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[BowieZ]

Premieres 8pm ET on Wednesday 24 September, 2014 on CBS

- couples, families and friends playing in pairs, initially separated into opposing tribes
- will heavily feature the identical twins from The Amazing Race
- will also heavily feature ex-Major League Baseball player John "Imagine having to take the 7 train to the ballpark next to some queer with AIDS" Rocker
- includes gay Christian actor couple - one of whom said like one line in one of the non-Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies
- Exile Island returns for the first time in ages
- no Redemption Island thankfully
- Jeff Probst is hosting; will yell out inanities during challenges
- in non-stereoscopic HD, and stereo surround sound where available
- here are the cast bios:

Dale Wentworth
Age: 55
Home: Ephrata, Washington
Occupation: Farmer
Father of Kelley Wentworth
Tribe: Coyopa

Kelley Wentworth
Age: 28
Home: Seattle, Washington
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Daughter of Dale Wentworth
Tribe: Hunahpu

Val Collins
Age: 35
Home: Foxboro, Massachusetts
Occupation: Foxboro Police Officer
Wife of Jeremy Collins
Tribe: Coyopa

Jeremy Collins
Age: 36
Home: Foxboro, Massachusetts
Occupation: Cambridge Firefighter
Husband of Val Collins
Tribe: Hunahpu

Baylor Wilson
Age: 20
Home: Nashville, Tennessee
Occupation: Student at Belmont University
Daughter of Missy Payne
Tribe: Coyopa

Missy Payne
Age: 47
Home: Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Owner of Competitive Cheerleading Gym
Mother of Baylor Wilson
Tribe: Hunahpu

Jaclyn Schultz
Age: 25
Home: Las Vegas, Nevada
Occupation: Media Buyer/Miss Michigan 2013
Girlfriend of Jon Misch
Tribe: Coyopa

Jon Misch
Age: 26
Home: Waterford, Michigan
Occupation: Financial Assistant
Boyfriend of Jaclyn Schultz
Tribe: Hunahpu

Alec Christy
Age: 22
Home: Winter Park, Florida
Occupation: Student at Florida Gulf Coast University /Lacrosse Player
Brother of Drew Christy
Tribe: Coyopa

Drew Christy
Age: 25
Home: Winter Park, Florida
Occupation: Traveling Sales Representative in Family Business
Brother of Alec Christy
Tribe: Hunahpu

Nadiya Anderson
Age: 28
Home: Edgewater, N.J.
Occupation: Project Coordinator at Bridge2Peace, Previous Contestant on The Amazing Race
Sister of Natalie Anderson
Tribe: Coyopa

Natalie Anderson
Age: 28
Home: Edgewater, N.J.
Occupation: Crossfit Coach and Physical Therapy Student, Previous Contestant on The Amazing Race
Sister of Nadiya Anderson
Tribe: Hunahpu

Josh Canfield
Age: 32
Home: New York
Occupation: International Actor/Singer/Writer/Pianist
Boyfriend of Reed Kelly
Tribe: Coyopa

Reed Kelly
Age: 31
Home: New York
Occupation: Broadway actor/dancer/model
Boyfriend of Josh Canfield
Tribe: Hunahpu

Wesley Nale
Age: 23
Home: Shreveport, Louisiana
Occupation: Firefighter
Son of Keith Nale
Tribe: Coyopa

Keith "Otis" Nale
Age: 53
Home: Winter Park, Florida
Occupation: Firefighter Captain
Father of Wes Nale
Tribe: Hunahpu

John Rocker
Age: 39
Home: Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation: Retired American Major League Baseball Pitcher
Boyfriend of Julie McGee
Tribe: Coyopa

Julie McGee
Age: 34
Home: Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation: Model/ Mobile Spray Tanning Owner
Girlfriend of John Rocker
Tribe: Hunahpu

 

[Mononoke]

lol what did they get their casting at Abercrombie and fitch or something.

 

[SecretMoblin]

yay bowie <3



pulling for Alec and Val and maybe Julie (

Spoiler

and Natalie

) but things could change ~~~


let's do this thing all over again!

 

[Ensirius]

It's that time of the year again. Let's go!

