# Survivor 29 (!) Cast Announced **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780 "2014-08-28T18:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/1 "2014-08-28T18:36:32Z")
A little late for the cast announcement, it seems, with the show barely three weeks away from starting. Nonetheless it looks interesting with no returnees but a retired athlete and a pair borrowed from another reality show. No idea if the athlete tries to go incognito, but no problem, if he does, another contestant is sure to be his remedial math teacher in High School or his Grandma’s next door neighbor who will out him before episode three. Lots of youthful hardbodies, with is fine with me, as they are fun to look at and usually much better players than the older ones or the token nerds. Remember last year’s psychotic Nuclear Engineer who was too crazy and unpredictable even for a strong group of players to drag her along to the finale as cannon fodder? One thing is for certain - if there is a more hateable couple than the athlete and his tanning girlfriend or a more annoying one than the reality show veterans, it will make for a long season. I saw the name of one new contestant and thought “hasn’t she been on the show before?” and after sifting through the returns for “Kelly Wentwoth Survivor” finally found Kelly Wigglesworth. The 23 year old river rafter and Season 1 finalist is now approaching 40! I’m feeling old. > **[Survivor Photos on CBS](https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/photos/1002211/meet-the-cast-survivor-san-juan-del-sur/)** > > Stranded in the beautiful islands of Fiji, 18 determined new castaways will be divided into 3 tribes of 6 and forced to form a new society as they adapt to their physical and social surroundings. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/2 "2014-08-28T18:46:20Z")
Exile Island - ok. If they’d gone with the original idea of Redemption Island, I would have hunted down Probst and dealt with him appropriately. Probably involving ants and honey. But I predict that athlete and accessory are gone by the end of the month - 4 episodes max. ---
**Author:** ![chancetx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@chancetx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chancetx)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/3 "2014-08-29T09:53:06Z")
John Rocker?! Good luck to the gay couple and Indian twins from “Amazing Race” dealing with this racist, homophobic neanderthal. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/4 "2014-08-29T14:28:42Z")
Nadiya and Natalie? Heaven help everyone else on the island. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/5 "2014-08-29T17:32:06Z")
> [@chancetx](#): > > John Rocker?! Good luck to the gay couple and Indian twins from “Amazing Race” dealing with this racist, homophobic neanderthal. CBS must have had long talks with Rocker about using this to redeem himself before they agreed to let him play. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/6 "2014-08-29T18:50:35Z")
John Rocker and Nadiya and Natalie from The Amazing Race? Holy shit, I just found a reason to watch Survivor again. The meltdowns will be EPIC. But Rocker will be outed as soon as he uses his full name. Every baseball fan remembers John Rocker. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/7 "2014-08-29T18:53:22Z")
For those of us who don’t follow baseball… anyone care to explain why the reputation/controversy for Rocker? Doesn’t he have those diner like burger places? (yes, I know that is Johnny Rockets… it was a joke) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/8 "2014-08-29T18:57:50Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > For those of us who don’t follow baseball… anyone care to explain why the reputation/controversy for Rocker? He showed his ass in a spectacular manner in an interview once and continued to do so afterward. Burnett’s in-house sound mixers are going to do so much overtime work with the Twinnies on tape. I need to invest in earplugs to get through this season… ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/9 "2014-08-29T22:20:26Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Nadiya and Natalie? Heaven help everyone else on the island. they will be gone quickly just to shut them up from screeching “Twinnie” all the time. Can they voted out as a pair? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/10 "2014-08-30T01:13:50Z")
Survivor 29? Did they do 2 seasons in a few of the years because I remember season 1, and it was in 2000. And I never thought the damned show was all that after in the first season equipped with a sauce pan, fire and rice _on a sea shore on a tropical island_ they complained of having nothing to eat but bland rice. Christ on a crutch, spend some time evaporating water out of the sauce pan to get salt, cook the rice in salt water and fucking LOOK in the damned tide pools for shellfish and other aquatic life to put in the damned pot. Shitfire, I know they want conflict and whinging for ‘interesting TV’ but fuck a duck, use your brains people. ---
