TV Report

I watch Survivor for the drama. “Total Dysfunction”, the episode airing on Wednesday, February 22, didn’t disappoint. Anytime you make a group of strangers live together in a remote location, there’s gonna be drama.

When the girls return to camp after Tribal Council, they are greeted by several of the men. Michael tells the Salani tribe that he tended their fire while they were gone. One of the women, Kat, got upset, indicating that she was capable of restarting the fire if needed. After learning that Kourtney had to leave the game and that no one else was voted out, some of the men were disappointed.

The next day, Sabrina calls the women together, saying that they need some rules and also someone to lead the tribe. Sabrina is elected the leader, and assigns the women to different tasks. They are hoping that some order to the tribe will prevent them from returning to Tribal Council.

The women discover they have tree mail – three large boxes. They are instructed not to open the boxes until both tribes are present, and to take the boxes to a large clearing. The women carry one box to the clearing, while the men carry the other two boxes. In the clearing, Bill reads the instructions, informing the tribes that they will be participating in a Do-It-Yourself challenge. DIY challenges are new to Survivor this season.

In this challenge, each tribe received a series of knotted ropes with a metal ring attached. The first tribe to unknot their ropes and release the ring would receive the reward, a large tarp. Both tribes work frantically to untie the knots. They are neck and neck throughout the challenge, but the men edge out the women with a victory.

While the Manono tribe positions their new tarp over their shelter roof, Colton sits nearby on a swing. Later he wanders over to the Salani camp, but the girls kick him out of their camp, telling him he needs to bond with his own tribe mates.

Still feeling like an outcast, Colton realizes that he needs to be part of his tribe. He reveals to Troyzan, Leif and Jonas that he has a hidden immunity idol with the hopes that it secures a position in his tribe.

The next day, the tribes meet up with host Jeff Probst for the second immunity challenge. In this challenge, all tribe members have to stand in a line on a balance beam suspended over water. One at a time, the tribe member at the end of the line has to pass all other tribe members on the beam and get to the tribe’s mat. The person moving past the others can only touch one tribe member at a time, and the person being passed cannot touch another tribe member. If this happens, the tribe member has to jump in the water and start over. The first tribe to get all members across the beam and onto the mat wins immunity.

Leif goes first for the men, and makes quick work of getting past his tribe and to the mat. Kat is the first person for the women, and she struggles to make it past the first person next to her. Several of the men are on the mat before the women change strategies and put Christina, and then Monica, first. Monica finally gets to the mat, but while Christina is working her way to the end, the men finish and win immunity for the second time.

Defeated, the women must once again go to Tribal Council. The rest of the day is spent trying to decide who they are voting out. Some of the tribe members want to vote out Nina, as she is the oldest tribe member and they don’t feel that she contributes anything to the tribe. Nina tries to convince several of the tribe to vote out Kat based on her poor performance at the challenge.

When they get to Tribal Council, Jeff tells them that they are off to the worst start in Survivor history. During conversation with Jeff, it’s revealed that it’s between Nina and Kat as to who will be voted off that night. Nina and Kat both defend themselves and explain to the tribe why they feel they should not be voted off. The tribe votes, and Jeff reads the votes. Christina’s name has also been written down, but in the end, Nina receives the most votes and is the second person to leave Survivor: One World.

The 24^th season of the hit CBS reality show "Survivor" premiered Wednesday, February 15. Eighteen strangers, nine men and nine women, were transported to a remote beach on Upolu, Samoa to begin their adventure. As always, the castaways were divided into two tribes, but this time there was a twist. The men were on one tribe, and the women were on the other. The men’s tribe name is Manono and the tribe color is orange. The women’s tribe is Salani, and the tribe color is blue.

The tribes were given one minute to take as many supplies as they could off of the trucks that transported them to the beach. Both tribes furiously start pulling supplies off the trucks, throwing them into piles. While the women are on the truck, they don’t pay attention to the items they’ve already removed, so one of the men, Michael, begins to steal items that the women have gathered. 

Host Jeff Probst gives each tribe a map to their camp and the tribes head off in opposite directions in search of their beach. The women reach their destination and see their flag on the beach. However, just feet away from their flag is the flag for the Manono tribe. As the men start arriving on the beach, both tribes realize that they will be living on the same beach.

Both tribes get to work constructing shelter, gathering wood, and getting to know each other on their tribes. Well, except for Colton. Colton, who is gay, was visibly upset when Jeff announced that it would be men vs. women. Colton spent the early moments at camp talking with the women and didn’t appear to make any effort to get to know his own tribe.

There are two chickens running wild on the beach, and while both tribes attempt to catch them, the women’s tribe catches both chickens. The men make fire, the women seem to have no clue how to start one. The women try to barter with the men for fire, offering them a chicken, among other things. Not having any luck getting a trade, Christina and Monica sneak over to the men’s camp that night and steal an ember. Unfortunately, the women are unable to keep the fire going overnight, and they are forced to beg the men again the next day. The men agree to help the women get a fire started if they weave palm fronds for them.

Sabrina finds a hidden immunity idol, but in reading the note attached to the idol, she learns that she must give the idol to a member of the Manono tribe. She decides that Colton should get the idol.

At the immunity challenge, the tribes have to travel a course that requires them to jump from a twenty foot tower into a net. Once the entire tribe is on the mat at the edge of the net, they are to cross a balance beam and then a rope bridge. The first team that makes it across the obstacles and raises their team flag wins immunity. Before the challenge begins, Jeff instructs the castaways that they are to keep their arms crossed over their chests and to land on their backs during the jump. Not all the castaways listen to Jeff’s caution though. Bill loses a shoe, Nina hits her face on the net, and Kourtney lands on her hands. Kourtney says that her wrist hurts, and as both teams are beginning to cross the balance beam, Kourtney is really favoring her wrist. Jeff calls a halt to the challenge and has the medical team come to look at Kourtney’s wrist.

