Survivor - Ethnic Island

(Note: I can't take credit for the clever title of this post. My friend Tonia coined it during a phone conversation we had last night)


There's been quite a lot of ruckus over this season's big Survivor twist, the division of their contestants into four tribes based on racial lines - black, white, hispanic and asian. I just watched an online video report about how some people think it's scandalous, how the producers are going to burn in hell (for a start), how the message boards on white supremacist websites are "buzzing with anticipation."

I'm not saying anything surprising when I say that Survivor's producers are desperate to get their show back on track after losing about a quarter of their audience last season. The show is dying a slow death and all this ethnic twist is is a transfusion to help it stay alive a little longer. Their tactic is going to work, at least in the short term. I probably wouldn't have tuned in if it hadn't been for this. But if they don't pull off something really clever (and I don't think the ethnic thing is what it'll take) I'll probably be watching something else on Thursday nights a few weeks from now. I'm curious to see how it'll all play out.

From the big perspective, I'm pretty sure the ethnic twist isn't going to be nearly the draw they're hoping it will be. Jeff Probst said it himself: once people start deciding who their favourite players are, the ethnic thing will no longer be an issue. It's going to come down to what it always comes down to -- which player do you like the best? I may be naive to think this, but I believe most people won't choose their favourite based on race.