From: Adam Rifkin (adam@KnowNow.com)
Date: Sat Aug 19 2000 - 00:48:02 PDT
This one's for Jeff... :)
http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/tv/survivor/surv027.htm
> CBS bungles, bogus hints kept fans going
> By Cisar G. Soriano, USA TODAY
>
> In a 1980 summer cliffhanger, CBS made "Who Shot J.R?" a nationwide
> catchphrase and protected the closely guarded secret from fans of
> Dallas. Twenty years later, the network seems to have done it again,
> foiling investigative journalists and nosy fans on the Internet. Los
> Alamos and the Pentagon should be so lucky.
>
> But CBS wasn't without fault. Several glitches at the start of the
> season left a trail of clues before the network caught on and joined the
> game by releasing false information.
>
> Network flubs
>
> Episode 1-2: A split-second frame in the show's introductory theme song
> included an image of the final nine contestants seated at a tribal
> council meeting. It's a picture of the two tribes combined, thereby
> spoiling any suspense about who was knocked off in the previous
> episodes. This information, combined with CBS previews and
> frame-by-frame analysis of footage provided to Access Hollywood and
> Entertainment Tonight, allowed the detailed-filled fan Web site
> SurvivorSucks.com to accurately predict the exiled members until they
> were hoodwinked by the show's producers with a string of red herrings.
>
> Episode 7: A group of contestants was shown walking toward a tribal
> council meeting. Gervase is wearing an immunity necklace, an event that
> did not occur until Episode 8. That led viewers to conclude that Gervase
> was safe from expulsion for at least one more week.
>
> Episode 8: CBS Web masters inadvertently posted that evening's episode
> summary nearly six hours before the show aired on the East Coast,
> spoiling the fun for anyone who happened to view CBS.com. The Web site
> was then taken down for repairs until later that evening. However, there
> is speculation that CBS may have purposefully leaked the summary on the
> site to make its Web masters appear like bumbling idiots, which in turn
> gave credence to a previous theory (see "The 'X' theory" below) that the
> Web site had leaked the identity of the winner: Gervase.
>
> Episode 9: Trailers pictured Richard carrying the immunity
> necklace. Another editing mistake. He did not win immunity in this
> episode, but the image led fans to predict correctly that he would win
> immunity in Episode 10.
>
> Red herrings
>
> The "X" theory: A Canadian college student earned his five minutes of
> fame when he announced he'd discovered the winner of Survivor. The fan,
> who goes by the name CAPLOCK, uncovered a hidden area on the CBS Web
> site where images of contestants are stored. All but Gervase's picture
> were crossed out with a scarlet "X," leading some to believe he was the
> winner. The X Theory was invalidated when Gervase was booted in Episode
> 10. Producer Mark Burnett later admitted to staging the hidden image.
>
> The "final four" image: In the introduction to Episode 8, a quick image
> showed what appeared to be the final four contestants at a tribal
> council meeting. The pictured castaways were Kelly, Gervase, Richard and
> Sean, with only four torch lights visible. Like the X Theory, this
> conspiracy theory was scotched when Gervase was expelled. Burnett and
> production team member Marty Dugard admit to digitally altering a tribal
> council image to remove other cast members. "We underestimated the
> mania," Dugard told Alberta, Canada's Edmonton Journal . "All of a
> sudden, it was like 'OK, if you guys are going to play that game, let's
> see what we can do to play with your minds a little bit.'"
One more for good measure:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/tv/survivor/surv026.htm
Revealing survivals and reprisals
By Cisar G. Soriano, USA TODAY
> Fame has been a double-edged spear for the cast of Survivor. No sooner
> did the series hit the air than castaways began making TV appearances
> and signing show-biz deals . . . and facing skeletons freshly exhumed
> from their closets. A rundown of their off-island exploits:
>
> Richard. Two days after returning home to Newport, R.I., Richard Hatch
> was arrested and charged with child abuse April 27 after his adopted
> 10-year-old son claimed he was forced to run 6 miles at 4:30 a.m. A
> judge later returned the boy. But Hatch has since sued the state,
> charging that police officials violated his civil rights and
> emotionally abused his son. It's all part of, as Richard would say,
> "the process" now; cases are pending.
