The bloom is officially off the rose. America’s obsession with “Survivor” has ended. The much touted Thursday night battle between “Friends” and “Survivor” was won decidedly by “Friends” last Thursday as the NBC comedy drew a 15.9 rating to “Survivor’s” 11.9, meaning “Friends” outdistanced the reality program by over 4 million viewers.
Ever since the first season, “Survivor’s” ratings have slowly slipped, and last Thursday’s was the lowest in the show’s history. Although the ratings for the program are still solid, and were good enough to tie for ninth place in the network ratings, they do show that people’s interest in the reality series is dwindling.
Some might say that shows like “Survivor” are bound to lose interest overtime, because of their gimmicky nature. What was once a fresh idea becomes the status quo when it is done to death, both by “Survivor” itself and by the numerous take offs that the other networks are bound to attempt when they see a potential ratings success. One only has to look at a show like “Who Wants To Be Millionaire” to see that what happens when the networks take a good idea and beat it to death, with little innovation.
So how can “Survivor” keep itself entertaining to its audience to prevent the inevitable turnoff factor? Two words: Survivor Amherst. Seems like a sure fire ratings success to me. Imagine all of the possibilities:
-Tribal counsel held at McMurphy’s
– All of the cast members forced to spend a night in one of those ancient smelly dorms in Northeast
– There are endless immunity challenges that could result as well. Forget drinking blood, how bout trying to finish “The Zeppelintm” drenched in Red Alerttm sauce from Wings, or better yet eight platefuls of “Country Fried Steak” from the Dining Commons. For some ethnic flavor, how about trying to finish off an extra large portion of extra hot chicken curry from “The New India House” (Jack’s). Since this is Amherst, immunity will also be granted if one can shotgun a can of “Old Milwaukee’s Best,” or better yet, do a keg stand of 20 seconds or longer with it
– Contestants will also be forced to participate in humiliating gestures such as going into that porn shop on Route 9, and buying the 2 for 1 special movie. The winning team will receive a variety of lotions
– To really freshen things up, people will no longer be voted off in the traditional Survivor fashion, but rather the contestants will be divided into two flip cup teams, in which each will vote off their worst player. The sole survivor of the flip cup game wins $1,000,000 or a gift certificate to the Hampshire Mall
Alright CBS, you heard it here first. If you want to get those “Survivor” ratings back up, there’s your magic formula, “Survivor Amherst.”
Tubenotes Show Spotlight:
Dismissed- (MTV Weeknights- 11pm)
“Scandalous.” “Shameless.” “Gratuitous.” Those are just a few of the adjectives that the new MTV show “Dismissed” uses to describe itself. Only in the time slot that was the former home of “Undressed” could such a show exist.
The “reality” show features people in their late teens and early twenties out on dates. But ordinary dates these are not. The show takes the form of either one guy out with two females vying for his attention, or one female out with two guys vying for his. At the end of the date, one is “dismissed” while the other two begin a life long union of love, or at least go and have sex once before they never see each other again.
The most entertaining aspect of the show is the trash talk that goes on between the two contestants competing not to be dismissed. Case in point: on a recent episode one woman greeted her tall opponent as “Andre the Giant,” the other responded by simply calling her a “ho.”
Oh, and the show has some stringent rules that must be adhered to at all times. For one, each one of the contestants gets a “time out” with the person they are attempting to woo into bed. This gives them 15 minutes alone with their date, and first base action usually results.
Obviously, since this is MTV, almost all of the people featured are “beautiful people.” Buff guys and busty girls make up the majority of the show’s “cast.” Of course, all of these “beautiful people” need jobs so they have sufficient funds for all of life necessities: cool clothes, hair gel, club cover charges, mixed drinks, and gas for the luxury car their parents gave them. Some of their professions have included “sales assistant” (cashier actually), “amateur filmmaker” (home videos don’t count pal), and “volunteer” (definitely volunteer work for her.) On a recent episode we were introduced to Kelly, a 19-year old “student” who doesn’t actually attend any sort of school currently, and who’s hobbies include “going to the beach.”
If there is one obvious trend to “Dismissed,” it is that the females tend to almost always pick the “quirky” guy, and the males’ pick is not as predictable. Perhaps this is because the females that are cast are always so close in personality (but available in blonde or brunette), while there is usually a difference in the males (boring guy vs. quirky guy).
“Dismissed” is entertaining in a campy sort of a way. It advertises itself as “your new guilty pleasure.” It certainly is new, and I feel guilty for wasting my life away watching in it, but pleasurable, no. Sort of funny, yes. Grade: C
