Wednesday, September 19, 2007

'Survivor 15: China' - My First Impressions on the Cast - Part Five

Welcome to the last installment of my Survivor 15: China cast introduction and my take on the new castaways! I've had to split this into several parts due to length. You can find the rest of the castaways in Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four. These will remain listed in my sidebar here for easy reference throughout the season. While I'll be doing the show episode reviews themselves over at TV Squad this season, I'll be talking about the show here, too. And, of course, I always welcome your comments both at TVS and here!

Continuing my alphabetical order by first name, it's Peih-Gee next to the plate. I was pretty impressed with her in her video on the CBS site although she seems to be being portrayed as a bit of a wild card in the promos for the show.

Looking at her CBS bio, I can't help but mention she has one of the longest, if not the longest, bios of anyone on the show this season. She has an extensive dancing background appearing in videos from many popular stars and MTV doings. She's well-traveled, too. Plus, she has a roughing it in foreign lands for extended periods of time experience. Not only that, but her educational background is impressive, too. Oh, my.

She says she's free-spirited, witty, spunky, assertive, optimistic, open-minded, outspoken, strong-willed and she thinks like a guy. She thinks her biggest strengths are having a good attitude, seeing the brighter side of things, and having the ability to focus all of attention to the task at hand. Oh, my.

It's off to her favorites! She lists Survivor amongst her favorite shows, good. WHAT? She lists NO cereal. She left the cereal section blank. I don't know what to make of that. This is a first. How can I judge her psychological game without knowing her cereal?

Her chances? I think she just could be the strongest all around player for the women. If she isn't too assertive and doesn't alienate the others, I can see her hanging in towards the end. Plus, she has two cats. I think I like her!

I see this season's show is back down to only a few persons of color. I kind of liked the more diversity in casting, but we'll see how this season goes down.

Sherea focused on her people-skills and herself on a whole in her video. She does seem to be a nice person and her background as a teacher will probably help her cope with the various personalities in the game. Her plan is to get along with everyone and keep focused throughout. She will play thinking of her mother who's a breast cancer survivor.

Her bio is only about half as long as Peih-Gee's. She looks very normal, perhaps too normal to be on a reality show! Her educational background includes a Masters degree. She claims to be sassy, outspoken, and caring. I didn't think she seemed either sassy or outspoken in her video. She just came across as nice to me. What do I know, eh? She also considers herself to be competitive, outgoing, and a leader.

Going to her favorites, I see she lists Big Brother on her shows, but not Survivor! Ack, two very different shows! For cereals, she likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. That tells me that, not only does she have a fun-loving side, she's seeking the luck of the Irish to be on her side throughout the season! (Trust me, I've studied Cereal Psychology for years.)

Her chances? I think I'm going to like her as a person on the show, but I'm not so sure how well she'll do swimming with the sharks. If she indeed befriends people, works those people skills ... she might do well. I'd like to be wrong, but I don't see her making it to the final four.

Todd has the dubious honor of being the last castaway on my list. In his video, he was a bit ... off ... or something. At one point he stopped for an extended period of time looking confused, then repeated himself. He thinks he will do well and everyone will like him. Um, okay.

In his bio on the CBS site, he starts off with the fact that he's an openly gay Mormon. Holy Osmonds, Batman! He's allergic to cats, rabbits, and shrimp. He describes himself as fantastic, amazing, awesome, and super-original.

Give me a break, kid. Keep this up and I'll want you not only booted but forced to jump from the Great Wall head first.

He goes on to say he'll do well because he's very positive, great at social skills and strategizing, and will gather wood and er, stuff. He thinks the Spice Girls are the most significant historical event of the past 100 years.

Is this guy a joke? Onto his favorites ... he does list Survivor in his favorite shows, but that's no surprise. For cereals he lists granola and Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch. Aha, he's living a contradictory kind of life! He doesn't know if he wants to go the healthy route or eat the least popular Cap'n Crunch in a childlike fantasy land! Very telling, indeed.

His chances? I think an early boot, but he might hang in for a while because I don't think the others will see him as a threat. I know if he pulls the "I make everyone happy" bit at the wrong time, he could certainly alienate the others.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peih-Gee is my Survivor in the office pool so I'm glad to see Jackie feels good about her. I'm horrible at judging these people!

