# I think Survivor must be fixed **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 19, 2001, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895 "2001-01-19T18:19:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dietrologia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/1 "2001-01-19T18:19:52Z")
The basic premise of the television show, _Survivor_, was that two ‘tribes’ of 8 contestants each through competitions of various types would be whittled down to the point where the two tribes would merge into one. When it just so happened that the competitions resulted in each tribe having exactly 4 members each… my reaction was, “How convenient.” Odd that one team didn’t have 5 members and the other 3 or any other combo. Having an even split ensures more tension among the two tribes and makes for better tv. Of course, time will tell, and if _Survivor II_ results in another 4/4 split I’ll know the fix is in. How could the competitions be fixed? There were a lot of dragging of chests, boxes, etc in the competitions. Who’s to say that one box wasn’t made a bit heavier than the other team’s in order to give one team the edge. I doubt the tribe members are going to be in a position to compare the two weights. In another challenge, each team had to dig up a chest. You simply bury one chest a foot or two deeper than the other. Who’s gonna compare? I think the producers rig the competitions to ensure that each tribe will have exacty 4 members when the time comes to merge. What do **you** think? ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/2 "2001-01-19T18:35:10Z")
I think you should have used a descriptive subject line. I was expecting Descartes, I got pop culture. I think this belongs in IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/3 "2001-01-19T21:04:42Z")
Never put Descartes before de horse. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/4 "2001-01-19T21:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*Never put Descartes before de horse. \*\* I’m sorry, Tracer, but we Kant allow punning in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![dietrologia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/5 "2001-01-19T22:49:33Z")
Just for the record… I’m **positive** that I typed _I think “Survivor” was fixed. Do you?_ in the subject line. I remember distinctly thinking that I’d have to put _Survivor_ in quotes because I don’t think you can put uB code in the subject line. My apologies. I don’t know what happened. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/6 "2001-01-19T23:09:12Z")
Alessan wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > > \*\*Never put Descartes before de horse. \*\* > > I’m sorry, Tracer, but we Kant allow punning in this thread. Why not? Will they Locke me out? ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/7 "2001-01-19T23:17:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dietrologia \* > My apologies. I don’t know what happened. Ohhh! Yeah, you can’t put quotes in the subject line either (because the code thinks you mean end of string I imagine). Sorry for picking on you – I should have figured as much happened. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/8 "2001-01-19T23:19:55Z")
If you’ve seen the line up for SII, you know what’s up. They have the list of people and the tribe they’ll be in. Right, it’s all hype. A gag to get people to watch. Dunno if the rest of it is fixed, but I’d assume there is some preference as to whom leaves first. I vaguely recall one of the entertainment rags printing a quote from one of the people who left suvivor first, and she seemed a little bitter and suspicious. Considering I don’t have a quote, better class that as a theory and rumor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/9 "2001-01-19T23:25:29Z")
Er… but now Zeno what to do… ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/10 "2001-01-19T23:33:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jmullaney \* > \*\*Er… but now Zeno what to do… \*\* Hume must be joking. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/11 "2001-01-20T02:21:16Z")
smaft wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by jmullaney \* > > \*\*Er… but now Zeno what to do… \*\* > > Hume must be joking. I think the puns in this thread have levelled out on a new Plato. ---
**Author:** ![tbea925](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@tbea925](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbea925)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/12 "2001-01-20T03:29:36Z")
Rene Descartes was sitting in a local pub downing a beer. The glass was empty and the barkeep asked if another brew was desired. “I think not” he said… …and disappered. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/13 "2001-01-20T13:45:44Z")
[Moderator Hat: ON] I fixed the subject line. I’m going to leave the thread here because there is actually some serious debate about whether or not there was any producer interference on _Survivor_. * * * David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator [Moderator Hat: OFF] ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/14 "2001-01-20T14:40:07Z")
OK, now to address the OP. First, it wasn’t 4 and 4, it was 5 and 5. (Remember, there was the Tagi alliance of 4 plus Sean.) Second, how could they have set up the challenges to guarantee such a result? Maybe they could have played to certain strengths of each group? Perhaps, but in the challenge dealing with rowing, one would have expected Tagi’s Kelly to do well since she was a whitewater rafter. She certainly expected herself to do well. She blew it. Meanwhile, in the final group challenge, the obstacle course, Tagi won it by mere seconds. How could the producers have planned that? Now, there are some serious accusations about the producers meddling in other ways. For example, in his unauthorized book, _The Stingray_, award-winning journalist Peter Lance provides information that the producers may have “suggested” to a couple of players who they should vote for. On a recent _Rivera Live_, Lance talked about some of his accusations and Sean Kenniff acknowledged that he and Jenna had not been the original ambassadors chosen by the tribes to discuss the merger – but that the producers interfered there as well (this mattered because Sean got drunk and revealed details of the alliance to Jenna, though she was obviously too stupid to act on that information). For more information on this sort of thing, I suggest you check out [The Stingray homepage](http://www.thestingray.net) and [SurvivorNews.net](http://www.survivornews.net). In fact, Lance just released an e-book version of his book yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Moss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doc\_Moss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Moss)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/15 "2001-01-20T15:41:23Z")
Lance also claims that Stacey was voted off after the producer (Mark Burnett) convinced Sean and Dirk to swap their votes from Rudy to Stacey. This was apparently to make it look as thought the older folk on the show weren’t being targeted. (First 2 to go were Sonja and BB, had Rudy gone third, it wouldn’t have looked good.) Notice that on the new show, the oldest contestant is a mere 53 compared to the original series having a 72 year old… ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-survivor-must-be-fixed/50895/16 "2001-01-20T15:43:50Z")
[Moderator Hat: ON] OK, I hate to do this, but I didn’t realize that dietrologia had started an **identical** thread in IMHO, which is receiving more serious attention. dietrologia: **Do not** post identical threads. The rest of you, head on over to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=56367) to continue the _Survivor_ discussion. * * * David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator [Moderator Hat: OFF]