 

[BowieZ]

yay bowie <3



pulling for Alec and Val and maybe Julie (

Spoiler

and Natalie

) but things could change ~~~


let's do this thing all over again!

My initial gut feeling was Alec could win, but I think I was biased by the Fabio vibes I got.

I think the winner will be whomever ditches their partner soonest: Kelley looks like she could harbor a cut-throat side to her.

 

[Aesthet1c]

Sad to see more Blood vs Water, but excited for more Survivor. Can't wait for next week!

 

[Mononoke]

Sad to see more Blood vs Water, but excited for more Survivor. Can't wait for next week!

I always see two extremes with this. I know seasoned fans that hated Blood Vs. Water but I also know fans that swear by it and say it was one if the best seasons. Unless you are just saying you are tired of repeats.

 

[DietRob]

After an awful Big Brother season I'm really excited for Survivor this year.

 

[BowieZ]

I always see two extremes with this. I know seasoned fans that hated Blood Vs. Water but I also know fans that swear by it and say it was one if the best seasons.

Yeah. Personally, I disliked the season overall, but it wasn't necessarily because of the theme. I hated how the first half was devoted to bitter Redemption Island drama and excessive Rupert/Colton screentime, then the second half was an obvious march to the end for the winner, and purely, IMHO, because attention was taken off of them due to losing their partner earlier on (although overall they did a great job).

Nothing about the season was satisfying.

 

[Mononoke]

Yeah. Personally, I disliked the season overall, but it wasn't necessarily because of the theme. I hated how the first half was devoted to bitter Redemption Island drama and excessive Rupert/Colton screentime, then the second half was an obvious march to the end for the winner, and purely, IMHO, because attention was taken off of them due to losing their partner earlier on (although overall they did a great job).

Nothing about the season was satisfying.

I'm kind of a casual fan. I remember watching the first Season of Survivor when it was on TV and I watched it for many years. I've probably seen about 75% of all the seasons, so not entirely casual. I mostly dropped it for a couple years when I was in college because I was busy.

But I never saw Blood vs Water. And so I'm always hearing different takes on it from fans.

 

[Aesthet1c]

I always see two extremes with this. I know seasoned fans that hated Blood Vs. Water but I also know fans that swear by it and say it was one if the best seasons. Unless you are just saying you are tired of repeats.

I don't really mind repeats, I just wasn't crazy about the formula. I really like my Survivor to be traditional and I hate when they add gimmicks to the mix.

That being said, I love Survivor and will watch regardless.

 

[kirblar]

lol what did they get their casting at Abercrombie and fitch or something.

Having to mirror the tribes is likely why the male cast turned out this way.

 

[botty]

Excited to see how Cirie does this time around.

 

[SecretMoblin]

also:

I'm not sure how many super old-school fans hang out here, but if you were there for the first few seasons or want to watch them for the first time, the Survivor Historians podcasts (from Mario Lanza of The Funny 115) are really good roundtable discussions that look back on the show and the culture of the time through a contemporary lens.

 

[Kifimbo]

Nadiya Anderson
Age: 28
Home: Edgewater, N.J.
Occupation: Project Coordinator at Bridge2Peace, Previous Contestant on The Amazing Race
Sister of Natalie Anderson
Tribe: Coyopa

Natalie Anderson
Age: 28
Home: Edgewater, N.J.
Occupation: Crossfit Coach and Physical Therapy Student, Previous Contestant on The Amazing Race
Sister of Nadiya Anderson
Tribe: Hunahpu

Well done.

 

[SlowRevolution]

the size of reed's head in the cast photo is extremely unsettling

 

[BTM]

Another season is upon us. Please be more exciting/entertaining than Big Brother this year.

 

[rude]

I hope this is more exciting than last season. I don't even remember who won.

 

[matthewwhatever]

Yeah. Personally, I disliked the season overall, but it wasn't necessarily because of the theme. I hated how the first half was devoted to bitter Redemption Island drama and excessive Rupert/Colton screentime, then the second half was an obvious march to the end for the winner, and purely, IMHO, because attention was taken off of them due to losing their partner earlier on (although overall they did a great job).

Nothing about the season was satisfying.

There wasn't excessive Rupert/Colton screentime in the first BvW -- they were the first two people gone, so they were both out by a few minutes into the third episode. You're probably just remembering there being too much of them because of how much overkill there was on their respective past seasons.

