Survivors, Ready? Go!

Season 19 of "Survivor" started this past week. First of all, it doesn't seem possible that there have been 19 seasons, but time flies when you're having fun. Actually, it wasn't always fun. There were a few seasons I couldn't get into, and a few I couldn't finish, but this one could be pretty good. At least it has potential.

Spoilers ahead, so if you haven't watched it yet, but want to, then stop here.

The teams are in Samoa this year and rather than a lengthy team selection process, the tribes were already selected. In the yellow corner, we have Foa Foa, and in the purple corner, Galu. I don't know what either of these names mean, but does it matter? They're so fun to say...Foa Foa Foa Foa...Galu Galu Galu Galu. Based on this first episode, my guess is that the producers had an agenda with their selection process.

I will ignore race card discussion, but it was played at the beginning. It'll be interesting to see what stereotypes are broken by the end of the game.

As far as team first impressions go, love Galu, hate Foa Foa. My Survivor watching pal this season (who needs to give me something fun to call her *hint hint*) agrees with me, though she admits that she doesn't yet know enough about Galu to really know who she does and doesn't like. Galu seems to be really supportive of each other. Good Russell (named as such because there is an Evil Russell as well) is already a good leader and the team seems to have bonded with the exception of Shambo, an ex-marine. While I like her, she definitely has outsider potential. Foa Foa on the other hand is already fighting and has a few trash talkers on the team. Their lack of bonding wasn't helped by Evil Russell, who claims to be a multi-millionaire only playing the game to show how easy it is to win. He's like a gremlin...he emptied the canteens and burned some guys socks in the first episode. He's also proclaimed himself to be the Puppet Master, and while he will be the guy to hate, he has player potential because if Survivor has taught us anything, it's that the bad guys usually stick around the longest.

I half expect him to win and give his winnings to charity. Sounds strange, I know. But wouldn't that be crazy? The guy everyone hates turns out to be really decent in real life? It could happen.

I was bummed that Foa Foa won reward, though it didn't do much for them really. They got fire. I was stoked when Galu won immunity. They also got fire, and they didn't have to go to tribal council. As always Mr. Probst stirred the pot ("Sooo...what's going on at camp? *wink wink nudge nudge*), and the most of the team went along with Evil Russell's plan and voted out Marisa, who reminded me of a flower child. I hadn't yet decided if I liked her or not, so I don't really feel any loss that she's gone. I thought she was going to cry when she got voted off though, and I felt bad for her.

Yet Unnamed Survivor Pal has this to say about Ep1:
"Early front runners for fave contestant for me are Jaison, Mick, and Betsy. I like the purple tribe better than the yellow, but I don't know enough of the purple players to know faves in that group yet. Russel the Villlan is truly the guy to hate this season - but he is so blatantly a goober I find him more annoying than anything. Has to be a plant by the producers to stir things up or something, because he is just SO over the top evil. Of course, he will probably be around for awhile to keep the pot stirred up."

So far, she and I are in agreement on pretty much everything. If Foa Foa has a saving grace character at this point, it's Betsy, who already has her suspicions that Evil Russell is up to no good. I'm already a fan of Good Russell, but with this only being the opening episode, everything is subject to change...including my opinion.

The Biggest Loser 8 - Episode 1 (w/ Spoilers)

Due various and sundry things, it took me a couple days to get around to watching the season premiere of The Biggest Loser. Just in time for the motivation Jon and I need to get back into our own workout routine. I'm serving this up with some spoilers, so if you haven't watched yet and want to enjoy any and all surprises, then move on...nothing to see here.

In their ratings quest to outdo themselves, this season brings in heavier people than last season. Dan from last season is back to continue to lose weight. I really like that guy. He seems genuinely nice and he was a real support and motivator to start out. I also really like Shay and I was glad that Dan chose Shay to partner with. I think he can definitely be a good influence on her.

I'm on the bench on the fact that two of the people are already having medical issues. Of course they need to work on getting healthy, that part's not disputed. And its hard to to play the exploitation card when the contestants are more than willing. But I'm not sure if it's supposed to be motivating in a "This could happen to you" way or if it's just a reflection of how much the show pushes these people. It took me weeks to be able to walk a mile. I was thrilled when I finally did it, but to be thrown on the road and told to do it when you're almost completely out of shape (Dan being the exception here and maybe a few others) is insane.

It's really too early to get a good idea of who I do and don't like, but there were a few first impressions stood out.

I'm not a fan of the pink team. Amanda is just kind of pointless and Rebecca left a bad taste in my mouth with this quote: "I'm so much more than a pretty face." This would be true, but in the context it was said, she was basically saying she needed to lose weight so people would see her more than just a pretty face. Like what, a thin body? I'm all about being healthy and feeling good about yourself, but bitch, please...some of us weren't even given the pretty face part and actually had to develop a personality. Aesthetics won't last, and while that may have just been an emotional offhand comment, it kind of irritated me.

Besides Dan and Shay, I really like Abby and Mo. My heart completely broke for Abbey, who lost her family in a car accident a few years back. If the show didn't get me emotional already, then that will do it. She seems like a really cute and genuine and honest person too, and I think she's there for all the right reasons, no matter how hard they are. She even said that death would be easier, but she chooses to get up every morning and now she's chosen to do TBL. Go Abby!

Mo is the sweet old guy who makes me want to drink coffee and visit with him because his voice is so soothing and he just seems nice.

I like the decision of the trainers to train at the same time, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. At some point I expect they'll split off into teams, but I would think double teaming the contestants would be the most effective way to do it. I wonder if this decision is based on Jillian's track record (not being fair to poor Bob) and all the whiny crap that happened last season. I noticed Bob trying to be a little more hardcore and I had to laugh when one of the contestants said that Bob seems nice when you watch him on TV but in real life, he's not. Of course with Jillian what you see is what you get.

It's obvious that alot of these people are carrying emotional baggage and I hope they deal with it at some point during this show.

I was ambivalent about Alexandra until she made the comment that she wished her partner would have stepped it up more. It showed a lack of support aht bugged me and I was glad to see her go, though I am now intrigued to see who her "crush" was. First instinct: Dan. But my mom made a point that she may not have specified if it was from this season, so maybe it's Mike from last season. Or maybe it's neither and we get to wait three months to find out.

First episode down and now of course I feel like I should be running laps around the block. Not going to happen, but at least I know it'll offer some motivation down the line.