From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best Survivor
Oz episodes of the past. I knew when the Immunity challenge ended
before the halfway mark of the episode that we were about to see
something cool. This was confirmed when TC started with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe rCo at least for one episode. Her quiet determination to get rid of David was
pretty amazing to watch. David did his very best scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes Luke has already found rCo but
it starts to become obvious that he has no real power with this tribe.
His frustration at how Kirby rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he really seems to be desperate in his confessionals.
Kirby is completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with
any player. The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under the pressure from Kirby. I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs vote
that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going home,
but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be good with either result. DavidrCOs comment about this being his last episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is now the new host on
the show.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and showed
his ability to dominate challenges. I still donrCOt get a sense that
anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what happens if World
loses the next challenge.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we presumably
will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination episodes that
plague the normal seasons.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode. Surprisingly,
the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a bullet-list of
all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best Survivor
Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity challenge ended
before the halfway mark of the episode that we were about to see
something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes Luke has already found rCo but
it starts to become obvious that he has no real power with this tribe.
His frustration at how Kirby rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he really seems to be desperate in his confessionals.
Kirby is completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with
any player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs vote
that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby UTB
right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know they
said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to other
players?

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why it wouldn't
be good for her game to play with David. Getting sucked up in his orbit
would make it impossible to make a winning case to the jury.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is now the new host on
the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the right
move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and showed
his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what happens if World
loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to use
with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for them IMO.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we presumably
will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination episodes that
plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's doing
way better than I thought she would.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and seems
to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic player in the
past?

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone
trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end of
his chances of winning.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he had
told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside Kirby
which would have been a huge move.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's reaction
when they find out David's been booted.
--
Brian
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a bullet-list of
all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity challenge
ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were about to see
something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started with 15 minutes to
go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe rCo
at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of David
was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best scrambling rCo
including looking for an idol which no one realizes Luke has already
found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he has no real power with
this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put >> it, was pretty cool to watch as he really seems to be desperate in his
confessionals. Kirby is completely unflappable in a way he has never
experienced with any player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a
longtime friend of David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely
folded under the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was
actually SarahrCOs vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby UTB
right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know they
said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand. He is very
good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often makes and
breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his advantage. One of
his great strengths is usually his understanding of where the other
players are at and who is aligned with whom. I'm not sure why he went
after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed that because she had only
played one season and didn't seem to have any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why it wouldn't
be good for her game to play with David. Getting sucked up in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning case to the jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out. It just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay loyal to
her longstanding friend to the end.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going
home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be
good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last
episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is now
the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when a
player makes such a bold statement of never playing again. In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a sense
that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what happens if
World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows. He
did seem pretty comfortable with it.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in January
or February of the last several years. This was the first year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the same year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one
non-elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from
prior seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just
have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works as
a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's doing
way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded and
doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons. She tried to do
her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I got the sense
her heart wasn't really in it.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and seems
to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season because
she is a business executive and creator of a product that appeared on
their version of Shark Tank. She is a very smart and accomplished
person in real life, but I never thought of her as a particularly great
or strategic Survivor player. I was frankly surprised she made the cast.

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end of
his chances of winning.

I think George is suffering now because everyone has seen him play
multiple times and knows how dangerous he is. I actually thought he
would be going home ahead of David.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he had told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside Kirby
which would have been a huge move.

No, Luke is a lone wolf and a very chaotic and emotional player. He and
David are only buds out of convenience. I knew he would keep the idol
to himself.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's reaction
when they find out David's been booted.

I haven't watched Ep 3 yet but as it's the last episode of the week,
I'll probably wait until tomorrow.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a bullet-
list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity challenge
ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were about to
see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started with 15
minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe rCo
at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of
David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes Luke >>> has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he has no
real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby rCLgives me
nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he really seems to >>> be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is completely unflappable in
a way he has never experienced with any player.-a The most amazing
part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of David ging back to their
modeling days rCo completely folded under the pressure from Kirby.-a I
was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs vote that made the effective
difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby UTB
right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know they
said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to other
players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his advantage.-a One of
his great strengths is usually his understanding of where the other
players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed that because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season based
on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against amateurs.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why it wouldn't
be good for her game to play with David. Getting sucked up in his
orbit would make it impossible to make a winning case to the jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay loyal to
her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said it
was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to understand it's
just a game.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going
home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be
good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last
episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is now
the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when a player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a sense >>> that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what happens if
World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to
use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for
them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.-a He
did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming the
blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in January
or February of the last several years.-a This was the first year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the same year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one non-
elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from prior seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just have
an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works as a
long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's doing
way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded and doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She tried to do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I got the sense
her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money so
it probably feels like a job to her.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic player
in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season because
she is a business executive and creator of a product that appeared on
their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and accomplished
person in real life, but I never thought of her as a particularly great
or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone
trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end of
his chances of winning.

I think George is suffering now because everyone has seen him play
multiple times and knows how dangerous he is.-a I actually thought he
would be going home ahead of David.

He nearly did! George would be gold on BB with his in your face attitude.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he
had told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside
Kirby which would have been a huge move.

No, Luke is a lone wolf and a very chaotic and emotional player.-a He and David are only buds out of convenience.-a I knew he would keep the idol
to himself.

It was either this episode or the first one, he said something that made
it sound like he and David are good friends. With no background info I'm
at the mercy of the edit other when it comes to the U.S. players.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's reaction
when they find out David's been booted.

