Survivor popularity

[pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., catherine at c... wrote:
> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., naama_gat at h... wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > In the main group Joywitch mentioned the Survivor show, with what 
> > I gathered was a negative connotation. I've come across this 
> > attitude quite a lot (grammar side question: which is correct, "a 
> > lot" or "alot").  I personally adore that show!! I find it 
> > fascinating. (Just to set the record straight, I loath Jerry 
> > Springer, what's-her-name Lake and their kind.) I've even been 
> > sending episode summaries by e-mail to a friend (also an 
> > enthusiast) who is on a trip in India.
> > 
> > So, what are your opinions on the Survivor show? If you despise 
> > it (as many seem to), why? If you like it, what do you say to 
> > people who don't?
> > 
> > Naama
> 
> Erm...?   What is the Survivor show?
> Catherine

It is a TV-programme that, AFAIK, was invented by the company VIASAT, 
based in England, which produces the TV3 cable/satelite-channels and 
TV1000/TV1000-Cinema, primarily for the Scandinavian market.  In 
Scandinavia it is called Robinson-ekspedisjonen, with spearate 
versions being produced for Norway, Sweden and Denmark.  I have never 
watched it myself, except when channel-surfing by, but I have a 
general impression of what it's about.

You take a group of 10 or 12 people, plopping them down on a remote 
island, stripping them of modern amenities, and forcing them to found 
solutions on problems assigned to them.  They also have to vote out 
people at regular intervals, until there is a small group (4, I 
think) left.  The small group then is put through a contest, the 
winner of which wins the grand prize.

In Scandinavia, Robinson-Ekspedisjonen has received some flak, 
particularly when a one of the participants in the first Swedish 
series committed suicide.  Anotehr base for criticism is the 
impression given by the TV-pictures is not real - they do not really 
live as rough as one might believe from the TV-pictures; they even 
get prepared food and cigarettes when the cameraes aren't looking, 
often bought from guards and production-crew.  The greatest 
complaint, however, is that the programme, along with its clones on 
other networks, encourages excessive cynicism, cheating and 
ruthlessness.

The group of people is chosen with the intent of creating conflict.  
The production-team will put an effort into having at least one 
homosexual (who is open about it) and on person with the religious 
view that homosexuals are horrible, perverted sinners without any 
chance of redemption.  Having another member who is a closeted 
homosexual, or perhaps bisexual (with the openly homosexual having 
prejudice against bisexuals) is considered an additional bonus.

Big Brother and Temptation Island (ship a married couple of to an 
island filled with males and females with such looks that even 
Aphrodite and Adonis would look plain in comparison, and see what 
happens) are clones of Robinson/Survivor, as is a programme called 
Muldvarpen (= The Mole), where one of the people of the team is a 
hired actor, whose task it is to sabotage the efforts of the others, 
while the others have to guess who it is.

Best regards
Christian Stubø