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Australian Survivor: Bigger. Longer. Louder.

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K

kirblar

Member
KNLUfJb.png


http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/australian-survivor

Wait, didn't we see this air in 2001?

After 2 failed attempts at getting a Survivor franchise off the ground, Austalia's Channel 10 has taken another stab at getting the long-standing series off the ground in their country. Two different networks each tried to make the format work, but neither time it worked out for them.

This time, however, they've enlisted the aid of the US version in order to try and match their production values and gameplay. Watching the show, it's clear that the outreach has been huge- it's visually indistinguishable from the American version. Though the music is a bit loud and TAR-ish at the moment.

One big difference from the American version, however, is that in order to fill a 26 episode order, the game was expanded to 24 contestants and 55 days. It should make for an interesting contrast with the US version, and will be a gigantic challenge for the show's editors.

Game Format Info (non-spoiler)

Number of players: 24
Number of starting tribes: 3 tribes of 8 people each
Number of days: 55
Money for first place: $500K AU (tax-free, unlike the US version)
Number of jurors: 9
Contestants at FTC: 2
Number of merges: 2 - one from 3->2, then another from 2->1
Hidden Immunity Idols: Are in play. Distribution method unknown at this point
Redemption Island: None!
Outcast Twist: I really hope not!

When does it air?
Airs in the evenings Sunday through Tuesday in Australia.

What about Canadian Survivor?
Sorry, got nothing for you.

Spoiler Text Request:
AU Survivor will be airing Sunday through Tuesday night, 3 times a week. Because of the accellerated schedule and non-US airtime, it may be a good idea for us to use spoiler tags for the current week's batch of episodes until noon EST/9am PST Thursday in order to allow people time to catch up or binge on the week's episodes.

The Host:
Australian_Survivor_Jonathan_LaPaglia_900x506.jpg
Click to expand...
Jonathan LaPaglia. Doing a pretty good laid-back Probst impression. Still needs to work on his voting-card flipping skills.

The Tribes:
Qh4WK3V.jpg
Click to expand...
onunJmf.jpg
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bfYXOwp.jpg
Click to expand...
 
S

Shancake

Junior Member
It's been surprisingly good. A little try-hardish but hopefully that will disappear with time. Also a bit annoyed that they're taking it to 3 nights a week starting next week...
 
K

kirblar

Member
Shancake said:
It's been surprisingly good. A little try-hardish but hopefully that will disappear with time. Also a bit annoyed that they're taking it to 3 nights a week starting next week...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wasn't planning to pay attention, then I saw the 6 minute preview that was shockingly close to the OG series and became very interested. First two eps have been great, very old-school so far.

Very curious how the "Tall Poppy Syndrome" thing affects how the show plays out- that's definitely not nearly as much a thing here in the states.
 
L

llehuty

Member
Forogt to subscribe to this thread. First two episodes were good.

Do we know if they are going to stick to the 55 min long episode format? It makes the show less dynamic, but it's a nice way of letting the personalities breath a bit and not oversimplify things in the scrambling and tribal council parts of thre show.

The host is lacking the experience and it shows, but this probably means less streamlined and forced tribals, which could be interesting if the cast has enough in them to strategize and create drama in a natural way.

To the aussies, a rerun of 2nd episdo begins now on ten.
 
H

HolyCheck

I want a tag give me a tag
Yes i"ve been emjoying it, and its the first time ive watched survivor in a good 5 years.

Hopig it sticks aroubs fir a few years


How the hell do people type on touch screens properly. Ffs.
 
P

Pikelet

Member
RS4- said:
How different is it compared to the US one. The winning edit job, the manufactured drama, etc?
Click to expand...

It sticks quite close to the american formula except that they really like to pump the dramatic music pretty much continuously throughout the whole show.

If you like the US show I'd definitely give it a watch. I don't think there is a legal way to view it outside of Australia, however i have seen links floating around reddit.
 
K

kirblar

Member
Music is so much better this episode. They must have heard the complaints.

They do know male chickens don't lay eggs, right?

The tribal cinematography has improved massively from e1 as well.

ep3 spoiler thoughts:
The extended episodes are really showing off how the social game is the most important thing. All 3 boots so far have monumentally f'd up, and Cesternino Jr. has put a gigantic target on his back.

Taking the Idol clue there is a trap unless you're in Kylie's position and don't have a lot to lose. Lots of them have watched the US show, and alarm bells were immediately going off for people.
 
eerik9000

eerik9000

Member
Chris R said:
Any legal options for streaming this in the USA?
Click to expand...

Bboy AJ said:
Ditto. Any?
Click to expand...

