RHAP: We Know Survivor - Survivor San Juan Del Sur Premiere | 10 Year Anniversary

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

It's been 10 years since Survivor San Juan Del Sur premiered and Rob Cesternino (@RobCesternino) and Josh Wigler (@roundhoward) are here to talk about it! Rob and Josh will break down how the game ha...s changed over the past 10 years and how San Juan Del Sur compares to Survivor 47.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:01:01 for you time with a handcrafted espresso beverage from Starbucks. Savor the new small and mighty Cortado. Cozy up with the familiar flavors of pistachio. Or shake up your mood with an iced brown sugar oat shaken espresso. Whatever you choose, your espresso will be handcrafted with care at Starbucks. On this very night, 10 years ago, Survivor San Juan del Sur premiered on CBS and it sounded something like this. Dig woman. Yes, we are back here live to talk about a very special day in Survivor history. September 24th, 2014 was the day we got to meet the cast of Survivor,
Starting point is 00:02:02 San Juan del Sur, and here with me to talk about this on this very special episode of Rob's Podcast, my great friend, who I love talking about old Survivor seasons with, it's Josh Wiggler. I'm going to cry, Rob. There's something in my eye. Oh, no, it's the fire grease from the trees. Oh, it's this poison sap. It's burning. It's burning so bad.
Starting point is 00:02:24 Oh, my God. Can you believe? You just got sapped. We just got. It's been 10 years? Yep. Since Survivor San Juan del Sur. Are you freaking kidding me?
Starting point is 00:02:35 Time flies, baby. We are here. It was 10 years ago on a 90-minute of survivor san juan del sur kicked off a season that has become a survivor classic beloved by a generation who may not have even been watching it at the time but we were hadn't even been born yet baby andy was a legitimately a baby literally an infant an actual baby yes i mean not really he's actually in his 30s but uh you get yeah you get the idea so we are here today to talk about uh this uh 10 year old survivor fans listening to survivor podcasts then or now like now i don't know about
Starting point is 00:03:19 now i feel like that there were then who were like oh wow i can't we have no idea now we have to wait for them to grow up and tell us that they were listening i turned 10 uh minnows in the chat we're doing this live minnows says i was 11 11 11 unbelievable yep unreal i don't want to say how old i was because then i have to say how old i am uh when it comes to survivor san ju Juan del Sur. You say a classic, Rob. I remember back in my day when it was controversial to like San Juan del Sur. It was a slow burn, for sure. And I will say that we watched the premiere,
Starting point is 00:03:58 for now, and it was, in my recollection, a better post-merge than a spoilers of Survivor San Juan del Sur. But the you know, really, it takes Natalie's revenge arc to really get going. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot to love in the pre-merge. But at the time, especially coming off of Survivor Kageyan, that I think that there was a little bit of a feeling that may have been off to a slow start. Yeah, I guess for some, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Starting point is 00:04:35 I don't know about if there were any wounds that needed healing other than Josh's tree-sapped eyes, so I don't know that time had much to do with this. But for me, going back tree-sapped eyes, so I don't know that time had much to do with this. But for me, going back and watching Survivor San Juan del Sur, which we are, again, we are recording these words, September
Starting point is 00:04:54 24th, 2024. Ten years ago. To the day. To the day. To the day is when San Juan del Sur. Also, congratulations to Derek Levasseur for 10 years ago today winning Big Brother. Okay, so what I was also going to say
Starting point is 00:05:10 is happy 10-year anniversary to the very first episode of Big Brother that I ever watched. I've watched like two more since then. Yeah. It was right after, right? Or it was right before. I can't remember which one came first,
Starting point is 00:05:25 the premiere or the finale. I believe that Survivor came on first and then Big Brother came on second. And so I went back and I thought that part of the fun
Starting point is 00:05:33 of this project for me to go back, you know, I looked at the dates and, you know, all year long we've been talking about 2014 of the 10-year anniversary of Survivor Kageyan
Starting point is 00:05:42 in the spring and a bunch of other things that were 10-year anniversaries this year in terms of Rob as a podcast and starting up the Patreon. And this was really the start of my full-time work doing Rob as a podcast. So it was a very special time for me also. So looking back and mapping out the dates, it's like, wow, oh, this also started this exact week.
Starting point is 00:06:06 And I think it's an exciting time for me to revisit talking about this premiere, because I think it's also a time that a lot of people really started to find Rob as a podcast. And while Cagayan got it started, I think that this entire year stretch of 2014 was a real jumping off point for all of the madness that would come in the next 10 years of Rob as a podcast. Yeah, I was going to say that I think that from my experience, so at this point, San Juan del Sur comes out and I think that I'm two years into knowing you as a person, other than just as like a TV character. And so I start getting involved in the podcast. And those are very fun early memories of the podcast. But it's 2014 when I really
Starting point is 00:06:52 remember not just RHAP popping off, but I really remember Rob popping off is the year 2014. Just on the Survivor side of things, though, on the Survivor podcast side of things though on the survivor podcast side of things i think that san juan del suor is an historic season of survivor and rhap because it really revolutionizes and underlines and stresses the monumental importance of the rhap soundboard. Yes. The RHAP soundboard becomes a main character on RHAP with sound. We figured it out a little bit in Cagayan, but I think then the software started to, like I figured out like the buttons.
Starting point is 00:07:36 We soft launched it. We soft launched the soundboard software and you became like mad with power. Maybe too much so. By the time Sanan del sur came around we had so much to choose from a veritable smorgasbord of san juan del sur sound bites uh i couldn't believe that dig woman was in this very first episode yep right off the jump and so right off the rip yeah we'll we'll talk about that. Maybe a little bit about where RHAP was at also.
Starting point is 00:08:09 Josh and I both watched the premiere. You just watched the premiere, right? I just watched the premiere. We just watched the premiere. First time going back to it since we talked about it, I think, on Evolution. I listened to and watched Survivor Know-It-Alls from 10 years ago. It's actually 10 years ago tomorrow i guess uh because of the big brother of it all that we pushed uh stephen fishback to to uh the day after
Starting point is 00:08:33 the survivor wow yeah we did we we bumped the survivor premiere for the big brother it's a busy night yeah certainly i think uh you know in hindsight uh and i don't think you needed much hindsight to know that that was that was the right call program wise. Yeah. One that has to get bumped. I think like as much as I love SJDS. Yeah. You know, Big Brother for now.
Starting point is 00:08:54 He's a historic Big Brother night as well. And then I also was listening to just now my recap of this episode with the great Kim Spradlin. now my recap of this episode with the great kim spradlin and you know it's just and that to me was so fun of like really where you know we're winners at war really when we look back at this era and i think that this is also what's so fun to go back and talk about the 10 years ago of it all really from you know from 27 through you know 40 i feel like you start to have like uh this you know you're laying the groundwork in all the marvel movies of like the ultimate infinity war and end game where interesting uh so fun to have you know uh tony has just won and he's talking about kim and kim is talking about tony in that podcast talking about, and first talking about Jeremy,
Starting point is 00:09:46 who Jeremy is going to be on the season with, with all of them. And it's just that the groundwork is being laid for what's ultimately going to come in winners at war. But we're in. So if that, if that's the end game, if winners at war is Avengers end game is survivor end game. So that bodes poorly for a new era.
Starting point is 00:10:03 Cause like phase, phase four memorably is still ongoing kind of and not so great. I say that as I like new era Survivor a lot more than I like post-endgame Marvel for sure. Well, hear more about that at
Starting point is 00:10:18 WeKnowScriptedTV.com That's correct. WeKnowScriptedTV.com But I do want to make this about the premiere of survivor san juan del sur and it really was so interesting to go back and and watch this because it really i i don't think you could talk about this without talking about how the one year earlier was uh in 2013 the first survivor blood versus. And it really felt like in watching this back, Survivor was trying to maybe like soft launch.
Starting point is 00:10:51 Survivor Blood vs. Water was going to be like the first of many seasons. Yeah, yeah. Like Blood vs. Water was going to be its own iteration of Survivor. Like you could like forget like all this talk about like when are they going to do Celebrity Survivor? That would be like a big brother ask mini season.
