93 screenshots in the next post. Click for larger images

Billy blew everyone away in this Tribal Council pledge of love to Candice. It was all the talk around Aitu’s tribe. JP says “If it’s true, well then…It’s not true. It’s ridiculous.” Over at Puka, Cau Boi is talking and talking and driving everyone crazy. Even if they like him, he’s starting to get on people’s nerves. Brad says” Cao Boi is not all there…unless he’s medicated or something”.

Reward challenge
This happens quick this week and that’s because there are surprises! Everyone walks in and Jeff says “Drop your buffs!”. Huh? “It’s time to integrate!”. Every one is lined up as men and women. Each person reaches into a bag and grabs a stone. The people who have an “X” on their stone are the captains.

The 4 captains are Cecilia, Parvati, Brad, and Jonathon. Jeff tells them that the women must pick women and men pick men. They cannot pick anyone from their old tribe. After each person picks, the person picked for their group must pick the next person, again, not from their tribe.

The picking order goes like this:

Women 1st -> Cecilia - Flika - Sundra - Becky - Candice
Women 2nd -> Parvati - Jenny - Christina - Rebecca - Stephanie

Men 1st -> Brad - JP - Nate - Adam
Men 2nd -> Jonathon - Yul - Ozzy - Cao Boi

Each of the 4 captains now takes an egg from a bag and holds it in front of them. They squeeze it. They are filled with paint, either red or blue. The Red Men join the Red Women and the Blue Men join the Blue Women. I don’t see how this could have been fairer.

The new tribes are now:

Raro -
Men Blue-> Brad - JP - Nate - Adam
Women Blue -> Parvati - Jenny - Christina - Rebecca - Stephanie

Aitu -
Men Red -> Jonathon - Yul - Ozzy - Cao Boi
Women Red -> Cecilia - Flika - Sundra - Becky - Candice

Things are split up and everyone goes back to camp. Nate says “It’s like they took us out of the ghetto and put us in Bel Air”. Parvati says “It’s like everyone is all mixed up together. I’m so excited!”. Cao Boi says it’s like “Mi casa is su casa!”, apparently trying to suck up to the Hispanics. They all hug and get to be great friends… for about 20 minutes. Then the deals begin!

Of course, Cecilia tells Candice what Billy said in Tribal Council. Candice is shocked. “No way!” Parvati notices that they got “all the big, buff guys” and decides that she’s going to flirt and draw them into her web. Nate catches an octopus and brings it home to eat.
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Just saw a commercial for Survivor this week and it looks like the race wars are over! They didn’t say how many new tribes there would be, but they will not be divided by race after this week.

There’s a very interesting conversation going on in the forum about Asian American racial sterotypes and how they are affected by Cao Boi and this show. It’s the most intelligent conversation on the subject to date. What is the best way to approach predjudice? Some very interesting thoughts going on in there. Go read for yourself.

Reality TV Forums at Survivor.com

You know why Cao Boi makes those jokes when he himself is an asian. Do you know why he resorts to “its just a joke?” Its because he DOESNT CARE how asians are perceived. He stated himself that he doesn’t associate or get along with them. He might get along well as an individual, but hes doing his entire race a disservice.

As for Cao Boi, I can see why he is an outcast. All of you who are saying “they need to get a sense of humor” are probably not asian yourselves. You are in no position to be saying such things because you have not been striving for equality your whole life. Im not talking about equality in the sense of jobs or anything like that, but how many times have you seen an Asian in a serious, non martial arts movie role? If all we can do is laugh at ourselves, we would be limiting ourselves to be the funny asian sidekicks so commonly seen today.

The asian americans today need to present themselves in a light equal to that of their peers. And they are right by deciding to not perpetuate the stereotypes. Do you see the other groups constantly poking fun at their stereotypes?

Joking about racial things can be done in the company of friends, but in a situation such as survivor, the whole world will be exposed to the stereotypes that you constantly bring up.

And all were supposed to do is laugh at ourselves?

Perhaps it would be funnier if things were equal and asians were looked upon in the same light, but as it stands, were teetering on thin ice. It is a period of growth for our community and things like these stereotypes will only slow it down.

It might seem so insignificant and little to you, but I doubt you can understand if the problem doesnt apply to you.

Billy Garcia is Voted Off!

Goldrush answers in the forum

93 screenshots in the next post. Click for larger images

Reminder: Aitu = Hispanic, Puka = Asian, Raro - White, Hiki = Black

Hiki got flint at the last Tribal Council, but then had trouble getting the fire started. Seems like there’s no one on their tribe who has any outdoors experience. Rebecca and the girls finally get it going. They were so happy. They had no water for days. Nate jumped up and down and laughed out loud when they got it. “Burn, baby burn!” was his cry of joy. Come on. That was funny…

Aitu has spears. Where did they get spears? They all went out and snagged a bunch of fish. They got clams. They got crabs. Everyone except Billy. Billy decided that he needed to rest. He would let everyone else go do the work and he’d just conserve his energy. Good move, Billy.

