Another fun podcast with a “Survivor” junkie as we’re joined by your #1 source (I think) for all “Survivor” news and goodies, and that’s “Entertainment Weekly’s” Dalton Ross. Honestly, one of the most enjoyable podcasts I’ve ever done and here’s why: you can tell by listening Dalton loves what he does. His passion for this show, and his coverage for a show that’s been on over 16 years and spanned 36 seasons is basically unprecedented on the internet. You just don’t see this type of coverage anywhere. Loved talking to Dalton about all aspects of the show, from his time covering it, his trips on location, to the career of Probst and his vital role in the franchise – all great stuff that if you’re a “Survivor” junkie, you’ll love this podcast. And seriously, if you’ve NEVER watched the show, I beg you to listen to this and tell me you didn’t learn a thing or ten just about TV in general or get a better understanding for the phenomenon that is this show. Dalton is great at explaining all the nuances that come along with this franchise. Just like Stephen Fishbach a few weeks ago, here are two guys that LOVE talking about this show, and you can hear it in their voice. As always, if you’d like to respond to the interview, please include Dalton’s Twitter handle (@DaltonRoss) in your replies. Think you’re really going to like Dalton this week. I know I did. We’ll definitely be having him on again in the future.
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Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
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Twitter – @DaltonRoss
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EW.com – Why Do the Emmy’s Keep Snubbing Jeff Probst?
(SPOILERS) Dalton joins me to talk about how his “Survivor” coverage for EW.com all started for him, what he thinks about “Survivor” spoilers in general (although none are discussed for future seasons) (8:58), fans now watching the edits very closely on this show (12:22), how much coverage he gives “Survivor” (16:13), his pre-show coverage of traveling to the locations and interviewing contestants pre-season (20:36), being able to test out the challenges (27:36), early impressions on contestants that he’s been right & wrong on (31:09), immunity idols talk & is it good or bad for the show (35:28), filming two seasons back-to-back every year (47:55), Probst talk – recent Emmy snubs, his role in the franchise, will he ever leave, etc (55:00), and we end with the Final 10 (1:06:15).
ABC responded yesterday to my report about Lincoln being convicted a couple weeks ago of indecent assault & battery. Can’t believe they blamed it on him lying to them. That’s pretty chicken sh**. Of course he lied to them. What’s he gonna say in the interview process? “Yeah, I have an assault charge against me but it’s no big deal. When can I meet Becca?” However with that said, I honestly don’t think ABC knowingly put someone arrested and charged with assault on their show all for the sake of drama and ratings. They don’t need to do that to get attention. They’ll get it plenty of other ways. Not to mention they’re opening themselves up to a giant lawsuit if they did. I just think their vetting process sucks recently. My opinion is they say they hire a third party contractor to do background checks and this didn’t come up, and maybe that’s true, but the point is it should’ve. You should’ve looked harder. If Ashley Spivey can find that info in an hour of searching, why can’t a third party contractor you hire find it if you’re really doing diligent work to vet all your contestants? It’s a weak excuse to say, “Well, when we looked and we didn’t find anything. This is news to us.” Of course they’re gonna say that. The reaction to that is “look harder.” Myself and/or Ashley shouldn’t be finding stuff this easy when it’s not our job.
If I never got the tip on Monday, I never would’ve bothered to look into Lincoln’s background. Or any contestants for that matter. All I do when I hear a contestant is on the show is a quick Google search to find their basics: age, city, job, college, pictures, and social media contacts. If something else comes up in a Google search on page 1 (maybe Page 2), I’ll add that as well. The only time I really go digging is if someone comes to me with something that’s worth digging into. Monday I got that, Ashley and I looked into it, and found what we did. We shouldn’t be doing their jobs for them. This all could’ve been avoided if their research team bothered to put in more of an effort. It almost seems like now that they’re more interested in social media past than criminal past. Probably should be concerned with both after this season.
One note from BIP yesterday, shocker to see Colton & Tia on a date together. Gee, that wasn’t coming from a mile away. Also, Raven & Adam were brought in on the date as well to join (I’m assuming because Raven and Tia are friends) and it was a game of musical chairs before the girls split off to talk.