I'm glad to see Exile Island is back, but I'm curious to see how it'll work without Redemption Island -- as overdone as it was by the end, it still served a purpose pre-merge.

Also, personally, a little disappointed to realize that I'm going to have to miss the first two episodes of the season.

 

[Camwi]

- couples, families and friends playing in pairs, initially separated into opposing tribes
- will heavily feature the identical twins from The Amazing Race
- will also heavily feature ex-Major League Baseball player John "Imagine having to take the 7 train to the ballpark next to some queer with AIDS" Rocker
- includes gay Christian actor couple - one of whom said like one line in one of the non-Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies
- Exile Island returns for the first time in ages
- no Redemption Island thankfully
- Jeff Probst is hosting; will yell out inanities during challenges
- in non-stereoscopic HD, and stereo surround sound where available
- here are the cast bios:

Man, if it's true that they're going to focus on those idiots, then that's just awful.

I hope this is more exciting than last season. I don't even remember who won.

Mr. Spy Shack won.

 

[Jarrod38]

Should be a good one we have a racist, and the two annoying twins from TAR.

 

[Incendiary]

Didn't watch the last Blood vs Water season and I'm probably not going to watch this one. Mostly because I'm pissed off at CBS stunt casting a racist quasi-celebrity in favor of all the fans who actually apply.

 

[kirblar]

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/jeff-probst-survivor-season-29-forbidden-passage-stranded-series/5411e8c678c90a1701000035

Great Jeff interview (30m) on the show in general and the new season.

What Jeff is tiptoeing around in pre-game interviews: Rocker was cast to fail. He was set up on a tribe that was originally supposed to have 3 persons of a color and a gay guy - 2 of whom are NYers. He is loaded. He cannot win the game.

edit: Seriously, listen to the interview- the James Earl Jones and talk show stories are fantastic- he ended up hating his talk show, lol.

 

[hobart]

I can't stand those twins. They almost ruined that season of Amazing Race.

 

[llehuty]

Hyped for new Survivor. Don't know what to expect with Blood vs Water. I liked the previous one, but I think it's more interesting when people is there alone and with no one to trust.

Still, more than ready for the 3a.m. live comments over here. #blindside

 

[BowieZ]

Clip of the Survivors meeting for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fO3ArAbcDA

Spoiler

That gay kiss... wuh-woh.....

 

[matthewwhatever]

What Jeff is tiptoeing around in pre-game interviews: Rocker was cast to fail. He was set up on a tribe that was originally supposed to have 3 persons of a color and a gay guy - 2 of whom are NYers. He is loaded. He cannot win the game.

That's not the worst thing ever. Every season needs a good villain, plus it isn't a bad thing to publicly humiliate unabashed scumbags. Even if it is more than ten years after the fact.

 

[BowieZ]

The first half was devoted to the first and second boots? Huh?

Re-read the sentence

The Culpepper stuff and Candice dropping middle-fingers... it was a bit of a downer IMHO.

 

[Jigorath]

Ugh I don't want another Blood vs Water. We're probably going to get another painfully over edited 'player votes out loved one' plotline.

 

[kirblar]

Re-read the sentence

The Culpepper stuff and Candice dropping middle-fingers... it was a bit of a downer IMHO.

Caleb forcing the tie to push out Brad was one of the best moments ever. (RIP )

 

[xbhaskarx]

Not sure what people are complaining about, I thought the first season of Blood vs Water provided some of the most complex gameplay we've seen on the show.

 

[hoverboarder]

Cannot wait. I may be in the minority as I became a fan of this show about two years ago, but after watching all seasons, the newer ones for the most part are much more interesting than the earlier ones.

Again..Cannot wait!

 

[Parch]

After an awful Big Brother season I'm really excited for Survivor this year.

Big Brother needs to take a look at Survivor casting to learn age diversity. Looks like it could be an interesting group.

I thought the blood vs water format worked pretty good. Survivor has found a way to keep the show fresh.

 

[inanutshell]

Cannot wait. I may be in the minority as I became a fan of this show about two years ago, but after watching all seasons, the newer ones for the most part are much more interesting than the earlier ones.

Again..Cannot wait!

