Sometimes nothing is sweeter than hearing Jeff Probst utter three delicious words. Drop your buffs. There is promise in that command and for a season like this one where — oh god, don't make me rehash it! Let's just say that realigning Moto and Ravu was the most entertaining Survivor has been since Sundra and Becky faced off over a fire-making challenge in the Cook Islands. What would we do this season if Ravu and Moto had not mixed it up with a schoolyard pick? Now the poor-camp dwellers are Edgardo, Alex, Dreamz, Mookie, Rocky and Anthony. On the rich side of the island are Earl, Yau Man, Michelle, Cassandra, Boo and Stacy. Odd-woman out, Lisi, after a stint on Exile Island, later joined the poor camp. Ravu lucked out by having Edgardo, Alex and Dreamz join their team. All three come across as decent, open-minded guys. The kind of men who would call Rocky on his disparaging description of Anthony as effeminate and boost morale by catching fish when all previous efforts to do ...
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Question: I read with interest your comment that you long for the day when gay characters on TV are treated as completely unremarkable. It occurred to me that such an event has already occurred, earlier this year, on a little reality show called Survivor. In last fall's Cook Islands edition, the same edition that initially divided the tribes by ethnicity, two male contestants later revealed off camera that they were gay, but that topic did not even surface on air. It is hard to believe that the subject never came up on the island among the contestants, and that cameras did not capture it. So I found it refreshing that producer Mark Burnett did not deem the sexuality of either contestant to be remarkable enough to fashion (through editing) a little story point about it. Certainly the homosexuality of previous Survivor contestants (Richard Hatch and many others) had been story points in previous editions. So in a way, I found that the granddaddy of TV's current reality craze broke ground ...
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Question: My question has to do with the Emmys and reality TV: After two seasons of either awful (Family Edition) or dull Amazing Races, and the conclusion of one of the best Survivors in recent memory (how great was it to see four really likable and honorable people pull off a come-from-behind win and just be happy for one another?), can the reality-TV granddaddy finally pull off a win? Or do the Emmy voters not even watch those programs and just continue to award Amazing Race out of inertia and habit?
Answer: Sorry, I'll have to disagree with you on that one. The last Race may have had an anticlimactic finish, but watching the teams race through new locales in the Far East this season was a lot more thrilling than watching tribes squabble on what looked like the exact same tropical beach as those from the last few years. (That said, I enjoyed the way the last Survivor ended as well.) This category is one of the few cases where I don't mind repeat wins year after year. Especially after
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Yul Kwon, Survivor: Cook Islands
On Sunday night's nail-biting Survivor: Cook Islands finale, Yul Kwon narrowly beat out tough competitor Ozzy by one vote to emerge as champion. The Stanford and Yale grad, who was often called "the puppet master" or "Godfather" by fellow players, was happy that his strategic game paid off and that he was able to pocket the million-dollar check. TVGuide.com spoke to Yul in the wee hours of the morning after his big win to find out how he's planning on spending his winnings, and why he looked so shell-shocked after being announced the sole survivor.
TVGuide.com: Good morning, how are you doing? Yul Kwon: Good. I'm still sleep-deprived, but I'm living the dream.
TVGuide.com: You looked stunned throughout th
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It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was a season that certainly had it’s ups and downs, but if Survivor:Cook Islands were a movie, it would be up for an Oscar.Ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration, I present the best of Cook Islands.The Best Challenges:Sure, we had a few recycled challenges, but someone on that staff got a shot of creativity that brought us some truly innovative, interesting and challenging competitions.These last two immunity challenges had me literally on the edge of my seat. Squarely in Aitu’s corner, it was near torture seeing Adam as a real threat to an all-Aitu final four.Ozzy’s come-from-behind win in the spider web/puzzle challenge was reality television at its best. It wasn’t his physical prowess that amazed me the most this time — I didn’t even know he had a brain until he wowed me by solving that compass-rose puzzle.Then there was the final immunity challenge. I loved that vanishing platform. How ...
