TMC
12-12-2019, 10:14 PM
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/fien-print/survivor-39-dan-kellee-critics-notebook-1262266
Survivor as a game and show looks broken following Spilo's ejection on last night's episode, says Daniel Fienberg. "Amid accusations of inappropriate touching, the CBS unscripted series failed to protect its contestants and failed to protect the integrity of the beloved and long-running game," says Fienberg. "My affection for an involvement with CBS' Survivor runs deep. It isn't just that I've been a viewer for all 39 seasons, never missing an episode, but I've recapped at least half of the seasons for various publications and done exit interviews with well over 100 contestants. So you have to understand my sadness in saying that the Survivor producers and CBS may have killed Survivor. It happens. All good things end. This, however, was not a thing that needed to get killed. This was a death of miscalculation, manslaughter if not outright murder. Somewhere, somebody needs to feel shame — not embarrassment, but shame — at what happened this season and owing to potential legal ramifications, I doubt we'll see any regret or remorse at all. In fact, Survivor host Jeff Probst has generally viewed debacles of a much smaller scale as pointing to how sometimes the ugliness of the real world can find expression and representation on Survivor. This has been the opposite. During the past month, we've seen conclusive proof and reminders that Survivor is not a social experiment or the real world in microcosm. It's a game for $1 million and it's not equipped at all to handle much of what people are forced to handle in the real world."
ALSO:
Dan Spilo uninvited from attending Survivor reunion (https://people.com/tv/survivor-contestant-dan-spilo-was-uninvited-from-live-finale-after-his-removal-from-show/): People reports other contestants are having second thoughts about attending the reunion taping, which for the first time will be pre-taped.
This season has been a recurring nightmare and an extension of CBS' record of cluelessness when it comes to sexual misconduct (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/arts/television/survivor-dan-spilo.html): "We’ve seen enough to know that the show screwed up," says James Poniewozik. "Watching Survivor bungle (Kellee) Kim’s complaints, well into the #MeToo era, was like watching a recurring nightmare: A woman is touched inappropriately, she speaks up about it, her concerns are minimized or paid lip service. Oh, but she’d have been treated better if only there were proof, right? Ha ha, guess again! Even when there is video documentation — even on a show whose premise is constant surveillance — the behavior still continues and the business that she complains to still does next to nothing. What’s more, she’s the one who suffers for speaking up." Poniewozik also scoffed at Jeff Probst for previously saying last month Survivor is different from a workplace (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-jeff-probst-speaks-dan-spilo-controversy-1254554). "Ultimately, Survivor is a real thing that exists in the world," says Poniewozik. "Sexual misconduct on Survivor is not a metaphor for sexual misconduct. It is an actual action that happens to an actual person. Survivor is not a metaphor for a workplace. It is a workplace, not just for the crew and producers but for the contestants, who sign contracts, make money and contribute to the product of a multi-million-dollar business. For the sake of its cast and crew — as well as the message it’s sending to millions of men, women and kids in its audience — Survivor needs to start acting like that. It needs to confront, in its regular post-finale special, how it failed, why it was wrong and what it’s going to change. Survivor may construct its own reality for entertainment. But this isn’t a game."
Last night's ending showed that Survivor may not be equipped to handle a situation as serious as this (https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/12/12/21012988/survivor-dan-spilo-removed-harassment-season-39-episode-9).