I haven't watched Ep 3 yet but as it's the last episode of the week,
I'll probably wait until tomorrow.

I watched it this afternoon. Some interesting things happen that will
have an impact down the road. I'll "spoil" two things. Parv's reaction
to David being gone was not what I was expecting, and the merge happens
in Episode 4. They appear to have been told in advance when the merge
will happen as it plays a big role in determining who to boot in Episode 3.
--
Brian
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were
about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started
with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe rCo >>>> at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of
David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes
Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he has >>>> no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby rCLgives
me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he really
seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is completely
unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any player.-a The
most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of David ging
back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under the pressure
from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs vote that
made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby UTB
right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know they
said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to other
players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding of
where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm not
sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed that
because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have any
pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season based
on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against amateurs.

That's right. Jeanine played on season 6 (or what the show calls season
4 - more on that below) which was what the show called a Champion vs. Contenders season, in 2019. David played his first season that year
(S6) and Luke played his second, which is how they all know one another.
Shonee had appeared a year earlier on season 5 and Luke and Sarah had
played together on season 4. Season 7 was their official "All Star
Season, which was won by David and also featured Shonee. So that's how
those guys all knew one another. And no, George had not appeared by
that point.

George's first season was season 8, which was called Brains vs Brawn,
and he came back on Season 10 which was Heroes v. villains and was where
he met Shonee. Season 8 was all first-time players, which is maybe
where the amateur remark came from, but they included Hayley Leake, who
is possibly the best overall player on any Survivor Oz season and who
beat George that season. It's a major disappointment she is not on this season, but I believe it's due to her having a small child who was
recently born. Season 10 was half newbies and half returning players.

Now about the numbering of the seasons. Australian Survivor had two
early seasons in the early 2000s from a different production company,
and no one ever references those seasons. None of those players have
ever returned or, as far as I know, done any other reality shows. The
show was revived in 2016 and referred to by the new production company
and the network as season 1. But for collectors like myself, the
download sites all call that season 3. It is also listed as season 3 on Wikipedia and on sites like epguides. So there is a constant two-year difference between the actual season airing and how it is referred to by
the show. The current season is called season 11 by the network and
many fans, but to people who download the episodes, you will find it as
season 13, and it is listed as Season 13 on Wikipedia and Epguides.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why and Lukeit
wouldn't be good for her game to play with David. Getting sucked up
in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning case to the
jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It
just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay
loyal to her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said it
was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to understand it's just a game.

David clearly knows it is just a game and has nothing to do with real
life or friendships, etc. Sarah is an emotional player and I'm glad he
said that to her.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going
home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be >>>> good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last >>>> episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is
now the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when a
player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a
sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what
happens if World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to
use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for
them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.
He did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming the blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in
January or February of the last several years.-a This was the first
year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the same
year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one non-
elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from prior
seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just
have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works
as a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's
doing way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded and
doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She tried to
do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I got the
sense her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money so
it probably feels like a job to her.

You may be right. I've never seen a salary structure for the show, but
for most regular seasons, the non-winners don't make all that much - especially compared to the US. And the first place prize for this
season is actually half the usual amount, so the non-winners can't be
making all that much. But you're probably right that she treats this
like a job and will take whatever opportunities she can.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic
player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season
because she is a business executive and creator of a product that
appeared on their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and
accomplished person in real life, but I never thought of her as a
particularly great or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly
surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

No, Shonee is about 10 years younger than Parv. Shonee is 33 and Parv
is almost 43. Sarah is 30, and yes, I think she is the youngest in this
cast.

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone
trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end of
his chances of winning.

I think George is suffering now because everyone has seen him play
multiple times and knows how dangerous he is.-a I actually thought he
would be going home ahead of David.

He nearly did! George would be gold on BB with his in your face attitude.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he
had told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside
Kirby which would have been a huge move.

No, Luke is a lone wolf and a very chaotic and emotional player.-a He
and David are only buds out of convenience.-a I knew he would keep the
idol to himself.

It was either this episode or the first one, he said something that made
it sound like he and David are good friends. With no background info I'm
at the mercy of the edit other when it comes to the U.S. players.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's
reaction when they find out David's been booted.

I haven't watched Ep 3 yet but as it's the last episode of the week,
I'll probably wait until tomorrow.

I watched it this afternoon. Some interesting things happen that will
have an impact down the road. I'll "spoil" two things. Parv's reaction
to David being gone was not what I was expecting, and the merge happens
in Episode 4. They appear to have been told in advance when the merge
will happen as it plays a big role in determining who to boot in Episode 3.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 10:59 AM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were >>>>> about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started
with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe
rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of >>>>> David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes
Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he
has no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby
rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he >>>>> really seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is
completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any
player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of >>>>> David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under
the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs >>>>> vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby
UTB right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know
they said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to
other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding
of where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm
not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed
that because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have
any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season based
on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against amateurs.

That's right.-a Jeanine played on season 6 (or what the show calls season
4 - more on that below) which was what the show called a Champion vs. Contenders season, in 2019.-a David played his first season that year
(S6) and Luke played his second, which is how they all know one another.
-aShonee had appeared a year earlier on season 5 and Luke and Sarah had played together on season 4.-a Season 7 was their official "All Star
Season, which was won by David and also featured Shonee.-a So that's how those guys all knew one another.-a And no, George had not appeared by
that point.