Get an Australian VPN and watch it from Channel Ten's TenPlay service. That's the most legal way I can think of and that's what I do. That being said, the VPN providers I use (PrivateInternetAcess and ExpressVPN) have terrible speeds between Australia and Estonia, maybe you have better luck in the USA, or try different free trials beforehand.
 
K

kirblar

Member
So, uh ep 5 thoughts:

I love the twist, but hate the execution of it. They should have told them what was up before they walked over to vote.
 
L

llehuty

Member
eliGif1lg.gif


asfwiuefwiigergpjerg, last episode (5th)!!!!

kwjaiartlweorowrejerpowejrrore

I was loving it before the twists already, 2 tribes in 1 tribal is genius, just with the cross reaction shots alone. Also, yellow tribe is now hyper OP. I want to see the faces of the red tribe, though.

A bit bullshit, that the won immunity, but the other two teams didn't lose anyone and were even, maybe reinforced. I'm here for the early drama though, I let it pass because is really early on, and luck is a huge factor in these stages. Don't pull this types of twists on the individual segment of the game, though.

I really hope this is getting good ratings, this is just too good.
 
S

ShyGuy

Member
yeah Episode 5 was awesome!

I was like "WTF" the whole time during that Tribal Council

Excellent production quality so far, I was quite hyped when I first heard Channel 10 was gonna properly reboot the series and I think my own hype has been justified.

I hope the quality stays this high. Great stuff so far.
 
B

BowieZ

Banned
How good is Jonathan?

I could easily see him replace Jeff in the future.

He is killing it. So suave and in control.
 
H

HolyCheck

I want a tag give me a tag
llehuty said:
eliGif1lg.gif


asfwiuefwiigergpjerg, last episode (5th)!!!!

kwjaiartlweorowrejerpowejrrore

I was loving it before the twists already, 2 tribes in 1 tribal is genius, just with the cross reaction shots alone. Also, yellow tribe is now hyper OP. I want to see the faces of the red tribe, though.

A bit bullshit, that the won immunity, but the other two teams didn't lose anyone and were even, maybe reinforced. I'm here for the early drama though, I let it pass because is really early on, and luck is a huge factor in these stages. Don't pull this types of twists on the individual segment of the game, though.

I really hope this is getting good ratings, this is just too good.
Click to expand...

Would be OP. But they lost their puzzle game.

Been so good so far, and agreed with the poster above. Jonathan is very good.


Blue imploding at tribal council was pretty hilarious. And yellow just going... wtf guys.
 
B

BowieZ

Banned
My Dad is dying of cancer and we have been watching this together (his first season of Survivor but he seems to be loving it). Mum's watching too.

Imagine our reaction as we're watching Nick recounting his mother losing her battle with cancer, and drawing in the sand "Happy Birthday Mum" as he talks about how they used to watch Survivor together...

For the rest of my life this season is going to have a special meaning for me.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
No idea why I decided to watch this having quit the show back in US season 4, but I must say the twist with the swap was hilarious to watch.

Although instead of a second swap, I almost wish it was "now vote again to eliminate someone".
 
B

BowieZ

Banned
Of course a quality program such as this is already starting to bleed viewers in Australia. It's already lost a quarter of its mediocre 750,000 debut. Stupid Blockheads.

It's only going to survive on the back of its decent 16-39 and 18-49 ratings, where it's more or less been in the top 5 shows each night.
 
S

ShyGuy

Member
I guess this is why they upped it from 2 episodes a week to 3 a week.

Gotta burn through them episodes!

I really hope they do another season, and maybe air it earlier in the year...
 
A

AndrewPL

Member
I've been trying to watch these episodes with my wife...so many things annoy me about the production (but I love the game of survivor).

It's like it's target audience are idiots...everything is explained 7 times
The strategy isn't shown..but they tell you about it 5 times.
There's no subtlety, you can't think for yourself soandso is slimey and can't be trusted...you're told over and over again...

It's just annoying where they drag everything out and make it dumb to watch.

Also the players aren't much better than the editing to be honest, its like baby's first survivor game.
 
K

kirblar

Member
But it is their first Survivor game, well using the US production completely as a template.

This season is actually emphasizing just how important the social game is. Look how many people are getting themselves eliminated because they can't read a room.
 
L

llehuty

Member
I actually like better how in detail they go with the tribe interaction thanks to the longer episodes, showing multiple scenarios and strategies the tribe comes up with and how they interact with each other.

I feel like in the US version, sometimes the strategy is a bit rushed and misleading since the edit can only frame as a candidate for elimination 2 people at best.

I also think they are slowing things down so people at home that have never seen the show can follow it.

I also don't see any problem with the cast so far? Most of them could easily be put in the american version and fit without problem. I actually hope they do some cast crossovers down the line, it could be fun.
 
