Of course, Burnett will deny that he changed the game to insure Silas and Lindsey's ouster. He'll say he planned the switch all along. And if he did, then he's not only a genius, but he's a prophet to boot. It's just what the game needed. Not only did it rid us of the two most unpleasant participants to ever play the game, it also gave the increasingly predictable format a much-needed lift.

But it may have been too little, too late. At the game's halfway point the juggernaut reality series is now playing second fiddle to NBC's Friends, which is enjoying one of its most stellar seasons. Survivor still pulls in more than 20 million viewers per week, which would be tremendous for most any other series, but for this lucrative franchise it's marginal at best. It is now just the third highest-rated show on its own network: CSI and Everybody Loves Raymond top it.

The question, obviously, is why? First of all, the novelty has worn off. Been there, done that. Second, as mentioned earlier, it's becoming predictable. While the challenges are different, they are too similar to what we've seen before. We now have the obligatory eating or drinking yuckfest, the gigantic puzzle building, the endurance contest, etc. You just know there is an obstacle course, a memory game and a ropes course up ahead. Third, there isn't a devilish Richard Hatch or a bitchy Jerri Manthey among the lackluster cast. Every good drama needs a villain you love to hate and this third edition just doesn't have one. As for Lindsey and Silas, we didn't love to hate them, we just hated them. Big difference. Maybe Lex, now that we've seen a dark underside to him, will emerge as the villain. Let's hope so.

Lastly, the show simply hasn't taken advantage of key situations. For example, the merger was bland. Host Jeff Probst simply announced that Boran and Samburu were now one tribe and he just let them pick which place they'd rather live and then had all of the players' personal stuff carted over for them. On the island, a player from each tribe came together to decide on the new location, which caused friction in both camps, and in Australia the merged team had to pick up its stuff and build a new camp site.

Tonight, we have another unfortunate series staple: The clip show recap. The one-hour "special" contains highlights of the first 21 days in Africa, along with previously unaired footage. CBS promises the show will provide further insight into the game and the players.

So, what lies ahead? I look for Boran originals Ethan, Tom, Kelly and the older Kim to make up the final four, with Ethan winning it all. Lex, my original choice to take top honors, has suddenly fallen from grace and won't recover. As for the Samburus, Frank and Teresa are too strong for the Borans to keep around and Brandon is too whiny. The younger Kim will coast along for a while, but she won't make the finals unless she miraculously wins several Immunity Contests.

Of course, if my Survivor predictions are anything like the past I'm completely off track. I just hope Burnett flashes his genius one more time during the second half of the season and produces another twist that will keep the game fresh. If he doesn't, Survivor will continue to lose more friends.

Source: TVGuide online

So did you have to watch ''Survivor'' with a huge Thanksgiving crowd?

No, I was in New York. My mom and I had a nice dinner at the hotel and then I watched it by myself. I thought, ''I'm going to see what's going on.'' If I got mad I wanted to get mad by myself.

Were you just hating Lex when he put his arm around you and was ''honest'' with you?

No, I didn't have a problem with it. Lex and I, at least the first couple of days, were as close as anybody. The incident with the beans wrecked our closeness. What he did gave me this three hour window to mend fences. I could say what I didn't like and they could say what they didn't like and they all said it's just a game. They all said, ''This is not about the beans. No one's saying you're a bad person because of it.''

So, since you keep bringing it up, let's just clarify: You ate the beans?

I have always admitted to this day I ate the beans. The only issue was how many of the beans I ate. I watched that episode again and again and again and put myself into that frame of mind. I probably ate more than half the beans. Diane's not lying. I said it on the show and I'll say it again. I'm sorry. It was a mistake. It hurt me in terms of making alliances with people.

Who would you have wanted to align yourself with?

Definitely Lex because he had that whole leadership thing going on, which is key. Definitely Ethan and probably Tom. They're all leaders, and you definitely would rather be with them than against them.

Speaking of Tom, could you understand him?

All the time Tom would give me stuff about my inner city accent and slang. I use slang a lot, but you can understand what I'm saying. His southern drawl is so bad you can only understand every other word. That's what makes Tommy Tommy. He's a country dumbass.

When you left, you said you were glad to go out with integrity, which was more than you could say for other people. Names, please.

I'm not going to do that. I'll just say that aside from the beans incident, I never came to this game backstabbing people. I kept my word and played hard. Maybe ''Survivor'' is about screwing people over and not having morals. But I have my own personal sense of integrity and I never broke it.

