Exclusive Interview: Ashley Massaro of Survivor: China - Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer

When WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro entered the game of Survivor, her fans had high hopes for her. Massaro could have been seen as both a physical and mental threat. Unfortunately, she became ill almost the minute she stepped foot in China, sidelining her from helping out around camp. Her weak performance around camp combined with her differences with Dave caused her to be voted out on last night’s episode. Though she is used to traveling, Massaro’s trip to China for Survivor was her first visit to the country. Today, she spoke to BuddyTV about her time on the show, why Chicken should have stayed, and how she couldn’t wait to get back to work.

Hey, everyone. This is Gina from BuddyTV, and I’m talking to Ashley, the latest contestant to be eliminated from Survivor: China. Hey, Ashley.

Hi, Gina.

Can you tell me if you watched previous seasons of Survivor, and if you were a fan of the show? More… »

ProWrestling.com Story By: Steve Carrier

– On tonight’s episode of Survivor: China on CBS, WWE Diva Ashley was eliminated after a noble fight, and an unfortunate conflict with fellow tribe mate.

On day four at the Zhan Hu tribe’s camp, tensions arose as Self-appointed leader, Dave, bossed around his fellow castaways, who were hungry and forcing them to build a fire pit before eating rice. “We got the flint last night at Tribal Council, and we haven’t even attempted to make a fire, and we’re starving,” Ashley explained. “It just seems like we take the longest route possible to make something happen. I’m losing faith rapidly.” Ashley urged Dave to get a fire started before the rain started to fall, but Dave refused, antagonizing Ashley. “How many fires have you lit, sweetheart?” he asked her. “I don’t want to fight with Ashley. If she wants a fight I can give her a fight. The rest of the team is great. Ashley…” Dave secretly said, shaking his head. After her departure, Ashley left a few thoughts, including some wise words for the Zhan Hu tribe leader, Dave. “I think I got voted out because of a personal conflict with our leader, and Dave is going to show them the reason that he shouldn’t be in control. And I guarantee you I’ll see him on the flip side way sooner than he imagines,” Ashley warned. “Dave – if I had one word to describe him, he’d be a tool. Because that is the perfect word for him, he’s a tool.”

– We reported several weeks ago that Ashley was going to be cast off the show on the second week, which in this case it was proven.

Lots of pixilated naughty bits on Survivor: China - It Happened Last Night - Zap2it By Daniel Fienberg

Survivor: China, which CBS should be calling “The Muddiest Survivor Ever” returned on Thursday (Sept. 27) with an episode that asked if it’s better to be led by a WWE Diva or a former male model. What would Sun-Tzu say?

Pre-Credit sequence. There are moneys in the trees and rain in the sky as Thursday’s episode begins. True to his word, Dave is beginning to take control over at Zhan Hu. After taking on a leadership role the night before, the former male model is forcing his will upon the losing tribe, particular when it comes to setting up a fire pit, which is a pretty moot point given the downpour. Braless wonder Jamie and Ethan Zohn-lite Eric already look concerned.

The devilish Lazy Slug strategy. In contrast to the disorder over at Zhan Hu, Fei Long is a well-oiled machine, everybody cutting down bamboo, moving rocks and generally being productive. Everybody’s being productive except for Jean-Robert, who rubs in his laziness with a deafening snore. After a meeting to call out Jean-Robert for his sloth, the self-described bad boy of poker says that it’s all a strategy. If everybody hates his initial refusal to work, he figures they’ll be overjoyed when he turns his attitude around and becomes a team player. More… »

Survivor China: Survivor China Recap by honeySC

On day 4 of Survivor China Zhan Hu returns from Tribal Council with Dave as a leader. He takes a firm hand and the others are more hesitant to follow his lead. Peih-Gee seems happy to have someone to assist her in getting the job done. They can’t seem to decide where to put the shelter. They have not yet built a fire and have not eaten. The team is fractured by an inability to make decisions together.

On Fei Long, Jean is sleeping all the time and it bothers some on the tribe that he seems to have no enemy. Todd joins with Amanda and Aaron to go to the final two. Aaron speaks to Jean Robard about carrying his weight and Leslie says that his head is going to be on the chopping block when the time comes. Jean says that his strategy is to act lazy and then step it up later. He says that he can only go if they lose the challenge.

On Zhan Hu, Dave is happy that they built a shelter and they are working on gathering stone to make a barbecue pit. Leslie wants to start a little fire and get some food in their systems. Ashley says that they haven’t even attempted to make a fire and they are starving. Dave wants to make a pit before he makes a fire to eat. Ashley says that she wants them to start a fire before they all expire from lack of food. She says that they are starving and it has been four days. She says that everyone else wants to eat today before they starve. More… »

Roger Catlin | TV Eye

It’s early in the season for “Survivor: China” and already one team is going down the tubes.

