Ah, “Survivor.” What have you done? We all know the concept of the show was ingenious when it first blessed us with its presence back in 1993.
Take a bunch of average Americans. A desert island. Challenges. Teams. A winner. A million bucks.
Romance, backstabbing and drama ensue. What more could a TV audience wish for?
Plenty, it seems. These days, with everything from “Wife Swap” to “Flavor of Love,” reality TV has become the new go-to for anyone eagerly awaiting 15 minutes of fame. Now, it seems, “Survivor” has to step it up a notch. With top rated shows like “The Amazing Race” pulling high ratings (and garnering multiple Emmys), CBS has decided to do something so extreme, so shocking, it has the world of television in an uproar.
Yes, the producers of “Survivor” have decided to divide the show’s contestants by race. Yes, that’s right race. There will be the white tribe, the African-American tribe, the Asian-American tribe and the Hispanic tribe.
“Survivor” host Jeff Probst explains the unconventional concept. “The idea for this actually came from the criticism that ‘Survivor’ was not ethnically diverse enough.
Because, for whatever reason, we’ve always had a low number of minority applicants apply to the show. So we set out and said, ‘Let’s turn this criticism into creative for the show. I think it fits in perfectly with what ‘Survivor’ does – it is a social experiment.”
One could call it that. It looks more like a publicity stunt to us. Obviously, the rage has only just begun. Members of the New York City council’s Black, Latino and Asian caucus are calling on CBS to pull “Survivor: Cook Islands” from the fall schedule.
Robert Jackson, co-chair of the caucus, was quoted as saying, “Is this going to help to bring people together? I don’t think so.” Mychal Massie, national chairman of the conservative African-American group Project 21, told CNSNews.com, a unit of the conservative Media Research Center, that the show will perpetuate “a racial divide, and [he is] not certain that this particular racial divide is not intentional to show one [racial] group as more adept or more adroit than another group.”
So what, exactly, is going to happen, you ask. We have one prediction.
Ratings will soar, that’s what will happen. The idea really is well thought out.
A well-known show with an all-too-familiar premise now has something intriguing to lure bored viewers at home into watching.
What will happen, they wonder. Will racial slurs be flying? Will politically incorrect terms abound? But of course they will, this is TV Land, where people will say just about anything to get the camera’s attention.
We know one reason all you fellow 49ers should tune in. Mr. J.P. Calderon (of the white tribe) is a California State University, Long Beach alumnus! And he spent five years as the assistant coach for our women’s volleyball team.
Who would have thought? We may need to watch and see just how far Calderon makes it. So, we urge you all to take a seat and indulge in the sweetest guilty pleasure America has to offer good, old-fashioned reality TV.