A

AndrewPL

Member
Spoiler tagging all of it...

I guess I'll put it this way...its been 5 episodes and it still feels like we're in the tutorial level.

You don't need to tell everyone Nick is skevy, you don't need to show 3 different people explaining to other people how skevy Nick is. You just show Nick interacting with other people and the audience decides that they can't trust him...and then the audience feels like they are part of the game.

I can't connect to this show because there's nothing to connect to, sure I like certain personalities and certain characters but it's all being forced into sound bites.


As far as player skill level...I'm sure there are some good players there and they'll come out later...but the crew size is so big the game is being over shadowed by dumb dumbs...Barry is one of the worlds worst contestants for his stance on voting, Nick made himself look dishonest to get a clue...then couldn't find an idol, Connor just has no idea what strategy is and just says the wrong stuff in his previous tribe...he did say he wanted to move tribes but that felt like dumb luck rather than anything.
 
L

llehuty

Member
AndrewPL said:
Spoiler tagging all of it...
*snip*
Click to expand...
Spoiler answer with speculation spoilers.

I think that all this Nick focus in how he interacts with each one and what people think about him will come into play at some point, not in a "he is shady" way, but in a "this and this voted him out because of what he said/did in his first tribe". Due to the nature of the show and how it's edited, we never have flashbacks, so they have to throw these exchanges when itthey happens, even if it can seem pointless at that point.

As for the cast, I still think its solid. Barry was a trainwreck, but we always have some of those anyway. I do think Conner is an ok player, he was able to read the new tribe situation and managed to survive last tribal when all odds were against him. And I do think he would have stayed over Flick if he would have wanted too back in Sanaapu, but after changing tribes he is going to have a lot of info and relationships that could come handy after merging. We will see.

As for the good strategy... It's obviously too soon to see power moves, the good strategy now is laying low and building relationships... Which I guess it's not very exciting TV, I really liked Christie bulding that trust with Phoebe in the red tribe after seeing she is on the outs,and Tegan trying to expand a bit away from Nick with the girls from Sanaapu.

I don't know if its happening anytime soon, but the merge/merges are probably going to be a bit messy with the large cast, so everything that they can explain in terms of interactions and alliances before that happens, the better.
 
U

UnnecessaryTodd

Member
WOO! I was hoping someone would make this thread. Haven't seen tonight's episode but as far as initial impressions have been I'm super impressed. All of my fears were quickly dispelled and they've really taken great lengths to capture the exact feel of the US version.

Really happy with how it's shaping up too. Cast isn't super fantastic but it isn't bad either. Seems like they hedged their bets on a lot of normal people rather than really pushing the limits like the US version does but it's still very good.

I don't understand the Lee popularity he has all the personality of a toast sandwich. And Andrew can't say anything without making it sound like a complaint, he seems like the biggest whiney douche I've ever seen. Nick started ok but has quickly turned into an entitled prick who doesn't really understand the game but is getting way too much airtime... but really those are nitpicks and they don't detract from the overall show.

Conner, Flick, Matt, Phoebe and Craig have all been particularly excellent and I'm really excited to see more from the others as well. Jennah Louise and Tegan in particular showed up yesterday which was nice.
 
B

BowieZ

Banned
llehuty said:
I actually like better how in detail they go with the tribe interaction thanks to the longer episodes, showing multiple scenarios and strategies the tribe comes up with and how they interact with each other.

I feel like in the US version, sometimes the strategy is a bit rushed and misleading since the edit can only frame as a candidate for elimination 2 people at best.

I also think they are slowing things down so people at home that have never seen the show can follow it.

I also don't see any problem with the cast so far? Most of them could easily be put in the american version and fit without problem. I actually hope they do some cast crossovers down the line, it could be fun.
Click to expand...
Same.

It's like a cross between over explaining everything for newbies, and also going into more detail for the fans who want a bit extra content.

If you really love the snappy, almost conveyor belt like pristine production of the US version, then you probably won't like it as much.
 
S

Subpar Scrub

Banned
OCDChewie said:
I wish I could get this here. I'm going through Survivor withdrawal.
Click to expand...

If it's not available in your area, I'm sure there's a way you can acquire it.

I should catch up on this one day, but my list of recommended shows from friends is hitting breaking point. One day though.
 
L

llehuty

Member
BowieZ said:
It's like a cross between over explaining everything for newbies, and also going into more detail for the fans who want a bit extra content.
Click to expand...
Yessss. I loved last week when they showed the strategy talk after they explained one of the challenges (how Kat was asked to do the puzzle).
 
K

kirblar

Member
They're also adding +13 minutes of content on the non-90m episodes too. You'll be seeing more than you're used to. I really like it, especially with the stupidly large cast.
 
