Survivor Live with Dolly

Survivor Live, the Internet Talk Show
Friday, Sept. 24, 2004
Guest: Dolly, second Castaway voted off Vanuatu
Hosts: Chris Booker & Richard Hatch, winner first Survivor

First off, let me just say I think Dolly is one big phony. She is not a poor sheep farmer from Pennsylvania. She inherited a 90 acre farm form her grandfather and only has 40 sheep on it (from her bio at CBS.com). I really doubt that she makes a living off of that few sheep. But what really convinced me that she is a phony is when her Mercedes car dealer called during the talk show. I bet she listed her occupation as "Sheep Herder" because she felt "Idle Rich" wouldn't get any sympathy.

I've broken it up into Dolly comments and Richard Hatch comments.

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Dolly

I thought that they would want to keep my positive spirit around, instead they wanted my beautiful ass gone (well, isn't she modest?). She wouldn't do anything differently, she was just herself out there. Her faith made her naive in the game. It was great just to participate on Survivor. It was harder physically and mentally than she thought it would be. She was never dirtier or hairier. Mentally the maggots were the toughest, they made her cry. Her biggest problem was that she cannot read people well.

Lisa wants to be involved in, and try, everything. Eliza talks nonstop and Mia is also very talkative. Scout is a mother figure and a leader. Twila is the Rupert of Vanuatu. Brook has nice abs (Richard agreed).

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Richard Hatch

Overall Richard had kind words for Dolly. He said she has a calm beautiful personality. Her biggest mistake was that she was indecisive when they came to her asking who she wanted to vote off. (I guess the reasoning is, that if you don't care who's voted off then you have no alliance and therefore an easy target yourself.)

Survivor is a brilliantly created mental game that anyone can win. Speeches at Tribal Council usually don't sway anybody's vote. Players rarely can keep secrets and it's best to let information out early that may effect people's perception of you. This was commenting on Ami and Scout letting the others know that they are lesbians. Survivor is harder than it looks.

Eliza and Mia aren't playing well. They are irritating the others by talking too much. Scout's got it going on. Twila is not going to win it because she is too driven. (Again, hard asses rarely go far in this game)

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Odds & Ends

Dolly doesn't like Big Brother. The eggs were boiled and eaten. They were fertilized so they had little chicks forming inside them, but they ate them anyway. Best caller question: What makes you think you could kill a chicken by throwing a rock at it?

Episode 2, Good-bye Dolly

or Revenge of the Spirit Stone

The women managed to win the Reward Challenge but lost Immunity and sent Dolly back to her flock of sheep. Before the Immunity competition, Chad said the guys are focusing more on the Spirit Stone now, apparently they were neglecting it before. Did the Spirit Stone help the men win Immunity? We may never know for sure.

Survivor Rule #2:
If you think you're the swing vote then there's a very good chance you're the one being voted off at Tribal Council. Dolly thought she was the swing vote between the Old Gal Alliance and the Sorority Girls and she said good-bye tonight.


Reward Challenge
I'm Not Touching You.
Why did the guys have such a hard time on the balance beam? Are they so homophobic that they didn't want to hold each other as they maneuvered across the beam? I was amazed at Chad. He did well and he's missing half a leg.

Immunity Challenge
You Wanna Piece of This?
As soon as they blindfolded the Castaways, I knew someone was going to get hit with something. Remember Big Tom in All Star Survivor (I think), he took a plank to the head. Although it didn't seem to knock any sense into him. Tonight Jeff winced as one of the women fell hard over one of the pieces.

I don't think Sarge made any friends with his directing/yelling during the IC ("Stop, you are messing me up!"). He was irritating me and I was just watching him on TV.

Tribal Council
Scout: I blew it during the Immunity Challenge. (nice and honest)
Twila: I get a lot of help with work around the camp. (she's a good liar)
Leann: Sleep has been tough so far. (just stating the obvious)
Dolly: I'm getting along well, it's hard being the swing vote. (see Rule #2)
Eliza: I'm worried that I could be voted off. (very perceptive)

Alliances
Don't Trust Anyone Over 30
Ami talked about the split between the old and young in the women's tribe so here are the numbers. Ami 31 years old, Leann 35, Lisa 44, Scout 59 and Twila 41. I bet they all voted for Dolly. Eliza 21, Julie 23, Mia 30 and Dolly 25. I bet they all voted for Leann.

Heroes & Villains
I still like Eliza. I didn't like Dolly, I hate it when Castaways cry. Mia just bugs me. I thought I'd like Scout more but she's too diplomatic. That's why I like Twila, she's a straight talker.

Rory and Chad are cool. Lea "Sarge" and Travis "Bubba" really annoy me; Brady, John P., John K. less so.

Bubba Quote
"I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every five minutes and cried."

Bubba Quote (Episode 1)
"That's easier than pouring pee out of a boot on to a flat rock."

Official Episode Title: Burly Girls, Bowheads, Young Studs and the Old Bunch

Won Immunity: Lopevi Tribe (color red, gender male), plus they won fire.

Won Reward: Yasur Tribe (color yellow, gender female) hammock, pillows, blankets. They had fire already.

Voted off: Dolly, 5 votes to 4.
Leann had 4 votes.

Survivor Live with Ethan

Survivor Live, the Internet Talk Show
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004
Guest: Ethan Zahn, winner Survivor Africa
Hosts: Chris Booker & Richard Hatch, winner first Survivor

I listened live again this afternoon and here are some of my notes. I've broken it up into Richard Hatch comments, Ethan Zahn comments and Caller Questions (that both answered). Again host Chris Booker didn't add much to the show.

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Ethan Zahn

Ethan didn't have many earth-shocking revelations. He did say a successful alliance is made up of people who compliment each other. A caller asked if he would do Survivor Africa again. He said he isn't sure that he would do it, that physically it was very difficult. Richard Hatch thinks Africa was the most difficult physically.

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Richard Hatch

As you can imagine, Richard had a lot to say. Here is what I think was the most insightful.

Survivor has changed since the first season, which he won. Players now need to be more subtle. He was more direct in the first season. Players must focus on the game and not the cameras. The players who are concerned with face time usually don't do well.

Does he really dislike Sue Hawk? Yes, she just rubs him the wrong way. He doesn't feel he sexually abused her in All Star Survivor and Ethan agreed with him.

Lastly Richard doesn't understand why Ethan didn't want an alliance with him in All Star Survivor. He feels the two former winners could have gone farther as a team. By the way, each of them said that they thought that they had a decent chance of winning All Star Survivor.

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Caller Questions (paraphrased)

What do you think about the strategy of voting off the physically strongest players first? For example Brook on Vanuatu?

Ethan: You need them around to win challenges.

Richard: The mental part of the game and inter-personal relationships are more important in the long run. However early on it's a little random, they're just looking at more superficial things.

What about alliances forming along age lines?

Ethan: It's a common theme and it's nice that this time the older players are stronger. Usually the younger players pick of the older players.

Richard: It's still early in the game and only time will tell if these alliances hold up.

Is Brady a threat?

Richard: Yes, especially early on in the game. Hard to tell long term.

Ethan: Brady is smart enough to play the game the right way.

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Finally they were going to select their choices for the Survivor Fantasy League, but I don't remember them doing this. If I just missed their picks and you know them please email them to me (mydree[at]yahoo.com). However during the show, Richard Hatch said that he likes Julie (native American beauty), John K. (mimbo), Scout (older renaissance woman) and Chad (bald, peg leg). He dislikes Sarge. Ethan agreed that he likes Julie and Scout.