Survivor 2 was completely staged shite

Cafe Society
1

I don’t know why I feel the need to post this now- maybe it just feels good to argue something knowing you are completely, 100% right once in a while :wink: - but Survivor 2, the only season I followed completely, was, Common Knowledge here, completely staged shite. All of the people, almost certainly, were in on it, almost certainly just to cash in on their fake fame later on in interviews and other crap. The makers even admitted to faking ‘CERTAIN SCENES’ later on afterwards; and, as Conan joked, ‘just the scenes where the characters were in Australia.’

Survivor 2 was staged so as to avoid the sucky, dissap. ending of 1, which I think was real. Here are the things that happened in S2 which I think show beyond a doubt that it was staged:

[ul]
[li]They put the mean (acting) woman there in ep. 1 so she could get kicked off- maybe[/li][li]Oh, and the fake vomiting in the airbag in the airplane at the beginning of ep. 1. Right from the beginning we are being shown a fake production, made to look ‘cool’ and ‘ultra-real’, when really it’s shite. :mad: [/li][li]The fight between the veggie girl and the black girl may have been staged.[/li][li]The episode of ‘never before seen’ shite shows some stuff that was scripted to be really cool, like the nice girl Amber admitting to the camera she’d love to light a fire under everyone, and other surprises. I am so pissed off writing this I can hardly type. I am so angry.:mad:[/li][li]They cut from one scene where the Geri? girl- the mean girl, the one from Surreal Life, I can’t remember names :stuck_out_tongue: - does something wicked to the Kobe? guy (the Texas guy), and she’s singing the Fiona Apple song ‘I’ve done a bad bad thing… I’ve been a bad bad girl.’ Obviously staged to be oh-so-clever. :mad: [/li][li]The veggie girl, of COURSE, ends up BY CHANCE!!! GETTING the meat brains in the contest where you spin the wheel and have to eat what you get, and she vomits it up. They even shot some extra shots in that scene (good term here :smiley: ) of the other team making vomit faces straight at the camera. F-ing staged. :mad:[/li][li]They just happen to film a night scene where an important alliance is made. The actors don’t care it’s caught on well-shot film for all to see.[/li][li]The chef guy PROPOSES TO HIS GIRLFRIEND DURING THAT F-ING CHALLENGE. MY GOD IS THERE ANY QUESTION!!![/li][li]Same chef guy is at some point outcooked by Geri girl, b/c he messes up the rice. We’ll see this type of irony again and again.[/li][li]The survivalist guy and when he hunts down the boar and kills it. ENOUGH SAID, THAT SCENE IS F-ING STAGED AND I DARE YOU TO DENY ME. I AM SO ANGRY THIS BELONGS IN THE PIT!!![/li][li]Same guy GETS BURNED IN THE FIRE RIGHT WHEN THE TEAMS ARE EVEN AND THE GAME CAN GO EITHER WAY! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!! LATER ON, IN INTERVIEWS, HE CLAIMS ‘GOD’ HELPED HIM HEAL SO MUCH B/C HE HAD SO LITTLE SCARING. I WANT BLOOD!!![/li][li]They set up the black guy who flies under the radar in an interesting way. In the one episode, we know they are planning on getting rid of him, and the WHOLE EPISODE IS ABOUT THAT. BUT BY THE END, IN AN AMAZING AND DRAMATIC DISPLAY, HE DEFEATS WHOEVER IN THE BALANCING CHALLENGE AND IS SPARED! SO STAGED! But then, next episode, we think the heat is off him, but he is eliminated. Nice one, writers! Worthy of a movie script![/li][li]Geri messes up during the challenge where she has to yell instructions to her teammates while they are blindfolded, so Kobe throws a bucket of water on her in angry fashion. PERFECT.[/li][li]Geri girl and Kobe end up- OF COURSE- going on the romantic reef helicopter thing together, and it’s shot like some From Here to Eternity romance. God, I hate you CBS for allowing something that should be illegal to exist on your network. You f-ing ratings whores.[/li][li]And of course, the mean Geri girl is eliminated in dramatic fashion, with dialogue and all, just so we will go ‘Hurray! The witch is dead!’ [/li][li]In the last episode, they show a FAKE CLIP OF A HELICOPTER LANDING. They even admitted to feeling embarassed about that afterwards, I think! And they, of course, had laid out the votes in perfect order in the jar. And finally, the Kobe guy hands the money over to the nice woman, putting an end to the game that cancels out the horrible ending of S1.[/li][/ul]
At least season 1 was real- maybe. Reality may not contain vomiting on a plane, a cool pig murder, a dramatic helicopter rescue of a burnt man just when it matters most, a perfect romance that ends in betrayal, shocking revelations from unexpected sources, hilarious come-uppance of a witchy vegetarian, an unexpected marriage proposal in an unlikely place, important alliances caught on film as they happen, a great set-up and then a double twist with a minor character (the black guy), and a perfectly staged ending that makes the good guy win and everyone satisfied, but at least it has some kind of quality to it.

