Survivor Sucks

During my hiatus I didn't get a chance to comment on the 3/17/2005 edition of Survivor. But suffice it to say I'm still pissed.

SPOILER ALERT - For those of you that haven't watched this particular episode stop reading now.

Even Jeff thinks this is ridiculous.

What is this non-sense that both teams have to evict a member regardless of winning the immunity challenge? This is a cardinal violation of the rules of Survivor. I can't believe that this passed the lawyers.

I watched this episode two weeks ago and it still chaps my hide. I have worked on game shows in the past. Game shows skirt gambling legislation by being games of skill rather than luck. That's why even the easiest game shows must feature some form of skill. Traditionally this is handled in the form inane questions but eating pig rectums also meets the 'skill' criteria.

Where game shows can get into trouble is by tweaking the rules to favor a contestant. Producer interference is a strict no-no. All players must be on a level playing field and be held to the same established rules.

I don't see how Burnett is getting away with his obvious attempt to even the teams. He needs the teams to remain relatively even otherwise the drama starts to lag. But he has many other tools to even out the teams. How about a merge? How about a teammate switch? How about breaking up both teams and making two new teams?

All of those would be kosher because the playing field would be level. But by evicting two members it could be argued that Burnett was pulling strings to tweak the game in favor of a particular contestant.

Someone should check into this but I'm bound by some restrictions of my own. Namely, my wife works at CBS and I really don't want to get her fired.

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Currently I'm listening to Motorcycle Ride from the album "Let's Go" by Rancid