"Survivor" scandal

History was made last night in Washington, DC.    But I’m not going to talk about it here.  I try to limit my political rants on the blog,    I’ll be semi frivolous and talk about reality TV instead.



Survivor, a reality TV series, had its premiere May 31, 2000.  I didn't watch the show back then, didn't become a fan until much later in the show's run.  But I have to admit it's become a guilty pleasure.

Last night was the season finale and reunion show for Survivor:Island of the Idols, the 39th season of the show.

Notice I didn't say "live reunion".  Breaking with tradition, the reunion was taped yesterday afternoon, and aired several hours later.

It's because of the scandal.

#Metoo has hit Survivor. Kellee Kim complained to the producers that Dan Silo was touching her inappropriately, making her uncomfortable, and wouldn't stop even though she'd asked him to.  The producers stepped in, had off camera discussions with the cast, and gave Dan a warning.  Dan apologized on camera.

Later Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Byrd used Dan's alleged transgressions as strategic tool to manipulate a vote -- and were forced to apologize on social media  to the audience after the episode aired.

And then Dan was ejected from the game for an incident that happened off camera and did not involve another cast member.  The gossip is that he touched a crew member's leg in an inappropriate manner while getting into a boat.

How the world has changed. There was an incident in 2004 ....Richard Hatch (the winner of the first season of Survivor) and Susan Hawk (also a first season player) were invited back to play in an all-star version of the game.  Hatch liked to play in the nude.  During a challenge, a naked Hatch rubbed up against Hawk.  Hawk felt sexually violated.  Hatch was not ejected from the game, though he was voted out that night for unrelated reasons.  Hawk quit the game a few days later.  Though Hawk has never said so, I'm sure there was a confidential legal settlement.

(And while Dan was the first to be officially ejected from the game, apparently in an earlier season the producers staged a vote to remove a difficult player, Brandon Hantz.)

I'm pretty sure there are confidentiality agreements in place concerning this season. Dan has answered all queries with "I'm not allowed to comment."

CBS has announced tha they will have a professional on site during the game  to deal with contestants' concerns about bias, harassment, etc., starting with season 41 (Season 40 has already been completed and will air in February).

So they taped the reunion show in advance, to keep things from getting out of control.

(Who knew the game would take a back seat to politics?)


The controversy outweighed the gameplay to some extent.

There was a big discussion on the reunion show, with comments about how the producers have to do better.  Kellee got to share her thoughts about what happened.

But ultimately it’s a game.

A game with a winner.

The winner was Tommy, a teacher from Long Island.