What about seasons 3-9 (or 10?) Have they been nearly as staged as this one was?

2

On second thought, I don’t care if all the preceding seasons in the last 4 years have been more sound than Season 2 was. I know some of you are going to lecture me on how a network works and the importance of making money- I understand- but I honestly think that it’s justified to be enraged at CBS for putting S2 on the air, and so boycotting the following Surviving Seasons. I think we should. No one watch the current one. Let’s get a group of people going. I really think Dopers are the ones who should stand up against this kind of ‘lying’ being put on the air. Isn’t it what we do?

Then again, you’re gonna point out how hopeless a battle that is. How many of the current reality shows are completely unstaged? No idea. But I don’t think a monstrosity like S2 has ever existed in the years since. And you may also point out how ‘dishonest’ other media is, like the news (which shows ‘fake’ clips and may alter clips at times), or commercials (whoo boy, let’s not even get started there :D), or religions (I believe) are. And you are right. But I think we should band together and agree that if there is anything like S2 ever again (a reality show or other program)- or now, I don’t know- we petition against it somehow. I don’t know how. :smiley:

3

I don’t see much of a debate here. Nothing that has a director, cast, camera crew, lighting and all the other such trappings can be a “reality” experience. For one thing, it has to be edited to fit in the time slot, with proper breaks for commercials.

4

I might discern a debate here, (not that I would choose to participate), but it would be of the sort of critical review handed out to any other entertainment presentation–a debate more properly lodged in Cafe Society.

[ Moderator Mode ]

5

This has got to be the most bizarre, surreal, and… well… pointless OP I’ve ever seen. I have to wonder whether it’s a joke. I mean, so mad you can hardly type? Over editing strategies? One sure clue of the jokiness is the line about the ending of season 1: sucky? disappointing? You’re talking about the Snake and the Rat speech, quite possibly the greatest Survivor moment ever. (We’ll see whether Caryn trumps it on Sunday night. Very possible.)

6

You’re this upset, what, six seasons later?

Good thing you didn’t watch All-Stars, I guess.

7

There’s nothing in the OP that constitutes “proof” Survivor 2 was staged, and very little that even counts as “evidence”…except perhaps evidence of a profound misunderstanding of how reality shows are produced. To wit:

They don’t “just happen” to film anything. They film everything, which makes it silly to think there’s anything odd or suspicious about them catching an important moment. It’s the producers’ job to sift out the moments that aren’t important. Knowing this now, what’s left of your argument?

And I’m with Liberal: the show aired four years ago. Have you been doing a slow burn all this time?

8

Yeah… I don’t know what got into me.

I understand that they need something interesting every 10 minutes, but… you don’t just make stuff up. And saying that anything with cameras and lighting and editing is the same as an outright staged performance is not the case. I understand that all reality shows edit the crap out of stuff to make things seem a certain way and more entertaining, but this thing was Broadway. We should have paid ticket price.

As great as that was, how horrible was it when Rudy lost? Season 1 probably wasn’t staged, though I ‘heard’ (lol) that the creators prob. approached Kelly and Rich and tried to make a deal so they would let Rudy win b/c they figured he’d be popular.

9

Huh. I suppose you did hear about Rupert at All-Stars, right?

10

I guess it helps to see the whole season ep. by ep. You may have already; all I’m saying is that my list doesn’t convey the theatricly-staged quality of this production. If you care about this topic- and you may very well not, which is fine- rent the dvds before you make your mind up completely, please, unless you’ve seen most of the episodes of S2.

11

There’s a certain amount of staging in any TV production. For example, they might use a B camera to film shadowy figures approaching the tribal council area at night from high above, such that you can’t identify the people, or even whether they’re men or women. And then that clip might be aired as a seque to the entrance of the contestants. But that sort of thing is just for aesthetic value.

Also, editors might emphasize certain events over others, and certain character traits over others. But they can’t just pull them out of thin air. The contestant will have to exhibit something that can be filmed. It is not the case that they are handed scripts and told, “Say this and do that.” That’s the sort of thing I had expected to see when I opened your thread. Instead, you’re just complaining about ordinary serendipity, the very essence of good reality TV.

12

Nope; I have watched nor heard anything about any of the rest of the Survivors. Fill me in?

13

I’m glad you picked this up by season 2 of Survivor something a lot of people have known since season 2 of The Real World…
Reality TV is so forced and controlled by the producers and so chopped by the editors that it’s hardly reality. Drama sells and if drama isn’t happening the producers will make it happen and the editors will project it in such a way.