Starting point is 00:11:06 Right. There, maybe it feels like in hindsight, looking back on it, because the way that probes talks about the blood versus water concept in this first episode, he's like, we liked it so much.
Starting point is 00:11:18 It was so nice. We did it twice. Like, he's really, really into the blood versus water premise. And you could imagine it going on into a few different yeah but even the cards that come in and out of the show they call are just calling it like survivor blood versus water uh that and they like at the end of the first episode
Starting point is 00:11:37 like this season on survivor blood versus water so they were really all in on this theme and it's so funny because that to us uh who feel like wow what a wonderful season of survivor by the time we get to the end for whatever reason i feel like the show it cannot wait to get to survivor 30 survivor world apart and they never go back to the survivor blood versus water concept which they were so happy and thrilled with from the first time they did it yeah i think that one of you know uh we we recorded for those who don't know what the evolution of strategy even is the evolution of strategy was an audiobook chronicling the first 30 seasons of survivor bob and I spoke about each season in enormous detail. And when we got to the final two seasons of that,
Starting point is 00:12:32 when we got to San Juan del Sur and Worlds Apart, seasons 29 and 30, we were now talking about seasons that had yet to air when we started the evolution of strategy recording process to begin with. Yeah. So I think we always felt like those two seasons specifically, I think like the later seasons of TOS, like we don't really have the benefit of time yet. Like we haven't hit the time travel volume of the evolution of strategy yet.
Starting point is 00:13:03 You know, and so we were we were podcasting we're recording commentary about a thing that we had just processed and so we didn't have um years and years of distance away from it i think years and years of distance away from any survivor season totally warps and changes the way you look at it, depending on how things moved along culturally, or how did the show change, and how did the game, quote unquote, evolve. But I think in the case of San Juan del Sur, and a lot of the seasons from this general time, so now into even into really San Juan del Sur and Worlds Apart, these final Nicaragua filmed seasons of the show. I think that there are some things that happen here or even things
Starting point is 00:13:52 that happened a couple of seasons before this, that Survivor feels like, oh, it's too soon. We shouldn't, we shouldn't touch that again. And so then they never end up touching it again. When I think that probably like people could handle another blood versus water people would desire I think maybe even another blood versus water and they probably could have done it a whole lot sooner and maybe we don't end like if you if you like kill a triple h I'll trade you one heroes healers hustlers for a third blood versus water who's not taking that deal and what does that do? You know, I think a lot of things potentially change.
Starting point is 00:14:33 Yeah, it's so interesting because, you know, it's at a point where I think that Jeff is executive producer is playing with a lot of the ideas. I think they had such great success with it with the first time that they did it. And for whatever reason, maybe they felt like that, you know, they had some casting hits, but not both people from a, you know, a duo ended up being casting hits and they ended up going away from it. But I think that Jeff loves this idea of the relationships. And it's so funny going back and watching this
Starting point is 00:14:58 because I feel like that while this period in Survivor history that we're talking about is a period where there are almost no loved ones visits, where the 30s become really known for the loved ones visit all through the 30s becomes such a staple of the show. And we end up getting the interaction that Jeff, I think, liked so much about this in the form of the loved ones visit of, what's it like being the dad where, you know, you get to have your son go is going to exile Island.
Starting point is 00:15:29 Like what's it like? He even asked him this episode is like, you know, what's it like that you're safe, but your loved one is going to tribal council tonight. Yeah. I don't even know. I think is what Jeremy says.
Starting point is 00:15:41 Yeah. But baby, just look at that one interaction to see just how much juice there was to squeeze from San Juan Del Sur. The season, it opens with day zero, right? Night zero. Night zero. Where all the couples are stranded
Starting point is 00:15:56 across Nicaragua, hanging out, trying to make fire. The late, great, the incredible, the goaded- He's so good in this. Keith Nail talking to my son he biffed it lost the striker
Starting point is 00:16:10 you know this is what's going down and then we get to what could have been Redemption Island arena but is now known as Hero Arena thanks to Mike White and it's going to be in itself it's historic right well this is's going to be, which in itself is historic, right?
Starting point is 00:16:26 Well, this is so fun to be able to like, these are things that like we can know now that we didn't know then. Okay, so I'm not sure at what point, I think maybe in the preseason leading up to it, I think that Jeff had told the story about that. It was Mike White, the future Survivor contestant, Mike White,
Starting point is 00:16:42 who then Jeff had told Mike White about Redemption Island. And Mike White, for the first time in Survivor history, not the last, ends up having like a, Jeff can read Mike White's expression. And he's like, oh, but is it fun, Redemption Island? And Jeff, they throw it out. Now, personally, I actually thought Redemption Island worked its best that it ever worked in.
Starting point is 00:17:08 Far be it for me to disagree with Mike White on to them. But I actually thought that the Redemption Island, at least in like if you were going to stop it at the merge, like they do the hero arena here. Like, I think that it would be perfect for a blood versus water. I think that it would be perfect for a blood versus water season. Oh, man. I'm a psychopath because you heard me rage about Redemption Island years ago and certainly about Edge of Extinction. At this point, like, whatever. Bring them back.
Starting point is 00:17:33 Why not? Throw shit at the wall. Who knows what sticks? But I think evaluating what 29 could have been like with Redemption Island is a very fun exercise. But even with just Hero Arena and the concept being you're going to choose your champion and that champion has to go up against their loved one
Starting point is 00:17:55 in the Hero Arena. And legend in the making, Jeremy Collins steps up and he's going to be the guy. And Jeff says, do you want to know who you're playing against? And Jeremy, like who is one of the deftest, subtlest, like socially excellent survivor winners.
Starting point is 00:18:16 I think that you, you think of when you think of those qualities and a survivor winner, uh, is just like, like all over the place in this challenge where he's like, I don't care who I'm up against. Like, I don't care. I don't care who this is. Just throw him at me.
Starting point is 00:18:31 And then it's his wife. And like, she's sort of the same way. Like, I don't care. Whatever. This is what we signed up to do. And then he blows her out. You know, destroys her in this grab your sack challenge. Somebody in the background is going uh grab your sack challenge somebody in the background is going grab your sack jeremy uh that did not go over my head and by the time it's over like jeremy's dragging
Starting point is 00:18:52 his feet because he doesn't want to uh have to send his wife to exile island and then when he's on the mat on the other side of it jeremy can't even talk. This guy who had like his like sort of like Mortal Kombat one liners ready to go at the start of this thing when he's like, how does it make you feel that Val's going to exile? I went, Jeremy literally says, I can't talk about it. Like I'm not going to,
Starting point is 00:19:18 I'm not, I like, there's so much there just, and we're not even at minute 15 yet. Uh, and there's so much there just and we're not even at minute 15 yet and there's so much there so I think that there's still so much to squeeze from blood
Starting point is 00:19:29 versus water as a concept and you don't have to look any further than the first 15 minutes of the first episode of San Juan yeah and again we only watch the premiere I do think that this hero arena ends up being the only one with those kind of emotional stakes oh they don't always send them against their loved one?
Starting point is 00:19:47 They do send them. I think that they start to. I'm not sure. I can't say that every single one, but I don't think that any of the other ones have those kind of... Well, Hacker goes up against Julie, right? Yeah, but again, it's not like the emotional stakes are not there. It's also great that we're so far away from it that it's a little foggy, too.
Starting point is 00:20:02 So there's aspects of this. It's a great feeling. I don't know how often you get this anymore with Survivor, Rob, because you're still so in it. But when you're away from it for a while and then you reaccess it, there is this incredibly like sort of like dissonant joy in like, oh my God, I completely forgot about that. As you're now like immediately remembering what that's like.
Starting point is 00:20:23 Wes losing the striker. And then Jeremy having to choose somebody to go with Val to exile. And he goes, I already know, I already know who I'm going to send. And it's Keith and Keith is getting emotional. And he's like starting to like get really emotional because of what's going on between them.
Starting point is 00:20:40 I feel the emotion of that. And he's getting really, really worked up. And, and Jeremy's like questioned by prob up and uh and jeremy's like questioned by probes like you're trusting this guy you know this guy knows how to make fire he lost his his flint on night zero and jeremy is going it wasn't him it was his idiot son and west is like whoa and immediately like all of these things that I had completely forgotten are just like totally falling into place.
