Survivor: Fans V. Favorites 2: Brandon Returns, Francesca Leaves

Tom Row: Corine, Phillip, Malcolm, Francesca, Erik, Brenda; Bottom Row: Dawn, Brandon, Andrea, Cochran

I am not sure if shows are running out of ideas or they are finding ideas they did a few years back was more popular than the regular show and decided to do it again. For instance, in March, Apprentice will be doing Apprentice Celebrity All-Star in which former celebrity players will be back to compete for their charity. Big Brother has had a few shows in which past players have returned and these are players we didn’t wish to see and never want to see again, and now Survivor is revisiting an old idea.

Survivor is back with Fans V. Favorites 2 in which they bring fans of the show to play against favorites of the show, and one of the returning favorites is Brandon Hantz of the Hantz clan, specifically Russell Hantz, the terror of the island. Other favorites that have returned is Phillip, the crazy guy who claims he’s was a Federal Agent, Francesca from last season, who got voted off first and again this season, got voted off first. Dawn, the Mormon lady who couldn’t lie. Cochran, not Johnny Cochran, the other Cochran, and few other people that I don’t remember. Oh there’s that one little known guy named Malcolm who is back as well.

The fans consist of..well, just that, fans. We already have a lazy marine who didn’t want to spend time building shelter on the first episode, but wanted to spend time building a fire. Mind you, it wasn’t dark or close to being dark yet. If he had gotten off his lazy behind and helped build the shelter, it would have been done in in no time and he could have spent the rest of the time building fire. But I digress.

I am a fan of the show and have been since season two. I won’t say a big fan, because someone might through a pop quiz at me that I won’t be able to answer and I will look like a fool, so I’m going to leave it at being just a fan. I look forward to the show twice a year and do think Jeff Probst makes a great host – just on Survivor, not his talk show.

I have to admit I was glad not to see Lisa Whelchel back. Although I grew up with her on the Facts of Life and enjoyed seeing her on Survivor last season, I think one time around would have been enough. I did like how she played the game, with honesty, as much as she could, and when she wasn’t honest she felt bad and began crying. She learned fast on how to play the game to get ahead and she did pretty good job. She made it to the final three.

I am still a fan of Cochran because he’s so odd and enjoys being odd, although he said he’s going to tone down his antics this season. We’ll see. If odd is a part of you, then you can’t help but be odd from time to time. I know because I am speaking from experience.

We’ll see how this season turns out, especially when the merge takes place.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I am surprised to see Stephanie is not back. She’s only returned once to Survivor and that was about, maybe four years ago. I’m guessing on that one. You remember her, right? She’s the one that out lasted her entire tribe to become the first person, not to mention a woman, to do such a thing.

As mentioned earlier, Francesca did get voted off first…again! Her problem was she came on too strong when it came time to decide who to vote off. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, The Favorites won the reward challenge but lost the Immunity challenge. As soon as they got back to camp (The Favorites), Francesca began deciding who to vote off and started conspiring with the others on her thoughts, which was Phillip. The focus then turned to voting off Andrea because she was chatter-boxing it up with everyone and this made people nervous. Soon the focus was on Francesca because of her eagerness. At tribal counsel it was between Andrea and Francesca and Francesca got voted off.

The previews for next week’s episode shows Brandon trying to be his uncle Russell and wanting to cause chaos at the camp. Brandon needs to realize he’s not his uncle. What might work for one person may not work for someone else. And if he does try to cause chaos, people are going to know it was him. But here’s my biggest question, why is Brandon back? If I remember from the last time he was on there, he said Survivor went against everything he believed in because he was trying to change his life and blah blah blah blah. But I guess the money overrode his beliefs, unless his sect is the Church of Dollar Signs. I personally think he’s going to get himself voted right off that island pretty quick if they don’t win immunity challenges.

CBS's The Job is a Piece of Work....And Cancelled

CBS The Job

CBS has a new ‘reality’ show called The Job (produced by Mark Burnett – The Apprentice, Survivor) hosted by Lisa Ling (I’m still trying to figure out why Lisa Ling is hosting it) in which four candidates compete for a position with a high profile company. Sounds easy and entertaining, sort of, right? I thought so when I first saw the previews of the show while watching Young And The Restless, so I put the show on record as to not to forget the watch it come Friday night.

The premier episode (8 February 2013) had four candidates vie for a position of General Manager of The Palm restaurant. As mentioned, the show is supposed to have high profile companies, but I have never heard of The Palm restaurant. When they said The Palm, my mind automatically went to The Palms casino in Vegas. Apparently, this is a very upscale restaurant in a number of cities such as Dallas, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and a number of them in New York.

The employer, usually the CEO, sits in front of the stage with two of his/her co-workers, which are usually executives, as in the case of The Palm Restaurant, Executive and I think the other one was the Regional Manager. Then there’s three companies sitting off to the side that are allowed to select a candidate they would like to come work for them. These are supposed to well known companies as well, but again, I have never heard of them.

Sometimes I get the feeling that perhaps one candidate of the four is planted because the mistakes that these people make, simple mistakes, can’t be real. Or perhaps they are real and I was taught to dot all my I’s and cross all my T’s before applying for a job and definitely going in for an interview. One thing you are to do is research the company. There was a candidate (in her 50′s) who was applying for a position at Cosmopolitan Magazine who had not read a Cosmo magazine in years. Joanna Coles (Editor in Chief of the magazine now, formerly with Marie Claire) told her that she should have picked up a current issue and read it from cover to cover before the interview. You are so right, Joanna. I was surprised this lady did not do this. If I was interested in working for Cosmo but had not read the magazine in years, I would go to my nearest library and look up an old issue and a new issues and just compare the two. And then with the new issues, as Joanna said, read it from cover to cover. The candidate could have researched the magazine online and found forums and such. As mentioned, perhaps this is a common mistake people make and that’s the reason they don’t get the job they want. Who knows.