The focus of the show has definitely changed to cover more about strategy rather than the players' experiences on the island and also from focusing equally on many contestants to focusing on only a handful. Not surprised some longterm fans don't like the change in focus. Though casting the last few seasons has improved to make the game more exciting.

 

[VGChampion]

In once again. I'll probably never give up on Survivor and I'm a little more pumped now that I know RI isn't back like it was rumored. And I don't know why but every pre-season info always sounds horrible and the fake hype and all that stuff but then I get sucked back in. We seem to be getting closer and closer to actually good, rewatchable seasons again too so hopefully this season is great!

 

[DietRob]

Big Brother needs to take a look at Survivor casting to learn age diversity. Looks like it could be an interesting group.

I thought the blood vs water format worked pretty good. Survivor has found a way to keep the show fresh.

Yeah, I completely agree. Big Brother casting so too damn predictable. Flamboyant Gay guy, token minority, an old guy or gal, and 12 models a few with outgoing personalities, a couple that are just batshit crazy and a good handful of them dumb as a box of rocks. It's so stale.

 

[kirblar]

Yeah, I completely agree. Big Brother casting so too damn predictable. Flamboyant Gay guy, token minority, an old guy or gal, and 12 models a few with outgoing personalities, a couple that are just batshit crazy and a good handful of them dumb as a box of rocks. It's so stale.

Big Brother intentionally casts a bunch of stupid people that are easily duped/manipulated because production wants to be able to manipulate them.

 

[DietRob]

Big Brother intentionally casts a bunch of stupid people that are easily duped/manipulated because production wants to be able to manipulate them.

Oh, I'm not disagreeing with you there and that's another huge part of that show's problems.

I don't want to derail this thread with the myriad of BB's issues though. I will say there are times that I feel like Survivor production also manipulates situations but not nearly to the extent that we see or perceive that we see on BB.

I'm glad Survivor is back. That's for damn sure. I'm not thrilled that John Rocker is a part of the show though. That seems like yet another cheap parlor trick for manufactured drama like Brandon Hantz. Survivor contestants seem to be a bit better about getting those fools out though I guess.

 

[SecretMoblin]

The focus of the show has definitely changed to cover more about strategy rather than the players' experiences on the island and also from focusing equally on many contestants to focusing on only a handful. Not surprised some longterm fans don't like the change in focus. Though casting the last few seasons has improved to make the game more exciting.

Yeah, I think what's frustrated some of us is that the shift in focus changed while casting and editing got considerably worse, which made for a much less interesting show. For me at least, the "survival" aspect of the show helped reveal the personalities and relationships of the castaways, and that was in many ways more telling than 20 minutes of pointless "who should we vote out?" when the coming boot is exceedingly clear.

Obviously we passed the point of no return a long time ago, but there is a sort of intimacy that's lost with the current seasons, their slick production and emphasis on the impersonal mechanics of the game.



Still, the current casting and even editing crews have their moments, as with Philippines and Cagayan. The core concept of the show is still strong.

 

[Jigorath]

Not sure what people are complaining about, I thought the first season of Blood vs Water provided some of the most complex gameplay we've seen on the show.

From who? Tyson was the only one really playing the game that season. Gervase and Monica were puppets. Ciera was so easily manipulated she voted out her own mother because Tyson asked her too. Gervase had to flat out tell her she was 4th since she wasn't smart enough to figure out the 3 returning players were going to the end together. Same thing for Hayden, he didn't figure out he was on the bottom until it was far too late. Which was surprising considering he was one of the most dominant Big Brother players ever.

The newbies sucked in general which why I hate these 'newbies vs veterans' seasons. Either have a season be all new players or all returning players.

 

[belushy]

Looking forward to this season. Last season was pretty good, at least to me. I also enjoyed the first BvW. Not sure from the short descriptions who I like so far.

 

[whitehawk]

In once again. I'll probably never give up on Survivor and I'm a little more pumped now that I know RI isn't back like it was rumored. And I don't know why but every pre-season info always sounds horrible and the fake hype and all that stuff but then I get sucked back in. We seem to be getting closer and closer to actually good, rewatchable seasons again too so hopefully this season is great!