George's first season was season 8, which was called Brains vs Brawn,
and he came back on Season 10 which was Heroes v. villains and was where
he met Shonee.-a Season 8 was all first-time players, which is maybe
where the amateur remark came from, but they included Hayley Leake, who
is possibly the best overall player on any Survivor Oz season and who
beat George that season.-a It's a major disappointment she is not on this season, but I believe it's due to her having a small child who was
recently born.-a Season 10 was half newbies and half returning players.

Oh yeah, forgot to include in the above. Kirby played in season 11,
called Titans v Rebels, and that was all new players, which is why she
has never played with any of the others.

Now about the numbering of the seasons.-a Australian Survivor had two
early seasons in the early 2000s from a different production company,
and no one ever references those seasons.-a None of those players have
ever returned or, as far as I know, done any other reality shows.-a The
show was revived in 2016 and referred to by the new production company
and the network as season 1.-a But for collectors like myself, the
download sites all call that season 3.-a It is also listed as season 3 on Wikipedia and on sites like epguides.-a So there is a constant two-year difference between the actual season airing and how it is referred to by
the show.-a The current season is called season 11 by the network and
many fans, but to people who download the episodes, you will find it as season 13, and it is listed as Season 13 on Wikipedia and Epguides.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why-a and
Lukeit wouldn't be good for her game to play with David. Getting
sucked up in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning
case to the jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It
just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay
loyal to her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said
it was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to understand
it's just a game.

David clearly knows it is just a game and has nothing to do with real
life or friendships, etc.-a Sarah is an emotional player and I'm glad he said that to her.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going >>>>> home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be >>>>> good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last >>>>> episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is
now the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when
a player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a
sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what
happens if World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to
use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for
them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.
He did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming
the blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in
January or February of the last several years.-a This was the first
year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the
same year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one non-
elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from prior
seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just
have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works
as a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's
doing way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded
and doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She
tried to do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I
got the sense her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money
so it probably feels like a job to her.

You may be right.-a I've never seen a salary structure for the show, but
for most regular seasons, the non-winners don't make all that much - especially compared to the US.-a And the first place prize for this
season is actually half the usual amount, so the non-winners can't be
making all that much.-a But you're probably right that she treats this
like a job and will take whatever opportunities she can.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic
player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season
because she is a business executive and creator of a product that
appeared on their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and
accomplished person in real life, but I never thought of her as a
particularly great or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly
surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

No, Shonee is about 10 years younger than Parv.-a Shonee is 33 and Parv
is almost 43.-a Sarah is 30, and yes, I think she is the youngest in this cast.

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone
trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end
of his chances of winning.

I think George is suffering now because everyone has seen him play
multiple times and knows how dangerous he is.-a I actually thought he
would be going home ahead of David.

He nearly did! George would be gold on BB with his in your face attitude.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he
had told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside
Kirby which would have been a huge move.

No, Luke is a lone wolf and a very chaotic and emotional player.-a He
and David are only buds out of convenience.-a I knew he would keep the
idol to himself.

It was either this episode or the first one, he said something that
made it sound like he and David are good friends. With no background
info I'm at the mercy of the edit other when it comes to the U.S.
players.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's
reaction when they find out David's been booted.

I haven't watched Ep 3 yet but as it's the last episode of the week,
I'll probably wait until tomorrow.

I watched it this afternoon. Some interesting things happen that will
have an impact down the road. I'll "spoil" two things. Parv's reaction
to David being gone was not what I was expecting, and the merge
happens in Episode 4. They appear to have been told in advance when
the merge will happen as it plays a big role in determining who to
boot in Episode 3.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were
about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started
with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe rCo >>>> at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of
David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes
Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he has >>>> no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby rCLgives
me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he really
seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is completely
unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any player.-a The
most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of David ging
back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under the pressure
from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs vote that
made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby UTB
right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know they
said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to other
players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding of
where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm not
sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed that
because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have any
pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season based
on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against amateurs.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why it
wouldn't be good for her game to play with David. Getting sucked up
in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning case to the
jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It
just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay
loyal to her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said it
was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to understand it's just a game.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going
home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be >>>> good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last >>>> episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is
now the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when a
player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a
sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what
happens if World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to
use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for
them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.
He did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming the blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in
January or February of the last several years.-a This was the first
year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the same
year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one non-
elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from prior
seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just
have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works
as a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's
doing way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded and
doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She tried to
do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I got the
sense her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money so
it probably feels like a job to her.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic
player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season
because she is a business executive and creator of a product that
appeared on their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and
accomplished person in real life, but I never thought of her as a
particularly great or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly
surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone
trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end of
his chances of winning.

I think George is suffering now because everyone has seen him play
multiple times and knows how dangerous he is.-a I actually thought he
would be going home ahead of David.

He nearly did! George would be gold on BB with his in your face attitude.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he
had told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside
Kirby which would have been a huge move.

No, Luke is a lone wolf and a very chaotic and emotional player.-a He
and David are only buds out of convenience.-a I knew he would keep the
idol to himself.

It was either this episode or the first one, he said something that made
it sound like he and David are good friends. With no background info I'm
at the mercy of the edit other when it comes to the U.S. players.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's
reaction when they find out David's been booted.

I haven't watched Ep 3 yet but as it's the last episode of the week,
I'll probably wait until tomorrow.