How much did your athleticism hurt you?

Actually, past Survivors hurt me. Everyone off camera talked about what Colby Donaldson did last year. Everyone was so aware of that ability for one person – especially an athlete – to run the table. Lex told me that to my face. They all saw me as a threat. They knew winning challenge after challenge was a possibility.

Have any cow's blood lately?

I had a really rare hamburger in New York. Everyone talks about the cow's blood, but it was really the best meal I had when I was out there. It's all iron and protein. Your body is so debilitated that the taste of protein and iron is so refreshing. Three hours after that challenge we were all like, ''We feel really good.''

In terms of endorsement deals, do you think you'll get one for a bean company?

I don't know about that, but I've had fans come up and tell me I should do Playgirl or do a talk show. I don't have a sense of what I can do. That's up to the people who make those decisions -- whether it be for modeling or speaking. I've never done anything from a sense of planning. Things are put in front of me and I either have the balls to do it or not.

So would you pose for Playgirl?

I think it would definitely have to be an issue of timing and taste and money. I'm not like the other 'Survivor' guys who say, ''Oh, that's not who I am.'' I'm only going to have this body for so long and it ain't gonna last forever. I've taken a lot of junk from guys who are fat and flabby. I would definitely entertain modeling or doing Playgirl.

Did Jerri's Playboy spread inspire you?

I saw it and she looked pretty good. Then again, I've never seen anybody look bad in there.

Until Playgirl calls, what will you be doing?

I'm bartending in Redford, Michigan, and I'm still working on a benefit basketball tournament to raise money for cancer.

Do people harass you at the bar?

The girls are all like, ''Let me see your body.'' The guys are all like, ''Let me get a shot of cow's blood and milk.''

Source: EW.com

While Clarence's gluttony made him unpopular with his Samburu tribemates, his romping about scantily clad certainly earned him some admirers stateside! "It was my idea that the [rescue plane] pilot would recognize us if we were all in our skivvies," he sheepishly concedes. "The dumbest thing you can ever do on Survivor is take white drawers into a dusty, dirty environment. I don't know what I was thinking."

Dirty or no, viewers at home were always ready for his jelly, to paraphrase Destiny's Child. So can we expect the 6'4" 220 lb. hunk to cash in on his bootyliciousness? (He's a Survivor reject — what do you think?) "Playgirl or underwear modeling or anything like that... I would definitely consider it," Clarence says. "Why not? You know, I'm not going to have this body forever, and I worked hard to get it. It has nothing to do with me as a person if somebody thinks I look good naked or look good modeling."

Still, don't look for him to follow in Hanes hawker Michael Jordan's footsteps. "I didn't really dig those M.J. commercials," he laughs. "It's like these three white guys looking at him in his drawers. It's like a little hint to our consciousness as Americans there — maybe the director had penis envy!"

Hmm... could Clarence be alluding to a certain popular myth about African-American gents? Says he: "What myth, boy?"

Source: TVGuide online

``Can the image of the American tourist get worse than this bunch of screechers?'' asked Robert Kirby, TV critic for the weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper.

``George Bush should pack the entire show into a B-52 (bomber) and drop it on Afghanistan (news - web sites) as a warning of what lethal American weapons he's still got up his sleeve,'' he told Reuters.

Critics said the reality show -- the first set in Africa -- perpetuates many of the laughable stereotypes associated with Americans abroad.

``Survivor III: Africa,'' airing in the United States already for several weeks, debuted in South Africa on Tuesday night. Set in Kenya's Shaba National Reserve, the show follows the familiar format.

A group of 16 contestants gets dumped in a remote location where they struggle against the elements and vote each other ''out'' until there is one ``survivor'' left who pockets $1 million.

In the opening episode, participants struggled to build a life-giving fire and one of them envisaged an encounter with tigers and bears.

South Africans who know a thing or two about the bush found their antics hilarious. Audiences acknowledged the participants might come across lions and elephants. But tigers and bears? In Kenya? No way.

Some doubted any of them could last long in the African wilderness.

``They're useless,'' snorted James Cameron, a professional hunter and ex-infantry officer who survived a microlight crash in northern Mozambique and spent two days walking out of the bush with no food or water.

``In a situation like that you need fire and water and I could not believe their total inability to deal with either.''