Starting point is 00:21:16 The the the utter goon squad that is Coyopa up against the seemingly got it together with the exception of Drew Christie Hunapu. Like all of this stuff just like starts like falling into place in this incredible like rain of member berries. Just phenomenal, phenomenal stuff. I had a point here, and I don't even remember. I was just so... You're on a roll. I was just so jubilant watching this again. It was my first time going back to San Juan del Sur, I think, since we talked about it the first time.
Starting point is 00:21:38 And it really, like, wasn't fair to, like, evaluate it so close to it. So to have now 10 years and be like what happened in the last 10 years to make it that a decade has passed since sjds so crazy i have not re-watched much old i kind of got a little too close to the stove uh in 2021 when i re-watched 40 seasons in slightly less than 40 weeks when we counted down the seasons. So since we've been in the new era now, since the fall of 2021, it's been like three years since I've really watched any old Survivor that wasn't from what had just aired. old survivor that wasn't from what had just aired and it was it was definitely a little bit jarring to go back to this particular time in survivor history 10 years ago the show did feel a little bit different and again it's not like now what's very interesting about this and doing this today is that go looking at my own notes okay uh this survivor history and this
Starting point is 00:22:46 podcast history it does rhyme because 10 years ago this very week you and i were recording the survivor vanuatu chapter oh of teos wow okay and and i have in my notes here i've uh written i i'm not sure when we recorded but in my notes i'm watching survivor vanuatu on september 23rd 2014 so at the same time that san juan del sur is premiering that we are also watching and recording about what was happening on Survivor exactly 10 years earlier in September of 2004. Wow. Okay. So now I'm trying to forecast where we are 10 years from now.
Starting point is 00:23:41 And unfortunately, I think that- I've crunched the numbers on this, Josh. And so on September 24th. OK, yeah. Twenty. Thirty four. Yeah. We'll be in the midst of
Starting point is 00:23:57 recapping the premiere week of Survivor 67. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Talking about the 10 year anniversary of Survivor 47. And the 10-year anniversary of talking about the 10-year anniversary that we presided over. It'll be the 20-year anniversary of Survivor San Juan del Sur.
Starting point is 00:24:21 On San Juan del Sur. Yeah, and it'll be the 30 30 year anniversary of Vanuatu. Yep. Hold on, I'm putting this in my calendar. I want to make sure that in 2034
Starting point is 00:24:31 that I've got nothing planned. Save the date. Yeah, this is important. Okay, 2034. Does my calendar
Starting point is 00:24:39 go this far? 2034, September 24th. Ooh, a Sunday. Y'all want brunch? Okay. okay all right you want to do some brunch we'll figure we'll work it out y'all trying to get brunch on september 24th 2034 because i am so i feel like that um i noticed uh some differences i feel like from going back and
Starting point is 00:25:01 watching survivor san juan del Sur through now that with 10 years difference from where we are you know uh like three or four years into the new era versus uh where we were then I one of the things I thought was striking and not like the thing that Wes lost was Jeff describes to us who these people are. And that's something I do not believe is in the new era of Survivor. And I do think that this is a change for the positive. Because instead of Jeff telling us who these people are, for instance, Jeff describes Missy and Baylor. Jeff describes Missy and Baylor and describes them as
Starting point is 00:25:45 Missy's three divorces have left Baylor feeling like she's the mother in the relationship. Did they say that? Did they say that? I don't know. I don't know if those were their words. And I don't think that they would
Starting point is 00:26:01 I think that they would let Missy or Baylor tell you who they are now. To categorize themselves. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, there's that there's a,
Starting point is 00:26:12 there's, there's a few other, like Jeff, the thing that I appreciated about it was that, um, in Jeff narrating and editorializing each of the pairs, each of the pairs gets like highlighted with specificity before the show really starts.
Starting point is 00:26:30 So I think like, that's like sort of the benefit of whether it's the benefit of night zero or probably more accurately, like the benefit of like that narrative structure of probes is telling you who these people are. That felt a little bit like, like back in like earliest Survivor days where they'd be like...
Starting point is 00:26:48 Yeah. And there would be the pictures of everyone. There's Rob at the computer company. I don't think we technically had that, but you could see it. It was that kind of deal. And so it sort of had those vibes for me i think that like what the new era is uh doing instead is like making like bolder format breaks uh and like having these moments where like uh carson could tell you how good he is at puzzles but instead
Starting point is 00:27:19 they can show you him doing like printing out the puzzles and doing them at home so like i think like there's a way that they're having their cake and eat it too but as uh as as like as like somebody who now is like uh i don't i still don't know how to classify myself but like trending casual at least for like new age survivor uh like i know who rome is because he's halfway in the well uh and i know who john is because he's not there anymore and i obviously know who asia welsh is uh and a few of the others who i know but like i don't feel like the cast of 47 was like remarkably characterized for me uh and at the very least like i don't think that i could like tell you half the names of the cast but at the like 15 minute mark of San Juan del Sur, I feel like because the pairs have been
Starting point is 00:28:08 laid out, I at least know the relationships. It's a different game literally here with San Juan del Sur. And a big piece of that is these aren't former Survivor players. And you can't just say, well, that's Rupert's wife like they gotta work harder to like show you who the various pairs are I think it's successful there I don't know that it's necessary now but that was my only observation the observation you made of like
Starting point is 00:28:36 oh yeah and Missy's just been divorced a whole lot and Missy's got a Missy's got a lot of work to do to make it up for Baylor who had to mom Missy it's like Jeff come on you don't have to say all that you just let it ride get in the back seat and let Missy and Baylor drive yeah I just I do think that it's something that the show has worked on over these 10 years of I think and I think it's probably an improvement at least from the
Starting point is 00:29:03 perspective of the contestants of that they're to let the contestants tell you who they are more so than they are going to tell you who the contestants are. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Uh, and I, I think that that's great. I think, I think it's great. It was nostalgic to see though. It was nostalgic. So it's a new year. You know what that means? Setting big goals. Maybe you promised yourself you're going to hit the gym every day, or maybe you said you're going to learn to make fire with a flint for once, or the classic save more money. But let's be honest, New Year's resolutions tend to fizzle out by February. Wouldn't it be great if at least one of those goals could be automatic? That's where Acorns comes in. Today's episode is sponsored by Acorns. You've probably heard
Starting point is 00:29:44 me talk about them before, and I'm excited to share how Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and investing your money so it has a chance to grow for you, your kids, and your retirement. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that fits you and your money goals. You don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you invest with the spare money you've got right now. You can start with just $5 or even just your spare change. You don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you invest with the spare money you've got right now. You can start with just $5 or even just your spare change. You don't need a ton of time either. You can create your Acorns account and start investing in just five minutes. Basically, Acorns does the hard part so you can give your money a chance to grow. Using Acorns is a game changer for somebody like me who spends a lot of time thinking about strategy, whether it's on Survivor or behind the scenes.
Starting point is 00:30:27 It's refreshing to have an app that makes investing simple and automatic. It's a small step that gives me confidence that I'm building a better financial future without stressing over the details. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by investing, this is a great place to start. Head to acorns.com slash robpod
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Starting point is 00:31:12 We could go skating. Too icy. We could book a vacation. Like somewhere hot. Yeah, with pools. And a spa. And endless snacks. Yes!
Starting point is 00:31:20 Yes! Yes! With savings of up to 40% on Transat South packages, it's easy to say, so long to winter. Visit Transat.com or contact your Marlin travel professional for details. Conditions apply. Air Transat. Travel moves us. We end up with two tribes.
Starting point is 00:31:42 Also, what a departure from the new era to have these two tribes. But interestingly, two tribes of nine. And I believe this is the only season that we actually know. I think Edge of Extinction, I think there's also two tribes of nine. And we end up. Were there dropouts? Yes. Yes. So Kim and Doe Kim.