>
> Kelly. An arrest warrant is out for river-rafting guide Kelly
> Wiglesworth for allegedly using a stolen credit card in 1995, running
> up charges of nearly $600, including an extravagant dinner -- at the
> Olive Garden. Police in Greensboro, N.C., were unsure of her
> whereabouts until she popped up on 28 million TV screens. After moving
> to Las Vegas, Kelly was arrested again in July 1997 for biting her
> husband's nose three weeks after they were married. The charges didn't
> stick, but neither did the husband.
>
> Stacey. Conniving lawyer Stacey Stillman appeared in one of those
> annoying Reebok sneaker spots that have aired non-stop during
> Survivor. Her one line in the ad, addressed to the commercial series'
> two inept, leech-ridden adventurers: "Losers!" Crusty contractor
> B.B. Andersen also will appear in a Reebok ad, which will air during
> Wednesday's finale.
>
> Jenna. Jenna Lewis is considering taking Playboy's reported $500,000
> offer to pose nude. "I'm not kidding. I didn't win the million
> dollars. It may hinder some of my other career moves. But it would
> also take care of me and my daughters for many, many years to come,"
> Lewis told the Toronto Sun. She attended a party at Hef's Playboy
> Mansion August 5.
>
> Colleen. After frolicking with Greg on the island, cute college
> student Colleen Haskell became the object of admiration for scores of
> male fans on the Internet. She reportedly turned down an offer to pose
> nude in Playboy but has, also reportedly, been offered an on-air job
> at a radio station in the Miami area, where she lives.
>
> Gervase. YMCA basketball coach Gervase Peterson has been spotted in a
> new Jeep Cherokee, has supposedly caused a mob scene at Red Lobster
> and is fighting off girls who want to get to know him better. He
> reportedly is auditioning for a part in a John Travolta film and has
> taped a guest spot on UPN's The Hughleys.
>
> Rudy. He couldn't catch anything but grief during his castaway
> days. But during a fishing tournament July 1 in his hometown of
> Virginia Beach, Rudy Boesch won the top prize for reeling in a
> 115-pound bluefin tuna after fighting the fish for more than an hour.
>
> Sean. Dr. Sean Kenniff writes guest columns for an alternative
> medicine Web site (www.highermindsradio.com ). A recent article:
> "Ginkgo Biloba: An ancient remedy for the failing mind." And he's
> signed for unspecified appearances on the CBS soap Guiding Light.
>
> Sonja. The ukulele-strumming music therapist was the first Survivor
> voted off the island, before viewers got to know her. Though she had
> to pass on a chance to endorse the Pax network (a CBS competitor),
> Sonja Christopher got her just desserts, literally. She told a TV
> critics gathering, "I got a complimentary dessert at a restaurant."
> And on Wednesday she was the guest of honor at the opening of a indoor
> water park and expansion of the Best Western Sterling Inn in Sterling
> Heights, Mich.
>
> Executive producer Mark Burnett: Burnett's newfound fame led to
> problems with unhappy fans. On July 25, Burnett obtained a restraining
> order against an activist who sent him e-mail threats criticizing him
> about the castaways' treatment of rats. In addition to producing
> Survivor 2, Burnett is working on a show that will follow candidates
> through Russian space camp.
---- Adam@KnowNow.ComIf it weren't for the huge banner draped across the front of the convention center, you would think this week's Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles was a Macworld Expo convention in disguise. -- "Democrats Endorse Mac at Convention", by Brad Gibson, ZDNet http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2616975,00.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Aug 19 2000 - 02:51:51 PDT