Christina tells her story of getting shot in the arm as police officer. They see some chickens and decide to catch them Christina’s idea is not great, so Ozzie tried not to step on her toes by stepping on her toes with his better idea of using a net to catch them. His idea actually works and they have chicken to go with their sea food.

Puka uses a box and string to catch 2 chickens in their camp. I guess that whole thing about getting chickens on the boat at the beginning was no big deal. Yul had the idea. Yul and Becky are bonding. It’s the whole Korean thing. “Asian” is a little too broad.

Jon comes back to Raro from Exile Island. They all hug, but no one has done anything around camp while he’s gone. He wants them to all build a floor to the shelter, but Adam thinks it’s a waste of time. They get into it, making Jon angry. More… »

There are 93 of them this week. Each is clickable to a larger image if you want to see details.

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You’re part of my tribe too…

washingtonpost.com by Lisa de Moraes Friday, September 15, 2006

I’m working up a pretty good outrage watching the first episode of CBS’s “Survivor: Race Wars” when they cut to an ad in which Audrey Hepburn has been exhumed to sell skinny black pants, which I’m guessing are made in some Third World country, for the Gap.

Audrey Hepburn is the patron saint of waspy white chicks. I am a waspy white chick. I am really angry. Oh, that’s probably how this show is supposed to work. Sure, CBS has taken one of the whitest shows on TV (which is hard to find in a reality series) and made it ethnically diverse, not because it’s the right thing to do, but so they can play the race card — dividing contestants into the African American tribe, the Hispanic tribe, the Asian American tribe and the white guys — in hopes the media attention will goose the show’s sagging ratings. More… »

“Race” for ratings… Get it? Ha! Best qoute from this article - Jeff says in Tribal Council -

“How does tribes divided ethnically change the game, or does it?” he asked earnestly. One of the contestants, Nate, just burst out laughing. There you have it, America. The tribe has spoken.

The Boston Globe By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff | September 16, 2006

When “Survivor” debuted six years ago, some people honestly seemed to think the show marked the end of Western civilization. This time around, the show’s producers seem to believe they can save it. By dividing the tribes by race, various “Survivor” wags have said over the last few weeks, they could foster a grand new era of interracial understanding.

So it began with Thursday night’s “Survivor: Cook Islands” premiere. “It will be a social experiment like never before!” host Jeff Probst declared at the start of the show, though his grand pronouncement was overshadowed by the chaos around him, as the contestants tried to jump off a boat while holding onto live chickens. More… »

Reuters.com Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:58pm ET169 By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES Reuters - The controversial new format of the CBS reality show “Survivor” — dividing teams of contestants by race — proved the series least-watched debut episode since its first season, Nielsen Media Research reported on Friday.

Thursdays launch of “Survivor: Cook Islands,” featuring four racially based “tribes” of whites, blacks, Asian-Americans and Latinos, averaged 18 million viewers, easily ranking as the nights biggest broadcast in U.S. prime time.

But it also was the least-watched “Survivor” season opener — and the lowest-rated in terms of advertisers favorite audience, viewers aged 18 to 49 — since the very first installment in the summer of 2000 15.5 million. More… »

SignOnSanDiego.com

NEW YORK – “A social experiment like never before,” host Jeff Probst declared.

Three weeks after unveiling a new “Survivor” gimmick – its rival tribes would be split along racial lines – the CBS adventure-game show returned Thursday to let viewers see if this was a crass ploy for ratings or a welcome new twist after a dozen previous editions.

The upshot after the first hour: too soon to tell.

Marooned on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, the 20 castaways were assigned to live on four different islands according to their ethnic background – black, Hispanic, Asian-American and white. Much of the season premiere was given over to watching them get settled, and hearing them reflect on the challenges ahead.

“Oh, God, this is gonna be hard,” said Ozzy, a waiter from the Aitu Hispanic tribe. “I feel like the people who have the same ethnicity maybe are gonna clash on things.”

“I could care less about divisions by ethnicity,” said Sundra, an actress from the Hiki black tribe. “When it comes to surviving, its a human effort.”

As for dividing up by ethnic groups – “I mean, is that kosher?” laughed Parvati, a boxer from the Raro white tribe. More… »

E Online News by Joal Ryan Sep 15, 2006, 4:55 PM PT

Diversity paid off. For Dancing with the Stars, not Survivor.