U

UnnecessaryTodd

Member
What a great episode. Random thoughts:

Andrew: "I genuinely want to work with them, and they bought it hook line and sinker." What the fuck is happening in your brain that makes you talk like this?
Aganoa being completely ignored :lol. To be fair we did need some time with the other two tribes.
Lol of course Lee thought Barry was the core. Idjit.
When isn't it what it is Sammy?
Craig likes pickles ;)
Sam's been low energy eh? STOP DOING PULLUPS you nuffy.
Craig fucking destroys. "Thank you Jonothan"
The tide looked like it was really fucking with them in the immunity challenge. That's where sheer muscle mass and weight would've helped.
Thanks for the pus update Pags.
Don't really care who goes, all results are good.


Cast Tier List:

S+
Craig

S
Kate
Phoebe
Matt

A
Flick
Brooke
Kristie
Conner

B
Nick
Rohan
Sam
Jenna Lewis

C
Tegan
Sue

D
Kylie
Lee
Kat

F
El
Andrew
 
S

satriales

Member
I havent seen todays episode yet, but the six i've watched have been excellent.

This version fixes some of the problems I had with US one: generally I love that the episodes are longer and there are fewer reward challenges, so more time spent with the cast.

I think I want Matt to win.
 
U

UnnecessaryTodd

Member
Another great episode
(although I could do with more episodes of people actually being voted out but I'm glad we got lots of dynamics)


New Tribes!!!

Saanapu:
Matt, Flick, Brooke, Kylie, Sam, Nick, Lee, Jennah, El

Vavau:
Craig, Kate, Andrew, Sue, Conner, Phoebe, Rohan, Kristie, Kat


Really love the new Vavau, pretty much all my favourites except for Matt. Flick/Brooke are ok but getting a bit big for their britches so NuSaanapu will hopefully make that side more interesting.

Would love to see Kylie flip on her old tribe. Only problem is it would require Sam or Nick to flip with her and that won't happen. Jennah is kinda fucked but I would love to somehow see Lee get taken out. That would make my day, the guy is only on the show cause he's quasi-famous. He has no personality and the quicker he's gone the quicker we can get focus on people who actually matter. Same with El to be honest but eh, she doesn't eat up much air time.

Nick I love to hate. He's being such an overplaying tool and he has this over-annunciation thing that makes him seem super slimey but he's a kind of villain I want to see get an epic downfall later on. He's begging for it. Sometime early to mid merge (the actual final merge) would be perfect.

On the other hand, Vavau is a hot pot of conflicting goals. Kate knows she's not super super in solid with Vavau so she might find greener pastures, particularly with Conner. I really like everyone on this tribe except Andrew.... He has the most way of speaking. If he somehow goes I'll be so happy but I really want Craig to stay safe. He's my number one favourite.... if through some magic, Conner, Phoebe, Rohan, Craig and Kristie teamed up I would be the happiest person in the world.
 
B

BowieZ

Banned
Good episode, but a vote would have sealed it. I guess we should be thankful we only have to wait 5 days.

I'm also wondering how marathoning this season would go down. Surely it will feel much more repetitive and boring watching so much camp life and very slow shifts in alliance dynamics, in one go, even just the 8 episodes so far (roughly a third of the way through).

Edit: lol

xyhJhMo.jpg
Click to expand...
 
S

shink

Member
Hmm.
I hated how that merge was done. Mainly because I hate nearly everyone in Saanapu and they were the smug ones coming out of the merge.
Plus, Nick dragging JL into Saanapu out of revenge when I was so happy with the Craig/JL team. Also, no Tribal Council! I wanted to see how these new teams played out.
 
L

llehuty

Member
UnnecessaryTodd said:
Fair. I mean I didn't think it was a spoiler, it's moreso just a quirk of how they're shooting the episodes.
Click to expand...

After watching the episode, I overreacted a bit there, lol
I thought there was going to be a medivac

Really interesting the swap, but I keep wondering why we didn't get nothing on Conner, it must be quite shitty being forgotten by your original tribe and being completely in the outs in terms of number. Luckily for him, Aganoa is bringing all the mess.

I hope new saanapu has something in store for us and we can see Jennah flipping the tables.

Also, how weird was not seeing the paper that Craig got in the napkin? I'm also wondering if Phoebe saw somethng, she was clearly looking in his direction.
 
K

kirblar

Member
Finally caught up. I absolutely hate
everything involving Nick. Guy gets a second chance he did nothing to earn and goes about shitting on everything. With Kat it came as a natural accident, but his existence in the game is just nails on a chalkboard to me.

edit: Oh god, do not watch any Ep9 commercials. Holy shit, this is like, explicit spoiler territory.
 
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