"Survivor" segregates the drinking fountains
Early reviews of “Survivor: Cook Islands�’ method of dividing up its contestants into “tribes� – they’ll be split up by race, with Asian-Americans, blacks, Latinos and Caucasians competing against one another – are less than positive. On CBS’s own “The Early Show,� Harry Smith told host Jeff Probst that the immediate reaction of his on-set colleagues was one of synchronized blanching.
Probst didn’t help his cause any when he referred to the casting as “a social experiment,� the same tired phrase trotted out to defend the early, awful years of “Big Brother.�
So in the 21st century, game-show participants are segregated by race. Perhaps the show should be called “Survivor: Montgomery, Alabama.�
CBS’s own promotional trailer tries to put a more benign spin on the whole thing, naturally.
What do you think? Intriguing provocation – or cynical ploy to create divisiveness? Will the Asian-Americans build short-wave radios out of cocoanuts? Will the whites start up an exclusive country club?
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David Kronke was appointed Mayor of Television after a bloodless coup in 2000. Since then, he has improved infrastructure, championed greater educational opportunities and fought for reforms that have utterly erased corruption and incompetence from the television industry. Since Mr. Kronke has ascended to power, Television is a far better place.
Yeah, I also read that Jeff Probst said this isn't a stunt. Right. This has publicity stunt written all over it.
All the PC-ers will be up in arms. They weren't too upset last season when the tribes were separated by age, though. If you look at the new crop of participants, the oldest one is 44.
It's an incredibly ballsy move on the part of the producers. Could backfire on them, big-time. Probst is really going to have to do a lot of dancing on that island.
Perhaps next year they'll employ the caste system.
What is this, "Survivor 14" or something like that? They've got to do something to breathe a little life into the franchise. With the FCC these days, "Survivor: All Nude" is probably out of the question.