CBS Picks Up Two More Installments of 'Survivor'

[Khephra]

CBS Picks Up Two More Installments of 'Survivor'
By REUTERS

Published: December 15, 2004


Filed at 6:10 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Survivor'' is not only surviving but thriving.

CBS on Wednesday said that it will bring back television's top-rated reality series, ``Survivor,'' for at least two more installments.

The Viacom Inc.-owned broadcaster said it has ordered production of the show's 11th and 12th editions, which will be aired during the 2005-06 TV season.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-leisure-survivor.html

[bigwillq]

1. Enough already!

The same shit happens every edition. But people are still tuning in.

WHY??????

[lazarus]

2. Because the same shit doesn't happen

And we like it.

On just the four main broadcast networks, there are approximately 84 hours of prime time programming a week. Why get all worked up over one?

One reason we like is that different shit happens every season. It's always different, with a new cast.

As opposed to Law and Order, or Will and Grace, or lots of other scripted shows. When's the last time something really new happened on a sitcom? Or a cop drama? That's where the same shit happens every time.

Have you watched each edition of Survivor? Or do you just assume the "same shit happens" because it makes you feel better to look down on this show and its fans?

[Qanisqineq]

3. I'm with you Lazarus!

I don't watch many scripted TV shows anymore, especially sitcoms. They just seem like the same jokes and storylines from other sitcoms regurgitated over and over again.

Without Survivor and The Amazing Race and a few other "reality" shows (some I don't care to admit I ocassionally watch :P ), I'd watch Cold Case and... and... :shrug: My list of other shows I like shrinks every week.

[Piperay]

4. I agree

I watch most of the unscripted TV shows about the only scripted TV I watch is Lost, Desperate Housewives, Cold Case and American Dreams. The rest of them are the same things over and over again with the same old laugh tracks.

[Qanisqineq]

5. oh, and I forgot Lost! n/t

[Khephra]

6. I used to be down on unscripted TV, but Laz cured me of that snobbery

I still haven't liked a single show in the genre, but that's just me.

I think what pisses most of us scripted tv watchers off is the networks flooding the airwaves with them to the extent that for a season or two it seemed like nothing else was being made. And coming right after the mini prime-time gameshow fad (I'm looking at you Regis!) both genres seemed to blend into each other. Because unscripted TV is cheaper to produce, scripted TV did take a major hit. This season seems to be better with new shows like "LOST", thank goodness.

Oh, and my personal dislike for unscripted TV goes back (and still exists) to THE REAL WORLD which I blame for totally ruining MTV as a channel. Before TRW we actually had music on MTV, now there's constant repeats of TRW all the frigging time. All I can say is thank goodness for MTV2.

[Qanisqineq]

7. Worse than The Real World & Road Rules is...

THE REAL WORLD/ROAD RULES CHALLENGE! OMG, can these people grow up and get real jobs? I watch an episode or two of each season to see who is on and some of these people are in their 30's!

I understand if you just personally don't like any of the unscripted shows. There isn't a single soap opera I like but I have nothing against soap operas!

[Khephra]

8. I wanted to see the one they were planning

about people competing to get a shot at going into space in a Russian rocket, but real world events shot that idea down.

[lazarus]

9. Thanks, Kef

Have you at least tried Amazing Race?

This season is a bit questionable, as one of the competitors has turned out to be a complete ass, but it avoids most of the pitfalls of other shows (pitfalls meaning things people don't like, such as backstabbing).

And the winners of Amazing Race last season were the nicest couple ever. Just great, nice people who enjoyed the whole competition without having to get overly competitive. Nice to see the good folks win, you know?

Oh, and I think "scripted television" is permanently damaged until the way it's produced is changed.

Too many series are built to last forever, so nothing can happen (unless the cast doesn't really matter, in which case they're interchangeable, like Law and Order).

Lost is written very much like the HBO shows that succeed so well. Deadwood and Carnivale didn't have to worry about getting in their 6 seasons so they could get a syndication deal.

Many of the great shows we remember from the UK were written to be short series, and written by one or two people. Think of Fawlty Towers, Young Ones, AbFab; none of them went on for years and years, but we can all remember many of their episodes because they tended to be much better.

That's what happens when you don't have a rotating cast of writers on each episode. Writing teams tend not to work.

[Khephra]

10. Oh, I totally agree with the idea of having endpoints for shows

Or at least shows should be willing to evolve their storylines past what's comfortable and reach for something different. Babylon 5 was what really woke me up to how TV series should be planned. There were other shows that did similar things (Twin Peaks and The Prisoner, just to name two) but it wasn't until B5 came out that I swore off shows that constantly repeat themselves. (I won't name any because there's fans of those shows here, and I'm not in the mood for a flamewar over Tre... ;-) )

Buffy and Angel were also two shows that we willing to change and evolve with time. Man, I miss those shows.

I'm with you on Deadwood and Carnivale.