Clean sweep

I CALLED IT!!! Though, saying I called this one is like saying I predicted Letterman was going to do a top 10 tonight (I offer you 3-1 odds on that...). From Reuters:

NEW YORK -- The 14th season of Survivor ended Sunday with a dramatic finale in which an advertising executive from Los Angeles won the million-dollar prize by copping every single vote from the jury to defeat the show's other two finalists.

Earl Cole received all nine votes from his fellow contestants to win the desert island show, which was marked by one of the biggest betrayals in recent seasons of the reality-TV franchise. Fellow contestant Dreamz had sworn to give his immunity from elimination to fan favorite Yau Man after Yau Man won an expensive truck on the show, but offered to exchange it for the immunity. When the time came, Dreamz kept his immunity, and Yau Man was voted off.

Cole said that at that point he thought, "I just won a million dollars." The other finalist was Cassandra Franklin, who like Dreamz received no votes from the other contestants choosing the winner.

The finale was the series' 200th episode. Despite flagging ratings in recent seasons, Survivor, which helped spawn the reality TV genre when it became a surprise hit during summer 2000, continues to generate solid numbers for CBS. The next season airing this fall will be shot in China, which the producers said marked the first time a U.S. television series had been filmed there.

Great season! Best in a while, and Earl was a shoe-in (Yau couldn't have made it to the final...). Big comeback for the show which has been dragging over the past few seasons. Maybe it's time for me to finally apply... before it crashes again and I have to audition for Pirate Master...

Survivor's back

And it's pretty much the same game it's always been. That doesn't bode well for the first big reality show, despite the fact that it's been renewed for its 15th and 16th competitions next year.

Exile Island is back, but their big opening gimmick this year was to force the 19 contestants to build a Taj Mahal of a campsite only to find out that the winners of the immunity challenge would get it. To be fair, they were suspicious of their task the whole time. Doesn't change the fact that half of the contestants had just worked on their new oppenents' home and now had another shelter to go build.

But it's not really evolving as a whole, and that can't be good for the show. I'll admit I haven't missed an episode since Season 2, but I'm getting tired of it myself. They need to shake it up a bit more... keep them separated completely is my suggestion. Even better, put them in the cold. Or keep EVERYONE around to be in the jury at the end. But do something to make it so different that no one can show up with a plan that would even remotely work. It has to be a different game if it's going to survive... and it's gotta keep drawing real characters.

The characters could be there this season -- you never know until about four shows in -- but the game's still the same. 'Less something big changes though, I may join the millions of others who've given up on what really was a compelling show. And you know how I hate to be part of the crowd.