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Topic: Spoiling Survivor (Read 604 times)

Rhune
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Spoiling Survivor
« on: Mar 28^th, 2003, 10:51am »

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/technology/circuits/27spoi.html

The Finale as Rerun When Trumping ‘Survivor’
By JOANNA PEARLSTEIN

HEY collect evidence carefully, cultivating sources and assessing their credibility. They survey locations with satellite imagery and painstakingly analyze video clips frame by frame for clues to help them find out who walked away with $1 million.

But these detectives are not investigating a bank robbery or a case of corporate embezzlement. The object of their pursuit is the identity of the million-dollar winner of "Survivor: The Amazon,'' the CBS reality program.

Even in cases when they are not excited by the program itself, "Survivor" gumshoes enjoy the challenge of spoiling the taped show's conclusion before it goes on the air.

"When I saw the first episode, I thought, this is a really terrible show," said Stephen Turley, who works at a financial services firm in Baltimore. But once Mr. Turley visited Internet message boards where participants were trying to determine how contestants were faring, he said, "I was pretty hooked."

"Survivor," for those who have not seen the program, goes something like this: 16 people are taken to a remote location, provided with minimal supplies and divided into two "tribes." The tribes participate in competitions, and the losing tribe has to vote one of its members off the show. Eventually evicted tribe members form a jury that chooses which of the final two contestants wins $1 million. The sixth season of "Survivor," filmed late last year in the Amazon rain forest in northwestern Brazil, is on the air now; previous seasons were filmed in such places as Thailand, Kenya and the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.

"Survivor" is filmed months before it is broadcast, so by the time it reaches American living rooms, contestants and film crews have come and gone. The winner is revealed in a live broadcast of the show, but spoiler sites like Acmebraintrust.com and Survivornews.net thrive on much more than who is going to get the prize money. Each week, there are predictions of who is going to be voted off the show, and ultimately, of who the two finalists will be.

Among the more popular sleuthing techniques at the spoiler sites is collecting tips on contestants' weight loss. Since food in the game is scarce, the more weight "Survivor" players lose, the better their chances of winning - or so the theory goes.

"Weight-loss spoilers, almost all in press stories or posts on message boards by casual acquaintances or co-workers of the contestants, gave away the final five in 'Survivor: Thailand,' " said Jeff Pitman, a research scientist in Providence, R.I., who runs TrueDorkTimes.com, a satirical Web site that attracts "Survivor" spoilers. Mr. Pitman said that last year one enterprising spoiler traveled to a car dealership that employed a contestant, Brian Heidik, and took photographs of him. Mr. Heidik appeared fairly emaciated, and it turned out that he had won the game.

In fact, predictions at the sites are sometimes so accurate that reading them can make episodes seem almost like reruns.

For this season, Survivornews.Net, run by Tim Gilman, had a perfect track record as of last week's episode. Acme Braintrust members - the site, which has about 100 members, is made accessible by invitation only, in part to keep costs down - have correctly picked four of six evicted tribe members. "In Survivor 4, we got 15 of 16 picks correct,'' said David Kathman, a stock analyst in Chicago who is a member of the site. "Survivor 3 was not nearly as good. There wasn't as good information available.'' The various spoiler sites tend to be cooperative and competitive in their quest to reveal which "Survivor" players have outwitted, outlasted and outplayed their competitors.

Other hints come straight from CBS: fans record promotions for coming episodes and scan them frame by frame for clues. These "vidcaps," as they are called, recently helped fans correctly predict the specifics of a tribe swap. CBS will neither confirm nor deny its use of red herrings, but some believe that after the first vidcap revelation in the first season, the show's executive producer, Mark Burnett, inserted a digitally altered image into the credits to sidetrack determined spoilers.

"I really have to tip my hat to him - that was a genius move," Mr. Turley said.

Mr. Burnett said he appreciated the interest from spoiler sites. "It's a natural expression of human nature," he said. "With so much of our show shrouded in secrecy until it's broadcast, it makes complete sense that many individuals consider it a challenge to try to gain information before it's officially revealed - sort of like a code they are determined to crack.

"While it's my job to keep our fans on their toes and stay one step ahead, it is fascinating to hear some of the lengths these individuals are willing to go."

For fans of the Web sites, "the spoiling is the fun part," and Mr. Burnett said he did not mind. "If it keeps them excited and interested in the show, then everybody wins."

While slimmer contestants and video captures can be informative, sometimes the spoilers' level of detail suggests inside connections. Dan Bollinger, an industrial designer from West Lafayette, Ind., operates Survivor Maps(www.claycritters.com /map/survivormaps.htm), which publishes maps of "Survivor" filming locations, based partly on satellite images.

"Our tips come from the people at the location," Mr. Bollinger said. "Government officials, tourism chiefs, resort managers, those sorts of sources. It is hard to hide 300 people."

But the site does not engage in spoiling. "We don't investigate the winner,'' he said. "We'd rather watch and be surprised."

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david
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Re: Spoiling Survivor
« Reply #1 on: Apr 2^nd, 2003, 12:09pm »

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Ok this isnt much of a spoiler but I thought I would post anyhow. I live near Riverside Ca where Denna is a Deputy DA I had business to call the courthouse and spoke with a woman who says Denna still works there but hasnt said anything in regards to show. My first thought of course is she doesnt win money otherwisw she might not be working and why should she? But of course i remembered no one will know answer to that until final Tribal Counsel. I asked if she knew if Denna made it to final four (as I predict) but again Denna has been closed mouth about it. Like I said not much on spoiling but i thought I would throw it in there. My picks for final four are Denna,Heidi,Butch and, either Jenna or christy with Heidi taking the cash!

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