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Survivor 2017

Kingston

Canadian Royalty
I started watching the 2017 series this weekend... I haven’t watched the American series in years. Gotta say it’s been refreshing to watch. I’m aware of the winner but really don’t know too much about the boot order. I’m also aware a “favourite” is eliminated somewhere along the way.

Things I like about the series:

The constant shifting of power and changing alliances. These are smart players who know how to grab power wherever they can and most aren’t willing to just be lead through the game.

The characters. I like the fact that we have clearly likeable people, people you’re relatively indifferent towards, and those you love to hate. I’m finding I’ve generally found something enjoyable with everyone in the cast regardless of whether I favour them or not. The story so far has been dynamic enough that I’ve shifted my opinion several times.

There are well executed twists but not an over reliance on them. There’s also not an over reliance on Idols. The tribe swap was brilliant. The only thing I would have changed was allowing the two coming in to the new tribe to pick to two to leave. That said the way things have played out so far has been interesting.

Jonathan has been great to watch. Reminds me a lot of early Jeff. Jeff I’ve noticed can be quite overbearing at times and unjustly opinionated (especially since he’s taken over as show runner).

How does this series compare to others?
 
I know others on the forum have different opinions, but I have to say for me it has been improving mostly every year, at least in terms of gameplay / strategi. The first ch 10 version was poor in terms of gameplay, but it has gotten much better since then.

Common complaints are that the episodes are so long. It drags on and the episodes have a lot of rehashing and repeating of the same idea. Also the format of the episodes is very similar one season to the next - super idol, swap saves, same episode lengths, multiple non elimination episodes etc.

If there is one piece of advice I could give the producers, and that’s to decrease the episode length. There are so many shows vying for our attention these days and to try get many 90 minutes out of us for an episode is just too much these days. They need to condense and get rid of the repetitive fluff.
 
I know others on the forum have different opinions, but I have to say for me it has been improving mostly every year, at least in terms of gameplay / strategi. The first ch 10 version was poor in terms of gameplay, but it has gotten much better since then.

Common complaints are that the episodes are so long. It drags on and the episodes have a lot of rehashing and repeating of the same idea. Also the format of the episodes is very similar one season to the next - super idol, swap saves, same episode lengths, multiple non elimination episodes etc.

If there is one piece of advice I could give the producers, and that’s to decrease the episode length. There are so many shows vying for our attention these days and to try get many 90 minutes out of us for an episode is just too much these days. They need to condense and get rid of the repetitive fluff.

How on earth could you call the last season good for strategy? It was basically David playing with a bunch of dolts.
 
How on earth could you call the last season good for strategy? It was basically David playing with a bunch of dolts.
Thats a matter of opinion. It was All Stars and David played a brilliant game.. Won’t put spoilers here but he is probably the best, top social game. So sorry you simply didn’t like him.
 
Thats a matter of opinion. It was All Stars and David played a brilliant game.. Won’t put spoilers here but he is probably the best, top social game. So sorry you simply didn’t like him.

I'm just saying it can't have been a great season strategic wise if hardly anyone but him was playing strategy.
 
I'm just saying it can't have been a great season strategic wise if hardly anyone but him was playing strategy.
They all thought they were playing strategy. People thought the same thing with Ghost Island where Wendall & Dom played such a good game and the edit was entirely focused on that that it looked like nobody else was playing.

In such seasons the other players' gameplay is pretty much irrelevant if someone else is running the show. Still, those other players will argue that they did play a great game but it wasn't shown.
 
They all thought they were playing strategy. People thought the same thing with Ghost Island where Wendall & Dom played such a good game and the edit was entirely focused on that that it looked like nobody else was playing.

In such seasons the other players' gameplay is pretty much irrelevant if someone else is running the show. Still, those other players will argue that they did play a great game but it wasn't shown.

It kind of is relevant when ranking seasons based on strategy.
 
It kind of is relevant when ranking seasons based on strategy.
That's your opinion, I just said I think the season had best strategic play than any of the prior seasons (improvement).

You have your opinion, I have mine. I know others feel the same as me, and I've seen others with opinions similar to yours. Thus, we are at loggerheads. The only agreed upon way to solve this is to have a democratic vote ;)
 
That's your opinion, I just said I think the season had best strategic play than any of the prior seasons (improvement).