I watched it this afternoon. Some interesting things happen that will
have an impact down the road. I'll "spoil" two things. Parv's reaction
to David being gone was not what I was expecting, and the merge happens
in Episode 4. They appear to have been told in advance when the merge
will happen as it plays a big role in determining who to boot in Episode 3.

I just watched the episode and I didn't see a specific mention of the
merge happening in episode 4. What happens in episode 4 appears to be
an individual immunity challenge and then both tribes go to TC. There's
no specific mention of the merge happening. I think George does mention something about Merge coming, but I didn't see anything more specific.

As far as the episode goes, I was of course pleased to see that David
and George departed in consecutive episodes, and it will make it
fascinating to try to determine who goes next. I think Tony, Parv and
Lisa are the only remaining previous winners, and they are all on the
World tribe. I wonder if that will be brought up? I know World seems
fixated on Parv going next, but I wonder if they will switch that to
Tony? If the Americans decide to stay together, I sense that they will
gang up on Tommi, since Kass seems to be aligned with the US girls.

On the Oz tribe, it's not clear who the next target will be. We kept
hearing Janine and Shonee being mentioned, but I think that was more
George than anything. Luke is the only guy left, and he could be strong
in individual challenges post-merge, so maybe the four girls will go
after him next. After Luke, the next strongest competitor in
challenges, if they are physical, is probably Kirby. I'm not sure
Kirby's seeming dominance will continue. It's kind of strange that no
one seems to be complaining that much about how she seems to have taken
over.

My guess is that unless they win immunities, Luke and Tommi will be the
two targets next time.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 8:59 AM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were >>>>> about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started
with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe
rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of >>>>> David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes
Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he
has no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby
rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he >>>>> really seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is
completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any
player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of >>>>> David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under
the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs >>>>> vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby
UTB right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know
they said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to
other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding
of where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm
not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed
that because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have
any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season based
on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against amateurs.

That's right.-a Jeanine played on season 6 (or what the show calls season
4 - more on that below) which was what the show called a Champion vs. Contenders season, in 2019.-a David played his first season that year
(S6) and Luke played his second, which is how they all know one another.
-aShonee had appeared a year earlier on season 5 and Luke and Sarah had played together on season 4.-a Season 7 was their official "All Star
Season, which was won by David and also featured Shonee.-a So that's how those guys all knew one another.-a And no, George had not appeared by
that point.

So David's a big deal because he won All Stars? If I heard correctly, a comment was made in Episode 1 of this season that he finished tenth in
his first season. Being the second boot this season that's not much to
brag about compared to players such as Cirie and Parv.

George's first season was season 8, which was called Brains vs Brawn,
and he came back on Season 10 which was Heroes v. villains and was where
he met Shonee.-a Season 8 was all first-time players, which is maybe
where the amateur remark came from, but they included Hayley Leake, who
is possibly the best overall player on any Survivor Oz season and who
beat George that season.-a It's a major disappointment she is not on this season, but I believe it's due to her having a small child who was
recently born.-a Season 10 was half newbies and half returning players.

Weird that they would do Heroes vs. Villains with newbies.

Now about the numbering of the seasons.-a Australian Survivor had two
early seasons in the early 2000s from a different production company,
and no one ever references those seasons.-a None of those players have
ever returned or, as far as I know, done any other reality shows.-a The
show was revived in 2016 and referred to by the new production company
and the network as season 1.-a But for collectors like myself, the
download sites all call that season 3.-a It is also listed as season 3 on Wikipedia and on sites like epguides.-a So there is a constant two-year difference between the actual season airing and how it is referred to by
the show.-a The current season is called season 11 by the network and
many fans, but to people who download the episodes, you will find it as season 13, and it is listed as Season 13 on Wikipedia and Epguides.

Interesting. Given how big U.S. Survivor was in the early 2000s, I
wonder what happened with the Australian version back then? Too
expensive for the production company?

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why-a and
Lukeit wouldn't be good for her game to play with David. Getting
sucked up in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning
case to the jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It
just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay
loyal to her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said
it was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to understand
it's just a game.

David clearly knows it is just a game and has nothing to do with real
life or friendships, etc.-a Sarah is an emotional player and I'm glad he said that to her.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going >>>>> home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be >>>>> good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last >>>>> episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is
now the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when
a player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a
sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what
happens if World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to
use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for
them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.
He did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming
the blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in
January or February of the last several years.-a This was the first
year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the
same year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one non-
elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from prior
seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just
have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works
as a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's
doing way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded
and doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She
tried to do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I
got the sense her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money
so it probably feels like a job to her.

You may be right.-a I've never seen a salary structure for the show, but
for most regular seasons, the non-winners don't make all that much - especially compared to the US.-a And the first place prize for this
season is actually half the usual amount, so the non-winners can't be
making all that much.-a But you're probably right that she treats this
like a job and will take whatever opportunities she can.

When BBCAN was a thing, one of the things that helped cushion the blow
of lower prize money was the fact that such winnings are not taxable in Canada. I wonder if Australia has similar tax treatment for prize money?

Parv's divorce probably screwed her over financially and not being
responsible with the money from her first win didn't help either.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic
player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season
because she is a business executive and creator of a product that
appeared on their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and
accomplished person in real life, but I never thought of her as a
particularly great or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly
surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

No, Shonee is about 10 years younger than Parv.-a Shonee is 33 and Parv
is almost 43.-a Sarah is 30, and yes, I think she is the youngest in this cast.