The Zhan Hu tripe lost their third consecutive competition, lost another member, had their campsite flooded and barely got a fire started. They’re saddled with a bad leader named Dave who alienated many and completely caved in the immunity challenge and given a chance to sack him, they removed the person he was fighting most with, Ashley Massaro.

Given all that maybe the tribe deserves its downward spiral.

Ashley wasn’t holding her own top heavy weight a week ago when she was sick, but tries to be helping out now that the WWE Diva is feeling better. But still the bickering with “former model” Dave went on.
Even when people like Sherea went off against Dave in tribal council, triggering even more of his self-defense interruptions, nobody would change their obviously pre-agreed vote. They thought Dave would be the stronger competitor, apparently, even though he completely wilted in the challenge. Ashley, for her part, is a wrestler after all, and is equipped with flotation devices should they embark on any further water competitions.

Despite accutrements like her two lip rings, Ashley’s implants are like fierce bumpers from a 57 Chevy. The prominence of breasts throughout the camp is downright distracting on this go-round of “Survivor.” And when it comes to competitions, there are so many body parts fuzzed out HD owners should complain.

Morale at Zhan Hu won’t improve now that Ashley has extinguished her boob, her, torch. Dave will only find a new target for his rage against women next week.

Ashley is voted out!

Survivor China: Episode 2, “My Mom Is Going To Kill Me” Live Thoughts - Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer

On tonights episode of Survivor, the teams mud wrestle for their competition. Jean-Robert kicks his strategy into gear, intentionally trying to be disliked. Dave tries to organize his tribe. Can Fei Long continue their winning streak or will Zhan Hu give them a run for their money? I’m here for the hour with live thoughts and feel free to post what you’re thinking, too. Here we go.

Zhan Hus camp looks terrible. Its completely drenched, as is the rest of the tribe. PG is already on my nerves and its only episode 2. Dave became a popular leader for about 0.2 seconds. His tribe is already done with him.

What did I say on the forums, guys? Jean-Robert was the one with the strategy to TRY to not be liked. Oh, its working. They don’t like him. Todd, Aaron, and Amanda made a final 3 deal. Already? Jaime gets a double whammy when first, she doesn’t get any rice and then, gets mud splattered all over her. Dave and Ashley are fighting. Everyone needs a sandwich.

As Jeff said, “Prepare to get dirty” Its time for a reward challenge and fishing gear and a boat are up for grabs. Theres a twist but they’ll find out later. I hope it’s the kidnapping twist. On top of the muddy conditions, it begins raining. Giant balls are released into the mud and water and teams must roll them across the playing field to their goal. Girl fight Clothes are flying everywhere. I bet the men are wishing for a Survivor After Dark on Showtime. More… »

Survivor returns to glorious foolishness Alex Strachan, CanWest News Service

Crouching tiger, hidden fool. So far, Survivor: China has about as much to do with modern China as the old David Carradine series Kung Fu had to do with the Cultural Revolution.

And thats a good thing. Good for the shows fans, at any rate.

Survivor: China is a throwback to Survivors early days, those goofy, wide-eyed years when larger-than-life personalities cheerfully sounded off about anything that popped into their heads, without regard to who might be listening or how that might affect them in “the game.”

Based on early evidence — all of one week — theres nothing PC about this Survivor. No teams separated by race or gender, as some kind of bizarre sociological experiment. No lectures about an old and ancient culture — though there was a bizarre field trip to a 16th-century Buddhist temple in last weeks opener. Because when you think about China, you naturally think of Buddhist monks and Tibet.

This Survivor is straight-up foolishness, a game of outwit-outlast-outplay played by a group of people who have either never seen the game played before or they just don’t care. Either way, its good reality TV — skullduggery reduced to its most basic essentials. More… »

Survivor beats everyone else, but the numbers are down “sharply” compared to the last seasons. It’s gone from 18 million to 16.4 million to 15.1 million. Is that the overall trend in TV these days or is Survivor fading? Because you are reading this now, my guess is that the Internet is taking over TV’s decade old domination. The world is changing, but Survivor still rocks TV.

This site gets a huge amount of visits the night of the first episode, then a follow up the next day. Below are the number of TV viewers compared to the total visits (not page views, visits) in those 2 days for the first episode of each of the last 3 seasons. TV viewers have gone down. Web visits have gone up.