**Author:** ![chancetx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@chancetx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chancetx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/11 "2014-08-30T01:47:25Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Survivor 29? Did they do 2 seasons in a few of the years because I remember season 1, and it was in 2000. And I never thought the damned show was all that after in the first season equipped with a sauce pan, fire and rice _on a sea shore on a tropical island_ they complained of having nothing to eat but bland rice. Christ on a crutch, spend some time evaporating water out of the sauce pan to get salt, cook the rice in salt water and fucking LOOK in the damned tide pools for shellfish and other aquatic life to put in the damned pot. Shitfire, I know they want conflict and whinging for ‘interesting TV’ but fuck a duck, use your brains people. Yes, they started doing 2 seasons a year (one in the fall, one in the spring) some time back. And even though I agree with your other points, I still manage to get sucked into the show every season. I’ve seen them all. Deep shame… :o ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/12 "2014-08-30T01:55:37Z")
This season is the second season of “Blood vs. Water” where loved ones are broken up onto separate tribes. That means the awful Twinnies will be on two teams, to spread their annoyingness to everybody. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/13 "2014-08-30T03:28:41Z")
On the not-quite-so-desperately-horrible side, little cash for them to steal! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/14 "2014-08-30T16:24:08Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Survivor 29? Did they do 2 seasons in a few of the years because I remember season 1, and it was in 2000. And I never thought the damned show was all that after in the first season equipped with a sauce pan, fire and rice _on a sea shore on a tropical island_ they complained of having nothing to eat but bland rice. Christ on a crutch, spend some time evaporating water out of the sauce pan to get salt, cook the rice in salt water and fucking LOOK in the damned tide pools for shellfish and other aquatic life to put in the damned pot. Shitfire, I know they want conflict and whinging for ‘interesting TV’ but fuck a duck, use your brains people. They’ve been 2 (sometimes 3) seasons a year since the very beginning. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/15 "2014-08-31T01:57:43Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > They’ve been 2 (sometimes 3) seasons a year since the very beginning. I didn’t watch the morons, sorry. I wouldn’t have known they did multiple seasons in a year. [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/16 "2014-08-31T02:52:35Z")
They’ve done two a year since the beginning. It’s just hard to believe it’s been 14 years since the first season. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/17 "2014-09-01T18:11:46Z")
I realize I missed a few seasons, but I don’t recognize a single one of the returning players. Did any of them have any kind of game, or are they just the pretty people who (a) were interested, (b) had relatives who would probably not die immediately and © were also pretty? Last time they did this, I recognized half of them, but not this round. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/18 "2014-09-01T18:47:50Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I realize I missed a few seasons, but I don’t recognize a single one of the returning players. Did any of them have any kind of game, or are they just the pretty people who (a) were interested, (b) had relatives who would probably not die immediately and (c) were also pretty? Last time they did this, I recognized half of them, but not this round. I’m a bit confused by your question - there are no returning players this season. If you are asking in general about the results for returning players, I’d say that they have done extremely well. Far better than I would have imagined. Off the top of my head, Boston Rob, Parvati, and Rob’s wife have all won it, although Amber’s season was all return players. (On review, Sandra Diaz Twine {all returnees}, John Cochran, and Tyler Apostal all won it too.) There were an equal number of second place finishers. Rob, Parvati, and Sandra basically ran their winning seasons and fully deserved their wins. The others didn’t play nearly as well, but got the breaks when needed. Amber did nothing to deserve her win except look nice. There have been two seasons where all the players were on their second or third chance, (All-Stars and Heroes vs. Villians) a few with half new and half old and several with two or three returnees only. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-29-cast-announced/696780/19 "2014-09-01T19:18:16Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > I’m a bit confused by your question - there are no returning players this season. Well, that’d explain it… I thought it was like the last Blood vs. Water, where half of each couple was a returning player.