(SPOILER): You’ll never guess in a million years who was on a date today in Paradise. Time’s up. It was Colton & Tia. And Raven & Adam were there w/ them. It was a game musical chairs and then the girls split off from the guys to talk. Told you this was coming. pic.twitter.com/i63QlAxR1W
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) June 14, 2018
They are bringing a few alumni down for cameo appearances on the season. Raven & Adam, Arie & Lauren went down there, Amanda Stanton went down as well, and as I mentioned on Tuesday, Ben Higgins is down there. None of these people are contestants, they’re just participating in dates and/or handing out date cards.
“Dr. Reality Steve” begins on Page 2…
shenanigans
June 14, 2018 at 8:51 AM
This is for the last letter writer, who is checking her boyfriend’s phone: you already know from his text messages that he is not exclusive with you. In fact, he has blatantly asked another girl out. Further, your gut is telling you not to trust him. Tread carefully and protect your heart.
rob22
June 14, 2018 at 9:36 AM
Defeated: There’s only one person you can change, and that’s yourself. Do you want to know why he hasn’t improved or made another appointment? Because he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t intend to change. He may have pacified you for a while, but he’s revealed his intentions. And they are to do nothing. So, I think you’re looking at this wrong. Instead of coming up with a manipulation to get him to change, and that’s what it is, a manipulation. Decide whether you want to accept him as is, and not change him, and still get married. It’s a yes, or it’s a no.
If it’s a yes, then you know how marriage is going to work out. Pretty much like it’s been working out. He might get forced into going to counseling. He might make some short term changes. But in the end. He is now the same person he will be when you get married & forever. And here’s a news flash. Most people don’t get better with marriage. They settle in and get worse, if anything. But you should expect the same person. If you can’t accept who he is, then cancel the wedding and move on with your life. It’s pretty common for women to find “kinda” the guy they want & believe they can fix them to make them the man of their dreams. It doesn’t work that way. Sorry. In the real world, people don’t change all that much. So decide. You either want him, as is, or you don’t. There is no other real choice. Well, there is another choice… it’s called delusion.
rob22
June 14, 2018 at 9:47 AM
Confined in California: you’re not married, so you are free to do what YOU want to do. But committed couples don’t function the same way single people do. Committed couples discuss big changes and come up with a decision together. In fact, both people should have veto power over a decision like this. It’s either a win-win (both agree) or no deal. People may not want to move for a variety of reason like job, family, local roots, friends, etc. So you have definitely violated this principle. The “no-compromise” approach is nowhere near the right approach. So, if it’s not a committed relationship, do as you please. But if this is a committed relationship, you are acting very inappropriately. He has a right to be pretty put off by you and feel like you dropped a bomb on him. Because that’s exactly what you did. So, make a decision. Is this a committed relationship, or not. If it is, you need to rethink your position. You’re way out of line.
sc07
June 14, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Reality Steve just loves taking the credit for stuff RS, if you hadn’t been tipped off Ashley wouldn’t have found the information. It only took her an hour because she knew exactly where and what to look for. So don’t act like she or you are now background search experts. LOL I’m sure now that Lincoln has been convicted of a crime it would show up on about every background search. To know if someone has just been charged, they’d have to do a records search for every court house in the country, since being charged is totally different then an actual conviction.
rob22
June 14, 2018 at 10:10 AM
Double Income/No Kids (DINKS) – you have a right to your position on kids. The fact that 90% of the world takes another position doesn’t make your decision invalid. That does, however, put you in a contrarian position. So, you have to expect that people will question you. Whenever you don’t go with the herd (or sheep, if you prefer), you end up being asked to explain yourself. The best way to go, is with complete honesty, but without anything juicy attached to it (read: boring). If people ask you when you’re going to have kids, tell them no, you’ve decided not to have kids. If they ask why, it’s fair to say, “that’s just what we decided”. If you elaborate, you’ll just get more questions. So, keep it short, honest and sweet. If they say, for example, “don’t you like kids?”. You say, “no, we like kids, we’ve just decided not to have kids ourselves”. Answer every question repetitively with some form of “no, we’ve just decided not to have kids”. It’s the broken record technique. Every time. Make a game out of it. Laugh about it when you get home. Eventually the questions will taper off. Don’t give them anything to hang their hat on to argue with you more. Just, “we’ve decided not to have kids”. No elaboration, no frustration, no anger. Just, “we decided not to have kids”. (see how that’s becoming really boring?) Also, your dodges of saying “maybe someday” just invite more questions in the future. Some day might be tomorrow, so they’ll probably not be shy about asking you all the time about it. Be honest. Don’t insult them. Don’t get defensive. Don’t feel the need to explain. And don’t explain even if you feel the need. They’ll get it eventually. Not instantly. But it will happen.