Starting point is 00:31:59 Oh, right. Right. That's so Kim. And then she comes back yes the next season only to not get a foo interview with me but could have and how it works out with if so isn't a blood versus ah man the butterfly effect that George R.R. Martin warned about. That's it. Yes. So, Kim ends up being not in the season and we end up with these
Starting point is 00:32:31 nine-person tribes, which I guess does loom large in the very first vote. Okay, Mike Bloom reminds us that Vanuatu, Guatemala, and Gabon also had two tribes of nine. My question for you, Rob, is
Starting point is 00:32:47 off the rip, without looking at anything, can you give me the tribe breakdowns? You got that in you? I'll tell you which Who's in Coyopa, who's in Hunapu? I'm pretty sure I could do that. Hunapu, if I'm going to start with the men.
Starting point is 00:33:04 You know what? Ladies first. Let me start with the women. Okay. With due respect to our winner. We don't want anything wrong with this. Natalie Anderson. Who not?
Starting point is 00:33:12 Kelly Wentworth. Yeah. Missy. Yeah. Julie. Julie. And then I'm assuming that they have, this is the tribe that has five men. We have Jeremy, Keith, John Mish, Reed, and who am I missing?
Starting point is 00:33:32 I can't believe you don't have the courage to remember my name here. Oh, Drew Christie, yes. Okay. And then on the other side, Alec Christie, John Rocker, Wes, Josh, then Dale, Baylor,
Starting point is 00:33:48 Jacqueline, Val, and Nadia. Yeah. There he goes. I could not do that for every season of Survivor. I do not believe. Could you do that for New Era? Do you think?
Starting point is 00:34:04 I believe so. If I asked you, and I'm not asking you to actually do this, but if I asked you, give me the names of everybody on every tribe from, every starting tribe from 41, could you do that?
Starting point is 00:34:19 I think so. Do you want me to... No, I don't really want you to try. I don't really want you to try. I'm pretty confident. Theory. My theory being Do you want me to? No, I don't really want you to try. I don't really want you to try. I was trying to test out a theory. My theory being that in the moment, at the time, we had a lot of gripes, just like the royal, we had a lot of gripes about the various themes and like, does this make any sense?
Starting point is 00:34:39 Why are you a hustler? You should be a hero. Why are any of you any of these? This shouldn't be a theme, this kind of thing. But I think in those days, there's at least individuality. And I think there is more specificity to who is on which tribe.
Starting point is 00:34:55 I find it easier to track for me, at least mentally, but I have not studied the 40s casts the same way. But I just wonder. I just wonder. I just wonder. Yeah. Okay. Josh, what else stood out to you about the premiere of San Juan El Sur?
Starting point is 00:35:11 Individual people. Obviously, individual people. So many of them who would go on to become legends in their own right. We've talked a decent amount about Jeremy already, who would just come back a couple seasons later and deliver a very impressive win. We could talk about Jeremy already, who would just come back a couple seasons later and deliver a very impressive win. We could talk about Jeremy all day long
Starting point is 00:35:29 in his first episode here. Well, Jeremy is such an interesting character here in San Juan del Sur. And I always think about, you know, Jeremy and how he came back in Survivor Second Chances. And one of the things that I always think about Jeremy just as the Survivor player is the interview that you did with him when you went out to Cambodia, not Fiji.
Starting point is 00:35:50 And you talked to him before he played in Survivor Second Chances. And he just came across as like very like loosey goosey. And he was at peace with whatever happened. And to that point, I wouldn't think that that was the right headspace to go into a returning player game i mean jeremy uh here is just you know uh stressed in san juan el cerro he has a lot going on you know he definitely has like main character energy. But that main character is like a, you know, Jack Bauer, who is just is. Yeah, it's just like going through it the entire time he's on the show. Yes. Yeah. Like that is his energy.
Starting point is 00:36:39 And then his energy is completely, completely flipped. completely completely flipped um my memory of the cambodia stuff is that like every single person out there to a person of the second chancers was like i gotta win i have to atone for this thing i have to like heal this mistake and jeremy basically was the only one or one of very few who is like this is crazy i can't believe i get to play survivor twice really uh and like it's just like completely screamingly different from the guy that you see in this first episode for sure but you already see like jeremy with that main character energy he's just like such a good tv presence uh he the way that he narrates the way that he speaks uh like the the wheeling and dealing he's doing on on hunapu is just like very, very fun to watch.
Starting point is 00:37:25 And I remember that there's a moment that occurs early in this episode when we go back to the Hunapu tribe for the very first time that we talked about during the evolution of strategy, but could not see the future yet, did not know yet that Jeremy would be a survivor champion. And there's a moment where he and Kelly Wentworth very quickly handshake deal on an
Starting point is 00:37:53 alliance and go their separate ways. And Wentworth will go on to have a very underwritten story here in San Juan del Sur, only to become a legend in her own right. But in that moment, I remember in T.E.O. teos you and i just like crossing that scene and being like this could be historic yeah like this could be a historic moment and i think in a lot of ways the hunapu beach actually was very historic specifically for second chance sure uh and even going back to that you know end game uh winners at war with you know jeremy and natalie are both going to be part of uh winners at war with you know jeremy and natalie are both going to be part of uh winners at war and you know have big parts to play in in that story and at the
Starting point is 00:38:30 time we recorded the evolution of strategy we had known the second chain i mean you had already gone to uh cambodia the greatest trick josh wiggler for pulled was talking about vitus having a really good shot at second chance when i already knew he'd gone home. Yeah. But you had known that she was, we all had known that she was out there at that particular point in time. We would not know. I also, at that point, had watched her get that immunity idol
Starting point is 00:38:59 at that first challenge of second chance. And so in my mind, I was like, Wentworth's off to the race. Is this good for Kelly. But you know what? That if we were talking on September 24th, 2014, and we were talking
Starting point is 00:39:11 about Wentworth, it wouldn't be Kelly that we were talking about. No. It would be Dale who had the much bigger premiere episode. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:20 Another reason why there's a lot of reasons to mourn the fact... Farm Guy 69. I was just going to say there's a lot of reasons to mourn Farm Guy 69. I was just going to say there's a lot of reasons to mourn the fact that Survivor had to skip a year of production for the very obvious reasons of like we were in a global crisis. But I think one of the greater tragedies will bear fruit 10 years from now when it's the premiere of Survivor 67 we're talking about instead of the premiere of Survivor Farm Guy 69, which could have been nice. Yeah, I'll have to wait 11 more
Starting point is 00:39:50 years for that instead of just 10. Dale breaks his glasses and starts a fire. This just doesn't get talked about. Yeah, did Dale wear glasses? Did he just bring these glasses to break? Reading glasses?
Starting point is 00:40:08 He needs to read it for all. He was going to read all the tree mail. And then he couldn't be the tree mail reader anymore because he couldn't read them anymore. I had completely forgot that Dale gets the fire started with the glasses. I feel like that this totally gets overlooked in survivor history i feel like yao man does it and again everybody's like oh my god yeah um we get dale doing it it's a footnote well then maybe like everyone like on like like if we could like check like uh the like if there's like any sort of like way like documented way to check what was the search engine like on September 24th, 2014, what were people searching for on Survivor?
Starting point is 00:40:51 Does Google Trends go back that far? I don't know. People were looking up Dale Wentworth? I don't know if G Trends was going back that far, but if it was and people were searching for Dale Wentworth that night and then what would yield is like Farm Guy 69. Maybe people were like, I don't need it. Yeah. My kids are in the room. I'll look at that later. Josh, something else about some other footnotes
Starting point is 00:41:14 about Survivor. People understand that though. That was his Twitter handle. His Twitter handle, his social media handle was and I believe is Farm Guy 69. Why would he change it? 10 years greater. Do we know why he's Farm Guy 69? Was that ever revealed in the lore? Probably.
Starting point is 00:41:30 I'm going to guess the year was an important one. I don't know necessarily. Probably maybe I don't know. Is that the year he started a farm? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:41:48 Some mysteries are best left untouched probably but so a couple of notable things of survivors anyone else sir that i gleaned from uh you know listening to uh the podcast and stuff like this so of course, Survivor Cagayan set Twitter aflame, much like Dale did with his glasses back in the spring of 2014. The cast of Survivor, San Juan del Sur, was not allowed to post on social media about Survivor. Oh, right, White Rice Wednesday. They had to post about White Rice Wednesday. Yeah. And then did they also, was there like a show that they also like uh we're tweeting about and i can't remember what it was it was like an abc show mysteries of
Starting point is 00:42:33 laura thank you mike bloom a great mike bloom yeah it's the encyclopedic memory mysteries of laura white rice wednesdays yes that's what they would talk about that would be like if uh you were watching like the survivor 47 contestants couldn't talk. So instead they tweeted about Matlock. Yeah. I heard it was good. No, I heard it was good. Did you watch it this week?