These candidates have impressive resumes, that’s for sure, but that’s with anyone really. I guess that’s the reason for the questions (three to be exact) posed to each candidate. The perspective employer wants to know if they are there for the money or do they really want to work for their company. In the case of The Palm Restaurant, they wanted to know what the candidates knew about food. With Cosmo, they wanted to know what the candidates knew about the magazine and fashion. But as I am learning when interviewing, its not the answers you give but the questions you fire back at the employer that let’s them know if you are really interested in the job or not. The Job is not designed that way, I know, but it would be nice to see a candidate fire a question back and see how the employer reacts.

I have been reading in online articles that The Job is, particularly one by Maureen Callahan of New York Post, who said

“The Job” turns this massive human toll into spectacle, dangling the prospect of an unspecified mid-level position in front of desperate contestants, who degrade themselves by telling their most pathetic personal histories in the paradoxical quest to regain some dignity.“

People need to remember that the candidates are there by choice. The task(s) they do are by choice. How they choose to answer questions is by choice. No one put a gun to their head and forced them to do any of that. What I take from the show is what can and should I do at my next interview to ensure I get the job, or at least be a high contender. There’s another little thing the show does that I feel is excellent and that’s the perspective employers give resume and interviewing tips before each commercials. For instance, don’t walk into an interview with a latte in hand or your sunglasses on top of your head. Yeah, that tip may seem simple, but I am sure they have seen it all from candidates. As they said, you are not meeting a girlfriend for coffee. I agree, you are not there to meet a friend, but a perspective employer.

I learned to take positive things away from the show instead of focusing on the negative of the show. I learned that the page that gives credit to the writers and editors of a magazine is called a Masthead. Useless information? Perhaps. I take away interview tips and resume tips. I take away constructive criticism the employers give the candidates before sending them on their way.

I’m not too much of a fan of Lisa Ling being the host of the show. Although she posses a great speaking voice and has a nice presence, I’m more of a fan of her documentaries and feel that her hosting for this type of forum strips away a little of what she’s really about.

Will the show last? Probably not. But while it is on, I am going to continue to take away from it what I need and want and leave the rest to those who can’t see the positive this show has to offer and continue spewing negative thoughts.

Lisa Ling

UPDATED Friday, 22 February 2013 8:35pm PST: I have to say that I am a bit shocked, bur at the same time, I’m not surprised that The Job was cancelled after only two episodes.

In Hitchcock’s Words - Sort Of

I hope the new Hitchcock movie isn’t for The Birds. If I do go see it I won’t be sitting in the balcony because I have Vertigo. BUT, if the neighbors get an advanced copy of it, I’ll watch it via my Rear Window; I just hope they don’t go Psycho on me. If they do, I’ll have to go North by Northwest.

The theater I will be seeing the movie has 39 Steps and after climbing all them you will be Spellbound. I’m telling you those steps are Notorious. To keep from falling, the theater uses a Rope as railing. But I did fall, and as I fell I yelled Bon Voyageand Rebecca saved me. However, The Wrong Man was blamed for my fall.Suspicion fell upon him and he was accused of Sabotage. In reality, my fall was a diversion of someone trying To Catch a Thief and the guilty party was The Man Who Knew Too Much. You know him, he always Dials M for Murder and then goes into a Frenzy because he always has issues with his side kick; yes he always has Trouble With Harry. He thought he could trust Harry.

They met a while back while traveling. They started out as Strangers on a Train. They were both performers and talked about how they had Stage Fright but were able to get over it with the help of Marnie, who was Rebecca’s sister. They had a few laughs and realized they had a great love of movies and started talking about the movie which a giant ship sank and if it wasn’t for the Lifeboat, no one would have survived. They talked some more and drank some more and knew beyond a Shadow of Doubt, they would be life long friends. But it wasn’t to be. After Harry was caught he told his friend he should turn himself in and the friend wanted to know why, to which Harry replied, “I Confess“. Harry’s friend was shocked. How could someone he trusted do this to him, but then he realized, Harry was a Secret Agent and he wasn’t so Young and Innocent after all. Harry’s friend ended up skipping town but was apprehended a few days later at a Jamaica Inn.

He was hauled into court a month later on conspiracy to commit murder on a movie goer, but all charges were dropped against him when he showed the courts his dance moves, some of which were Waltzes from Vienna. After his performance he received a big applause from the audience and was approached by two talent agents, Mr. and Mrs. Smith who wanted to put him in the lead role of their new movie Foreign Correspondent. Just as he was going to say yes, he was pulled away by another person. Upon his return he noticed that Mrs. Smith was gone. He asked Mr. Smith where did she go and Mr. Smith he didn’t know; that sometimes The Lady Vanishes but she eventually shows up and not to worry.

Mr. Smith and the man finished their conversation behind a Torn Curtain in the courtroom. Mr. Smith wanted the man to come by his studio, Under Capricorn, to sign some papers, in which the man agreed. Mr. Smith asked the man what his name was and he said Elstree Calling. They shook hands and went separate ways.

What became of Mr. Calling is not known, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith would go on to be big successes. As for Harry, he wrote a best selling novel and ended up Rich and Strange. He married Mary, who was wife Number Seventeen. On their wedding day, instead of giving her a diamond ring, he gave her a Topaz ring and they lived happily ever after.

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