lost Derek & Claire or the twins.

Also: Is literally anybody watching the RMS Love Boat? It looks like only ~1,600,000 watched it last week, and the rating was just a 0.26.

What's worse is that it's tanking Amazing Race in the ratings. CBS really did think this was going to be a slam dunk sandwiched between two of its marquee shows, but instead it may be taking TAR down with it. They learned nothing from the Love Island disaster.

Underleveled posted...

This season is not nearly offensive enough to be bottom 5. It's just a dud.

Philippines absolutely holds up on rewatch. It's a top 5 season.

Some of the "offensive" seasons are actually quite entertaining for one reason or another. Redemption Island is heavily underrated and actually has a lot of entertaining moments. This season is so boring that I'm not even remotely engaged in it, which is why I put it in my bottom 5. With other bad seasons, I'm at least engaged at some points. Like IOI has a fantastic pre-merge until, y'know. Honestly, S43 reminds me of One World's merge sans Kim painting a masterpiece. Instead of Tarzan, we have Cody. We don't have a Kat or eye candy like Chelsea. It's so soulless.

Philippines top 5? Wow. It fell five places for me when I rewatched it last year. It wasn't as dynamic or engaging as I'd remembered, and most of the votes post-merge were teed up more than I'd recalled. Still, Jonathan Penner gives it more than enough points. His exit is legendary, as is Abi-Maria. Denise and Malcolm are both great, but the Matsing disaster is the high point of the season, what with gems like Angelia Layton's "cookies" and Swan mistaking Jeff for God. Maybe I went in expecting a top ten season and maybe it'll bounce back up whenever I rewatch it again. IDK.

I think you're reading to deep into this tbqh.

Old habits die hard. I can't not critically analyze the edit at this point.

I guess Derek & Claire were too focused to notice and steal the brothers' strategy.

Luis is so amusing. I hope he and Michelle are around for a while.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

What's worse is that it's tanking Amazing Race in the ratings. CBS really did think this was going to be a slam dunk sandwiched between two of its marquee shows, but instead it may be taking TAR down with it. They learned nothing from the Love Island disaster.

They're filming TAR35 right now, so TAR is fine for now.

I feel like having the audience and the cast informed at the start of the leg that it was a NEL really made it boring. There was no REAL tension.

Not sure what people are talking about in terms of this survivor cast vs season 41 and 42.

I liked Evvie and Tiff from 41 and only Lydia from 42. I hated most of 42's cast tbh and stopped watching after Lydia was robbed.

This season I like Cass, Owen, Karla, and Noelle and only really don't care for Gabler, Cody or Jesse. Ryan is hilarious to watch.

I guess you guys just had a super hard on for Jonathan or Maryanne or Shan or Ricard or whatever but man I hated them.

This cast has too many gamebots who aren't showcasing any personality. Without Gabler, the entire season falls apart because, as frustrating as he is, he's half the entertainment right now. Cody is the "secretly smart guy who appears crazy" though he's not a very good one, at that. Jesse is flat. Where was Ryan hilarious? I legit forget he exists half the time. The only "funny" thing I can remember was him throwing the challenge and being clueless; Geo was by far the more amusing of the two there.

Karla and Noelle are both very likable but narratively speaking, they aren't as interesting as they should be. And I think that stems from a void of conflict and tension. This group simply gets along and was cast to be likable. You can't have people to like if you don't also have people to hate. No villains is a huge step down from the last two seasons. Shan was a great main antagonist of S41 and I cheered her comeuppance. Because that was good TV. S43 is a bottom 5 season so far because there's been very little good TV. Geo "lying" that he's on the bottom and helpless and yet actually being on the bottom was hysterical, especially given his jaw drop at Tribal. That was the best moment of the season so far - this vote being a cluster wasn't fun at all, simply because I legit feel bored by practically everyone here. It's issues with casting and editing both.

No idea why you hated 42's cast because that group had epic chemistry. There was tension between them and, as frustrated as they were with each other at the end of the day, they were still willing to make amends. They weren't spiteful and they most certainly weren't boring. And how can you hate Maryanne? Do you not have a soul?

I just didn't really like any of their personalities. Didn't care for Omar, liked Hai until he betrayed Lydia for the dumbest reason ever. Jonathan was completely unlikeable, I don't know what people saw in him. Maryanne got on my nerves a lot. Hated Romeo. Mike completely jumped ship at the merge for his muscle love, Jonathan which completely ruined Mike for me.

Ryan is hilariously clueless. Just bringing up at the merge feast that they should be the final 7 LOL

And the fact that Shan got heroic music while being voted out. Fucking make me puke already why don't you.