You have your opinion, I have mine. I know others feel the same as me, and I've seen others with opinions similar to yours. Thus, we are at loggerheads. The only agreed upon way to solve this is to have a democratic vote ;)

What was so good about the strategy?
 
I tend to enjoy competition a lot more when power shifts rather than one player or group holds all the power.
 
Australian Survivor is definitely better than modern Survivor US. I binged all of Survivor US last year and it has been declining for the past 3-4 years. Whether that be the casting, over use of Fiji or simply bad editing or even a mix of all 3 im not sure. Australian Survivor has done a pretty strong job in terms of casting. JLP is a great host and is easily just as good as Jeff (who TBH has a bit of an attitude problem). If anything my criticism of Australian Survivor is; episodes are far too long and theres too many of them (however 20+ episodes is quite fun for live viewing I will admit), the editing is getting worse and worse as the seasons go on, 2016 had a great balance of airtime amongst all 24 contestants almost but 2019 and All stars had some of the worst editing distribution I've ever seen. And also the challenges are far too physical based rather than mental based. I however really enjoy Australian Survivor and the strategy has impressed year on year especially the 2017 and 2019 seasons. Although All stars as a whole I personally find to be disappointing with lacklustre gameplay, David still played an impressive dominant game and that was fun to watch and players like Shonee proved her stance as a great social player and Brooke also proved to be a competition beast. Overall I think US survivor has a lot to learn from Australian Survivor particularly with the casting (although aussie casting is different to US casting; for eg. Americans would never understand why John from 2019 is so popular to Australian audiences). I am really looking forward to the new season to be filmed in Queensland, it is also a fun accidentally way of paying homage to the 20th anniversary of the US 2nd season the Australian Outback.
 
Australian Survivor is definitely better than modern Survivor US. I binged all of Survivor US last year and it has been declining for the past 3-4 years. Whether that be the casting, over use of Fiji or simply bad editing or even a mix of all 3 im not sure. Australian Survivor has done a pretty strong job in terms of casting. JLP is a great host and is easily just as good as Jeff (who TBH has a bit of an attitude problem). If anything my criticism of Australian Survivor is; episodes are far too long and theres too many of them (however 20+ episodes is quite fun for live viewing I will admit), the editing is getting worse and worse as the seasons go on, 2016 had a great balance of airtime amongst all 24 contestants almost but 2019 and All stars had some of the worst editing distribution I've ever seen. And also the challenges are far too physical based rather than mental based. I however really enjoy Australian Survivor and the strategy has impressed year on year especially the 2017 and 2019 seasons. Although All stars as a whole I personally find to be disappointing with lacklustre gameplay, David still played an impressive dominant game and that was fun to watch and players like Shonee proved her stance as a great social player and Brooke also proved to be a competition beast. Overall I think US survivor has a lot to learn from Australian Survivor particularly with the casting (although aussie casting is different to US casting; for eg. Americans would never understand why John from 2019 is so popular to Australian audiences). I am really looking forward to the new season to be filmed in Queensland, it is also a fun accidentally way of paying homage to the 20th anniversary of the US 2nd season the Australian Outback.
Gonna be interesting to see if the weather holds out with hurricane season & la niña this year.
I find the US seasons lately to be good every second season. It’s like as if they do a filler season and then a “proper” season where Jeff is in tip top shape, exciting cast etc.
Like All Stars we thought was great, deserving winner. Apparently a new producer has taken over casting lately, so that could explain why the casting hasn’t been top notch.
I agree 100% about Australian Survivor being too focused on physical challenges. As a viewer I could not even entertain the thought of applying and taking part in some of those challenges, it would ruin me lol. It will attract mega athletes and I suppose that’s what they want.
 
Gonna be interesting to see if the weather holds out with hurricane season & la niña this year.
I find the US seasons lately to be good every second season. It’s like as if they do a filler season and then a “proper” season where Jeff is in tip top shape, exciting cast etc.
Like All Stars we thought was great, deserving winner. Apparently a new producer has taken over casting lately, so that could explain why the casting hasn’t been top notch.
I agree 100% about Australian Survivor being too focused on physical challenges. As a viewer I could not even entertain the thought of applying and taking part in some of those challenges, it would ruin me lol. It will attract mega athletes and I suppose that’s what they want.
The American show is nothing more than Jeff's wet dream these days.
 
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