Survivor makes Dan Spilo the first-ever ejected contestant after he allegedly touched a crew member (https://people.com/tv/why-survivor-contestant-dan-spilo-removed-from-game/)
Wednesday's Survivor: Island of the Idols episode ended with a title card saying, "Dan was removed from the game after a report of another incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player." The Hollywood talent manager made headlines a month ago when he was given an official warning for inappropriately touching contestant Kellee Kim (https://www.primetimer.com/item/Survivor-wades-into-MeToo-breaking-the-fourth-wall-as-a-contestant-and-Hollywood-talent-manager-is-warned-for-inappropriate-touching-xXS8K7). In an interview posted after the show, host Jeff Probst declined to reveal (https://ew.com/tv/2019/12/11/survivor-host-jeff-probst-dan-spilo-removed-episode-13/) to EW why Spilo was booted. "I’ve endeavored to be as forthcoming as possible with you regarding everything that has happened this season. In this situation, out of respect for privacy and confidentiality, I can’t say anymore," Probst said. People magazine, meanwhile, reports that it has learned what allegedly happened. "People has spoken to multiple people involved with the show’s production, who confirmed that the incident in question — which involved a member of the show’s production team — happened after an immunity challenge as Spilo and other contestants were getting into a boat to transport them back to the camp," reports People. "At one point, Spilo allegedly touched the female crew member’s leg. According to multiple sources, he insisted that the contact was inadvertent and accidental as he lost his balance while trying to get into the boat. At least one of the remaining contestants witnessed the incident. But the show’s production team wasn’t convinced that the contact was merely incidental. After consulting with the show’s legal team, producers eventually decided to remove him from the show." Shortly after the episode aired, Kellee Kim released a lengthy statement (https://twitter.com/kellee_kim/status/1204949876464742400) on Twitter saying that "Dan Spilo was kicked off the show for, once again, inappropriate touching." She added: "While Dan’s dismissal has validated the concerns that I raised from the beginning of this season, I wish that no one else had to be subjected to this type of behavior. CBS and Survivor were on notice of Dan’s behavior from the very first days of the game. And, as Survivor fans know, shortly after I spoke up on camera, I was voted off the show. Since then, I’ve accepted genuine, heartfelt apologies from fellow castaways, but I’ve continued to feel disappointed by how this pattern of behavior was allowed to occur for so long. While I wish many things had gone differently, I’m glad that my decision to speak up made a difference. What is most important to me now is how all of us — CBS, Survivor, other organizations, and all of us as individuals — decide to learn from this story and commit to take action.”
ALSO:
Survivor's usually live reunion show will be pre-taped four hours early (https://ew.com/tv/2019/12/11/survivor-island-of-the-idols-finale-ruenion-pre-tape/): EW reports the change was made "due to the sensitive nature of the material this season" and over "securty concerns for the contestants and to make sure the players feel as comfortable and safe as possible while discussing what happened out on the island."
Pre-taping the reunion will make it possible for CBS and/or producers to edit or delete content before airtime (https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2019/12/survivor-dan-spilo-ejected-finale-reunion-pre-taped/): That's according to Reality Blurred's Andy Dehnart, who criticized Jeff Probst and CBS for "continuing the strategy they’ve employed this season of laying low and essentially hiding," adding: "If 'contestants welfare' was 'at the forefront,' why did it take an incident with a non-contestant to result in actual action?"
Survivor's inappropriate touching controversy showed that Jeff Probst cares more about the story than about contestants (https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/survivor-dan-spilo-kellee-kim-complaints-jeff-probst.html)
"The way Probst has repeatedly framed what happened this season illustrates his priority: story first, with real people whose real lives are affected as stand-ins for big themes," says Andy Dehnart. "After Kellee (Kim) first spoke out in November, he described the season so far as 'one of Survivor’s most compelling and socially relevant seasons of all time. ..Tonight, the entire two hours centered around the seismic shift that is taking place in our culture regarding how men and women relate to and respect each other. This is not unique to Survivor. Survivor is a microcosm for our real world. Situations just like this one are playing out in offices and bars and colleges across the country and the world.' Let’s hope that in offices and bars and colleges, people in authority would respond to clear, filmed evidence of unwanted touching immediately and unequivocally. If Probst really wants his show to be 'relevant,' and for his storytelling to affect change, he could start by taking responsibility for its own complicity in what happened to his cast and crew. Dan (Spilo) was responsible for the unwanted touching, but by failing to act, Jeff Probst and Survivor wrote this story."
ALSO:
Survivor: David vs. Goliath finalist Angelina Cardona Keeley calls producers "irresponsible" for their handling of Dan Spilo (https://time.com/5749735/survivor-contestant-removed-cbs-sexual-harassment/): "Keeping Spilo in play after multiple instances of harassment was irresponsible; damaging to both his fellow contestants’ well-being and the integrity of the game as a whole," she writes in a Time magazine essay. "The pattern of inappropriate behavior justified his removal much earlier than the point at which production did step in. Whatever messaging production provided the cast during filming — as well as the warning given to Spilo specifically — was either not clear enough, or was otherwise ignored; ambiguities surrounding this response to Spilo’s behavior and eventual ejection have played out on TV in a manner likewise lacking in the transparency required from a network arguing it did its best."
