TV Watch Survivor
Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
It was not a surprise to Hope Driskill when she was voted out of Survivor: Caramoan.
After all, Survivor is a numbers game, and her alliance was in the minority.
After the Fans lost their second straight immunity challenge on Wednesday, the 23-year-old pre-law student knew she was probably going to be going home, despite her efforts to redirect the vote towards Shamar Thomas, the volatile Marine sergeant.
Credit: Monty Brinton/Landov (2)
Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and has been blogging about Survivor strategy for PEOPLE.com since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.
"People are so dumb in this game. I mean, they talk way too much."
– J.T. Thomas, Survivor: Tocantins
Does Sherri remind anybody else of Sandra Bullock? I don't just mean the physical resemblance.
Last week, Sherri pulled off The Blind Side, wresting control of the Fans tribe from the Cool Kids. This week, things have gotten Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Permalink | Filed Under: Celebrity Blog, Survivor, Survivor: Tocantins, Sandra Bullock, Stephen Fishbach
Credit: CBS (2)
For 12 years, Allie Pohevitz dreamed of competing on Survivor, only to have her adventure last five days when her tribe elected to vote her out instead of abrasive war veteran Shamar Thomas.
The 25-year-old bartender from Oceanside, N.Y., talks about her alliance of good-looking fans, clashing with Shamar and what you didn't see on TV.
Credit: CBS (2)
Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and has been blogging about Survivor strategy for PEOPLE.com since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.
"When you're out here playing this game, your mind does crazy things."
– Amber Brkich, Survivor: All Stars
What would happen if we turned the inmates of an insane asylum loose on an island and asked them to play Survivor? In Survivor: Lunatic Island, we finally get our answer. They break down in tears. They channel their relatives – living and dead. They create elaborate fantasy worlds to cope with the extreme conditions.
The Favorites this season were cast for their erratic behavior – and they're delivering. So Brandon had a meltdown? Brandon's in a continual state of melting down. Dawn started weeping? Her code name, "True Grit," has to be ironic.
Permalink | Filed Under: Celebrity Blog, Survivor, Stephen Fishbach
Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
Survivor just isn't Francesca Hogi's game.
The 38-year-old New York lawyer first played the game in 2011's Survivor: Redemption Island, where she was the first contestant booted. Returning for Survivor: Caramoan, she threatened to "drown herself" if she were the first one voted out. She even picked up a rock and said she would eat it if she were the first to go.
Sure enough, at tribal council, she was the first one to go. (She says she'll follow through on the rock-eating promise at the reunion if Jeff Probst can produce that very same rock for her.)
Speaking to PEOPLE, Hogi can laugh at her misfortune, but names names when it comes to who she thinks was responsible for her misfortune.
Permalink | Filed Under: Survivor, TV News, Jeff Probst
Credit: CBS (2)
Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and has been blogging about Survivor strategy for PEOPLE.com since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.
"I should've trusted my instincts from the beginning."
Francesca Hogi, Survivor: Redemption Island
Oh, Franny – no! Survivor: Caramoan premiered Wednesday night with naïve fans and vicious favorites. After an action-packed episode of alliances and counter-alliances, Francesca became the show's first-ever double-first-boot.
"I did make Survivor history," she says.
There's something wonderful about the Fans vs. Favorites concept. You have these wide-eyed baby giraffes stumbling with eager awkwardness up the Caramoan sands. Then there's this squad of MMA fighters who've turned to cannibalism.
The fans ooh and aah at their tribe flag, and fight about how to make fire. Reynold, Allie, Hope and Eddie make a cool-kids alliance and gaze at their perfect reflections in the surf. The jilted girls back at camp make an alliance. Nobody has the numbers. This would be amateur hour on a normal season.
Permalink | Filed Under: Celebrity Blog, Survivor, Stephen Fishbach
Credit: Getty; CBS
Will Neil Patrick Harris soon be scheming his way to a Survivor victory?
It could happen. Host Jeff Probst has spoken to the How I Met Your Mother star about playing the game – and is currently looking for other celebrities who want to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition in hopes of being Sole Survivor on the long-running CBS reality show.
A celebrity season actually isn't that far fetched. Last season, The Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel made the final three. And, in 2001, Kate Hudson and then–husband Chris Robinson showed up for an open audition for Survivor: Australia, before being turned away by producers. (How awesome would that have been?)
But for now, there's Survivor: Caramoan, the show's 26th season, premiering Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET). Ten new players will compete against ten returning players – with early favorites that include Dawn Meehan, a surprisingly tough 42-year-old mother of six from Utah, and Andrea Boehlke, a pretty blonde schemer from Wisconsin.
Catching up with PEOPLE, Jeff Probst reveals what to expect this season – and how a celebrity version would work:
Permalink | Filed Under: Survivor, Jeff Probst, Neil Patrick Harris
Credit: Rob Kim/Landov
Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and has been blogging about Survivor strategy for PEOPLE.com since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.
"Survivor's not meant to be a comedy routine."
– Cochran, Survivor: South Pacific
Here's a riddle for you: What do a zombie, a flip-flopper and two train wrecks have in common?
They're all part of a new cast of "favorites" on Survivor: Caramoan (Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET on CBS), the new season that matches 10 new competitors against some of the worst players in the show's history. Game on?
Permalink | Filed Under: Celebrity Blog, Survivor, Stephen Fishbach
Credit: Scott Kirkland/PictureGroup
Prepare to see more of Lisa Whelchel.
Almost 25 years after The Facts of Life went off the air, Whelchel, 49, has joined the cast of Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas.
But instead of playing a spoiled prep school student, she'll be someone in charge. "I play the role of Nancy Porter, the country school principal," Whelchel tells PEOPLE. "I'm having fun!"
Since The Facts of Life ended, Whelchel has put her career on hold to raise her three children, acting in just two TV movies. (Her last role was a Facts of Life reunion in 2001.)
Permalink | Filed Under: Survivor, Movie News, Lisa Whelchel, Tyler Perry
Credit: Scott Kirkland/PictureGroup
She didn't win the million dollars, but Lisa Whelchel still cleaned up on Survivor: Philippines.
After tying for second place with Mike Skupin (prize money for the tie: $87,500), she received an extra $100,000 for being crowned the player of the season – an award chosen by the viewers. Plus: she also received an extra $10,000 for attending the live finale. But Whelchel tells PEOPLE that the experience may have done more than just line her pocketbook.
"I didn't really go into Survivor to restart my career," says Whelchel. "I loved the game, and I wanted to play it. That really was my sole reason. I wanted the adventure. I'm really thankful that there were people out there who liked how I played it. It's very flattering."
Permalink | Filed Under: Survivor, TV News, Lisa Whelchel