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For some reason I really thought Parvati would end up in the finals. Not due to any true game play on her part, but merely out of some cosmic irony. Rarely have I seen a castaway who has done as little as she. I was wrong. Even with the seismic tremors at Aitu — Becky and Sundra maneuvering to oust Ozzy — the easily influenced Yul pulled his strings and chose Adam as the Raro member most worthy of staying.As much as Yul denies it, he is the top dog on the island, and he wears the Puppet Master title well. The thing is, even though he is the whole Survivor package — smart, strong, has ripped abs — he thinks too much and that overactive brain may just knock him out of the game. In case you hadn't noticed because you were distracted by Yul's mud-caked torso, there will be five people in the finals! Five relatively strong competitors. Seriously, who thought Sundra would last this long? After the first merge, Flicka was in a better position than the alliance-free ...
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And now we know why Parvati doesn't do any work at camp. It's just not safe. The girl nearly sliced her thumb off trying to open a coconut. Tragic as that may have been, Parvati's mishap allowed us another glimpse of that cute Aussie doctor from last season. Her sacrifice will not go unnoticed in my book. This week was the family visits. Sundra's heartfelt weeping at the sight of her mother had me wondering if she'd be able to actually perform in the reward challenge of throwing water from one bucket into another while blindfolded. I’m still not sure. Mom wasn’t catching much water and Sundra was all over the place. While Jonathan and his wife were well-matched — both competitive and innovative — it was the injured Parvati and her father who won the challenge and chose Sundra and Adam to join in the reward.What happened next is why I think Cook Islands is clearly among the best Survivors we've seen. While the winners were feasting and Jonathan was at Exile Isla...
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Candice Woodcock, Survivor: Cook Islands
If you've got to get your torch snuffed on Survivor: Cook Islands, there are worse ways to go out than with a big juicy kiss from your hot island fling. Or are there? TVGuide.com caught up with Candice Woodcock the day after her ouster to find out if her smooch from Adam was sexy or skanky — after all, they have been on the island 30 days without toothbrushes! — and also to see what the pre-med gal was thinking when she went on a rant against her former Aitu tribe mates.
TVGuide.com: I was actually pretty impressed that you got up the nerve to let it all out in last night's episode, to tell the Aitu alliance and Jonathan what was up.Candice Woodcock: Well, you know, I generally can control myself
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This show is so good I am almost moved to write poetry, and yet there are no words to express how much I'm enjoying Survivor: Cook Islands. Alas, I will attempt to recap the happenings at the Aitutonga tribe. In the aftermath of Nate's departure, Parvati was outspoken about her disappointment in Jonathan. She was so upset with him that she could vomit on his face. Now, she's billed as a boxer. Would a right cross not suffice? Parvati did make me laugh — when Jonathan flat-out told her that "Yul does have the idol," and she still did not believe him. Hilarious. Perhaps, Nate should have left his glasses behind. Like I should talk. For weeks now I've watched the rat footage and mused as to why the show always cut to Jonathan afterward. Perhaps Burnett is trying to tell us something? Um, yeah. If you come away with anything from this episode, it's that everyone thinks Jonathan is a rat. He may very well be, but I'm thinking this rat's going to come out on top — at the end ...
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Nate Gonzalez, Survivor: Cook Islands
Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez was laid-back cool for most of CBS' Survivor: Cook Islands (Thursdays at 8 pm/ET), and was known for his charming use of the English language. With the larger Raro tribe merging with the Aitu tribe, all should have been fine for a few weeks. But the mutinous Jonathan switched sides (again) and caused Nate to go home during the Thanksgiving Day broadcast. TVGuide.com spoke with Nate about Jonathan's betrayal, his comments to "nancy boy" Brad, his fun lingo and "warm" Parvati.
TVGuide.com: Is your family OK? I can't imagine that watching you lose Survivor was a fun way to spend Thanksgiving. Nathan: Uh-huh. It was very hard for Mommy. She had a hard time seeing her baby boy go out like that. It was a little emotional.
TVGuide.com: That was not a nice way to go o
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