Then there is the show's concept of where it takes place. The show's tagline, ``It's a jungle out there,'' gets a rise out of viewers because the setting is semi-arid savannah.

Source: Reuters

In the first individual immunity challenge, tribe members had to stand with one arm above their heads to avoid being doused with a bucket of water. Several tribe members lost out within in the first hour, with those remaining facing food temptations like a cheeseburger and pizza. Black and Teresa Cooper ended up being the final two tribe members fighting for immunity, with the two finally deciding to settle contest by a game of rock-paper-scissors after more than six hours. Cooper won, and Black gave up.

When the tribe members returned to camp, they were all given cheese, crackers and wine and allowed to come up with a new name for the merged tribe. Led by Lex van den Berghe, the group came up with the name Moto Maji, which roughly means "Hot Water" in Swahili.

Berghe later decided to inform Black that he was going to be voted out in the upcoming tribal council. Black was unable to drum up any support, though Cooper refused to vote against him because of their agreement during the immunity challenge. Instead, along with Black, she voted for Berghe.

Black had been a target in previous tribal councils, especially in the first week when he ate a can of beans without the rest of the Boran tribe's knowledge. However, his strength was the main factor in the rest of the group deciding to vote against him

Source: Zap2it.com

Clarence Back, a high school basketball coach from Detroit, Mchigan got his walking papers Thursday night. He joined Russ Mitchell of CBS' The Early Show to talk about his experiences.

Mitchell: Six hours, arms hurting. Why did you decide to end it in a game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors?

Black: I knew Teresa wasn't coming down. I knew I wasn't coming down. The challenge wasn't that hard, for me. An annoying, stingy pain. I could have stayed up there. I knew she wasn't coming down. And I just put it to the fate.

Mitchell: You were signaling something to other contestants there. What were you trying --

Black: The big question for me going into that challenge and that merge I guess was what had gone on at the other tribe. The only person I was able to form an alliance with was Kelly. I was thinking, if these people are smart, they'll see we have these guys 6'4"; get rid of them, be out six, maybe they'll get rid of me. I guess they were thinking, too strong. Got to go.

Mitchell: I'm watching thinking, I know Clarence is going to be gone if he loses this. Clarence has got know that. Why not stay up there and say, I know I'm history if I don't win this. I'm going to stick it out. I don't care about this other person; I'm going to stay here.

Black: A good question. And you just -- I knew that when it was myself and Silas was there, it was split. It was a matter of time. The question was, could I pull off eight in a row, eight immunities in a row or time to test and see what happened. On the other side, was Kelly able to work something out? It came down to maybe they were going to be loyal, maybe not. I didn't feel I was going to be able to win eight in a row. With everybody gunning for you I figured, let's test the fate and see what happens.

Mitchell: The fact were you a physical threat do you think that led to your downfall?

Black: The fact I was a physical threat hindered me. More so, the fact I didn't make any alliance early because of the problems I had on day three was probably the biggest deal. Not making an alliance hurt. When you're big and strong, you're already a target. It you don't get allies on your side, when you merge, you're going to be gone.

Mitchell: We'll talk about the beans and chicken in a bit . A bit of "Survivor" history was made when Lex came over and said 'I'm going to tell you, man to man here, you're going to the voted out.' What did you think about that?

Black: I was glad. I was at least glad that I knew. So that way it gave me a chants to spend the next three hours -- you really don't see that on camera, between the time we were talking and the time we actually started to make the walk to tribal council, three hours. I got a chance to know everybody off-camera, didn't get to hang out with Kim or Brandon. Cool to sit down with them and talk. When everybody knows you're gone you become people. I'm not a threat. They're like, hey what do you do? What's your family like? That was cool.

Mitchell: All right. Let's talk about the beans. You know we were going to go here. Why did you eat the beans?

Black: I was hungry.

Mitchell: You knew it was going to make --

Black: 36 hours no food and water; I was hungry. Actually -- my plan was to help Diane. That was true. I did not open the can for me.

When I opened them, I was giving some to her, I was eating some. I admitted that. I never lied about it.

Mitchell: You tried to hide the cans from the rest of the tribe. Is that right?

Black: No. Actually, my plan, - bury the cans.

Mitchell: I see. Sorry.

Black: Not hide the cans. Bury the cans.

Just bury the cans.

I figured they'd be upset. My plan was Diane was leaving. I figured it wouldn't be anything we needed to discuss.

Mitchell: Your mom's sitting over there and says you don't like beans.