Survivor: China works wonders for CBS By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK — CBS won Thursdays primetime with the premiere of “Survivor: China,” which dominated but was down sharply to the lowest opening in the landmark reality series history.

“Survivor: China” was still the top program on broadcast TV on Thursday, averaging 15.1 million viewers and a 4.9 rating/15 share between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., according to preliminary estimates released Friday by Nielsen Media Research.

But “Survivor” dropped 25% in adults 18-49 compared with last years “Survivor: Cook Islands” 18 million, 6.5/20 as well as the springs “Survivor: Fiji” 16.4 million, 5.7/15.

It was still enough for CBS to land in first place for the night in the key demographics, while Fox came in second place with “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” 8.2 million, 2.3/7 at 8 p.m. That beat an hourlong repeat of “My Name Is Earl” 5.2 million, 2.2/7 as well as a repeat “Ugly Betty” 4.7 million, 1.4/4.

CBS stayed on top at 9 p.m. with “CSI” 14.1 million, 3.9/11, which bested “Dont Forget the Lyrics” 8.4 million, 2.9/8 as well as repeats of “Greys Anatomy” 5.5 million, 1.9/5 and NBCs “The Office” 5 million, 2.4/7. “Lyrics” grew 23% from its lead-in and was up 9% in adults 18-34 and 4% in viewership compared with the season premiere two weeks ago.

A repeat “Without a Trace” 11.3 million, 2.9/9 won at 10 p.m. against repeats “ER” 3.9 million, 1.6/5 and “Men in Trees” 4.3 million, 1.4/4.

Thursday averages: CBS 13.5 million, 3.9/11; Fox 8.3 million, 2.6/8; ABC 4.9 million, 1.6/5; NBC 4.7 million, 2.1/6; and the CW 1.8 million, 0.8/2.

Chicken doesn’t fit in with all the young kids who just want to sit around and dance and tell jokes while it rains.

Final vote is 5 for Chicken, 2 for Ashley, and 1 for Peih-Gee.

Roger Catlin | TV Eye: Chicken Out

Elders aren’t immediately voted out of “Survivor” first thing every season.

Sometimes their experience is valued; often they’re an asset in challenges. But sometimes, as on the season opener Thursday of “Survivor: China,” they’re just on the boat out of the place as soon as they got there.

Steve “Chicken” Morris, with his grey whiskers and drawl, was 47 – still inside the magical 18-49 demographic, but just barely. Amid his newly minted team chosen by the show this year, he seemed odd man out, who learned early on when some of his shelter-building suggestions were ignored, not to offer any more opinions.

Clearly he was the one most able to build a shelter, maybe singlehandedly. But that kind of showiness, like emerging as a leader, tends to put a target on one’s back.

It looked as if the first to go would be Ashley, the WWE Diva who apparently brought her own flotation devices. Poor girl got sick the first day and didn’t do much work, but she thought that shouldn’t count against her.

The leader of the tribe is almost self appointed – Dave, whose two word description is that most backhanded of insults, “former model.” Already he proved himself a bit of a liar when he promised Ashley she wouldn’t be voted out just because she’s sick just before telling the camera Ashley had to go if she stays sick.

Peih-Gee, worried that the tribe was falling behind, flirted with a leadership position, after trying to rally people to get a shelter done, but she was dismissed as being bossy and got one vote from Ashley for elimination. Favorite part of her bio: She is a former dancer who appeared in videos for Daft Punk, the Crystal Method and Madonna.

Having extinguished his flame only minutes after first lighting it, Chicken will not have to return to Marion, Va., to his dogs Zeke, Cluck, Poke and Eli.

I have a sense the season will miss him.

Survivor China: Episode 1 Live Thoughts - Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer

Woohoo A new season of Survivor kicks off tonight and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m a Survivor junkie and even though I was hoping for an All Stars season, China has intrigued me enough to keep me happy for another season. The contestants will get to do all kinds of cool things like sleep on the Great Wall and visit the Shaolin Temple. Plus, a change of scenery breaths new life into a show that’s been around for 15 seasons. I’m here for the next hour with live thoughts on premiere night of Survivor China.

Probst takes us through the introduction, mixed with footage of Chinese culture. The contestants are shown riding to their destination and when they arrive, pile out with their luggage in tow. You never know when the game will begin…

The contestants arrive at a temple and the site of it is pretty awesome. Peih-Gee is especially touched, who is Chinese, and recently lost her grandfather. The survivors enter a Buddhist temple to take part in a ceremony. Courtney is totally unappreciative, saying she’d rather be sitting somewhere drinking lemonade. Leslie, the Christian radio host, struggled with her beliefs and walked out of the ceremony.

