One of your letters asked about how to watch foreign Survivors. I understand that Paramount Plus now has some seasons of Australian Survivor.
Comment: I have Paramount Plus. Good to know. I probably won’t watch, but at least I know it’s a possibility.
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Hi Steve
Loved your podcast with Stephen Fishbach, his Survivor knowledge is unapparelled and his insight both as a fan and a twice-contestant is so unique. I’m from Australia and back in the day they only aired one season per year so I missed a lot, so during quarantine last year I went down the rabbit hole and started watching every episode from Season 1 to present. I made my son start watching it with me when he was about 10 (he’s 21 now) and we’re both addicted. The premiere episode was like welcoming an old friend who had a little work done, interesting, amazing, a tiny bit unfamiliar and a splash of wtf. I’m not sure I’m onboard with the shortened timeline but hey, a short Survivor is still better than no Survivor!
With regard to your reader who spoke of wanting to watch Australian Survivor, I can’t recommend it highly enough. As a diehard US Survivor fan, I was completely skeptical and it was hard to watch without Probst. Season 1 was just OK, but then they brought in a format of ‘Champs vs Contenders’ for the next couple of seasons which had ‘celebrities’ vs regular people and it is compelling viewing. You have to be committed as they air like three episodes a week so there’s a lot to get through. The latest two seasons in particular have had some incredible contestants that I would LOVE to see in the US version as I think they would become international fan favourites. And the host, Jonathan La Paglia, is seriously almost as good as Probst himself.
I did also watch the latest season of the South African version recently and whilst it is still enjoyable, it seemed like I was watching a US season from the very early days. Strong loyalty, predictable boots, rudimentary gameplay and not a lot of devious people.
I am keen to watch Romania after seeing Emmanuel et al on The Challenge. It has me intrigued.
Speaking of, cannot wait for the gameplay to finally get going on The Challenge. Silly rookies not realising they outnumber the vets…a huge lost opportunity. Finally we get some vet on vet crime and I’m here for it!
Comment: Yeah, I think this just proves I’m out if I have to dedicate 3 nights a week to Survivor Australia. I just got done doing that for 3 months with Big Brother. I can’t get into that again.
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Hope this makes it in time. Ever since you said Becca breaks up with Thomas and gets back with him after the show.. I’ve had a theory. Even more so after watching it play out on tv and her not having a reason to give at all and just out of the blue. Do you think since her bachelorette ending where she chose a guy and got home to see all the dirt coming out on him and people giving her a hard time about him..that maybe this time she didn’t want to take that risk and broke up with him so she could go home and see how the audience was reacting to her and Thomas together? If it was bad she’d be fine bc she already dumped him. If they liked them then just get back together. Which now we know that happened
Comment: No. I think it’s well known now on BIP that if you’re not going to propose at the end, they’d prefer couples break up for dramatic purposes. And there was zero chance Becca was getting engaged at the end of BIP, so, she broke up with him, probably knowing she was gonna talk to him immediately when it was over and see where it went from there.
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What’s up RS:
Do the girls get to pick out what kind of ring they want or do the guys just randomly pick it out? The women have no say. Neil Lane designs ones that they like and the guy picks.
Do you think Joe knew Kendall was going to come back before he was going to propose or was he surprised? Did he know for sure? No. But he knows the show well enough by now that when she DID show up, he can’t say he never saw that coming.
Why is such a big deal made about “Fantasy Suites” when they could have hooked up in the “boom boom” room?
Comment: Because that’s the format of the show.
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Hi Steve! I know it’s nice to get a break from the “Bachelor” emails sometimes, so here goes.
Did you see the interview Maxwell Caufield did with Page Six that People Magazine reported on? He said it was “psychologically a kick in the pants” when he saw Michelle Pfeiffer do better with her career after starring with her in “Grease 2”. He said “it’s hard to begrudge someone their success” but you can tell he’s definitely bitter since she went on to bigger and better roles and was obviously more famous than him. I just thought the interview was very interesting, I have seen Grease 2 multiple times like you have, and I did like him in it. Thoughts?
Comment: Yeah, it’s tough to say because things were judged so differently back then. Grease 2 came out in 83, and because of the success of the original, they were just never gonna duplicate the success with no returning cast members outside of a few bit players. The fact that Michelle got “Scarface” as her next role certainly skyrocketed her career.
Was Maxwell hindered a bit by that being his first big role? Probably. But I really hope while he wishes his career turned out better, he kinda lets it go and should be happy for Michelle’s success. It’s been over 40 years. And hey, he got to play the college dude hitting on sophomore high schooler Brenda Walsh in the pilot of Beverly Hills 90210. That has to count for something, right?
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Hi Steve,
I have two questions for you please.
In the last Clickbait podcast, Zac Clark made a brief cameo. During that time, Natasha said she was in Sonoma and implied she wasn’t with anyone. Zac literally said he knows better and that’s “BS”, implying she was dating someone who was with her. Is there any chance Natasha is dating Greg given the stories about him being with her last week? Greg wasn’t in Sonoma I know that. But as for are they dating in real life. I haven’t heard if they are or aren’t. But Greg and others combing Ohio St. sororities this past weekend was, ummmm, interesting to say the least.
Secondly, is Tayshia Adams joining the Happy Hour podcast permanently? In that same Clickbait podcast she said she’s going to only be on Happy Hour during Michelle’s season. I’m wondering if now that Natasha and Joe are bigger names, will they do Clickbait on their own and Tayshia will be with Becca permanently?
Thanks for all your great reporting!
Comment: I don’t listen to any of them so I’m a little confused on who hosts what show. If Happy Hour is the one Becca normally hosts, and Tayshia is joining her for Michelle’s season, that would make sense since she was there.
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Any chance you’ll be watching, commenting on or spoilers for Bachelor in Paradise Canada?
Comment: No. Never have, only even know who the US cast members are, don’t know where to watch it, and it just doesn’t interest me.
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Hi Steve –
Given the spoilers, I did not sit through all 3 boring hours of the BIP finale so thanks for saving me time. I enjoyed Ed (love child of wrestler Disco Inferno and Vinny Barbarino) trying to get something going with Mykenna and her, essentially responding “No, but you can follow me on Instagram but don’t try to friend me on Facebook.” I also found myself laughing at Aaron’s exit which I summarize as “See ya Tia!”
I disagreed somewhat with your and your podcast guests view of all the switches on The Challenge this season. I think they were designed to give the rookies a chance and screw with pre game vet alliances. It just didn’t work out that way due to rookie fear and stupidity. The question of what experience one needs to be a “vet” is interesting. Amber was a rookie champ but the other vets don’t seem to treat her as one. Not sure Big T will ever get there. Since Mr. TJ did not allow a partner switch this past week, what is your prediction for the next change up/surprise?
Comment: Maybe it becomes a solo game now? I’m not sure. Or, maybe there’s just no switching partners after they go into the Lair. I’d be fine with that. It was too much.