I think Todd is Amber's little brother. He's an airhead and even looks a bit like her!

Can't wait 'til Thursday!!!

Joe in NY said...

I've been inundated with Survivor promos this morning.

I had to take my car in to have the windshield replaced, so I wasn't at work (yes, anons, I do work!) as early and I was stuck in a waiting room for a couple of hours watching Regis & Kelly.

Jeff Probst was on promoting China. It does sound like they had some interesting twists. They did the same thing they did the Pirate year and just dumped them off with what they were wearing. So, apparently, a lot of them just ended up in their underwear when they discovered that high heels and dresses made movement difficult. (You'd think they'd know by now...)

The kidnapping twist sounds like it could either be the lamest thing since AP (wink wink BB fans) or a great new twist, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

I also heard Lindsay (sp?) the wrestler on the radio while I was driving to the shop. She's already my early favorite (personal, not choice to win), she was actually very witty and did a good job talking to the DJ - especially since CBS wouldn't let her tell anything (obviously) nor give her a promo script to use. She's also pretty attractive and, according to some other promos, half-naked much of the time as she's very uninhibited. (Amber bless America & CBS)

Can't wait for Thursday!

Anonymous said...

Orkmommy,I'm with you on Peih-Gee. I think with it being in China that will give her a major heads-up with the culture.

I'm eagerly looking forward to Survivor too!

Anonymous said...

Just watched the web videos of Dick & Daniele on the Early Show. I was amazed that Julie actually asked Daniele about her boyfriend Kris and Nick!

Go to The Early Show. The videos are in the scroll bar about half way down the page. The one titled 'Evel' Dick Sweeps 'Brother 8' is the Early Show appearance and the one titled The Unstoppable Dick and Daniele is the exclusive web interview. They're both pretty good!

Anonymous said...

And I found more!!

Uncut Interviews With 'Big Brother 8' Housemates

These were interviews in the back yard of the house after the finale. The interviewer is kind of hard to understand. I've only watch the Amber one (yes, she's still clueless!).

Enjoy!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Orkmommy for the video links! I watched the Early Show video - curious to hear what Daniele would say about her boyfriend. With Nick moving to California, I think her relationship with her boyfriend is truly over. I'll check out the other video links a little later.

Anonymous said...

Orkmommy...thanks so much for the link...great unscripted interviews immediately after show. You can see Dick's male ego was battered by Jen from the get go when she didn't want him in her bedroom...think he was looking initially for a shomance, and the bedroom thing, coupled with the "don't touch me," was more than he could tolerate. Still think his dislike of her stemmed from her rejection of him...and not just rejection but a sort of "cringe" attitude on her part vis a vis his persona.

~~Silk said...

I suspect that what looked like a moment of confusion with Todd was while the interviewer was asking a question. The interviewer's questioning was edited out in the other interviews.

Anonymous said...

Oh,I think Toddie would be my first nominee for a ticket off the island(er...mainland).I have seen him in promos and he's pretty stuck on himself.AND,Jackie,your PCI(personal cereal indicator)degree seems to be spot on!!!

I like Phei-Gee(shades of YaoMan)and also Lindsey,the wrestler(?)and I kind of like the "Chicken" guy(my age,my era...have to love the old ones...lol).

Joe,I have to agree with you on the clothing issue. These people have never watched Survivor and don't know they are about to be dropped off God knows where?I'd probably have layers and layers of tees,long pants,shorts and a bathing suit on,as well as my combat boots or sneaks.Yikes,people,get a clue!

Joe in NY said...

Sharon,

Funny thing about the layers of clothing: Regis asked Jeff about that. Jeff told him they actually search them to make sure they only have one set of clothing. I just think they should wear pants or jeans and a shirt. The promo showed the AA girl trying to walk through the forest in a mid-thigh dress and stiletto heels that kept getting stuck in the muck!

Sometimes it seems that most of these people couldn't survive in a mall!!!

Auntie Leigh said...

Survivor! All right. Finally a decent show for all us critics to really enjoy. Todd sounds like an idiot. I like the poker-guy, hate the religious bitch and sure wouldn't have complained about getting PG in the office pool. Cool office. Orkmommy sure seems to have it all going on!!!