Starting point is 00:42:52 I did. I watched it today. I watched it about an hour and a half ago because I couldn't come on to a podcast in the Survivor 47 live taping the season without having talked about Matlock. I didn't like it. Oh, oh okay i don't think i'll talk about it anymore all right so also this was i totally forgot about this survivor sam wandell
Starting point is 00:43:14 sir that there was a new host of the cbs a survivor live uh i guess parvati had been doing it from i'm not sure when they started doing it with parvati i think maybe during caram owen and then parvati was hosting like on cbs.com yeah a weekly recap uh like and have the person like there with her in studio she I believe she moved to New York and left the West Coast. And they had hosting Jeff Schroeder, Big Brother contestant. Oh, yeah. Hosted the Survivor Sandwagon. And I'm not sure if that was only one season lived.
Starting point is 00:43:57 It did not catch on. Was it beyond one episode? I think it was the whole season. Yeah. When did Survivor Live stop? I think probably maybe after this. Yeah. Because you know when you reach a thought or a series of words,
Starting point is 00:44:18 and you're like, oh man, haven't thought about that in easily 10 years, or haven't had those two words together next to each other in this context in my head in 10 years. That's Survivor Live for me right now. Had completely forgotten that that ever existed. Are there people out here who need to know what Survivor Live was? I think maybe.
Starting point is 00:44:39 Yeah. It's possible that people who were zero years old 10 years ago were now watching Survivor as 10-year-olds. They might need to know. Yeah. So now the Dalton Ross version with Jenna Maresca, was that Survivor Live? Is that the same franchise?
Starting point is 00:45:01 I think so. Where's Mike to let us know? I'm pretty sure that's correct. And I think, I don't know if it was an EW crossover or not, but it was Dalton and Jenna for a long time, and then that stopped. And then does it go straight to Parv?
Starting point is 00:45:16 No, I think that there was a period in between. I think that it was in... And you're never the host of this, right? You did some CBS.com blogging though yeah i did a blog or two but uh do you remember i uh think it was during nicaragua a different uh nicaragua yeah yeah i think that the original uh i'm not sure if it was survivor live also richard hatch and uh booker was uh his name and i believe he was married to jlo's sister
Starting point is 00:45:48 uh that they hosted it during vanuatu and then and then they switched to dalton ross and jenna but we are yes okay uh we're we're way off base from 2014 we've gone we've gone back too far we're in the time machine bring it back to 2014 we always far. We're in the time machine. Bring it back to 2014. We always threatened we'd get in the time machine. Here we are. We're in the DeLorean. Yes. Okay, Mike Bloom says Bill Posley hosted it during the Philippines. That
Starting point is 00:46:15 feels like it's a made up fact. That doesn't feel possible. And even if it was Bill Posley hosting Philippines, technically doesn't bill posley host all of this yes aren't we all you know it's funny because when i was listening to uh the survivor know-it-alls um i uh i mentioned bill posley hosting the like 2014 me and i'm like why why am i talking about bill posley uh yeah uh your audio quality spruced up you think over the years you know what honestly my video quality
Starting point is 00:46:53 has improved a lot more uh your audio was pretty pretty you know on if you watch the video on youtube and you can go back and watch the old know-it-alls uh the video the audio quality is not so great there but the podcast I was listening to with Kim, I felt like the audio actually was still pretty good. Yeah. And those podcasts, the interviews that I would do would not be on video.
Starting point is 00:47:16 It was audio only. Yeah. Yeah. But let's bring it back to... Yeah, sorry, sorry, sorry. We went down the wrong stream. We have to we have to pay homage we have to honor the uh the the the the greatest the greatest figure of san juan del
Starting point is 00:47:40 sur looms large over the whole season gonna going to get a second chance invite as well. Just the absolute best immediately. The late, great Keith Nail. Yeah. How great was it to watch Keith Nail on Survivor today? Yeah, it was fantastic. Emotional. I don't feel like in second chance he gets as much as he does here in Survivor San Juan del Sur. And he has like a side to him,
Starting point is 00:48:07 ideally that we don't really see in Cambodia where, you know, he seems just like the greatest guy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's going to get his moments in Cambodia for sure, between like the tuck tuck or him like, yeah, just like zoning out while Jeremy's trying to catch his attention for what is that final six? But Keith's arc in San Juan del Sur is just so good and emotional and powerful immediately from like a guy who's like, you know, making fun of his son for losing the Flint to being the guy who like has no problem hopping in and helping out with Val to then being like the guy who again is like he's a feared of these urns.
Starting point is 00:48:54 Right. Like he's scared of the game is sort of Keith's whole arc, which is just it's so it's so funny to me in hindsight, because this is a man who out twice in almost back-to-back seasons in very quick order and places fifth and fourth or fourth and fifth. Keith Nail was great at this. to win here in this season. I feel like in Second Chance, maybe more of a long shot, but it did feel like that he had like an inside track at this thing. Yeah. But just like even like, even seeing like the moment with him and Jeremy hugging it out as firefighters, knowing that this, you know,
Starting point is 00:49:41 working relationship doesn't exactly work out, whether in this season or in San Juan. Jeremy also, a thing that delineates him from Keith and Kelly. Keith and Kelly, I think, were both relatively excited to see other people from their season out there. I believe Jeremy was not pleased at all.
Starting point is 00:50:03 It specifically was like, oh, no, not Keith again. Not Keith again. No, not Keith again. Yeah. And it's fine. It's fine in this premiere episode. The relationship does sour a little bit when we get into everything with the sub alliance.
Starting point is 00:50:17 And Keith and the hat and the mustache and like those like beautiful eyes that are like constantly just like about to shed tears the jeans rob the jeans are a really underrated component uh of keith who's just always wearing them uh doesn't matter how hot uh just an like it's so easy to just like just be like yes icon stan like keith Yeah. Keith Nail, icon. He goes to Exile Island a couple times. He goes there with Val here in this episode. And Val, we don't get to spend a lot of time with her as a Survivor contestant here, just these couple of episodes. But, you know, Val is such a big personality and really gives us a lot here in this premiere.
Starting point is 00:51:05 Yes. Val is great. Val's whole like, I'm a fighter. Don't worry about me. I'll be back. And when I come back, I'll have a satchel filled with immunity idols. So you're not going to have to worry about a thing. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:20 Now, if you didn't rewatch the episode with us, Val ends up, Val and Keith go to Exile Island and there are two urns. They have to both pick one. One urn has a clue to an idol hidden back at the camp. Val finds the idol or finds the note inside the urn that has the clue. Does not share it with Keith. Luckily, Keith is sort of easy come easy go yeah he's like alright that's her business if it's about her camp then
Starting point is 00:51:49 that's I'll leave that to her yeah but he's scared of the game he doesn't want to play this this is terrifying Val gets the clue to the hidden immunity idol yeah yeah she does and so like that ends up becoming sort of uh a possible hot spot when she
Starting point is 00:52:09 returns to coyopa and coyopa has to go to tribal and they haven't had a she hasn't had a chance to meet any of these people yet so like reason to think that maybe she's somebody to go after um they they really don't go after her which i remember being a little confused by in the moment i went back uh and uh shout out to the to the great mike bloom here in the chat who is the king of survivor coverage at parade magazine once upon a time i was his father uh and i was i was his father at parade magazine and parade survivor coverage and so my survivor coverage began at parade and it began with this season and so i had interviews i was in the exit interview circuit for the first time uh son uh and i he's a good boy he's a good boy yeah he's not gone boy. Yeah. I cannot promise that he won't by the end of our run here.
