On its front-page, the NYT analyzes this ratings mystery.
“I’m not going to lie and say I wouldn’t love for more people to start watching ‘Survivor,’ but I’m not making it to attract a new viewer,” [show host Jeff] Probst, who is also an executive producer, said in an interview. “I’m making it for the people who have kept us on the air.”
It's "Survivor." It survives.
[Probst] said the low point was Gabon, which was broadcast in 2008. He said he felt burned out and was also a little self-conscious... “My Achilles’ heel for a lot of my life was that nobody saw me as a storyteller, that they saw me as a white guy with dark hair who was just a game show host,” Mr. Probst said. “And that in terms of my own self-image was the thing that could gut me. It was like a kidney punch.”
Him
thinking about himself as a white guy who's just a game show host was like a
kidney punch?
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26 comments:
Him thinking about himself as a white guy who's just a game show host was like a kidney punch?
Given an overinflated sense of self, it was his personal Deflategate.
Never saw it. "Reality" shows are cheap. That's why TV likes them. "Hill Street Blues" was a good cop show but was expensive to produce. Too much outside scenes. Now they are all interiors and I quit watching.
There is usually at least one hot girl in skimpy clothing with sweat dripping between her breasts.
That might be enough.
I am Laslo.
Almost as curious is his self-description as "a white guy with dark hair."
Then again, he is 53.
"Reality" shows are cheap.
...and when they return from commercials, they insist upon reviewing what happened before the commercial. They can create an hour long show with 15 minutes of film.
TV is for football, and that's it.
"Him thinking about himself as a white guy who's just a game show host was like a kidney punch?"
It's worse than that – anonymous other people thinking about him as a white game show host was like a kidney punch.
Dude, you really shoudn't care what "those people" think about you. In the unlikely event they think about you at all.
"...they insist upon reviewing what happened before the commercial. "
This seems to be SOP for non-fiction television I stumble across. Have people really destroyed their short-term memory to such an extent?
I would say it's because crappy shows have been in competition with it.
Jeff Probst thinks of himself as a white guy? I can understand why Eminem is especially conscious of his whiteness, since he is from Detroit and is a rapper. I could understand if Prince was especially conscious of his blackness, since he is from Minneapolis. But Jeff Probst is from Wichita and Bellevue, and now he works in television. If I were in his shoes, I don't think I would spend a lot of time thinking, "I sure hope people don't think I'm just a white guy."
I only know about "Survivor" from the commercials for it I happen catch every once in a while on TV but it seems to me to be something akin to softcore porn.
"... that they saw me as a white guy with dark hair who was just a game show host..."
What he is saying is that a black man as host would never have the show last so long.
That also probably includes Asians and Hispanics.
And Women.
And blonde-haired white guys.
Red-haired white guys are a non-starter, of course.
I am Laslo.
"They can create an hour long show with 15 minutes of film.
TV is for football, and that's it."
Ha!
Survivor folks are pikers compared to what football can do.
Football creates an over 3 hour show with 11 minutes of action.
And I like football and don't like survivor, but it's really the exact same thing. They're both over-produced physicalized soap-opera that's mostly commentary and review with a little bit of actual movement to keep the emotions involved during the next long stretch of commercials, review, and commentary.
The fact that it's still in the same time slot may explain it. Back when I used to watch network TV occasionally, I was always losing track of shows I liked, but not quite enough to go to the effort of finding out where they'd been moved to.
ESPN has gotten very rich off football but cable is going away and they may have a harder time.
The only TV I watch is football in the fall, Pawn Stars and "the murder channel" also known as Discovery ID. Total hours per week, about 2. Less when there's no football.
The novelty factor is starting to wear thin for me and the announcers on the Barclay's Premier League TV broadcasts are starting to annoy me.
Shut the fuck up about how much money some guy's getting paid and whether he's worth it or not.
Just fucking call the game.
He's just a white guy with dyed dark hair. That's one factor that has kept the show going. He uses the exact same lines for every season. "Worth playing for?"
His story telling is superfluous. If he wants to think differently, fine. I like his work, but his ego is bigger than most of the islands they visit.
a white guy with dark hair who was just a game show host,”
It's been a couple of seasons but during one he dyed his hair with what looked like black shoe polish--it was bad.
Also, yeah, you are a game show host, Jeffrey, deal w/that.
Football creates an over 3 hour show with 11 minutes of action.
If you will recall, there is a clock on the scoreboard. It measures four 15 minute quarters. There is also a 40 second play clock.
....and I need time to fetch another beer!!
The contestants don't seem to suffer as much in the newer seasons. The show is either taking it easier on them now or the editors dwell on it less--but it makes the show a lot less interesting in the sense that part of the challenge was just the rough living situation. If they have plenty of food and good weather then it's just a soap opera with a few challenges sprinkled in, and without some eye candy I'm not sure what the point is.
And geez, producers, find some new people and new metaphors, please. You love Russel, you love Coach, we get it. Anything in any way clever is just like Boston Rob, ok, ok. Hey, I know, let's hide 20 immunity idols around, it'll be the Idol show.
If you will recall, there is a clock on the scoreboard. It measures four 15 minute quarters. There is also a 40 second play clock.
11 minutes of actualaction.
"they insist upon reviewing what happened before the commercial."
Instant replay
I've never watched 3 nanoseconds of this show. And I won't start now.
Instant replay
Stop pissin' in my Cheerios!!
Paddy: Checkout NFL Game Pass. You can watch games the next day in condensed mode in about 30-minutes. Regular mode is sans commercials.
What is "Survivor?"
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