Survivor: San Juan Del Sur Blood vs. Water Has Outlasted Its Welcome

Survivor: San Juan del Sur, the twenty-ninth season of one of the first American Reality TV shows, seems to me to be nearing the end of its run.

Unless Survivor re-invents itself, somehow.

I did not like the first version of Survivor: Blood vs. Water. That version had people who had previously been on Survivor returning with a loved one.

The current relative version is made up of people who had not been on Survivor, previously. However, two of the Blood vs. Water pairs had people known to some, as in infamous baseballer, John Rocker, and the twinnies from The Amazing Race, Natalie and Nadiya.

This iteration of Survivor seems to be the only season where those surviving seem to be gaining weight, rather than getting skinny.

Reward Challenge. Want to know what you're playing for? One week fixing's for a barbecue, another week a trip to a Mexican food all you can eat buffet, with beer and margaritas, another week a yacht trip with sandwiches, along with more beer, another week a trip to a baseball game with hot dogs, popcorn, candy and more beer.

And then there was when the two tribes merged and found themselves with a big buffet spread to gorge themselves on.

Or the one week where the Reward Challenge rewarded with food followed by the Immunity Challenge having more food to tempt the Survivors to give up the challenge.

Oh, and if you somehow eat up the supply of rice you are provided, Probst will show up to make a deal with you for another big bag of rice.

And speaking of Jeff Probst. The Probst play by play at the challenges really needs to be toned down. As does the way Probst asks leading questions at the Tribal Councils, leading questions about things like Immunity Idols not being used, which then causes a flurry of panic which disrupts the well planned who to kick off the island scheme.

As for the challenges, it only makes sense that after 29 seasons the challenges would start to have a deja vu feeling to them. But when, in an effort to do something different you have Probst touting something like "In the first time in Survivor history for this challenge Survivors can only use their feet" it would seem we have gone into Jumping the Shark territory.

For Survivor: Season Thirty, I hope Survivor returns to Survivor: Old School. Don't supply so much food. Make it so hunting, fishing and foraging is the food source.

And no gimmicks, no Redemption Island, no Exile Island, no Hidden Immunity Idols.

And cast only people who have never been on TV before, real people, and no people with serious personality disorders....

An Afghanimal U-Turn Eliminates The Cowboys From Amazing Race All-Stars

I am not a fan of The Amazing Race when it goes into All-Star mode. The latest Amazing Race All-Stars really only had a couple of memorable teams from seasons past.

With one of those memorable teams, actual Amazing Race All-Stars, the Cowboys, Jet & Cord McCoy.

The Cowboys have now run The Amazing Race three times. Their initial season, followed by a previous All-Stars race, followed by the current All-Stars race, where the Cowboys got eliminated on the latest episode, eliminated by the Afghanimals, Leo & Jamal, U-Turning them.

If I remember right the Cowboys got eliminated on their previous race by being U-Turned.

I really do not like The Amazing Race U-Turn gimmick.

I also do not like The Amazing Race All-Stars gimmick.

I'm not a fan of any Reality TV Show in All-Star mode. I never have watched another episode of Big Brother after repugnant, creepy Mike Boogie won Big Brother All-Stars, with the only reason Boogie was on Big Brother All-Stars being because actual Big Brother All-Star, Will Kirby, insisted the non-All-Star best friend of his, the creepy Boogie, be included.

I also do not like Survivor in its multiple forms of  "All-Star" seasons, be it Fan Favorites, Heroes vs. Villains, Significant Others or any other version which brings back, yet again, Rupert, any of the Hantz family, Ozzie, Colby and others who were fun to watch once, maybe twice,  but never thrice.

The current version of Survivor, the one with the Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty gimmick, with the entire cast being people we've never met before, going back to old school Survivor, is being the best season of Survivor in a long long time, with the best blindsides ever.

Now, if CBS puts the Cowboys on Big Brother, well, that  I might watch....

Surviving Survivor & American Idol

Today being Wednesday, tonight we have new episodes of American Idol and Survivor for our viewing pleasure.

I don't know if I'll be watching.

Survivor has become a bit of a bore with the women so totally outwitting, outlasting and outplaying the men.

And then there is American Idol. I think the Judges' Save gimmick on American Idol is so annoying.

The winner of American Idol is supposedly the result of viewers voting. It made perfectly good sense, to me, that Jessica Sanchez got fewer votes than the other 6.

As soon as it was known that Joshua Ledet, Elise Testone and Jessica were the bottom 3, Steven Tyler said the save would be used.

I can see why all three of these got the least votes.

Skylar Laine was not in the bottom 3 due to the country music fans liking her. Hollie Cavanaugh was not in the bottom 3 due to all the little girls identifying with the albino pixie. Colton Dixon was not in the bottom 3 due to those who don't mind someone wearing their religion on their sleeve, and those same little girls who like Hollie. Phillip Phillips was not in the bottom 3 due to the fact he actually seems like he could be a pop star.

Joshua Ledet, in my opinion, was in the bottom 3 due to the fact that it does not seem like he could be a pop start. The one I think is the most talented, Elise Testone, was in the bottom 3 because few men, teenage or grownup, vote.

And then there is Jessica. She's young. She may sing well, but she is a bit lacking in the personality department.

I thought it borderline rude how the Judges acted as if America had made a big mistake, committed a sinful wrong. So, Jessica got saved. To get the boot tomorrow? That would be my bet if one could bet on such a thing.

Three Blindsides In A Row On Survivor

Yet another great Survivor Episode. Three blindsides in a row. First Ace, then Marcus and then last night the best blindside yet, Charlie. But Charlie wasn't all that unhappy, in fact he seemed a bit giddy over the fact that he was going to get to spend some alone time with Marcus isolated wherever the jury is stuck.

Kenny is getting downright feisty. Maybe too much so and a tad too cocky. Always a sign that ones days may be numbered.

When the annoying Corrine reacted in shocked horror at the realization that Marcus had been booted, Probst asked about the reaction. Corrine said "I'm pissed. He didn't deserve to leave the game."

To which Kenny piped up with "Who does?"

It's been good entertainment to watch the ones who smugly thought they were in control, and had it all figured out, having their alliance crumble.

The reward challenge golf game thing was only entertaining at the end when Matty and Randy and Charlie got all crazy instead of just dropping the ball in the hole. They aren't getting enough food to maintain a good cerebral blood flow.

Their reward of going to a village for some dancing and food was not too thrilling.

Bob going to Exile Island and quickly finding the clues was no surprise. The poor ol' guy kept looking for hours for the non-existent idol. That was painful to watch.

Susie winning the first post-merge Immunity Idol by being the first to get a big fire burning was pleasant to see.

Followed by all the scheming, with Sugar being the pivotal vote. I like Sugar. Survivor's editing is so well done now, with not so much misleading stuff that was just annoying and made for bad reality TV.

Will it be a 4th blindside in a row next week?