Sarah could pass for a lot younger than 30. I didn't realize Parv's that
old already. I wasn't implying Shonee looks like she's in her early 40s.
I thought Parv was still in her 30s.
--
Brian
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 1:21 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 10:59 AM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working. >>>>>

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we
were about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC
started with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe >>>>>> rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of >>>>>> David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes >>>>>> Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he >>>>>> has no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby
rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he >>>>>> really seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is
completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any >>>>>> player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend >>>>>> of David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded
under the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually >>>>>> SarahrCOs vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby
UTB right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know >>>>> they said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same
to other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding
of where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm >>>> not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed
that because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have
any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season
based on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against
amateurs.

That's right.-a Jeanine played on season 6 (or what the show calls
season 4 - more on that below) which was what the show called a
Champion vs. Contenders season, in 2019.-a David played his first
season that year (S6) and Luke played his second, which is how they
all know one another. -a-aShonee had appeared a year earlier on season 5
and Luke and Sarah had played together on season 4.-a Season 7 was
their official "All Star Season, which was won by David and also
featured Shonee.-a So that's how those guys all knew one another.-a And
no, George had not appeared by that point.

George's first season was season 8, which was called Brains vs Brawn,
and he came back on Season 10 which was Heroes v. villains and was
where he met Shonee.-a Season 8 was all first-time players, which is
maybe where the amateur remark came from, but they included Hayley
Leake, who is possibly the best overall player on any Survivor Oz
season and who beat George that season.-a It's a major disappointment
she is not on this season, but I believe it's due to her having a
small child who was recently born.-a Season 10 was half newbies and
half returning players.

Oh yeah, forgot to include in the above.-a Kirby played in season 11,
called Titans v Rebels, and that was all new players, which is why she
has never played with any of the others.

Weird title for all new players. How did they define a "Titan"? I take
it Kirby was a Titan.
--
Brian
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 2:50 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working.

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we were >>>>> about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC started
with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe
rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of >>>>> David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes
Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he
has no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby
rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he >>>>> really seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is
completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any
player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend of >>>>> David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded under
the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually SarahrCOs >>>>> vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby
UTB right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know
they said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same to
other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding
of where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm
not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed
that because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have
any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season based
on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against amateurs.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why it
wouldn't be good for her game to play with David. Getting sucked up
in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning case to the
jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It
just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay
loyal to her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said
it was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to understand
it's just a game.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going >>>>> home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd be >>>>> good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his last >>>>> episode as a player was really interesting considering that he is
now the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when
a player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In this
case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark out, I
think they would probably put it back in just for the irony of his
comment about never playing again and then coming back to host.

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and
showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a
sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what
happens if World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique to
use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it for
them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.
He did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming
the blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination
episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound
horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them?
Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in
January or February of the last several years.-a This was the first
year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the
same year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one non-
elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from prior
seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to just
have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically works
as a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's
doing way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded
and doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She
tried to do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but I
got the sense her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money
so it probably feels like a job to her.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic
player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season
because she is a business executive and creator of a product that
appeared on their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and
accomplished person in real life, but I never thought of her as a
particularly great or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly
surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

--George got played by everyone last night at TC. I can't see anyone
trusting him now, and in such a short game that's probably the end
of his chances of winning.

I think George is suffering now because everyone has seen him play
multiple times and knows how dangerous he is.-a I actually thought he
would be going home ahead of David.

He nearly did! George would be gold on BB with his in your face attitude.

--Luke rubs me the wrong way. I thought he and David are buds? If he
had told David about his idol they might have been able to blindside
Kirby which would have been a huge move.

No, Luke is a lone wolf and a very chaotic and emotional player.-a He
and David are only buds out of convenience.-a I knew he would keep the
idol to himself.

It was either this episode or the first one, he said something that
made it sound like he and David are good friends. With no background
info I'm at the mercy of the edit other when it comes to the U.S.
players.

Hopefully Ep3 gets posted on YouTube. I'm dying to see Parv's
reaction when they find out David's been booted.

I haven't watched Ep 3 yet but as it's the last episode of the week,
I'll probably wait until tomorrow.

I watched it this afternoon. Some interesting things happen that will
have an impact down the road. I'll "spoil" two things. Parv's reaction
to David being gone was not what I was expecting, and the merge
happens in Episode 4. They appear to have been told in advance when
the merge will happen as it plays a big role in determining who to
boot in Episode 3.

I just watched the episode and I didn't see a specific mention of the
merge happening in episode 4.-a What happens in episode 4 appears to be
an individual immunity challenge and then both tribes go to TC.-a There's
no specific mention of the merge happening.-a I think George does mention something about Merge coming, but I didn't see anything more specific.

As far as the episode goes, I was of course pleased to see that David
and George departed in consecutive episodes, and it will make it
fascinating to try to determine who goes next.-a I think Tony, Parv and
Lisa are the only remaining previous winners, and they are all on the
World tribe.-a I wonder if that will be brought up?-a I know World seems fixated on Parv going next, but I wonder if they will switch that to
Tony?-a If the Americans decide to stay together, I sense that they will gang up on Tommi, since Kass seems to be aligned with the US girls.

I think Tommi will be in danger as he doesn't appear to be in any
alliances. Tony at least has Cirie and Parv unless they decide to make a
big move. Also, keep in mind that Kass has a HII and she said she's
going to keep it secret. It would be hard to believe that she isn't
super familiar with Tony, Cirie, and Parv. She could possibly
orchestrate a blindside of Parv.