Black: Ma, I don't like your beans, but, you know, the rusty can, you got to taste rusty can beans. The best. 36 hours, no food and water, you'd be surprised how they can taste.

Mitchell: Ma looking awfully mad. 15 seconds left. You wanted to eat the chicken?

Black: These people -- that chicken was -- you get three chickens, no food, get three chickens, kill one and eat. I could have eaten all three, personally. But --

Mitchell: But here you are. We're going to talk more in a bit. Clarence will be back at 8:30 to answer some of our viewer e-mail questions.

Mitchell: Welcome back to "The Early Show" on this Friday morning. There's Clarence saying, 'Happy trails, Africa!' if you watched last night. It's time for our weekly "Survivor" score card, an update on which of the Kenyan castaways are still in the hunt for the million dollar prize. Okay. Last night ten players made the turn as the Samburu are you okay, Clarence? Are you all right?

Black: Saw last night. You know what --

Mitchell: We'll talk about that. Again, ten players made the turn as the Samburu and Boran tribes merged. But only one was sent packing when the newly formed Moto Maji tribe went to tribal council. Tom, Teresa, Frank, Kim P., Lex., Ethan., Kim J., Brandon and Kelly are still in the game. Clarence Black was the odd man out. Clarence, welcome back. You thought that was funny, though. He didn't know what brunch was.

Black: Forgot about it until I saw it last night. When I saw it again, it was just funny. Frank's just -- wild.

Mitchell: I got to ask you, though, the first couple weeks of the show, a lot of us thought you were gone.

Black: Yeah.

Mitchell: Are you surprised that you lasted as long as you did?

Black: After day three, I just felt like I was in a firing range, ducking, dodging, finally a bullet caught me.

Mitchell: But you had a tough relationship from the beginning with big Tom. He really got on you about the bean incident. Seemed like you paled up a little bit. What did you think of big Tom?

Black: Tommy's a good guy. He's playing the game. It's a situation where we first got there; Tom and I bonded right off the bus. He was my partner the whole way, carrying our initial goods there and when the whole situation happened, when I ate the beans with Diane, I think it was more of kind of -- a southern farmer, fatherly disappointment more than anything.

Mitchell: Who really rubbed you the wrong way? I want the dirt.

Black: They were all really nice.

Got along.

They were all awesome! No, you know, Lex and my first impression of them were these guys were geeks. We were sitting around one night talking about their favorite show. Both of them said, yeah, you have a, and I looked at Kelly, and we just collectively did, the whole, these guys are geeks. I just -- but, no. In getting to know them, you know, they are great guys. It's funny, because I think a "Survivor" insider had me referring to Lex, Uncle Lex. That's a nickname. He's older, 38, but --

Mitchell: Come on now! Come on.

Black¨Oh, the whole full-body tattoos. No. I have three. That's three too much for my mom. So, no. I don't -- I don't want too many tattoos.

Mitchell: We nerve are saw your tattoos. Are they hidden?

Black: No. They were on me.

Mitchell: Clarence, what are you looking to get out of this? What's next for you?

Black: You know, I have no idea. It's just the past seven months have just been such a ride. You know. I think I'm going leave it to the fates. You know, what's important to me are my basketball tournament which raises money for cancer, a tournament, every year, and coaching and bartending, something I did while working as stock broker. So right now I'm going to kind of ride the wave and see what happens. But doing my turn.

Mitchell: Speaking of the stock broker's, one of the e-mailers e-mailed us about that. Do you think your college education and school prepared you for "Survivor"?

Black: Wow.

Mitchell: Or how did they? How were you able to use them?

Black: Not at all.

(Laughter)

Mitchell: Uh-oh.

Black: I think the -- to prepare for "Survivor," I sat around and watched reruns of "The Young and the Restless." Stab them like that! I got to do that.

Mitchell: You did compare it to "The Sopranos." right? What did you mean by that?

Mitchell: You got the head of the family. The people who want to get rid of the head of the family. You got the old mom who people really can't stand. You've got the young kids, and --

Mitchell: Which character were you?

I was -- I was probably the young lieutenant who everybody really didn't trust, but they knew that he would pull through.

(Laughter)

Mitchell: I want to talk quickly about what you did when you left. You got a chance to go on safari right? Got see those elephants up close again? Maybe compromising circumstances?

Black: The safari blew me away. I mean -- I -- and I was --

When I got done -- beyond the jury, I had a chance to really see Kenya. And that was priceless, the things i got see on safari.