Now that they're back to getting a full brand new cast, seasons are great. Hopefully it's the same next year. I think it will be, because if it were returning players for S30, the veteran players probably would have slipped by now.

 

[_Isaac]

Caleb forcing the tie to push out Brad was one of the best moments ever. (RIP )

I just found out that Caleb died a few months ago. That's so sad.

 

[Velcro Fly]

John Rocker is a mortal lock to get voted out almost instantly. Dude is a huge asshole and has no problem showing it. I'd be surprised if he doesn't rub most of his tribe the wrong way almost immediately.

 

[Hours Left]

John Rocker is a mortal lock to get voted out almost instantly. Dude is a huge asshole and has no problem showing it. I'd be surprised if he doesn't rub most of his tribe the wrong way almost immediately.

I hope you're right. I wasn't familiar with him before, so I was really disappointed hearing about his past remarks. Shame since he has a nice body, but unless he has an "awakening" on the show, he needs to go ASAP.

Josh FTW.

 

[kirblar]

From who? Tyson was the only one really playing the game that season. Gervase and Monica were puppets. Ciera was so easily manipulated she voted out her own mother because Tyson asked her too. Gervase had to flat out tell her she was 4th since she wasn't smart enough to figure out the 3 returning players were going to the end together. Same thing for Hayden, he didn't figure out he was on the bottom until it was far too late. Which was surprising considering he was one of the most dominant Big Brother players ever.

The newbies sucked in general which why I hate these 'newbies vs veterans' seasons. Either have a season be all new players or all returning players.

The next time they do FvF, I want to see Fans v Failures. Bring on J'Tia, Ace, and all those other spectacular flame-outs from seasons past.

 

[SecretMoblin]

no thank you to ace, but there are a ton of pre-jury flameouts that would be fun imo:

Debb Eaton (Australian Outback)

Peter Harkey (Marquesas)

Ghandia (Thailand)

Robb Zbacnic (Thailand)

Wanda Shirk (Palau)

Tina Scheer (Panama)

Billy Garcia (CI)

Cao Boi (CI)

Sylvia Kwan (Fiji)

the entire China pre-jury minus Aaron

Kathy Sleckman (FvF)

Wendy Jo (Nicaragua)

Semhar Tadesse (South Pacific)

David Samson (Cagayan)

Legend'Tia


pics shamelessly stolen from the wiki ofc

all fun characters, and that's not including some who have played twice (Franchquesqua), others I love who would never be asked back in a million years (Dan Kay, Spencer Duhm, etc) and others who were spectacular flameouts but terribly boring (Zane, Shamar). And there are a bunch I can't stand, like Flicka, Ace, Brad Culpepper, Shannon., Garrett Adelstein, Lindsey Ogle, etc.

Shame they keep asking back mostly boring players

 

[matthewwhatever]

An all-failure season would be amazing. I don't think Zane and Shamar were boring, though. Shamar's problem was that he wasn't boring enough, if anything. I'd like to see Zane back, though...in one episode, he managed to cram in more terrible strategy than some people do in a whole season. I'd also love to see if Francesca gets booted out first for a third time.

Yeah, I think what's frustrated some of us is that the shift in focus changed while casting and editing got considerably worse, which made for a much less interesting show. For me at least, the "survival" aspect of the show helped reveal the personalities and relationships of the castaways, and that was in many ways more telling than 20 minutes of pointless "who should we vote out?" when the coming boot is exceedingly clear.

Obviously we passed the point of no return a long time ago, but there is a sort of intimacy that's lost with the current seasons, their slick production and emphasis on the impersonal mechanics of the game.

Still, the current casting and even editing crews have their moments, as with Philippines and Cagayan. The core concept of the show is still strong.

I'd say the bigger problem is that the show sometimes focuses way too much on personalities, and not enough on strategy. All the really bad moments of the last few years have come when one or two people's edits were allowed to dominate at the expense of showing why other people were acting the way they were.

 

[SlowRevolution]

we finally have a good thing going with new people, if you guys keep talking about returning players jeff is going to sense it

 

[matthewwhatever]

I only want returning players who sucked first time around. After all, a big part of what made last year so enjoyable was everyone being awful at Survivor, so it was wildly unpredictable, but in a good way. Imagine we were guaranteed of getting that again!