Starting point is 00:53:09 But I went back and I read the Nadia interview and I and I asked her, I was like, you weren't thinking about Val at any point. And her thought was like, these boys were like transfixed with rocker. Once Dale cooked up fire, no one could stop talking like there was just no breaching the boys uh and so val in her mind was like an essential number in order to potentially combat against that alongside the rest of the girls so val nadia jacklyn uh, Baylor, and Josh? Which she's not to say. And Josh is like, ooh, that's probably the worst thing you could say about me. Ask Reed on the other beach.
Starting point is 00:53:56 And then she says it again in confessional and at tribal council. Not the best. Not the best. No, it wasn't really great. not not the best at the best no it wasn't really uh great she's that uh in the battle of like uh you know uh men versus women that she uh says a couple times that uh she was counting josh as one of the girls and look i i think even even at the time we were uh saying like yeah maybe uh she shouldn't have said that uh yeah I said, read the Nadia interview and my first thing that I say to Nadia
Starting point is 00:54:27 is, hi, my name is Josh, but I'm not a girl. And she says, okay. And I say, Mike Bloom, you got like edit access? Because like that doesn't need to be in there. Like maybe Mike still has edit access. Hey, look, it was 10 years ago. We all get
Starting point is 00:54:43 better and smarter and you, and it's okay. I don't think that Josh... I have a couple things to edit out, though. You could do that, right? Okay. So Josh, that he... First Survivor Josh. I was so excited to finally have a Survivor Josh.
Starting point is 00:55:00 Yeah. He did not love that. But I don't think that that was the reason why he ultimately didn't side with them. He actually has a curious vote. He votes for Baylor. And I think we find out in the next episode that he was trying to hide his relationship with Baylor. Yeah, but instead... In the podcast, we're very confused about it because I haven't looked ahead and I haven't like read ahead or anything. So I don't really remember why he does it. I just remember like this, this being like a bad choice that ultimately doesn't benefit him at all with Baylor. Right. Like I think like there are moments where like Baylor could be more loyal to Josh, but because he does.
Starting point is 00:55:43 She didn't like this. She didn't like that at all. Yeah. Okay, so Nadia ends up being the first boot of the season. Dale does not like that she was part of the Amazing Race. He felt like that she was a backstabber on the Amazing Race. They did the U-turn. In the podcasting, I say that that was not really my recollection
Starting point is 00:56:04 of the 20s from their time on The Amazing Race. Interestingly, at Tribal Council, Jeff even asks Nadia, how do you compare being on Survivor to being on The Amazing Race? Which I am a little surprised, maybe because Nadia ends up being the first boot, they include that in there. But for Jeff to even be talking about The Amazing Race was a little bit surprising. Yeah, you can tell that like, because like Amazing Race is really not part of Natalie's story out here.
Starting point is 00:56:33 It's like, we really like just like, we get as far, we run as far away from The Amazing Race as we can as quickly as possible. It's even only brought up when like, Jeff is doing these like night zero intros of all these people. And Jeff is like,
Starting point is 00:56:49 yeah, and they were on The Amazing Race. And like, just like kind of like, like he has like these epic editorializations of all these different people. It's like, hey, yeah, Natalie, Nadia,
Starting point is 00:56:57 they played The Amazing Race. And it was one for us and one for them in the fall of 2014. As of course, friends of the pod, Keith and Whitney appeared on The Amazing Race that fall. Is that right?
Starting point is 00:57:09 Yes. Keith and Whitney got on a different CBS show? Yes, they did. Why? I guess that they love to have a showmance. And I don't know if it was like, hey, we'll give you we'll trade you 20s for Keith and Whitney. I had to have known this, but this is another one of those like, really, that had that also happened. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:32 Whitney. If we want to know why, we'd have to go back and re-listen to my exit interview with them. From South Pacific. Oh, yeah. That was a really good exit interview that you had with them. Yeah. One of the best. One that I remember vividly. Now it's all coming back to me. Yeah a really good exit interview that you had with them. That I remember vividly.
Starting point is 00:57:46 Now it's all coming back to me. An unforgettable exit interview. So good that you didn't do it. So Natalie is our winner of the season. She does not have a very
Starting point is 00:58:01 big premiere. Rather like an under-edited premiere for Natalie. Yes. She does not have a very big premiere. No. Rather like a under-edited premiere for Natalie. Yes. Yeah. Nadia gets to carry the Anderson family weight, the narrative weight in this episode. And as her survivor soul leaves her body, it drifts from tribal council,
Starting point is 00:58:25 from the, from the ghosts of Coyopa to possess Natalie and fuel her with a fury that will take her as far as Jeremy's destruction in this game, which will then his soul shall fuel her vengeance even further. Natalie is like, it's, it's sort of like, did you ever,
Starting point is 00:58:47 what's that Denzel Washington movie where like the ghost keeps possessing everybody? It's kind of like that. Like Natalie's story doesn't start really, I feel like until Jeremy goes. Like it's like sort of like. Because he becomes the new 20. Yeah, he becomes the new 20. And becomes the new 20 and so she has a new
Starting point is 00:59:06 20 and so as long as she has a 20 in the game that's her story uh but until then she just doesn't have a ton to do yeah it's uh and again it to me even still going back it feels like that uh this is a more uh top heavy uh in terms of uh the stars of the show i feel like are on hunapu with all due respect to the coyote tribe you mean from like um like uh like historic like the like the stars of san juan del sur or like even at the time i i think both i mean i feel like that in terms of like, if we're going to like rank the, you know, most interesting people in the cast, I think it would be weighted far more
Starting point is 00:59:53 for the people that are all on the Hunapu beach. Yeah, I'm just trying to like check that and it's really like Rocker is holding it down over at Cueva. Yeah, I mean, Val and rocker are going to be out soon. Uh, and then, you know,
Starting point is 01:00:09 you end up with, uh, Wes, Alec, you know, Josh has a part to play in the story and sort of, sort of Baylor, but,
Starting point is 01:00:15 yeah. Um, you know, even, uh, you know, Jacqueline and, it's going to,
Starting point is 01:00:20 you know, it's going to take for her to get back together with John to have her story. Yeah. The cast of San Juan del Sur is quite good, I think, though. I think back on these people with a nostalgic fondness that I still can't summon for South Pacific, as evidenced by the mention of Keith and Whitney and that not really doing much for me.
Starting point is 01:00:47 And I say that remembering that when we recorded our South Pacific chapter of Evolution of Strategy, that was like the biggest surprise of the whole run for us. You and I were like really intrigued. Like we were very, very hooked on that season. Why do you think that is? Is there a difference between what was going on in the casting or is it just like what we saw
Starting point is 01:01:06 on the screen from 23 to 29? Well, I think in 2014, you know, Blood vs. Water, like Philippines is a great season and then Karamoan giveth and taketh. Blood vs.
Starting point is 01:01:22 Water giveth. Kageyan giveth. But San Juan del Sur, giveth. Kageyan giveth. But San Juan del Sur, like for some people is take a thing. And Worlds Apart is going to go there too, I think. But I think like we're like now in sort of like an optimistic period
Starting point is 01:01:39 in that like mid to late 20s of Survivor, where I think like there was some ability there to look back at like South Pacific at that time, being like, I think that this gets a little more hate than it deserves like three years later. With like, and I'm ballparking, I don't know if it was three years or whatever it was, like 13, 15 years later now at this point,
Starting point is 01:02:03 South Pacific, something like that. I just don't know that the nostalgia goggles are on for that. If I may posit a theory on South Pacific versus a season like San Juan del Sur, that these returning players who come back between Rob and Russell and then Coach and Ozzy, the coach and Ozzy, that they end up just like taking up so much screen time that maybe we just never got to know some of these other characters to the same degree where probably, and I'd have to go back and look at like the confessionals and everything, but it feels like that the edit is probably more even, even the people who are like the big stars of the season, like Jeremy ends up going out around the time of the merge. So I think that probably, uh, the amount of, uh, screen time that we spend with all these characters, it's probably pretty even. That seems fair. That seems like a
Starting point is 01:02:57 very good, everybody got something. Yeah. Yeah. Like, uh, certainly like that's a huge complaint of like, yeah. Who, like who is even Ometepe and Zapatero. Like, who is on those tribes? Like, I don't think you could go back and even look at the seasons and say, like, who is the most purple character in San Juan del Sur? I mean, even... It's Kelly Wentworth. Probably, yeah.
