New 'Survivor' Divides Groups by Race

That would be sweet, but that would mean that they have to give them all the food, they just can't find it like in the tropics.

let's have them in the North Pole. Global Warming is working faster over there.

It's be like Alive but with a bunch of pansies instead of rugby players.

It doesn't even have to be that sub-zero, how bout survivor Thousand Islands or Thunder Bay during the Winter. But in all seriousness the real reason they'll never have a cold weather survivor is b/c their won't be any bikini girls that way and ratings would plummet.

how about

survivor Bahamas during hurricane season
survivor Mongolia during winter
survivor Iraq right around Ramadan
survivor Thailand during monsoon season
survivor Congo during some rebel uprising.

I think what would appeal about these, would be the fact that people could possibly die or get hurt while trying to get the $1000000. One of my favorite moments in survivor is when ( i think it was 1/2/3) one of the guys sees this wild pig, grabs a knife and chases it down. I think that same guy is the guy that passed out in the fire and had to be helicoptered out.

And dont call me sick, most NASCAR fans watch it for the wrecks, not to watch people go round in circles 250 times. Its a little part of our human nature.

To me the challenges are not survivor, survivor is watching people wither away over 30 days.

OOhhh... how bout Survivor Coliseum? Get some lions and watch what happens!

Why don't they get 2 teams of Marines and have them duke it out on an island? No guns or equipment.

Interesting? Interesting?!? This is blatant race bating and you find it INTERESTING?

What happened to political correctness? In contests, there will be winners and losers. This contest will have tribal winners and losers. We have spent the last forty years preaching that no race is better! No comparisons allowed or peoples will feel hurt or become braggadocios!

Where is your outrage? Where is your criticism of such a divisive, subversive actions that CBS is taking, toward our culture! How can this be? Has the word "interesting" replaced the word "outrageous" in our language, or are you just not critical of Hollywood?

Actually, what's the difference between this and red-heads vs. blondes, short vs. tall, or guys vs. girls? After all, we have spent the last forty years preaching that no gender is better. ;)

I think that most of what is wrong with this contest is in ourselves.

Interesting? Interesting?!? This is blatant race bating and you find it INTERESTING?

I think you're a little too worked up about this. I'm not sure that anything I said called for the incredulous tone you've adopted in your response.

What happened to political correctness?

Hopefully, for the most part, it's gone away. Political correctness is overplayed, in many cases.00000000

Survivor has been splitting groups up based on gender for ages, where were you then? Three shows in, the tribes will merge -- "race bating" will no longer be an issue.

At any rate, it's not uncommon for ethnic groups to band together in real life, either. Hell, we had special dorms for exchange students at the college I attended. On Survivor, you'll often see the people who have the most in common forming bonds early on -- without being told to do so.

Where is your outrage?

I tend to reserve it for situations that call for outrage.

I tend to reserve it for situations that call for outrage.

Hear hear. I think this is fascinating. We need to be 'outraged' sometimes in order to find out that there is in fact nothing to be outraged about.

While Survivor does have its taudry moments, I think that it's one of the better reality shows out there, by comparison. From a social and interpersonal perspective, it's a fantastic way to observe and contemplate human interaction -

Since division by race is something that plays out in the real world all the time, I think there should be nothing offensive about this in the slightest. And, as Brian indicated, the teams will be merged very quickly anyway. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Honestly -- I'd recommend The Amazing Race over Survivor these days.

It's better in almost every way -- but I'll still be watching Survivor this Fall.

The Amazing Race is an awesome show.

Actually, I've never seen the Amazing Race, either.

dont feel so bad tim, i've never seen a minute of either of them yet either. Its kind of a ridiculous idea, i guess it'll draw attention though, just like hitler's new restaurant.

Thats @!$%#ty that they even let them near the cook islands, they're absolutely unreal islands. It'll probably improve their economy a fair bit, so they can stop relying so much on Offshore tax dodge type companies.

I've never watched an entire episode of any of the popular reality shows. If I want to see a social experiment in action I only have to observe my coworkers. One of them is a former professional golfer, another is a former CIA employee, and a third is a former beauty pageant contestant. They provide my daily entertainment.

My vote, is for Division by Zero to give us weekly recaps of the antics of his co-workers. That mix of characters sounds like a pretty decent plot.

The tribe has spoken.

: )

ok ok ... maybe not the tribe ... just me.

i've never seen a single minute of any of the survivor series. except for the brief clips the news might have played at first, or the little bits played during commercials for the show, i've never cared enough to watch.

reality tv is crap, in my opinion. want reality? let them try to survive for real, no cameras, just go away and let them deal with the elements for a month. come back with the crews in a month and film the results.

You've never seen it? But you think it's crap?

That's the dumbest thing I've heard since this guy I know wrote an article about Snakes on a Plane without watching it.

Out of nearly all the reality TV shows, The Amazing Race is the least like a social experiment and more like an actual competition. There is some stress between teammates, and some intra-team stressing, but it's nowhere near the social machinations of Survivor or Big Brother.