Mitchell: Doing your business while the elephants were there, was that kind of -- you describe that.

Black: I was so scared, and the camera didn't show it. Because you're down there, doing your thing. You look up and they're there. Kind of like -- oh! Ah. My mom was like, yeah. Your son was out in the woods. You know, doing his thing, and he got trampled. Just wanted to let you know.

Mitchell: Would have been embarrassing.

Black: Yeah. I mean, that's no way for your kid to die.

Mitchell: Not at all. Clarence, thanks a lot. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate it. Good luck to you.

Black: Thanks.

Source: CBS.com

"Moto Maji," of course, translates to "Brad Pitt Go Home" in Swahili. The grungy tribal backstabbers faced some heavyweight ratings competition for Thursday's Thanksgiving showdown, as Mr. Jennifer Aniston guest-starred on his wife's NBC show, playing a once-chubby high school classmate. (Final ratings will be delayed until Monday, but expect the fat Pitt to easily beat those hairy pits on Survivor.)

As for Clarence, his own physical strength ultimately cost him, sending him packing by an 8-2 vote. He and Teresa voted for Lex--the tattooed, de facto tribe leader who tried to play the nice guy by warning Clarence in advance that his time was up. Gee, thanks.

Teresa, meanwhile, just plain owed her allegiance to Clarence. The pair went arm-to-arm for a painful immunity challenge, in which contestants tried to keep one arm over their heads for as long as possible without triggering a bucket of water hovering above them. After six--count 'em, six--hours, Clarence offered to end the ordeal with Teresa by playing a game of rock-paper-scissors.

Teresa had paper. Clarence had rock. So he got doused, in more ways than one.

With his strength a threat, Clarence's former pals in the Boran tribe weren't showing him any allegiance--especially after early screw-ups like his bean-hoarding episode early in the game.

"I completely understand the decision to get rid of me. I'm strong, and I pose a threat in the Immunities, and I can live with that, because I knew that coming in," Clarence said in his final words. "I really needed this Immunity to find out if there was old Boran loyalty, and I guess there isn't."

Source: E online

Well, at least he never flew into weepy, neurotic rages. Defending herself, the drama queen says: "Out of 72 hours [of footage shot] per episode, they picked my worst moments to showcase. At first, it was a stab in the heart because I came home thinking, 'I wasn't manipulative, I didn't backstab anyone, I was really nice to everyone out there... for the most part.' And then, they start showing my absolute worst moments in history. This hurts. It wasn't my most flattering side.

"Then," she adds, "I just thought, 'Hey, I'm being talked about. I'm causing a buzz. You won't forget Lindsey, will ya?'" Spoken like the publicity-loving former ad exec that she is. Even so, Lindsey claims only humble ambitions. "As you can see, I don't take criticism lightly — and I think Hollywood would rip me to shreds," she admits. "I just want to be an athlete, continue to race mountain bikes, possibly host some extreme sports show. I'm not interested in being an actress. Sports, sports, sports!"

Any chance she'll pose for Playboy? "No," she laughs. "They would only approach me, I'm sure, if I got a boob job. So I don't think they'll be knocking on my door anytime soon. If they did, I would not do anything my father couldn't look at, and I don't think he could watch me in that sort of position."

Like most of Survivor's other female rejects, she says she'd make an exception for Maxim and Stuff, deeming such men's magazines "tasteful." Contradicting herself, though, she does call their classic formula pose — where a topless woman holds an arm across her chest to obscure her nipples — "so unnatural."

Hmm... Is Lindsey insincere or just confused? As she herself admits: "I'm very real. What comes out of my mouth doesn't always ask my brain if it's okay!"

Source: TVGuide.com

The film organization American Cinematheque has named Probst one of its ``Ten Directors to Watch'' for the independent film he wrote and directed -- a psychological thriller titled ''Finder's Fee.''

The film, starring Oscar nominees James Earl Jones (''The Great White Hope'') and Robert Forster (''Jackie Brown''), as well as Erik Palladino (''ER,'' U-571''), will be screened on Tuesday at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of the group's ''Ten Directors'' showcase.

The movie is about a struggling street artist (Palladino) who finds a wallet containing a winning $6 million lottery ticket and subsequently finds himself trapped in a New York City apartment with the wallet's rightful owner.

The movie earned Probst the Golden Space Needle Award for best film, along with a director award, at the 2001 Seattle International Film Festival.