Starting point is 01:03:19 Who goes on to be, like, you know, a legend. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah um yeah i think i think that i think that san juan del sor is like uh uh i don't know i think like it is it is it is in its own way as emblematic of what survivor was like back then as something like Kageyan, maybe even more so. Kageyan is like a legend that has grown larger in the telling and felt like it was sort of like this instantly legendary
Starting point is 01:03:53 season to the point where I think it's grown overrated probably to a certain extent. See, and you say you haven't been on Survivor Twitter. Well, I have an insider. And I don't think that there has been sort of like a real reason
Starting point is 01:04:19 for any sort of like any feeling developing about San Juan del Sur other than positive nostalgia. Like I can't really think of like a reason why you would like think back on this season and think about anything other than just like kind of being happy. I think that this was like a time when like being a survivor fan was just about being happy. We had been through like a fairly dark period of the early 20s,
Starting point is 01:04:46 and the seasons just were not that good. And now the seasons are kind of bangers again. The podcast is a banger every single time you're putting a new show out. Being a Survivor fan during this time was the best. Not to besmirch what it's like to be a fan right now certainly it was a optimistic time in terms of uh people connecting online in uh 2014 and i think it was a period in which the survivor was was very good and very strong really starting from i think that you know coming out of uh you know 26 ends up being like where there's like a lot of talk about twitter and cochran gives out his twitter handle in a caramon finale and then we have the first blood versus water and obviously kagian and then here this other blood versus water i think it was a time
Starting point is 01:05:34 in which survivor was very exciting and then i think that people then uh sought out others about like hey like let me i'm gonna they put the hashtags on the screen so you would say like what are other people saying about this and it was a time i'm sure people got hate in the in the real time but overall like i feel like that it was a a very positive time around survivor and it was a period of connection both in in Survivor and I think in a lot of online spaces. And I think that it was really a point where, you know, it ended up being rocket fuel for this Survivor community to bring it back to something that we heard a lot in this past season premiere from this week. And it was a period where I'm not sure where it starts to
Starting point is 01:06:28 deteriorate. But this is a time when people were finding Survivor and finding each other. And it was a very happy time in the Survivor community. Yeah, I agree. I think like there's there's this like chunk of time that I would probably, you and I were talking about this a bit offline and like trying to sort of like sketch out what that era kind of might be. Is it like the first blood versus water through like millennials, Gen X or something like that? Like feels like a very warm time to be a survivor fan. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:07:03 I would say that, um, uh, that's probably around the time. And look at the political discourse is going to change up quite a bit around the time of survivor millennials versus Gen X. Uh, and so I, I think that moods shift moods, moods shift.
Starting point is 01:07:20 It's a very big vibe shift. There's a vibe. There's, there is a vibe shift. And I think that that is, uh like even in these types of communities. But like, I think that we're just like bringing people together. And it's also the big moves era of Survivor, which I think really starts in Survivor. The first Survivor, Blood vs. Water,
Starting point is 01:07:47 and famously with Ciara voting out her mom. But we do have at least a few big moves here. Maybe not the flashiest, probably the Natalie playing her idol in the finale and asking Jacqueline, did you vote for who I told you to? Probably being the biggest of the big moves from Survivor, Sai and Wanda, but probably... But what do you think gets remembered better? Like the big move or the big character? Generally
Starting point is 01:08:18 speaking. I think that certainly the characters here in this season, but I think that the show really falls in... season, but I think that the show really falls in, like it has been my personal thesis, you know, Survivor falls in love with the blind side in Survivor Kageyan. And then in a season where, you know,
Starting point is 01:08:35 we get the blind side of Jeremy and then it's not really a season of blind sides in Survivor San Juan del Sur. I feel like that the show maybe struggles with how do we, how do we market this? Yeah. But, but then don't they also end up like they like market like this,
Starting point is 01:08:53 like Godfather brawl between Josh and Jeremy. And then they both get blindsided back to back. Like there, there is such a good question. I don't, I don't remember it super well. I think that there's like an under, I think that there's like a,, I think that there's like a,
Starting point is 01:09:06 like, because there is, there are like, there is a lot of like chicanery occurring on San Juan del Sur. And there are, there's definitely a vibe of the inmates running the asylum at certain points throughout the run. And I think like that gets felt and that gets frustrating.
Starting point is 01:09:26 And I think from, um, uh, I, I, I cannot begin to speculate on what it's like to make survivor from 40 onward. Uh,
Starting point is 01:09:37 but like my experience of like talking to some of these people who were making the show back during like the late twenties and the thirties is I think like their experience, like their front row view of making the show, often like their like feeling of like how is the show going to be received, this or that, is from like the feeling of a blind side in the moment or like watching a big move happen in the moment. And then that stuff, you know, maybe translates differently to us back home. And I think like San Juan del Sur was not a particularly loved season
Starting point is 01:10:05 by the people who were making it for reasons that are probably similar to that. But I think that beneath the buffoonery, there are really fun, solid moves that are being made. But I don't even want to say beneath the buffoonery because I think one of the most instrumental words in the survivor lexicon is right there in buffoonery. It's the buff. The buffoonery is the stuff. I think my stuff ultimately, when I think back on what I love
Starting point is 01:10:39 about this show, is the level of hijinks you get from season 29. I don't know if that could have been appreciated as much by the people making the show in the moment. And that might be part of the reason why, all right, we exhausted blood versus water. It wasn't as good the second time. So let's just not touch it. Let's just not do it again. I don't think that's right.
Starting point is 01:11:02 I think you could do it for 51 or whatever if we're like gonna start this thing all over again like and people would be psyched people would love it they'd be great yeah ramble well i have long found with uh my interviews that we do with the contestants the strategy i feel like is fleeting like yeah there are certain there certainly is an audience that is here for it. And like the over explanation of the moves, take it apart. How did it work? What did you say? What did you do? Who was thinking what? And you know, that's certainly like that autopsy is always interesting. But what I find that the things that when people tell me about their favorite moments from this show, from this podcast are always like the anecdotes, the stories, the times they laugh, the character moments that people get. And I think it's very much similar with Survivor.
Starting point is 01:11:55 And so I think that we sort of like maybe come in for the big moves. We want to be here for the blind sides. But maybe sometimes they all blend together. And I think it's sort of the moments where you felt something are really the times that you look back and those really stick with you. Yeah, I think so. I think so for sure.
Starting point is 01:12:16 I really love looking back at this. This was great. Oh my God. I want to open this up if there's anybody who has any questions, but what do we, what do we do with this from here? What do we do with Survivor San Juan del Sur? Are you asking,
Starting point is 01:12:33 do we put it in the backseat and drive away with it? Or what are we doing? Do we come back to this in 2034? Uh-huh. I think at the bare minimum every 10 years we have to check in on on san juan del sur uh i think i think is is very important uh i think it's very important it's on my calendar it's a sunday brunch uh i saw someone watching this live say oh uh live event, Sunday brunch podcast. Yeah. That sounds fun. So one week from now, okay? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:13:07 I believe it's October 1st, 2014. Okay. Is the 10-year anniversary of the very first live Know It Alls. Oh, shit. So one week from now, in 10 years, or 10 years ago, October 1st, 2014 was the very first live Survivor Know-It-Alls. I was I was there. Yeah. There was 75 of us in the basement of the Gotham Comedy Club. Yeah. So I don't know. Should we celebrate that anniversary next week? Yeah, absolutely. Do we go back and do we have like the video to watch and everything can we
Starting point is 01:13:45 i believe the video is there i mean that would be fun if somebody would then recap the video and tell us uh about anything uh anything interesting look if you're telling me you want to go you want to come back one week from now and remark on more decade later history in the survivor pantheon i would i would be here uh in a heartbeat i literally have have nothing else to say. Let's see what the response is to this episode. I mean, the live chat today was pretty positive. Yeah, very positive. Loved seeing all the people in here. Yeah, I'm up for it.