The ABC dancing competition, featuring a mix of somewhat-famous, sorta-famous and used-to-be famous personalities, waltzed off this week with its biggest ever season premiere. Meanwhile, the CBS castaway competition, featuring a headline-making array of racially and ethnically divided tribes, limped off with its weakest opener in more than five years.

Survivor: Cook Islands, the 13th edition of the reality show, was by no means a bust–not with 18 million people, pundits and op-ed columnists tuning in Thursday night.

CBS was quick to note the premiere “delivered the largest audience and highest ratings in key demographics for a Survivor episode since last February.”

CBS was not quick to note the 18 million is, by a narrow margin, the shallowest audience pool for any Survivor premiere since the very first episode of the very first season, back in summer 2000. More… »

Goldrush answers in the forum.
80 screenshots in the next post.
Sekou Bunch is Voted Off!

Survivor is not racist. All the tribes started together on a boat and were given equal tasks and equal chances. When it was over, Sekou Bunch from the Hiki tribe was first one to get voted off the island this season. He was voted off by his own tribe, by the way, and they were all black also…

This episode started like the very first Survivor, with everyone being dropped off a boat and paddling a raft to shore. They had to grab what they could and get it on a raft. They realized that they were split by ethnicities. Some were wondering if that was a good thing or not. Pavarti said she was “not sure if it was kosher”. Ozzie thought his tribe was the strongest. Yul is afraid of stereotypes. Cao Boi thinks that the facts are the facts. What a concept.

Introductions
Billy tries to take charge at the Aitu tribe, but doesn’t know what he’s doing. Ozzie climbs a palm tree and gets everyone some coconuts so he becomes everyone’s hero and new leader. Leading through serving. Remember that in your real life. It works.

Yul doesn’t like Cao Bui because he’s too crazy, to “out there”. Cao Bui says that everyone will underestimate the Asians. He thinks that he stands out and that worries him, but doesn’t change him. I think we’ve found our new Shane, i.e., the whacko one who makes it “good TV”. Can’t bear to watch him, but you can’t bear to turn away.

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80 screen captures of episode one. Click more to see them all.

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Afrian American tribe loses first challenge, they got to pick one member from the other tribe to go to exile island, they picked Johnathon from caucasion tribe, and the african american tribe booted sekou.

Tonight, at 8pm, we will finally see if 4 tribes, divided by ethnicity, competing on a reality TV show, will cause race riots in the streets of America.

Come back here after the show and we’ll have screen captures and a recap of everything that happened, plus my snarky comments. Stop by the forum and tell us what you think!
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There are a bunch of spoliers and links to spoilers at Survivor Sucks. Mouse over to read these few.

Survivor Sucks

This compilation will only include game-play related spoilers that will be proven true or false during the airing of the show.

Darnell1980:
1 the african-am team loses the first challenge. Link
2 Only one boot in the first ep. Link1 Link2

LordofSurvivor:
1 the first boot is a woman . Link
2 the first TC ends strangely Link
3 the first challenge will be an obstacle course . Im no sure if that is the RC or the IC. Link More… »

“All I’m saying is, you have to recognize that you’re condemning a show before you’ve seen it, and that’s not fair.”

New York Daily News

Survivor host Jeff Probst urged naysayers of the new, ethnically divided edition of the reality show to give it time before putting it down.

CBS and Survivor producer Mark Burnett came under fire recently when it was revealed that the contestants for Survivor: Cook Islands would be divided into four teams by race.

“A lot of people who have never seen Survivor have absolutely no idea what they’re condemning and using this as a platform,” Probst told reporters Thursday.

“Those opinions of people criticizing us for doing this are valid and fair,” Probst said. “All I’m saying is, you have to recognize you’re condemning a show before you’ve seen it, and that’s not fair or just.” More… »

Watch for these advertisers. Vote with your wallet:
GM, Procter & Gamble, Febreze, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Home Depot and Campbell Soup

Advertising Age

Race Format Not to Blame, They Say
By Claire Atksinson

NEW YORK AdAge.com — The tribe has spoken — to the tune of $26 million — as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Campbell Soup and a brace of smaller spenders flee the “Survivor” island following news that the CBS program this season will pit contenders along race lines.

GM and its $20 million led the exodus off the island.
No marketer cited the plot line, which an executive familiar with the negotiations said came as a surprise to advertisers, as the reason for its decision to turn tail on the program. But with controversy over “Survivor: Cook Islands” at a fever pitch in the media and the premiere only 10 days away, it would take a true na‹f to imagine that it didn’t factor into their thinking.

It’s in bad taste
“At first I didnt think it was going to be a big deal, but the more I think about it, the more I wouldnt want to be involved in it,” said one major media executive. “Its in bad taste.” More… »