Probst, who started out as host of ``Rock & Roll Jeopardy!'' on the VH1 cable network, sprang to fame hosting the CBS ''reality'' sensation ``Survivor,'' a game of elimination in which one of 16 contestants was voted off an island every week by fellow members of his or her respective ``tribe.''

In the original series, as in the two subsequent installments of the franchise, it has been Probst who solemnly counts the votes and pronounces the outcome.

Source: Reuters

You could see this tribal council conflict brewing: Big Tom, the somewhat incomprehensible goat farmer, versus Lindsey, the scabby, bitchy mountain biker from Portland, Oregon. Alas, the once-powerful ''young one'' got the boot, and she's here to tell EW.com what made her angry, why she's not a psycho, and what she has in common with last season's deeply reviled Jerri.

Did you know you were going home?

I was a little surprised. I was a little naïve to think they wouldn't vote for me. I guess I was thinking they were going to vote for Brandon since they were telling me to vote for him. In reality, they were setting me up. They knew I had votes against me because the other team was signing to them. They said, ''We didn't understand what they were telling us, but then you confirmed it'' [by trying to join forces and voting off Brandon].

So the young ones weren't so strong after all?

The minute I saw Silas was gone, I knew Frank and Theresa had totally turned against us and were ready to say anything. I don't blame them. I was a big pain in the ass to them.

Do you regret being such a pain in the ass?

The one thing I can say about myself is that I'm just a real person. What you see is what you get. I wear my heart on my sleeve. In a game like this, it's probably not the best thing to do.

If the tribes hadn't been swapped, do you think you would have gone further?

Absolutely. At least I would have made it to any sort of merge, if there was one. We four were so tight, and we were picking off the old people one by one. Both Silas and I would have gone farther. It's a heartbreaker.

Were you annoyed at Mark Burnett for changing the game like that?

Heck yeah. I was ready to kill him. When I saw him I said, ''I'm the most dramatic one. Ratings are going to go down.'' He said they'd planned to do it all along. I was like, ''You'll be sorry. Nobody's going to watch when I'm gone.''

So why were you so much more cut up than the other Survivors?

I took so many bumps and bruises out there. My knee was ripped open from being run over by the ox cart. Falling on the net gave me that huge rope burn. My shoulders were all cut up from carrying that roof up the hill, and my face was scratched by the same thing. It's a lovely little scar I have. It looks like a birthmark.

Do you sort of feel like you were this season's Jerri?

We're the same in that we're both very controversial figures who are talked about. We were edited in order to make a statement, and our worst moments were put on camera. Jerri's were rolling her eyes and stabbing people in the back. Mine were getting all fired up and acting like a 5-year-old. I thought I was going to be portrayed as the fun, young, athletic one. I didn't know I was going to be edited as a psycho.

Did you just hate Big Tom after you got voted off?

No, Tom is a good guy. I took offense to him at first. He's got a little bit of a perverted side to him but it's totally harmless. He's a big flirt. A little hard to understand sometimes, yes. But he played the game well, as far as I can see now. He was talking behind people's backs and putting on a happy face in public. When I saw the first episodes, I had no idea he could get angry. I found it a little offensive when he said ''two whiny girls and a queer.''

What was up with your luxury item, a beach ball, that was never on camera?

I used it as a pillow. We got to choose five luxury items and they picked one. They chose my last choice. Yeah, a beach ball with 5-foot-long thorns everywhere. Come on, people. I didn't even attempt to use it.

You majored in journalism in college. What question would you ask yourself?

I would ask myself, What the hell were you thinking being so emotional out there? I would probably ask myself why I wasn't more prepared for the emotional stress I was going to endure. I would answer that I entered into this game thinking I could get by on being a nice person, getting along with others, and being a good athlete. You really need to go back to childhood ways of being manipulative and backstabbling and malicious. I just wasn't prepared for that. The constant anxiety out there was more than I could have imagined.

So did you hang out in Africa after you got booted?

First I had a chicken breast and pasta. Then some chocolate bars. Then a shower. Yeah, I went on the big safari with everyone and had a blast. I had a million dollar vacation through Africa. If I had won the million dollars, I would have spent it on a safari seeing Africa. This way I got it for free.

Source: EW.com

I knew if I waited long enough, "Survivor" would bring on a challenge involving name brand foods. Ok, so this time it's not Doritoes -- but Mountain Dew.