Jeff tells them that they’ll be leaving their worldly possessions behind and heading into the game with the clothes on their back. There’s the Survivor I know and love. One girl has on heavy boots while another isn’t even wearing a bra. The contestants are split into tribes and are given the book, The Art of War, to help them in the game.

They head to their camps and some start strategizing right away. Todd and Jean-Robert looked like they might team up when they went off together but ended up rubbing each other the wrong way. Already? On the Zhan Hu tribe, everyone stands around debating how to build a shelter and Chicken gets left in the dust. Peih-Gee doesn’t feel like she fits in on the tribe since everyone is so wacky and less than concerned with getting work done. Too bad, because it just started to downpour and they’re going to need shelter soon.

The Fei Long tribe seems to be more cohesive, if we discount Courtney. James steps up as the workhouse, the Bobby Jon if you will. The first night in China isnt pleasant, as everyone is caught in a rainstorm. Back at Zhan Hu, Ashley, who had a rough night, isn’t feeling too good. Shes huddled up on the ground in a little ball. Surprising that the wrestling star is starting to fade already. More… »

Survivor China: Premiere Recap September 19, 2007 by honeySC

The castaways making up the cast come from very different walks of life. From a school teacher to a chicken farmer, even to the youngest person ever cast for a Survivor, these castaways are joining the most intense Survivor ever. Jeff introduces them immediately to the culture of the great country by inviting them to join in a Buddhist ceremony in a great Chinese temple. While the school lunch lady is very taken with the impact of the ceremony, Courtney has little respect and patience for the long ceremony with much bowing. Although Jeff advised the group that the ceremony was not religious in nature, Leslie finds that she cannot put her face to the floor for anyone but Jesus and leaves the ceremony.

After the ceremony Jeff advises the group that they are going into this with only the clothes on their backs. They break into two groups with their buffs as their identifiers. Each tribe is giving a book called “The Art of War, and a map to their tribal home. More… »

WWEs Ashley Massaro grapples to pin down Survivor win Richard Huff - New York Daily News

NEW YORK - No doubt, as a WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro can handle herself in the ring.

But the real question is: How can she handle herself in the wild - as in China? The Long Island native is one of the castaways on “Survivor: China,” which launches Sept. 20.

“I actually went crazy trying to train as much as possible,” said Massaro, who also appeared on the cover and inside the April issue of Playboy. “I just brushed up on my outdoor skills a little bit, practiced with a flint and all that stuff.”

Massaro is one of 16 players who were left to fend for themselves in China in a quest to win $1 million. Also on the show is professional poker player (and fellow Long Islander) Jean-Robert Bellande and Courtney Yates, a New York City waitress who grew up in Boston.

“We have some pretty good characters,” said host Jeff Probst. “This season, we have some very big characters.” More… »

PremiereWatch: Survivor: China tears down the wall - It Happened Last Night - Zap2it By Daniel Fienberg

Survivor: China premiered on Thursday (Sept. 20) and while it was a great relief to get to a location that wasn’t somewhere in the South Pacific, it was hard to come away feeling like China had been shown to its best advantage. Survivor is not now, nor has it ever been, about introducing contestants to foreign cultures. It’s about dropping people down in isolation and making them get skinny, bug-bitten and devious. Thus, after a few minutes of attempting to prove we were in China — The Great Wall! Ultra-Modern Shanghai! A Shoalin Temple! The birthplace of General Gao’s Chicken! — host Jeff Probst stopped wasting time and split the castaways into teams.

In past years, we’ve divided based on race, gender, age and simple high school gym team-picking, but the roots of this year’s decisions were an utter mystery.

The yellow tribe is Zhan Hu, or Fighting Tiger, and it initially consisted of Frosti, Dave, Jamie, Eric, Peih-Gee, Ashley, Chicken.

The red tribe is Fei Long, or Flying Dragon, and it initially consisted of Jean-Robert, Leslie, Amanda, Courtney, Denise, James, Todd, Aaron.

In future weeks, I’ll be giving more formal minute-by-minute recaps as has been the tradition, but for tonight I’m just going with an overview of the evening’s events and the a few thoughts on some of the constants.