Sure, I’m guilty as the next person for watching this shite, but it’s entertainment and I hardly take it seriously and never get worked up about it.

The Apprentice- If you think people are actually chosen by “The Donald” each week for their superior leadership skills you are a fool. The producers choose each week who would make a more compelling character to keep on the show and mold/edit the crap out of it and tell Trump who he will be firing that week and the editors chop up the footage and assemble it too make it look like he made such a wise business decision.
Like anyone in their right mind would let an unknown come in and be the head event coordinator during the last week of prep. Gimme a break.

Amazing Race- Whats amazing about this race is how no one can get a good lead in this race. Those gates don’t open till 5/only two flights leave San Juan situations just pop up way too many times. Why? Wouldn’t be very much drama when team #1 gets a 18 hour lead on team #3 by the finale now would it?
And how do you like that editing work where it seems like team #2 is just seconds behind the lead team and then they arrive at the finish line a couple hours later.

Bachelor/ette- You think they cast this show with the intent to find “really nice girls who are looking for love” or would it be better to find “the most dramatic psychos who like to fight over men who they think are going to be their next husbands”. And the finale comes down to two individuals whom the bachelor/ette is just “so torn between”. Do you think the producers would let the guy tell them “I’m down to 6 girls and I already know who I want” weeks ahead of time. No, no, no. Where’s the fun in that. You have to be totally indecisive and make that ‘oh so tough’ decision each week… Or at least make it look like you do.

Amusing, funny, entertaining stuff to watch.
Just please, don’t take any of it too seriously.

14

Bottled it up, have you? What clued you in that it was staged – the various challenges by which the contestants get treats? I’m fairly sure that in a real survival situation, there are no cameras and no one wandering in on occasion to offer you pizza and beer if you can run some weird relay race faster than someone else.

I rarely watch the show, but I have to admit, in this most recent season when they stranded the girl on an island of her own overnight, her profound thoughts on isolation and loneliness would have been more compelling if I hadn’t been painfully aware that there was some schmoe with a nightvision camera following her around.

15

Regarding the Amazing Race, it is a mistake to view it as one long monolythic race. Rather, it is a succession of racing legs, in each of which it is important (often critical) not to come in last. Only the final leg is a footrace to the finish line. That is how it was designed and intended to be.

16

Wait just a minute…at the end of the Vanuatu season, when Jeff Probst took the basket of votes and traveled to New York on a Jet-Ski, a helicopter, a donkey, and a pedal-powered paddleboat, and time-traveled several months into the future too…you mean that was staged?? Well, spin my nipplenuts and send me to Alaska! I never woulda guessed.
None of the incidents you cited show that the show is “completely staged.” Burnett & Co. admit that parts of the show are staged. Some of it’s obvious, like the Probstian antics referenced above. Some of it’s not so obvious, like the fact that they sometimes do ask contenstant to recreate a conversation if they didn’t get a good shot of it. But I’ve never heard a credible claim that the producers made up storylines.

If the producers seemed to capture more crucial footage in S2 than S1, it may be because they had more practice at it. If the situations and storylines seem too good to be true, remember that truth is stranger than fiction. If you choose the right candidates, and put them in a highly stressful contrived situation, it’s likely that they’ll do stuff that the best Hollywood screenwriter wouldn’t think of. Or maybe he’d think of it, but wouldn’t put it to paper because he knows that audiences wouldn’t buy it.

Anyway, as others have pointed out, “reality TV” doesn’t show any kind of normal reality. It’s a contrived and manipulated reality populated with contestants that were chosen in part for their tendency to bring the drama.

So if it makes you feel better to try to prove that Survivor was completely staged, go right ahead. You might want to look into the moon landings while you’re at it.

17

Rupert was this immensely popular bear of a guy in Pearl Islands. He won a lot of peoples’ hearts by stealing shoes from the other team in the first episode and selling them to buy camping gear. He went on to demonstrate a startling lack of social skills, given his profession as a troubled teens mentor, and many viewers identified with him strongly because in high school, he was the fat, unpopular guy that everybody threw oranges at. He was also pretty strong, tough, and a provider of many fish.

He didn’t make it to the final four, but he did turn right around and go into All-Stars, in which he did make it to the final four, and also demonstrated a surprising level of anger-management problems, as well as contempt for his fellow teammates. Again, since he was getting back at all the popular kids by surviving longer than they were, he was immensely popular with the fans.

At the final episode on Sunday, the producers announced that there was going to be a Special Surprise Give-Away of another million dollars. Go to this website and cast your vote for whichever survivor YOU think should have gotten a million, and come back Thursday for our reunion show where we’ll announce the winner.

Rupert won.

Woo hoo. And thusly hath Survivor jumped the shark.

18

Nice one, Krytie!

19

And why it is so immensly boring…