On the Oz tribe, it's not clear who the next target will be.-a We kept hearing Janine and Shonee being mentioned, but I think that was more
George than anything.-a Luke is the only guy left, and he could be strong
in individual challenges post-merge, so maybe the four girls will go
after him next.-a After Luke, the next strongest competitor in
challenges, if they are physical, is probably Kirby.-a I'm not sure
Kirby's seeming dominance will continue.-a It's kind of strange that no
one seems to be complaining that much about how she seems to have taken over.

Don't forget that Luke has a HII. If he's targeted and plays it
successfully, the person to go might be the person he votes for. Who's
he most likely to vote for? Shonee?

My guess is that unless they win immunities, Luke and Tommi will be the
two targets next time.

I agree.
--
Brian
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 5:40 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/20/2025 8:59 AM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working. >>>>>

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best
Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we
were about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC
started with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie tribe >>>>>> rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get rid of >>>>>> David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very best
scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one realizes >>>>>> Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious that he >>>>>> has no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how Kirby
rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch as he >>>>>> really seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is
completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any >>>>>> player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend >>>>>> of David going back to their modeling days rCo completely folded
under the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually >>>>>> SarahrCOs vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote.

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby
UTB right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I know >>>>> they said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the same
to other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is
very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding
of where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.-a I'm >>>> not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just assumed
that because she had only played one season and didn't seem to have
any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game.

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an all
stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season
based on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against
amateurs.

That's right.-a Jeanine played on season 6 (or what the show calls
season 4 - more on that below) which was what the show called a
Champion vs. Contenders season, in 2019.-a David played his first
season that year (S6) and Luke played his second, which is how they
all know one another. -a-aShonee had appeared a year earlier on season 5
and Luke and Sarah had played together on season 4.-a Season 7 was
their official "All Star Season, which was won by David and also
featured Shonee.-a So that's how those guys all knew one another.-a And
no, George had not appeared by that point.

So David's a big deal because he won All Stars? If I heard correctly, a comment was made in Episode 1 of this season that he finished tenth in
his first season. Being the second boot this season that's not much to
brag about compared to players such as Cirie and Parv.

Yes, he finished tenth his first season and then later won the All-Star season. But he beat all the best previous players, and he dominated all
the way through, so that's not nothing. But I agree his overall record
pales in comparison to players like Parv and Cirie.

George's first season was season 8, which was called Brains vs Brawn,
and he came back on Season 10 which was Heroes v. villains and was
where he met Shonee.-a Season 8 was all first-time players, which is
maybe where the amateur remark came from, but they included Hayley
Leake, who is possibly the best overall player on any Survivor Oz
season and who beat George that season.-a It's a major disappointment
she is not on this season, but I believe it's due to her having a
small child who was recently born.-a Season 10 was half newbies and
half returning players.

Weird that they would do Heroes vs. Villains with newbies.

Well even US Survivor did a Heroes, Healers and Hustlers that was all
newbies. So it was based on their careers - like on the US version they
had a lifeguard, firefighter and ex-Marine/war hero (who ended up
winning the season) among the Heroes. It was the same on the Oz season
- they were assigned hero or villain status based on their jobs and/or audition videos. A couple choices made sense. Again, one of the heroes
was a lifeguard. Another was a popular football player. One worked on
a farm as an animal handler and another was an animal activist. So
those made sense. But then one of the newbie heroes was just an author,
so I'm not sure what was heroic about that.

Where it got weird was some of the villains. One was a News Anchor.
Another was a Journalist. And another was an Olympic Pole Vaulter.
None of that really made sense. All I can remember was they must have
said some things in their audition videos that got them classified as Villains. The pole Vaulter ended up aligning with George and Shonee and
she actually won the season. Another villain was a Luxury Car Salesman,
so maybe that sort of tracks. And one was a real estate sales manager,
so maybe there was some wealth envy thing going on there. The absolute strangest villain designation was a former Miss World Australia, but it
turned out she had been part of a controversy in the Miss World
competition where Miss Greece had apparently accused her of tossing her
down the stairs. She was also a former rugby player. So maybe that made
some sense, but it seemed weird. So yeah, some of the newbie heroes and villains were a bit arbitrary.

Now about the numbering of the seasons.-a Australian Survivor had two
early seasons in the early 2000s from a different production company,
and no one ever references those seasons.-a None of those players have
ever returned or, as far as I know, done any other reality shows.-a The
show was revived in 2016 and referred to by the new production company
and the network as season 1.-a But for collectors like myself, the
download sites all call that season 3.-a It is also listed as season 3
on Wikipedia and on sites like epguides.-a So there is a constant
two-year difference between the actual season airing and how it is
referred to by the show.-a The current season is called season 11 by
the network and many fans, but to people who download the episodes,
you will find it as season 13, and it is listed as Season 13 on
Wikipedia and Epguides.

Interesting. Given how big U.S. Survivor was in the early 2000s, I
wonder what happened with the Australian version back then? Too
expensive for the production company?

Season 1 aired in early 2002 and the problem is that US Survivor was
also being shown in Australia and the US version (which I think was
Marquesas) was just a lot better. The Oz version had a lower budget and
a pretty non-exciting cast. If I recall right, the season was
eventually dominated by a male-female combination a bit like Colby and
Tina, but in this case the guy won. It just wasn't that great. The show
was cancelled due to low ratings but they did a season 2 a couple years
later that was all celebrities and only 12 episodes. It was pretty bad
and no one watched it, so it got cancelled.