Thursday night’s episode in a nutshell: With Aaron and James the Gravedigger, Fei Long got the game’s two physically strongest players and as a direct result, that tribe was chopping down bamboo and building a shelter in no time. Over at Zhan Hu, WWE Diva Ashley was dancing, Sherea was complaining about the mud and her shoes and everything was in disrepair. Chicken, the oldest guy in the competition, made a number of shelter-based suggestions but got the impression that people were thinking he was too bossy, so he shut up and let them build shelter in a stupid place where the evening rain washed away any progress. The team immunity competition was close, but James’ strength ultimately carried Fei Long. When Zhan Hu went back to camp, Chicken was uncomfortable being a leader even though it was obvious the tribe needed one. Thus, despite the fact that Ashley spent the first day at camp curled in a fetal ball moaning about chills and dry heaves, some people voted Chicken out because he was too assertive and others (Pieh-Gee) voted him out because he wasn’t bossy enough. Good bye, Chicken. Am I the only one with the distinct sense that Fei Long could run Zhan Hu out of the game before we reach a Merge?

Some Early Favorite Contestants: More… »

www.kansascity.com

Jeff Probst told the Contra Costa Times that doing “Survivor” in China was fun because “you’re used to seeing palm trees and coconuts … now it’s bamboo and temples,” but he has really had it with other reality shows.

“I feel like the level of (blank) and loosely scripted moments is reaching a plateau for me,” he said. “They’re so obvious, and I think an audience can sense that on an emotional level. It doesn’t feel real.”

On the other hand, the worse those shows get, the better “Survivor” looks.

“I feel like ‘Survivor’ has earned its respect,” he said. “It’s no longer the new kid on the block, but we’re still here because we’re still telling good stories.”

You gotta love anyone who is a “a self-described “gay Mormon”!

Deseret Morning News | Can Utahn be the sole Survivor? By Scott D. Pierce

Utahn Todd Herzog scared Jeff Probst and made the host of “Survivor” feel old. Neither of which is necessarily a bad thing.

Herzog is a huge fan of the show — hes seen every episode since it premiered. The first day of filming on “Survivor: China” 7 p.m., Ch. 2, “He says … Jeff, Ive been watching this show since I was 16,” Probst said in a conference call with television critics. “And I thought, Oh my gosh, how old am I?”

Probst said Herzog — a self-described “gay Mormon” — and one other contestant knew the game of “Survivor” better than the other 14 castaways.

“In his case, it pays off,” Probst said. “He knew going in how to start the game. He had a game plan of how an alliance best worked and how you work people. … Todd knows what to expect.

“He knows the odds of there being a merge or a loved-one visit or an auction. He can tell you, based on what day it is, what were probably doing back at base camp. Its kind of scary how much he knows about the show.”

According to Probst, Herzog definitely isn’t one of those contestants who sort of fades into the background.

“Hes a great storyteller and … Todd is somebody you go to all the time because he always gives you something good,” he said.

Probst did not, of course, talk specifically about how the 22-year-old flight attendant from Pleasant Grove fares on “Survivor: China” — but from the way he talked, it sounds like Herzog is going to be around for a while.

Film.com -

Survivor: China will mark the first time an American TV series will be shot entirely in China. I recently had the opportunity to participate in a media conference call with Jeff Probst in which he spoke about the challenges and opportunities presented by the new season of Survivor, what he thinks of this season’s crop of contestants, and why he thinks Survivor is different from other reality TV.

For the past several seasons, Survivor has stuck to the beach (the last time the show visited a more unique location was Guatemala in 2004). Traveling to China provides an opportunity to infuse the show with a new look and a new culture to exploit (oops! I mean draw upon) in the creation of challenges and tribal council. Contestants will be given a copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (expect quotations during tribal council), and they will visit various Chinese landmarks, including a night spent on The Great Wall.

Survivor: China sounds like it will be a return, in many ways, to the early days of the series. They will be going back to 16 contestants this time instead of 20, as there have been in many recent seasons. Instead of Exile Island, which presents a difficulty for in editing because exiled contestants have no one to talk to but themselves, the winners will kidnap a member of the losing tribe. This will present lots of opportunities for spying and interaction. Due to the harsh conditions of the location, the tribes will be given rice and will either win or be given fire early on. According to Jeff, the first few days at the China location will be brutal, including blistering heat, rain, mud, and flooding, and the hardest hit contestants were the muscular men. More… »

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News By Richard Duckett Tele gram & Gazette Staff

The first “tribal council” could be said to have been held last year at Jordan’s Furniture in Reading.

That was where Denise Martin of Douglas had her first survival test. Hundreds of people had descended on the store on a June day for a casting call for the CBS reality TV show “Survivor” — one of several such initial auditions held across the country.

The producers conceivably might not have been interested in any of them. The show casts just 16 castaways.

Martin waited 7-1/2 hours. Then she was asked a single question while a video camera taped her: “Why do you think you should be on ‘Survivor’ ?” More… »