League of Melbotis

I'll be honest. I never cared much for Survivor.

The initial ads had me upbeat. I was misled to believe it was a program about fat Americans dumped onto an uncharted island and forced to survive and outlast one another, which proved partially true. I expected Lord of the Flies style warfare and a chance to see if people can really work together or if they really are doomed to destory one another. A tiny microcosm on CBS.

What I hadn't anticipated were all of the immunity challenges,voting one another off, etc... I expected to genuinely watch people crumble as they sat back and tried to decide whether they had strength of will to outlast the others in their wretched condition, or whether that Lay-Z-Boy at home suddenly seemed like a much better idea.

Survivor has t's own rules and has games, and alliances and all this other stuff. But to me, the fun would have come out of seeing if fat Americans could have really learned to live off the land.

I mean, at one point, this was humanity's natural state, standing around trying to figure out how to survive. There was no host to force a vote off the island. There were no games, etc... and certainly the idea of "immunity" when people really wanted to nail you was next to inconceivable. I am glad that viewers seem to recognize THIS IS A GAME. Already in season 2, I am led to believe, people talked about strategies and alliances and knew how to play the game.

And so, instead of being totally disappointed, at least I can say "well, both fans and contestants take it for what it is."

What I find infinitely more interesting are Dedman's recaps of Survivor. Short, to the point, and none of the annoying "oh look, I got a digereedoo" music. Also, Dedman's recaps do not insert "meaningful" glances every time someone makes a statement.

Before I go and make everyone think I've got a swelled head about game shows on TV, I will mention that I watched "The Littlest Groom" on Fox. And it was boring. Horribly, horribly boring. Until the last five minutes, anyway, when it turned darkly evil. I suppose people assume Little People must have magical powers which will make them innately interesting, but, I guess to the producer's surprise, take away the Little, and you have People. And not terribly fascinating people at that. But, luckily it only runs for two episodes, so I can tune in for the last five minutes on Monday and see how this fiasco winds up.

I, myself, am also awaiting the return of Man Vs. Beast on Fox. There's nothing more humbling than watching the world hotdog eating champ get his ass handed to him by a GRIZZLY BEAR!!!!!

As a side note, the Saga of the Couch is drawing to a close. When it is completed, I shall detail it herein.