Unless Cass, Karla, Owen and Noelle get voted out back to back to back, I'm fairly certain I'm going to enjoy this more than 41 and 42

It's clear we enjoy different things though. You like things that make for good TV. I just like certain people and want to see them do well, and if they don't then I don't give a fuck about the rest of the people that I don't care for.

Just finished catching up on Wednesday shows.

Survivor: very happy with that elim, but also realized I don't think I care for any castaway other than Cody which can't bode well for me??? I guess I can also root for the continuing Gabler trainwreck, lol

Amazing Race: very happy with that "elim" too, and following on/countering previous comments, I felt that team was the least edited and I didnt care so no loss from my perspective. One other tidbit I meant to post in here but didnt: in last weekend's preview, a member of every team appeared except Abby/David and Quinton/Mattie so wasnt worried about losing a team I like. Unlike Survivor, still have many options remaining...

Lastly, the song during the dance is an absolute bop, I rewound episode to listen to it again and was grooving in my chair, lol.

If both seasons were to end right now my ranking for each would be something like (give or take, especially in the middle of each):

Cody > Elie > Karla > Lindsay > Noelle > Jeanine > Geo > Cassidy > Jesse > Justine > Nneka > Dwight > Morriah > Ryan > James > Owen > Gabler > Sami

Derek/Claire > Emily/Molly > Rich/Dom > Luis/Michelle > Quinton/Mattie > Glenda/Lumumba > Aastha/Nina > Tim/Rex > Marcus/Michael > Abby/Will > Linton/Sharik > Aubrey/David

man you guys are critical I thought that was a wildly entertaining ep

Zigzagoon posted...

It's clear we enjoy different things though. You like things that make for good TV. I just like certain people and want to see them do well, and if they don't then I don't give a fuck about the rest of the people that I don't care for.

You watch reality TV to... watch likable people? The what? Reality TV is not "feel good TV" in any shape or form. It's at its best when there's drama and tension. This vote was a total mess but I couldn't bring myself to give a shit because this cast is so flat. My favorite seasons have entertaining people making good TV, whether that's through vicious blindsides, humorous confessionals, or intense drama. I like examining the human condition and if there's no tension, a season doesn't feel human. This season is robotic and bland. I see Martin agrees here. You're in a huge minority, Ermine - if you want to watch "likable people doing well" then watch Let's Make a Deal or something. I find that show incredibly boring because it's just watching people I have no investment in get free stuff. This is similar in that I have zero investment in these people. The merge episode should have been great, but there are so few colorful people here that it was hard to care.

Worth noting that among my least favorite seasons are ones where I didn't find anyone rootable, while some of my favorites have people I adore do well and people I hate get awesome comeuppances. But you need to have both. This season has neither. It's so soulless. When Mike Gabler is the only person popping off the screen in any way, and he's frustrating to watch, you know you have a big dud of a cast.

MartinFF7 posted...

Survivor: very happy with that elim, but also realized I don't think I care for any castaway other than Cody which can't bode well for me??? I guess I can also root for the continuing Gabler trainwreck, lol

I'm not exactly happy with the vote out, but I'm not mad either. I'm just like "what ever countie voting" in response to it. The soulless editing has turned me off, even with an episode that looked good on paper!

Maybe it's just that I've seen all this before and this did literally nothing that other seasons didn't already do better.

Hey guess what, you can continue bashing this season, and I'll continue saying it's better than 41 and 42.

41 and 42 each had only 1 contestant that I cared about and when they went out I stopped giving any fucks about the season.

If you are telling me I should just change my mind and like characters like Shan and Maryanne because that's how I should feel and it makes things "interesting" and "better" television, then you can promptly take a hike, thank you very much.

I can understand disliking Shan, even though she was a big character.

But how can you hate Maryanne? She's one of the best winners Survivor has ever had.

Inviso posted...

But how can you hate Maryanne? She's one of the best winners Survivor has ever had.

My guess? He's a closed-minded soulless zombie. He decides who he likes episode one and doesn't change his mind. His enjoyment hinges on how well his early favorites do and nothing more; this is not how you watch reality TV. I don't understand, but to each his own.

I despise Shan, too, but I still enjoyed her as a character, especially her comeuppance being surprisingly early. That's good TV. This season is devoid of people who make good TV, and that is a fact. We can just continue laughing at him for saying something as factually incorrect as "this season is better than S42." We all knew he's wrong.

Could also be that he's a racist. I can't think of a valid reason to hate Maryanne - sure, she can be a little over-the-top with her enthusiasm at times, but that makes her endearing and real. She's a top 10 winner (not top 5) for how she played a strategy that was perfect for someone like her and her game-winner of taking Omar out was shades of Natalie Anderson. S42 had plenty of others with charisma, too - this season lacks that. I find myself rooting for nobody, which is an immediate criterion for bottom 5 consideration.