There's a reason the Amazing Race has won 3 Emmys back to back for Reality TV, and looking pretty good for a 4th this Sunday.

Mind you, more recent seasons haven't been as good as the earlier ones, but it's still one of the best reality TV shows today.

I don't get the combination of dividing by cultures and being trash tv.

Most shows on TV are either all white or all black, while the new crop of shows have a token person from each culture to try and get mass apeal. Look at Lost for a perfect example of this.

What I find bad is actually the reaction to this whole idea .. it's really not a big deal, and if you are offened by something as trival as this, perhaps there is something deeper there on your end.

You know, Ardith, your name actually shows up at top of your post. ;)

I would note that I know of absolutely -no one- who enjoys "reality television" who also thinks that it is a 1 to 1 reflection of reality. (Though, this is the most common criticism you will read about reality TV.)

For what it's worth, if you read the wikipedia article on Reality Television you will see that 1) not only is it not an entirely new concept, it 2) spans several categories and doesn't really seem to refer to one "type" of show.

I suspect that the term "Reality Television" was coined by critics -- likely influenced by The Real World from MTV.

Still, even then -- no one watched because it was an example of reality and few are unaware that choices are made to influence the "reality" and that edits are made to highlight aspects of said reality. People watch for the same reason they watch soap operas: It's an escape from "real" reality. It's fun. (Opinions, of course, will vary on that point.)

Calling it a social experiment is a stretch, yes -- but it certainly counts as a "controlled" social experiment.

Still -- the draw of reality television has nothing to do with reality.

(And I still say the Amazing Race is a really great show. I find that it's actually possible to root for people because they're "good" people and to get emotionally involved when watching some of the contestants. It's nice to see a show which allows an older couple to compete utilizing the life experience. I remember seeing locals in India cheer for an older couple as they worked their ass off on a physical portion of the race and it was really very moving. Also, the villains on the show are usually outnumbered by people who are willing to help each other -- which means that you also get a real "villain" to root against.)

Shoot - I meant to link to this in my last comment.

My defense of reality television.

I'm just bitter cause I don't have a good editor to enhance the enjoyment of my reality.

Hey, baby steps. ;)

M.

Survior is still high in the ratings.. so obviously most of America likes this type of tv..

I agree, I think it does add an interesting factor to the game and who hasn't ever wondered how an all-white/black/hispanic/asian team would do? For me, what would be even more interesting is if they weren't Americans, but FOBs - then you'd really see how different cultures measure up to the Survivor tasks.

I have no problem with racial discrimination and stereotyping, so let me take a gander.

The Asians would be great at all the puzzles. They would also be able to figure out the mathematical equations and models to build shelter, and know how to find food using knowledge. They'll also be able to step up traps to catch the sneaky Latinos.

The Blacks would be the most physically fit, so they would be able to defend their food supply the best, as well as being able to find food the easiest in the worst weather. If they teamed up with the Asians then that would make a formidable team.

The Latinos would be extremely stealthy, and they would be able to steal food from the others. They'll also be able to drink the dirtiest water and have a resistance to the bacteria in some foods, that would certainly make the other races ill.

The White man is a bit more complicated. If he is your "typical" liberal douche (A Seattlite, for example), then he would be wearing khaki shorts, cut eight inches above his knees. He would also have a sweat shirt, and a hiking bagpack, with a baseball hat and sunglasses resting upon his baseball cap. And of course, if he was a Seattlite, he would have a coffee cup from Starbucks. He would have an infuriatingly annoying and relentless positive attitude and smile on his face. He would encourage everyone else to overcome differences and get along together. He would be the hardest worker, and his optimism would always be through the roof.
The other white man, the "typical" redneck, would be able to live in the most destitute conditions, and would be the laziest of the bunch. He would have the advantage of being able to make lemonade out of anything, but convincing him to get up off of his ass would be a chore. He could also spread diseases the easiest, like smallpox, and if given the opportunity, he would be able to enslave the others.

RALPH'S GOT THE CONCH!

I'd love it if Survivor got away from cheesy romance and silly squabbles and got more hard-core. I'd love to see the winner of the immunity idol get some kind of "conch" and get to dictate what others do.

My main annoyance is that they're clearly hitting modeling agencies for the vast majority of their contestants of late.

It's been prettied up quite a bit -- but I still enjoy it.

The Apprentice has been pretty awful for the past couple seasons. I may only give Donald one more shot.

:)

I miss the days when the contestants were absolutely covered in mosquito bites and miserable, no water, with hair falling out from malnutrition - and had to compete while in that state.

But who wants to see that naked?

: )

Is it safe to watch at work? I can only imagine the 'casting calls' for shows like these.

I like her already, thanks for the link Mbae08.

There's plenty of original television, movies, -and- music.

At any rate, I find Survivor to be entertaining, but that doesn't mean I think it's a reflection of everyday reality. Nor do I know of anyone who does feel that to be so. (Though, it has its moments.)

The irony is that reality television was original. The term Reality TV means nothing and it's a truly a misnomer, but i guess calling a show, non-acting doesn't have the same zing.