The medic determines that Kourtney needs an x-ray as she can’t determine whether the wrist is sprained or broken. Since the men were ahead in the challenge at the time he called a halt, Jeff gives the men the choice of ending the challenge and taking the win, or continuing the challenge and risk losing. The men decide to take the win; the decision causes the women to whine and accuse the men of not being chivalrous.

Since they lost the challenge, Salani has to go to tribal council that night. At tribal council, Jeff informs the women that Kourtney broke her wrist in two places and will not be returning to the game. Because Salani has lost Kourtney, they do not have to vote someone out at tribal council. A benefit of having to go to tribal council was the fact that the tribe received flint so they could start a fire when they returned to camp.

Hi, my name is Beth and I’m a Survivor-holic. I absolutely love this show.  While I enjoy learning about the exotic locales, my favorite part of the show is the social dynamics. Anytime you throw a group of strangers together, whether they’re on a committee, in a classroom, or on an island, there’s going to be conflict and drama. And to me, that’s what makes Survivor interesting.

The 24^th installment of the hit reality show, Survivor: One World, is not going to be any different, in the social aspect at least. Word has it that there have been numerous changes to the structure of the show. The eighteen castaways, 9 men and 9 women, have been divided into two tribes – Salani and Manono. The men vs. women format returns, with the men are on the Manono tribe and the women on the Salani tribe. Instead of two separate camps, both tribes will live together at one beach. Even though they will be living together, they will still be two separate tribes.

It will be up to each tribe as to how they want to live. Will they have one camp or two? Will they eat together or separately? Whatever they decide, the Survivors must remember that they are still competing against each other.

Having one beach is not the only change this season.  There is no longer a Redemption Island. With no redemption duels, there will be more Reward Challenges. Some of the challenges will be “do-it-yourself” challenges, where the tribes receive instructions on the challenge, but there is no host to moderate. Two immunity idols will be hidden at camp, one for each tribe. While hidden idols are nothing new, the way the idols must be used is. When an idol is found, the tribemate who finds it must give it to a tribe member of the opposing tribe.

Emmy-award winning host Jeff Probst returns as host and executive producer of Survivor: One World. Here is a list of the 18 men and women who make up the two Survivor tribes:

Salani:

• Alicia Rosa, 25, Special Education teacher, from Chicago, IL
• Chelsea Meissner, 26, Medical Sales, from Charleston, SC
• Christina Cha, 29, career consultant, from Hollywood, CA
• Kat Edorsson, 22, timeshare representative, from Orlando, FL
• Kim Spradin, 29, owns a bridal shop, from San Antonio, TX
• Kourtney Moon, 29, motorcycle repairperson, from Austin, TX
• Monica Culpepper, 41, wife of an ex-NFL player, from Tampa, FL
• Nina Acosta, 51, retired officer from the Los Angeles Police Department, from Clovis, CA
• Sabrina Thompson, 33, high school teacher, from Brooklyn, NY

Manono:

• Troy Robertson, 50, swimsuit photographer, from Miami, FL
• Matt Quinlan, 33, attorney, from San Francisco, CA
• Michael Jefferson, 30, banker, from Seattle, WA
• Leif Manson, 27, phlebotomist, from San Diego, CA
• Jay Byars, 25, model, from Gaffney, SC
• Jonas Otsuji, 37, sushi chef, from Lehi, UT
• Greg Smith, 64, plastic surgeon, from Houston, TX
• Colton Cumbie, 21, college student, from Monroeville, AL
• Bill Posley, 28, stand-up comedian, from Venice, CA

Survivor: One World premieres on Wednesday, February 15 at 7:00 pm Central/8:00 pm Eastern on CBS.

If you like British television shows, and you love to laugh, you must see “Coupling”. This is the funniest show I have seen in a long time. I realize it’s not a new show, but I recently discovered it. A co-worker and I were talking about another BBC program, “Absolutely Fabulous”, and he said if I like “AbFab”, I had to see “Coupling”. He’s lent me the first season so far, and he’s right. I LOVE this show. I haven’t laughed so hard at a television show in a long time.

The British comedy began airing in 2000. There was an American version in 2003, and the one thing wrong with the American version is that it wasn’t funny. The British original is not only funny, it’s hilarious. My husband and I laughed constantly through the six episodes of Season 1.

The show chronicles the daily lives of six friends – Steve, Patrick, Jeff, Susan, Sally, and Jane. Steve and Susan are dating; Susan and Patrick are exes, as are Steve and Jane. Patrick and Sally want to be together, though neither will admit it. Jane is egotistical and sure of herself, and Jeff is, well, just Jeff…an odd duck, most comparable to Kramer in “Seinfeld”.

“Coupling” is about sex - the sexual attractiveness and sexual tensions that everyone deals with on a daily basis. As with most British comedies, “Coupling” can be a little raunchy, a little suggestive, but never pornographic. It relies heavily on innuendo, but not childish, playground innuendo. Conversations and interactions between the characters are realistic and not contrived.

There are six episodes in the first season. If you’ve never seen “Coupling”, I definitely recommend staring with the first episode. “Flushed” introduces the characters and lets the audience in on the previous relationships the characters have to each other. By far, though, my favorite episode of season 1 is episode 3, “Sex, Death and Nudity”.  Jane’s aunt has died, and she asks Steve to attend the funeral with her. Steve learns that Jane has not told her family that she and Steve are no longer dating. Susan tells Steve she is coming with him; in turn, Steve asks Jeff to be Susan’s date, while Susan asks her ex Patrick. The six friends attend the funeral where only a few know the deceased, and everyone is confused as to who is with whom.

I hope season 2 is as funny as season 1.