SEPTEMBER 15, 2005
8:00PM ET/PT
Greeting Survivor FReeks!
First things first. Welcome to new pingee - silent_jonny
Well, it’s now less than 82 hours to the premier of Survivor; Guatemala! So here is another couple tidbits of useless information to whet your appetites.
According to the Survivor Phoenix website, this is the Immunity Idol (or for those of us seasoned Survivor FReeks, the “Ugly Idol”).
And here is an article from the 9-4-2005 issue of TV Guide.
GRAB YOUR TORCHES!
By Shawna Malcom
Survivor: Guatemala kicks off with the most brutal challenge yet – and a major twist that will knock your buff off!
Deep in the heart of the Central American rain forest, the cast of Survivor; Guatemala is getting a rude wake-up call-and we’re not talking about the shrieking howler monkeys. It’s Day 2 of the game, and the Nakum tribe is hurting. Danni, a rail-thin pageant queen turned sports radio personality from Kansas, is nursing some serious scrapes and bruises on both legs, the result of a nasty spill down a hill. While Blake, a commercial real-estate broker from Texas, is fretting over how to remove several thorns lodged in his left shoulder. Meanwhile, the requisite “oldest Survivor,” retired Colorado fire captain Jim (a spritely 63), looks deathly pale as he hunches next to a majestic Mayan ruin, puking his guts out.
Welcome back to TV’s most enduring reality show, now in its 11th edition. It may go down as the most grueling season yet. Crocodiles lurk in the waters; mosquitoes cloud the air; the thermometer can rise to a steamy 114; and the challenges are so intense they’d make Palau winner Tom Westman cry for his mommy. (I doubt that!)
The tone is set early in the first episode with a brutal challenge; The two tribes, Nakum and Yaxha, are pitted against each other in an 11-mile overnight hike through the poisonous snake-filled jungle. (The winning team gets the better of the two camps and flint to help create fire.) Even Survivor challenge producer John Kirhoffer, who helped cook up the torturous trek, underestimated the toll it would take. “The hike turned out to be excruciating,” he says. “You can test these things (beforehand), but you never really know how hard they’re gonna be on somebody who isn’t used to it. We have a lot of really fit people, and it just kicked their asses.”
But perhaps Guatemala’s toughest task will be living up to last season. Survivor; Palau was a critical darling and fan favorite. Host and producer Jeff Probst is well aware of the pressure. “Palau is maybe one of our top three seasons,” he says. “[The location] was gorgeous. We had a great finish and a good winner. Then you come to Guatemala, where it’s brown, rainy and muddy, and you think, ‘God, I hope this isn’t ugly. I hope the season isn’t ugly and the people aren’t ugly.’”
Probst isn’t talking about the Survivors’ faces here: Overall, they’re a fairly photogenic bunch. Among the personalities who pop right away is Morgan, a bubbly magician’s assistant; Cindy, a zookeeper, Lydia, a fishmonger who stands all of 4 feet 10 inches; and Amy, a fourth-generation cop who sums up her reason for being here thusly: “I’m a f---in’ lunatic.” (I’m defiantly in lust! Not only a good looking Irish lass, but a down to earth, potty mouth to boot!)
A Survivor first, Guatemala boasts a celebrity; former NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom, who spent six years with the Dallas Cowboys in the ‘80s. Hogeboom, however, plans to keep that information under his buff. “It’s been years [since playing in the NFL], and this is a pretty young crowd,” he says. “If someone thinks they recognize me, I’m just gonna play it off; ‘Nope, it’s not me.’”
Survivor: Guatemala will incorporate more of its country’s culture than in previous seasons. With consent from the Guatemalan government, the Survivors will live among the 2,000 year old ruins, and some of the challenges are Mayan-inspired, such as a ball game that Kirhoffer describes as “The great, great, great, great grandfather of basketball.” It is believed that the ancient Mayans traditionally sacrificed a losing member to the gods, something Danni had read up on prior to her trip. “I just hope we don’t get beheaded,” she jokes, “Watch, instead of writing our names down [at tribal council], that’ll be the new twist.”
Well, that’s it for now, I’ll be back tomorrow if I find another tidbit of useless information. Till then . . .
Take care,
“At the very moment that Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans was screaming where's the food, where's the water, it was over the overpass, and state officials were saying you can't come in.” - Major Garrett, Fox News correspondent.
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