Frankly, as terrible as Edge of Extinction was due to the twist and editing, at least that had plenty of people who were fun personalities (even if Rick Devens overwhelmed them all in said poor edit). This is on par with Ghost Island, but unlike that season, the pre-merge was soulless instead of brutal and tragic. So that means bottom 3. I hope it turns around but my hopes are low.

Five posts in a row. Are you fucking drunk? Calm the hell down...

BlueCrystalTear posted...

My guess? He's a closed-minded soulless zombie. He decides who he likes episode one and doesn't change his mind. His enjoyment hinges on how well his early favorites do and nothing more; this is not how you watch reality TV. I don't understand, but to each his own.

I despise Shan, too, but I still enjoyed her as a character, especially her comeuppance being surprisingly early. That's good TV. This season is devoid of people who make good TV, and that is a fact. We can just continue laughing at him for saying something as factually incorrect as "this season is better than S42." We all knew he's wrong.

Could also be that he's a racist. I can't think of a valid reason to hate Maryanne - sure, she can be a little over-the-top with her enthusiasm at times, but that makes her endearing and real. She's a top 10 winner (not top 5) for how she played a strategy that was perfect for someone like her and her game-winner of taking Omar out was shades of Natalie Anderson. S42 had plenty of others with charisma, too - this season lacks that. I find myself rooting for nobody, which is an immediate criterion for bottom 5 consideration.

Frankly, as terrible as Edge of Extinction was due to the twist and editing, at least that had plenty of people who were fun personalities (even if Rick Devens overwhelmed them all in said poor edit). This is on par with Ghost Island, but unlike that season, the pre-merge was soulless instead of brutal and tragic. So that means bottom 3. I hope it turns around but my hopes are low.

I disagree with Ermines assessment, but this post is WAY too aggressive and mean. Hes definitely not a racist, and theres nothing factually incorrect about his statement. As much is I disagree, this season is unfortunately beloved by casuals (see:Reddit).

Who tf hates Maryanne? Even though I like Shan, I can understand not liking her. I can see how she could be overbearing to some. But I just don't understand hating Maryanne.

I never said I hated Maryanne, I said I didn't care at all about her. She was annoying and got on my nerves early on. I disliked that whole tribe, really.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

My guess? He's a closed-minded soulless zombie. He decides who he likes episode one and doesn't change his mind. His enjoyment hinges on how well his early favorites do and nothing more; this is not how you watch reality TV. I don't understand, but to each his own.

I despise Shan, too, but I still enjoyed her as a character, especially her comeuppance being surprisingly early. That's good TV. This season is devoid of people who make good TV, and that is a fact. We can just continue laughing at him for saying something as factually incorrect as "this season is better than S42." We all knew he's wrong.

Could also be that he's a racist. I can't think of a valid reason to hate Maryanne - sure, she can be a little over-the-top with her enthusiasm at times, but that makes her endearing and real. She's a top 10 winner (not top 5) for how she played a strategy that was perfect for someone like her and her game-winner of taking Omar out was shades of Natalie Anderson. S42 had plenty of others with charisma, too - this season lacks that. I find myself rooting for nobody, which is an immediate criterion for bottom 5 consideration.

Frankly, as terrible as Edge of Extinction was due to the twist and editing, at least that had plenty of people who were fun personalities (even if Rick Devens overwhelmed them all in said poor edit). This is on par with Ghost Island, but unlike that season, the pre-merge was soulless instead of brutal and tragic. So that means bottom 3. I hope it turns around but my hopes are low.

Congrats. You're a fucking moron.

I was just throwing theories out there, that's all.

But I'm not sorry if Ermine's gonna act like that.

P.S. I blocked him for that. Not gonna miss him.

Accusing someone of being racist is not a theory you "just throw out there."

I have my issues with Ermine but I've never sensed that he is racist.

Underleveled posted...

Accusing someone of being racist is not a theory you "just throw out there."

I have my issues with Ermine but I've never sensed that he is racist.

I saw someone hate on Maryanne that couldn't justify it and they got called out for racial prejudices, which they then confirmed by the way they defended themselves, though that was on Facebook so that probably explains why. I blocked them too.

On a different and hopefully less angry note:

Real Love Boat is moving to Paramount+ and TAR is moving into the 9 PM time slot!

Thank God.

Actually personally I'd rather have Survivor slip into the 9pm spot so I'd have time for the gym after work on Wednesdays but that would never happen lol so this is the next best thing.