shenanigans
June 14, 2018 at 11:20 AM
Rob 22. I am childless by choice. I purposely married a much older man with adult children because I didn’t want to have or raise kids. And, guess what? People still asked. LOL
I eventually realized that the question reflects upon them, rather than me. Their own lives are so child-centric that they can’t imagine anyone making a different choice. However, you are wrong if you think that the “we just decided not to have kids” answer is going to end the conversation. It won’t. Instead, the person will be treated to a long list of all of the things they are “missing” by not having kids.
The smart breeders know when to shut up. Unfortunately, the ones who are trapped in their own vision never will……
rob22
June 14, 2018 at 1:33 PM
@shenanigans: I’ll have to go with what you said. But I do think it will cut down the comments because, as you noted, some people are a little quicker on the uptake. Some, not so much. Nothing is 100%. People often don’t know when to STFU.
My kids are grown now, and I loved having kids and doing all the kid stuff. But I can now relate to the not having kids thing too. I love my kids and all, but man, my wife and I do enjoy our childless time quite a bit. We don’t even necessarily want lots of visits either. Come over for dinner, yes. Spend a weekend, yes. Longer than that, ehhhhh…. I think we’re busy that week. Ha. So, I can relate a bit more to why people don’t want to have kids at all. I also had a colleague who didn’t have kids and retired at age 42. Kids are expensive. So, there’s that too.
jesmlet
June 14, 2018 at 1:34 PM
Not to defend ABC, but I think it could be argued that Ashley couldn’t have found what she found if Lincoln hadn’t been seen that day and convicted already. Might not have been that easy with the case pending. Doable with a full-blown FBI background check, but clearly they don’t go that far which is the decision they now have to defend.
jlal
June 14, 2018 at 5:02 PM
Rob22 great response! I hope she takes it.
jlal
June 14, 2018 at 5:07 PM
Damn Rob22 you’re on fire. Nailing every single one.
taxionna
June 14, 2018 at 5:09 PM
To “Desperate”: I am in almost the EXACT same position you are in: 4.5 year relationship, live together, lots of external stress factors – his wacky family, stressful work situations, etc. – a breakdown of communication that is primarily due to his lack of empathy/emotionally dismissive way of dealing with problems due to a lot of traumatic childhood/family stuff, therapy, and of course, the promises to do and be better with less-than-stellar outcomes.
I recently spent a week at my parent’s place, and its like a lightbulb FINALLY went off in his head. I had been saying for 1.5 – 2 years at this point that I was emotionally unfulfilled/felt like I was doing all the relationship work, with little to no change on his part. Then, I leave for a week, and suddenly he realizes that I am unhappy.
I made the mistake of coming back home to quickly, and things have predictably devolved again, but I truly do think that there is a lack of full understanding/really LISTENING that is not accessed unless the proverbial line is drawn in the sand. You are continually letting him get away with it (because you love him, respect him, and don’t want to be a nag, etc.), and he is continually taking advantage of that (not intentionally, mind you).
Have the men in your lives in healthy, committed relationships where needs are fulfilled speak with him frankly. As annoyingly sexist as it is, men really do respond to advice from other men.
And give yourself time away from him to really assess whether it’s worth staying in the relationship. Because, honestly, the thing that might have to change in order for you to stay might be less about him, and more about what you are willing to put up with or let go.
jlal
June 14, 2018 at 5:15 PM
People so don’t know when to STFU. I was widowed young and when people ask if we had kids and I say no, they answer that it is a good thing. WTF I would have given anything to have had his child. People are just stupid sometimes. I never let it bother me too much, just smile and move on.
lane
June 14, 2018 at 6:37 PM
rob22 – your advice for all scenarios was spot on. It’s hard when you are involved in an emotional situation to see things objectively. I agree with everything you said.
LynnS
June 14, 2018 at 6:52 PM
I’ve been married for a long time. In the beginning, I learned that I needed to make all my husband’s doctor appointments. My mother did the same as well as my friends.
This probably sounds old fashioned, but it worked all the time. Most men hate having to make appointments.