I thought Kirby did a great job of explaining to Sarah why-a and
Lukeit wouldn't be good for her game to play with David. Getting
sucked up in his orbit would make it impossible to make a winning
case to the jury.

I agree, and I think Sarah did the right thing voting him out.-a It
just surprised me because Sarah struck me as someone who would stay
loyal to her longstanding friend to the end.

Did you catch at the end of TC when she said sorry to David. He said
it was okay so I think she worried for nothing. He seems to
understand it's just a game.

David clearly knows it is just a game and has nothing to do with real
life or friendships, etc.-a Sarah is an emotional player and I'm glad
he said that to her.

Throughout the espiode, it wasnrCOt clear to me that David was going >>>>>> home, but I felt it would either be he or George, and I knew IrCOd >>>>>> be good with either result.-a DavidrCOs comment about this being his >>>>>> last episode as a player was really interesting considering that
he is now the new host on the show.

I'm surprised they didn't edit that comment out.

They don't normally edit out those kind of comments, especially when
a player makes such a bold statement of never playing again.-a In
this case, even if they had originally planned to edit the remark
out, I think they would probably put it back in just for the irony
of his comment about never playing again and then coming back to host. >>>>

Based solely on this season, voting out George would have been the
right move. He's totally untrustworthy and thus a huge liability.

On the World side, it seemed Tony came out of his shell a bit and >>>>>> showed his ability to dominate challenges.-a I still donrCOt get a >>>>>> sense that anyone is targeting him, but I guess werCOll see what
happens if World loses the next challenge.

World was impressive in the IC. Tony konowing the right technique
to use with the battering ram at the start of the challenge won it
for them IMO.

I seriously wondered if as a cop Tony ever had to use one of those
battering rams to break down a door like they show in police shows.
He did seem pretty comfortable with it.

Good point. I think I would have done what the Aussies did assuming
the blocks would all go flying.

So far I am liking the season, and I especially like that we
presumably will not have to deal with the annoying non-elimination >>>>>> episodes that plague the normal seasons.

Do they just do one season per year? Non-elimination episodes sound >>>>> horrible. Didn't TAR get rid of NEL ages ago because fan hated them? >>>>> Some comments from me.

Yes, they always do one season per year, most recently airing in
January or February of the last several years.-a This was the first
year they are showing a second season (albeit abbreviated) in the
same year.

TAR indeed got rid of the non-elim episodes (except they did one
non- elim last season because they were bringing back a gimmick from
prior seasons in every episode). The usual way they handle it is to
just have an occasional "continue racing" episode where it basically
works as a long two-hour episode shown over two weeks.

--Parv is killing it with her strategic and social game. Cirie's
doing way better than I thought she would.

Parv is indeed doing great, but something seems a little off to me.
Maybe it's just because she is older now, but she seems more jaded
and doesn't have the enthusiasm she had in earlier seasons.-a She
tried to do her normal flirting and smile flashing to everyone, but
I got the sense her heart wasn't really in it.

I'm pretty sure Parv's doing these shows because she needs the money
so it probably feels like a job to her.

You may be right.-a I've never seen a salary structure for the show,
but for most regular seasons, the non-winners don't make all that much
- especially compared to the US.-a And the first place prize for this
season is actually half the usual amount, so the non-winners can't be
making all that much.-a But you're probably right that she treats this
like a job and will take whatever opportunities she can.

When BBCAN was a thing, one of the things that helped cushion the blow
of lower prize money was the fact that such winnings are not taxable in Canada. I wonder if Australia has similar tax treatment for prize money?

That's very astute. I did a quick Google search which produced this:

BEGIN QUOTE:
Generally, winners of reality TV shows in Australia do not pay tax on
the prize money itself. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) views these winnings as "windfall gains," similar to lottery winnings and therefore
not subject to income tax.
However, there are a couple of key exceptions to this rule:
Regularly appearing on reality/game shows: If a contestant appears
regularly on such shows and receives prize money consistently, the ATO
may consider them a "professional game show contestant/reality TV star,"
and their winnings could be viewed as income and therefore taxable.
Generating income from the prize: If a contestant wins a prize (e.g., a
house) and subsequently sells it for a profit, they would be liable for capital gains tax on the profit. Similarly, if the winnings are invested
and generate interest, that interest income would be subject to tax.
Example
A contestant winning a large sum of money on a reality TV show, like
"The Block" or "Survivor," generally wouldn't pay tax on the initial prize. However, if they then invest that money and earn interest from a bank
account, that interest earned would be taxable.
If they used the prize money to buy a property and later sell it for
more than they bought it, the profit would be subject to Capital Gains Tax. Disclaimer: It's important to remember that tax rules can be complex and individual circumstances may vary. It's always best to consult with a qualified tax advisor for personalized advice.
END QUOTE

So if Parv makes the argument that she does not "regularly appear on
reality shows", at least not in Australia, she might not be taxed


""

Parv's divorce probably screwed her over financially and not being responsible with the money from her first win didn't help either.

--Jeanine is a mystery to me. She appears to be doing nothing and
seems to know little about what's going on. Was she a strategic
player in the past?

No, Jeanine appeared in an early Champions vs. Contenders season
because she is a business executive and creator of a product that
appeared on their version of Shark Tank.-a She is a very smart and
accomplished person in real life, but I never thought of her as a
particularly great or strategic Survivor player.-a I was frankly
surprised she made the cast.