Dan Spilo says he's not allowed to comment when approached by a member of the paparazzi (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7788295/Survivor-contestant-Dan-Spilo-spotted-misconduct-claims.html)
Survivor as a game and show looks broken following Spilo's ejection on last night's episode, says Daniel Fienberg. "Amid accusations of inappropriate touching, the CBS unscripted series failed to protect its contestants and failed to protect the integrity of the beloved and long-running game," says Fienberg. "My affection for an involvement with CBS' Survivor runs deep. It isn't just that I've been a viewer for all 39 seasons, never missing an episode, but I've recapped at least half of the seasons for various publications and done exit interviews with well over 100 contestants. So you have to understand my sadness in saying that the Survivor producers and CBS may have killed Survivor. It happens. All good things end. This, however, was not a thing that needed to get killed. This was a death of miscalculation, manslaughter if not outright murder. Somewhere, somebody needs to feel shame — not embarrassment, but shame — at what happened this season and owing to potential legal ramifications, I doubt we'll see any regret or remorse at all. In fact, Survivor host Jeff Probst has generally viewed debacles of a much smaller scale as pointing to how sometimes the ugliness of the real world can find expression and representation on Survivor. This has been the opposite. During the past month, we've seen conclusive proof and reminders that Survivor is not a social experiment or the real world in microcosm. It's a game for $1 million and it's not equipped at all to handle much of what people are forced to handle in the real world."
ALSO:
Dan Spilo uninvited from attending Survivor reunion (https://people.com/tv/survivor-contestant-dan-spilo-was-uninvited-from-live-finale-after-his-removal-from-show/): People reports other contestants are having second thoughts about attending the reunion taping, which for the first time will be pre-taped.
This season has been a recurring nightmare and an extension of CBS' record of cluelessness when it comes to sexual misconduct (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/arts/television/survivor-dan-spilo.html): "We’ve seen enough to know that the show screwed up," says James Poniewozik. "Watching Survivor bungle (Kellee) Kim’s complaints, well into the #MeToo era, was like watching a recurring nightmare: A woman is touched inappropriately, she speaks up about it, her concerns are minimized or paid lip service. Oh, but she’d have been treated better if only there were proof, right? Ha ha, guess again! Even when there is video documentation — even on a show whose premise is constant surveillance — the behavior still continues and the business that she complains to still does next to nothing. What’s more, she’s the one who suffers for speaking up." Poniewozik also scoffed at Jeff Probst for previously saying last month Survivor is different from a workplace (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-jeff-probst-speaks-dan-spilo-controversy-1254554). "Ultimately, Survivor is a real thing that exists in the world," says Poniewozik. "Sexual misconduct on Survivor is not a metaphor for sexual misconduct. It is an actual action that happens to an actual person. Survivor is not a metaphor for a workplace. It is a workplace, not just for the crew and producers but for the contestants, who sign contracts, make money and contribute to the product of a multi-million-dollar business. For the sake of its cast and crew — as well as the message it’s sending to millions of men, women and kids in its audience — Survivor needs to start acting like that. It needs to confront, in its regular post-finale special, how it failed, why it was wrong and what it’s going to change. Survivor may construct its own reality for entertainment. But this isn’t a game."
Last night's ending showed that Survivor may not be equipped to handle a situation as serious as this (https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/12/12/21012988/survivor-dan-spilo-removed-harassment-season-39-episode-9).