Starting point is 01:14:18 I would check it out. Let's see what the folks think. Okay. All right. We love to hear from you in the comments about how you felt about this podcast what it was like uh having josh back talking about survivor how was that that was that good for you it was great for me uh any thoughts on uh after watching the survivor 47 premiere and how uh this premiere uh stacked up uh it was It was the first time that I've watched Survivor live
Starting point is 01:14:49 in forever. It's such a long time. And I really, really missed that. I'd forgotten how much I missed what it's like to be on whatever version of Twitter this is right now while an episode is on to then have the podcast live 15 minutes later. I mean, I think that the truth about Survivor, or at least my experience with Survivor, and I imagine many people's experience with Survivor, if they listen
Starting point is 01:15:18 to a podcast about San Juan del Sur 10 years later, They're an hour 10 plus into the podcast and it's not even an off season. The season is happening and you're listening to this content. I think that you will be much like me in saying that the internet was always part of your Survivor experience. Like the internet has been like a companion with me
Starting point is 01:15:42 when it's come to Survivor from the earliest days of those first few seasons playing orgs to getting to talk about it on on rhap to getting to talk about it uh on twitter with people um that live online community component that was alive 10 years ago or was maybe being born in a new way 10 years ago for San Juan del Sor absolutely still exists and is flourishing today. And I really enjoyed, I binged the new era and that was a really fun experience that I'm still unpacking.
Starting point is 01:16:16 But there's just nothing that really compares to watching survivor on the weekly watching survivor on the weekly is just a transcendent experience. So as far as my takes on 47 right now, my takes are really mostly just about the community around Survivor, less about the episode itself. Could we make any comparisons? If we were going to make a list of what are
Starting point is 01:16:36 the things that Survivor 47 and Survivor San Juan del Sur have in common? Both have a famous John. They both have notable media friendly or media-unfriendly John, depending on which media you're talking about. Yes. No one fell down a well in San Juan de los Suer. Dale tried to take the cover to the well
Starting point is 01:17:05 or took something off of the well. That's right. There are some well shenanigans. Yeah. There's a little bit of Matt chat freak out in San Juan del Sur, but it's Jeremy. I think Jeremy is in a much more
Starting point is 01:17:21 it's not as big of a moment as what happened with Andy this week, but there's like, there's some drama about kicking out. I don't know that there's a ton, not a ton, not a ton yet. Okay.
Starting point is 01:17:34 I don't know that there's a ton. We'll see. Might be fun to chronicle as we go through it. Okay. All right. Josh Wiggler, of course, if in case you've been living under a rock or a rocker, a five-letter word, okay?
Starting point is 01:17:49 Josh Wigler has been part of the team talking about Scripted TV back here on Rob's podcast. You can find it all at WeKnowScriptedTV.com. That's the homepage for all of our Scripted TV dot com. That's the homepage for all of our script TV podcasting. We know scripted TV dot com, where every week we're talking about all sorts of non-reality shows. Yeah. We know unreality. We didn't want to go that way. I know.
Starting point is 01:18:18 That was starting to get a little too trippy, but all kinds of. I actually already talked about Survivor this week on a podcast in the We Know Scripted feed. We snuck it into the Survivor feed, so hopefully you all got a chance to listen to that. But Antonio Mazzaro and I have been podcasting with him for 10 years. We're still podcasting each and every week on the weekend program, every weekend on RHAP at WeKnowScriptedTV.com. And this past week, we talked about uh about the new era of survivor and where both of us are at with it and then we
Starting point is 01:18:50 uh cast survivor borneo the dramatic tv show yeah okay check it out weekend program tv show it's kind of ridiculous that we haven't dramatized survivor yet be amazing be pretty good okay who would uh who would star in Survivor
Starting point is 01:19:06 San Juan del Sur, the movie? Could you cast one person? Cast one person. Who would play John Rocker other than Danny McBride? I mean, definitely Danny McBride has already played John Rocker.
Starting point is 01:19:22 So, I don't know. This is not my area of expertise yeah yeah yeah yeah okay um i gotta we got a question in the chat uh that was about uh missy and baylor we haven't really talked about them uh so any mention of any of the other cast like missy and baylor who apparently removed a lot of her older songs from her YouTube channel. What? What? No. No. Is that gone?
Starting point is 01:19:51 I'm not sure. Do you still just have that on the soundboard? Yeah, man. I mean, I don't want to get a copyright strike, but... Yeah. All right. Take it off. Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. We don't want to get struck down. Nice and done, Rob. What else do you got on that? You got any, like, San, quick, quick. We don't want to get struck down. Nice and done, Rob. What else do you got on that? You got any San Juan del Sur goodies in there?
Starting point is 01:20:09 I'm a meat collector. Oh, my God. I kind of want to keep watching San Juan del Sur at least until Al Christie tells me that I'm healthy. So, basically, I'm a badass. And a master manipulator of this game. I think that's. That continues. Of course.
Starting point is 01:20:27 Get in the backseat and let me drive. Yeah. Shut your mouth, homie G. Homie G, yes. I'm not talking to you. Smarty poo. Smarty poo. Yeah, Missy and Baylor are a whole ass mood.
Starting point is 01:20:45 Remember when they would just show up? Yeah. They would go to, they had a thing where they would like, you could like write to them and they would just show up at your house. Yeah. Yeah. But I think actually that one, I think that that is. And we'll just show up.
Starting point is 01:21:01 And we'll just show up is like the biggest threat anyone has ever delivered and we'll just show up no no no no no no i only said beetlejuice twice yeah unbelievable okay all right well let us know uh how uh you all are feeling about this and let us know if you want us to do more survivor yeah yeah we'll just show up we'll just show up okay if'll just show up. I feel like in many ways that we talked about San Juan del Sur in a way that was fairer and more evolution of strategy to San Juan del Sur than the actual evolution of
Starting point is 01:21:34 strategy coverage. But you know what? In fairness to us, we were talking about it so close to when it happened. It would be like if we did the evolution of strategy of Survivor 45 right now. Right. Yes. Yeah. It's like,
Starting point is 01:21:45 it's hard to say how it changed the future. It didn't happen yet. Like if you're, if you're one of those people who wants like the survivor 45 chapter of the evolution of strategy right now, then you may as well just pay me and Rob to read the phone book. Cause it's going to be the same level of intellect, as in not much. We're just going to vibe.
Starting point is 01:22:08 But I'll do it if you want to release chapter 45 of the Evolution of Strategy and it's just some phone book banter. I'm here. Look, one step at a time on that. Now, we
Starting point is 01:22:22 got this whole thing started back in 2014 if you want to become a part of this uh patron community we're still having a lot of fun including a weekly survivor q a take questions from our patron friends every friday about what's going on had a great call this past week plus uh so many perks, including we have our live show coming up in New York City on October 16th. I'm planning a patron-only meetup the night before.
Starting point is 01:22:53 So lots of exciting stuff that you can check out. Plus, merch discounts, ticket discounts. You can get that all at robisawebsite.com slash patron. Merch discounts?
Starting point is 01:23:02 Like if you made the merch, you get more money off? Well, yes. Merch discounts where that for Survivor San Juan del Sur, Rob is a website.com slash patron. Like if you made the merge, like you get more money. Well, yes. Merge discounts where that for a survivor, San Juan del Sur, you had to merge on day 19.
Starting point is 01:23:11 Now with our special discount at Rob is a website.com slash patron. You get the merge at day 13, six days off the merge at Rob is a website.com slash patron. Not bad. You thought of everything, haven't you? Thought of everything. Okay, Josh, what else is coming up for you? Anything?
Starting point is 01:23:30 Down the hatch with the great Mike Bloom, we've been recapping every season of Lost, but just the seasons. We're not doing an episodic detail because we're not that psycho. We're almost done. We're almost finished. They're spoiler free
Starting point is 01:23:45 so if you're just watching Lost for the very first time, you can finish a season and listen to the season one recap and so on and so forth. Really really fun. That's been great to do with Mike. Otherwise I'm here behind the scenes on RHAP helping
Starting point is 01:24:01 Rob make the podcasts go boom. So I'm here. Just like a little bit behind the curtain. A little bit. Just behind the veil. Thank you so much for joining us. We've got the slop coming up for the patrons at 6pm Eastern talking about
Starting point is 01:24:17 another sloppy week on Big Brother 26. Take care everybody. Have a good one. Bye.

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