I do want to apologize if I appeared too angsty this morning. I've been dealing with a lot of things and wasn't thinking straight. I deleted my comment and wish we can simply move on - will try my best to ensure that doesn't happen again, and I appreciate you two (darkx and Inviso) for handling it diplomatically instead of making it worse. Thanks for being tolerant.

Inviso posted...

Real Love Boat is moving to Paramount+ and TAR is moving into the 9 PM time slot!

This is awesome news. I hate that I'm quoting myself from above here, but:

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Also: Is literally anybody watching the RMS Love Boat? It looks like only ~1,600,000 watched it last week, and the rating was just a 0.26.

What's worse is that it's tanking Amazing Race in the ratings. CBS really did think this was going to be a slam dunk sandwiched between two of its marquee shows, but instead it may be taking TAR down with it. They learned nothing from the Love Island disaster.

This weeks' rating was a 0.19 and Amazing Race picked up nearly a million additional viewers despite being out of primetime, so I think CBS finally got the message. Survivor won the night and people still care about TAR, so this will get TAR's numbers to recover since this move was made so fast.

I hope this is the last time CBS tries any of that kind of garbage. If they filmed a second season, that's a HUGE loss they're taking, so after Love Island also tanked, they should learn their lesson. SHOULD. Doesn't mean they will.

Inviso posted...

On a different and hopefully less angry note:

Real Love Boat is moving to Paramount+ and TAR is moving into the 9 PM time slot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgfiSzCy1o

*Calls someone a racist*

*Blocks them for saying they think Im the one out of line*

Impressive.

Well whatever, you guys can go back to your constant bashing of the season. IM usually the negative one on things! Turns out I get called a racist when I try and praise and defend something!

You mad, bro?

Also you were being very critical of someone without justification, so it's clear you don't know what you're talking about. And, since you won't let us change the subject and keep coming back with your negativity: Please leave this topic and don't come back. Thanks.

I haven't been posting lately but Elie was my 2 episodes in winner pick and I'm sad the ride is over cause I liked her

I don't think this season has been fantastic or anything but I don't think there's a wrong way to watch TV. If someone likes this season cause they have people they like, more power to them. If they like or hate someone that I don't understand, that's their choice and there's no necessity for them to justify it until I 100% understand, just understand that I'm not going to understand and s'all good

BlueCrystalTear posted...

You mad, bro?

Also you were being very critical of someone without justification, so it's clear you don't know what you're talking about. And, since you won't let us change the subject and keep coming back with your negativity: Please leave this topic and don't come back. Thanks.

posting "you mad, bro?" in 2022 is killing me

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Amazing Race picked up nearly a million additional viewers despite being out of primetime

The 10-11 hour is still considered primetime.

Nameless2000 posted...

posting "you mad, bro?" in 2022 is killing me

cool story bro

Just messing around :P

Underleveled posted...

The 10-11 hour is still considered primetime.

Ah. I was under the impression that 10-11 was the "extended" hour and that the 8-9 and 9-10 hours were the most "primetime" ones. I live in Central time so it's a little different, since the first hour is 7-8. A lot of people I know go to bed around 10ish, so that's why I said what I said. Perhaps it's different in other time zones.

But, yes, I'm glad that the Titanic-themed series sunk, because that way I might actually watch Amazing Race instead of getting distracted.

I saw a preview where they're telling them to divide in to 6 teams of 2. I really hope they aren't doing that dumb tied destinies twist that they did in the South African version.

It's almost certainly just a challenge twist, not full-on Tied Destinies.

Not sure if I'm going to be able to watch Survivor live this week, but I'll almost certainly be home for TAR.

I hope that "challenge moment" is good for Noelle's chances... and not for Sami's.

Jesus Christ these sob stories...

Blaziken posted...

Jesus Christ these sob stories...

I think he was Hubicking. I can't think of any other explanation.

How many seasons before people understand it's NEVER a good idea to tell anyone about knowledge is power?

This shows just how ridiculous advantages are. I can't follow who gave what to who and I have a headache. It just went by in a blur.

Pokewars posted...

How many seasons before people understand it's NEVER a good idea to tell anyone about knowledge is power?

Given the precedence of idols, at least 10. It's an awful advantage and everyone found out about it again QUICK here. Part of it was that they knew there was a good chance it had to be that. The fact that James made it clear he went for that advantage, however, was probably the greater folly. This let everyone defend their advantages.

Also Jesse is a nitwit for thinking of blindsiding Noelle now. He would significantly reduce his options. He should reduce Karla's before reducing his own so willingly. If Noelle goes, I'm not going to watch any longer. But thank GOODNESS Cody seems to have shut that down.

New topic for yas, put all Amazing Race comments in there:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80219472

And yes, I'm making fun of The Real Love Boat with that topic title, xD

Sami sucks