Survivor makes Dan Spilo the first-ever ejected contestant after he allegedly touched a crew member (https://people.com/tv/why-survivor-contestant-dan-spilo-removed-from-game/)
Wednesday's Survivor: Island of the Idols episode ended with a title card saying, "Dan was removed from the game after a report of another incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player." The Hollywood talent manager made headlines a month ago when he was given an official warning for inappropriately touching contestant Kellee Kim (https://www.primetimer.com/item/Survivor-wades-into-MeToo-breaking-the-fourth-wall-as-a-contestant-and-Hollywood-talent-manager-is-warned-for-inappropriate-touching-xXS8K7). In an interview posted after the show, host Jeff Probst declined to reveal (https://ew.com/tv/2019/12/11/survivor-host-jeff-probst-dan-spilo-removed-episode-13/) to EW why Spilo was booted. "I’ve endeavored to be as forthcoming as possible with you regarding everything that has happened this season. In this situation, out of respect for privacy and confidentiality, I can’t say anymore," Probst said. People magazine, meanwhile, reports that it has learned what allegedly happened. "People has spoken to multiple people involved with the show’s production, who confirmed that the incident in question — which involved a member of the show’s production team — happened after an immunity challenge as Spilo and other contestants were getting into a boat to transport them back to the camp," reports People. "At one point, Spilo allegedly touched the female crew member’s leg. According to multiple sources, he insisted that the contact was inadvertent and accidental as he lost his balance while trying to get into the boat. At least one of the remaining contestants witnessed the incident. But the show’s production team wasn’t convinced that the contact was merely incidental. After consulting with the show’s legal team, producers eventually decided to remove him from the show." Shortly after the episode aired, Kellee Kim released a lengthy statement (https://twitter.com/kellee_kim/status/1204949876464742400) on Twitter saying that "Dan Spilo was kicked off the show for, once again, inappropriate touching." She added: "While Dan’s dismissal has validated the concerns that I raised from the beginning of this season, I wish that no one else had to be subjected to this type of behavior. CBS and Survivor were on notice of Dan’s behavior from the very first days of the game. And, as Survivor fans know, shortly after I spoke up on camera, I was voted off the show. Since then, I’ve accepted genuine, heartfelt apologies from fellow castaways, but I’ve continued to feel disappointed by how this pattern of behavior was allowed to occur for so long. While I wish many things had gone differently, I’m glad that my decision to speak up made a difference. What is most important to me now is how all of us — CBS, Survivor, other organizations, and all of us as individuals — decide to learn from this story and commit to take action.”
ALSO:
Survivor's usually live reunion show will be pre-taped four hours early (https://ew.com/tv/2019/12/11/survivor-island-of-the-idols-finale-ruenion-pre-tape/): EW reports the change was made "due to the sensitive nature of the material this season" and over "securty concerns for the contestants and to make sure the players feel as comfortable and safe as possible while discussing what happened out on the island."
Pre-taping the reunion will make it possible for CBS and/or producers to edit or delete content before airtime (https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2019/12/survivor-dan-spilo-ejected-finale-reunion-pre-taped/): That's according to Reality Blurred's Andy Dehnart, who criticized Jeff Probst and CBS for "continuing the strategy they’ve employed this season of laying low and essentially hiding," adding: "If 'contestants welfare' was 'at the forefront,' why did it take an incident with a non-contestant to result in actual action?"
Survivor's inappropriate touching controversy showed that Jeff Probst cares more about the story than about contestants (https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/survivor-dan-spilo-kellee-kim-complaints-jeff-probst.html)
"The way Probst has repeatedly framed what happened this season illustrates his priority: story first, with real people whose real lives are affected as stand-ins for big themes," says Andy Dehnart. "After Kellee (Kim) first spoke out in November, he described the season so far as 'one of Survivor’s most compelling and socially relevant seasons of all time. ..Tonight, the entire two hours centered around the seismic shift that is taking place in our culture regarding how men and women relate to and respect each other. This is not unique to Survivor. Survivor is a microcosm for our real world. Situations just like this one are playing out in offices and bars and colleges across the country and the world.' Let’s hope that in offices and bars and colleges, people in authority would respond to clear, filmed evidence of unwanted touching immediately and unequivocally. If Probst really wants his show to be 'relevant,' and for his storytelling to affect change, he could start by taking responsibility for its own complicity in what happened to his cast and crew. Dan (Spilo) was responsible for the unwanted touching, but by failing to act, Jeff Probst and Survivor wrote this story."
ALSO:
Survivor: David vs. Goliath finalist Angelina Cardona Keeley calls producers "irresponsible" for their handling of Dan Spilo (https://time.com/5749735/survivor-contestant-removed-cbs-sexual-harassment/): "Keeping Spilo in play after multiple instances of harassment was irresponsible; damaging to both his fellow contestants’ well-being and the integrity of the game as a whole," she writes in a Time magazine essay. "The pattern of inappropriate behavior justified his removal much earlier than the point at which production did step in. Whatever messaging production provided the cast during filming — as well as the warning given to Spilo specifically — was either not clear enough, or was otherwise ignored; ambiguities surrounding this response to Spilo’s behavior and eventual ejection have played out on TV in a manner likewise lacking in the transparency required from a network arguing it did its best."
Dan Spilo says he's not allowed to comment when approached by a member of the paparazzi (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7788295/Survivor-contestant-Dan-Spilo-spotted-misconduct-claims.html)