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Thursday, September 16, 2004
Can we survive another ‘Survivor’?
The reality wars heat up tonight with the return of CBS’s “Survivor”, this one set on Vanuatu Islands, a volcano-riddled series of bumps in the South Pacific. The introduction to the 18 soon-to-be scrawny and bug-bitten cast members begins at 7 p.m.
The only change for this ninth installment is an increase in the tribal population from 16 to 18. The tribes will be divided into men and women, not unlike NBC’s “The Apprentice,” which happens to air tonight, too (at 8:30).
ABC’s exceedingly lame “The Benefactor” with the truly annoying Mark Cuban also airs tonight (at 8). If you saw the first one, you can probably skip this one. It doesn’t get any better.
If you miss tonight’s episode of “Survivor,” don’t fret. It usually takes several weeks for the personalities to emerge and the number of contestants to shrink to a manageable level. With 18 folks getting dumped into tropical never-neverland, you may remember irritating Rory or loud-mouthed Eliza or hard-edged construction worker Twila, but just about everybody else will blend together.
I’ve been predicting for the previous six or seven installments of “Survivor” that people are getting tired of it, so I’m not going to make such a pronouncement this time … but, really, folks. Nine of these things? How many tribal councils does America plan to attend?
Fooling-Around-TV
Speaking of reality TV — and that’s all we seem to speak of when ruminating on TV these days — The Style Network may have found the bottom rung of this genre’s ladder.
“Diary of an Affair,” coming Oct. 9 (at 8 p.m.) to Time Warner’s digital cable Channel 219, promises to chronicle true stories of extramarital liaisons. Now won’t that be inspirational?
Press material informs us that each half-hour episode of the show ”relives the excitement, danger, fear, passion, pain and the emotional resolve of the affair.”
Hef’s PJs in Hall of Fame
Occasionally useless entertainment tidbits catch my attention, and today’s item concerns Hugh Hefner’s pajamas. No, I’m not kidding.
The Playboy of All Playboys, we learn today, is the first person to be inducted into the Erotic Museum of Hollywood’s “hall of fame.”
Hef donated several “artifacts” to the museum, which allegedly takes a “scholarly approach to erotica.” Besides his silk jammies, Hef offered up a pair of monogrammed slippers, a pipe and, of course, one of those hard-as-concrete satin push-up bunny costumes. Complete with fluffy-white angora tail.
The induction ceremony was hosted by comedian Bill Maher, which tells you something about the “scholarly” approach of this museum.
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