December 24, 2024
Column

Audition, sure, but survive ‘Survivor’?

We all have that show – the one we don’t watch on a regular basis but find ourselves glued to the television screen when we happen upon it while flipping through channels.

For me, there are quite a few, but most recently it’s been this season’s “Survivor.”

Needless to say, I was pleased to get the preview DVD that contained a recap of the first 15 days on the island, complete with brand new scenes.

There also was a preview of Thursday’s episode, which left me hanging by not including the result of the tribal council vote.

Like other reality shows, “Survivor” always seems to have a mixed bag of characters, and this season proves no different.

But the challenges they face bring them to a whole new level of underhandedness.

Alliances are formed, reconfigured and broken in an attempt not only to become the ultimate “Survivor,” but also to stay alive.

One perk of writing this column is that it’s part of my job to live and breathe reality TV.

I actually get paid to watch television, talk about it and write about it.

When someone discovers that I’m “that reality girl,” they almost instantly start telling me who is best suited to be paired up with “The Bachelor” or who should really be the next “American Idol” or “Nashville Star.”

But it’s “Survivor” that really seems to get people going. Almost everyone I talk to says they’d love to audition, but aren’t sure they have what it takes.

In all honesty, I know I don’t.

Just this season we’ve seen contestants eat raw oysters, spit-fired snake, and lick leaves for water because it’s the best chance they’ve got at making it all the way.

Yes, I grew up in Maine, but I can’t stand mosquitoes in the summer.

Imagine being surrounded day and night by creepy-crawly critters and bugs – no shower, no bathroom, no make-up.

I’m in no way a high-maintenance gal, but I know I wouldn’t make it very far.

I’d be this season’s Shane, begging others to vote me off the island so I could go home and see my family, eat McDonald’s, sleep in my own bed and take a real shower.

Of the 16 contestants that started the show, seven already have been voted off.

With other reality contests, it’s sometimes easy to pick out who will make it to the final few, but “Survivor” is different.

One disagreement, one underhanded trick, one bad day can change the outcome of the whole game.

Do you have what it takes?

Tune in to CBS at 8 p.m. on Thursdays and just imagine the possibilities.


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