June 26, 2008
Earlier today, CBS announced the Fall launch dates for their 2008-2009 television season schedule. Nothing totally out of the ordinary in CBS's announcement, and the schedule has not been altered from the one presented during their up-fronts. Survivor: Gabon, the first edition of the reality series to be shot entirely in HD, will premiere a week earlier (on Thursday, September 18) than the bulk of the CBS schedule. Some shows, including CSI and Ghost Whisperer, will return later than usual to accommodate the Presidential Debates. Below you will find the full list of premiere dates for CBS's prime-time slate.
June 17, 2008
Richard Hatch, the first ever million dollar winner on Survivor, is making one last gasp effort to get out of his 2006 tax-evasion conviction. Nearly half way through his four-year prison sentence, Hatch and his lawyers are appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. While experts agree that the chances of the Supreme Court even hearing Hatch's case are slim, Hatch's lawyer's are optimistic. Hatch was convicted in 2006 after it was found that he had not paid taxes on any of his reality winnings, or much of his subsequent income he made post-Survivor. While Hatch continues to maintain that he had a deal with Survivor executive producer Mark Burnett that Burnett reneged on, the jury and the judge did not see it that way, and sentenced Hatch to 51 months in prison. Hatch is currently serving his sentence in a minimum-security prison in West Virginia.
June 5, 2008
Survivor 17, or Survivor: Gabon, or Survivor: Gabon, Earth's Last Eden, whatever you feel like calling it, has encountered some problems in pre-production, according to super-host Jeff Probst. The West African nation of Gabon is one of the more remote and difficult locations in Survivor's history, according to Probst. Animals, a fallen crane, and a long shipping delay are severely affecting the show's production. Though Probst assures the media that Survivor: Gabon will go off as planned (filming is slated to begin later this month), the pre-production hiccups will likely hit the crew the hardest – the crew's quarters have not yet been built, which means everyone will be living in tents, for now.
May 29, 2008
The Moment of Truth kicked off its second season Tuesday, helping FOX win the night in the ratings. If you bear with me for a second, I'll tell you why this is good news for Survivor. The Moment of Truth, which debuted to monster numbers in its first season earlier this year, is expected to be one of the higher rated series of the summer. Also, FOX, at their recent upfronts for the 2008-2009 season, placed The Moment of Truth on their Fall schedule on Thursdays at 8pm. When pressed about The Moment of Truth's fall scheduling, in regards to Survivor, which will be a time slot competitor, FOX entertainment chairman Peter Liguori said:"Look, it's eroding. It's an older show. Its eventually going to give up and we're trying to accelerate that." With FOX taking direct aim at CBS's long-running reality series, the question was this: Would The Moment of Truth retain its Winter/Spring audience, or would it regress without its incomparable American Idol lead-in? Thankfully for Survivor, it looks like it's the former.
May 22, 2008
The 17th season of Survivor, Survivor: Gabon, is amping up to start filming in the west African nation in June, but CBS is already begun casting for Survivor 18, which is set to air beginning in January of 2009. Open casting calls around the country began last weekend, and will continue for the next few weeks. As they prepare for season 18 of the long-running reality series, CBS has made one major change to the application process: they've lowered the age requirement from 21 to 18. This is big news for 18, 19, and 20-year old Survivor fanatics around the country and a move by CBS that will, presumably, lead to a bigger talent pool for the network to work with and inject more youth into Survivor 18.
May 15, 2008
Survivor: Micronesia was unique, as far as Survivor seasons go. The hybrid All-Stars formula of Fans vs. Favorites was perceived as gimmicky when announced, and the first handful of episodes did nothing to quell the doubters – the favorites were better, they were taking more screen time, and the whole Survivor season looked like it might turn into a rout. While the Survivor favorites did dominate the season, the fans weren't completely worthless, and they gave us some nice moments along the way. The number of injuries was unfortunate, but it added to the overall excitement of the season. Now, looking back on it all, I thought I'd try something new: castaway grades. The grades are not based on when the players were voted off (though, that obviously plays a part), because luck has a lot to do with Survivor success. The grades are based on how well each player performed, given the set of circumstances they were placed in.
May 14, 2008
It was a pretty surprising finale of Survivor: Micronesia, when Parvati Shallow was named the winner over Amanda Kimmel. At the final tribal council, viewers and players alike felt that Amanda had it in the bat but something shifted and the votes ended up going Parvati's way. She played a strong social game all season and was the driving force behind some major blindsides and power plays. Today, Parvati took time out of her busy schedule to talk with BuddyTV about her win, playing the game for a second time, and what helped her walk away with a million dollar check.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
May 13, 2008
On Sunday night’s finale of Survivor: Micronesia, Jeff Probst told the audience that fans felt that this season was second only to the very first season, which premiered in 2000. What’s interesting about that statement is, that even though fans may have liked this season, it didn’t translate into viewers. This past Sunday was the lowest rated Survivor finale in the show’s history, bringing in only 13 million viewers. That’s down 5 percent, while the reunion was down 13 percent from the previous year.