Maybe they needed an older woman to help balance the teams. Is Shonee
around Parv's age? I take it Sarah's the youngest by far.

No, Shonee is about 10 years younger than Parv.-a Shonee is 33 and Parv
is almost 43.-a Sarah is 30, and yes, I think she is the youngest in
this cast.

Sarah could pass for a lot younger than 30. I didn't realize Parv's that
old already. I wasn't implying Shonee looks like she's in her early 40s.
I thought Parv was still in her 30s.

Just think about the fact that Parv's first appearance on Survivor was
in Season 13, which was filmed almost 20 years ago. She was 23 on her
first appearance.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.survivor

On 8/20/2025 5:42 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/20/2025 1:21 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 10:59 AM, Rick wrote:

On 8/20/2025 12:10 AM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 7:15 PM, Rick wrote:

On 8/19/2025 6:05 PM, Brian Smith wrote:

On 8/19/2025 1:23 PM, Rick wrote:

Here are some really brief thoughts on the second episode.
Surprisingly, the You Tube link I posted still seems to be working. >>>>>>

I stayed up past 4AM to watch it just in case. I had the episode
spoiled earlier in the evening by Mike Bloom who tweeted out a
bullet- list of all the great things that impressed him about TC.

This was a pretty great episode for me, and typical of the best >>>>>>> Survivor Oz episodes of the past.-a I knew when the Immunity
challenge ended before the halfway mark of the episode that we
were about to see something cool.-a This was confirmed when TC
started with 15 minutes to go.

What we saw was Kirby taking effective control of the Aussie
tribe rCo at least for one episode.-a Her quiet determination to get >>>>>>> rid of David was pretty amazing to watch.-a David did his very
best scrambling rCo including looking for an idol which no one
realizes Luke has already found rCo but it starts to become obvious >>>>>>> that he has no real power with this tribe. His frustration at how >>>>>>> Kirby rCLgives me nothingrCY as he put it, was pretty cool to watch >>>>>>> as he really seems to be desperate in his confessionals. Kirby is >>>>>>> completely unflappable in a way he has never experienced with any >>>>>>> player.-a The most amazing part was how Sarah rCo a longtime friend >>>>>>> of David ging back to their modeling days rCo completely folded >>>>>>> under the pressure from Kirby.-a I was amazed that it was actually >>>>>>> SarahrCOs vote that made the effective difference in the re-vote. >>>>>>

I was amazed at the stupid move George made trying to throw Kirby >>>>>> UTB right in front of David. Is that part of his reputation? I
know they said he fucked over Shonee in the past. Has he done the >>>>>> same to other players?

Yes, screwing over other players is part of George's brand.-a He is >>>>> very good at adjusting to changing moods in the tribe and he often
makes and breaks alliances whenever he perceives it's to his
advantage.-a One of his great strengths is usually his understanding >>>>> of where the other players are at and who is aligned with whom.
I'm not sure why he went after Kirby like that, unless he just
assumed that because she had only played one season and didn't seem >>>>> to have any pre-existing alliance with anyone that she was fair game. >>>>

These guys seem to really categorize each other based on how often
they've played and not on skill level unless they've played in an
all stars season. I take it George was not on their All Stars season
based on the insult from Janine (?) that he's only played against
amateurs.

That's right.-a Jeanine played on season 6 (or what the show calls
season 4 - more on that below) which was what the show called a
Champion vs. Contenders season, in 2019.-a David played his first
season that year (S6) and Luke played his second, which is how they
all know one another. -a-aShonee had appeared a year earlier on season
5 and Luke and Sarah had played together on season 4.-a Season 7 was
their official "All Star Season, which was won by David and also
featured Shonee.-a So that's how those guys all knew one another.-a And >>> no, George had not appeared by that point.

George's first season was season 8, which was called Brains vs Brawn,
and he came back on Season 10 which was Heroes v. villains and was
where he met Shonee.-a Season 8 was all first-time players, which is
maybe where the amateur remark came from, but they included Hayley
Leake, who is possibly the best overall player on any Survivor Oz
season and who beat George that season.-a It's a major disappointment
she is not on this season, but I believe it's due to her having a
small child who was recently born.-a Season 10 was half newbies and
half returning players.

Oh yeah, forgot to include in the above.-a Kirby played in season 11,
called Titans v Rebels, and that was all new players, which is why she
has never played with any of the others.

Weird title for all new players. How did they define a "Titan"? I take
it Kirby was a Titan.

No, Kirby was a Rebel. Titans were defined as people "at the top of
their professions" and Rebels were defined as "free-spirited" or "free thinkers", and Kirby was clearly that. Her bio when the cast was first announced says this:

BEGIN QUOTE
Kirby Bentley, AFLW Coach

"Cheeky and full of pure Rebel nature, AFLW coach Kirby comes from a male-dominated world and does not let anyone tell her what to do."
This rebel is set to shake up the game thanks to her athletic prowess
and ability to read the game.
"Being an AFLW coach, everything is about strategy," she says. "I
observe and listen, I trust my instincts. My plan is not to tell them
that I've ever played elite sport."
The Noongar woman says that she will be one to play both sides.
"Everyone thinks I'm on their side. Always watch the quiet ones rCo
they're dangerous."
She's giving Sarah Lacina energy and I'm honestly here for it.
END QUOTE


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