A rewards challenge early on features a true or false test with the reward being a picnic including the canned soda and sandwiches. Could they have highlighted the Mountain Dew cans any more? It looked like there were 50 cans in that picnic.

"God, I'm so glad I'm eating!" Kim P. enthuses.

Later that night, Brandon and Kim P. discuss where they stand if they have to go to tribal council. Brandon is convinced that he will get voted off before Kim, since she's been nicer to the newbies than he has. "I don't care,'' he says, sounding flippant.

The next morning, Boran's Kim J. finds that the chickens have laid a small egg. It turns out that Clarence had said the night before that if they didn’t find any eggs, they were going to kill one of the chickens.

" You did it to spite me," Clarence tells the chickens when he sees the one egg. Later, the rest of the group decides to kill one of the chickens for dinner.

Meanwhile, Samburu's Lex, Tom and Kelly are trying to figure out the clue from Boran that Lindsey is the one to vote for. They can't figure out what the letter " L" means, deciding instead to vote out Brandon, figuring that Frank would have voted against him.

The misfits, figuring that the former Boran members will vote for Brandon, decide to target Tom, figuring Brandon will be able to beat him in the quiz if there is a tie.

Tree mail soon arrives warning the two tribes of an archery competition for the immunity idol. Since Frank is a hunter, he gives the rest of Boran lessons on how to shoot an arrow. While this helps some, which is ironic since Frank later misses each target. Boran wins immunity.

Back at the Samburu camp, the misfits discuss strategy, not aware that Kelly is overhearing them. Once Lindsey finds out that Kelly heard them talk about the votes she has against her, she freaks and considers targeting Brandon in order to save herself -- what a friend! She approaches Kelly and Big Tom, offering to vote out Brandon in order to keep herself in the game. Kim P. is clearly uncomfortable with this -- leading her to say in tribal council that she chose to vote ethically instead of just for herself.

Lindsey ends up voting to Big Tom, but it doesn't help, Kelly, Lex and Big Tom have targeted Lindsey instead of Brandon. A re-vote still leads to a tie, which Lindsey loses since she had four votes against her and Tom doesn't have any.

Bye bye Lindsey, can't say we'll miss your whining.

Source: Zap2it.com

Who Got Booted: Take a lucky guess. After constantly complaining about the lack of food, Lindsey, the 27-year-old former ad exec from Portland, Oregon, got her just desserts. The conniving crybaby got canned after new teammates Kelly, Lex and Tom discovered she had accumulated votes from previous Tribal Councils. When the truth came out, Lindsey contemplated joining the trio and turning against Kim and Brandon, but apparently her conscience (who knew she had one?) got the best of her. When Tribal Council came down to a tie between her and Tom, she was done in by her past. "On the way here tonight, my dignity took over," she said. " I don't care if I am voted out, because I didn't vote for a friend of mine. I am leaving with my pride." And then she cried for the umpteenth time. As host Jeff Probst extinguished her flame, Kim and Brandon sobbed like Flower and Thumper watching the death of Bambi's mother. Said Lindsey afterward, "I honestly don't think I could have gone on much longer because this game is a serious emotional rollercoaster ride. I'm an athlete, but I'd much rather [compete] in a civilized environment where I'm not battling malicious behavior. I don't like that aspect of this game at all." Even Jerri Manthey must've laughed at that one.

Who Could Be Next: As we get closer to the merging of tribes, anything can happen. Both Frank and Tom have votes against them, but Teresa and Kim Johnson are pretty frail, and thus ripe for the picking. Hell, take 'em all.

Source: TVGuide.com

At this point in ''Survivor,'' one takes one's pleasures where one can, and last night's immunity challenge (whoever lit five straw totem masks first won) made for a picturesque tableau. Last week's production-ordered switcheroo, in which members of the Boran and Samburu tribes were reshuffled, has, it's now clear, done nothing except make the show more confusing to the viewer. The gradual formation of personal and group strategies to survive -- cornerstones of the mounting interest in the two previous editions of ''Survivor''-- has been ruined. What's left is a haphazard, who-knows? atmosphere among the players that can easily rub off on the audience.

Producer Mark Burnett was up to his old editing tricks last night, cutting the episode so that we thought Samburu's Brandon would be voted out. Instead, Lindsey -- the whiner, the layabout, the girl who, in Brandon's words a couple of weeks ago, ''runs her mouth'' -- said a shaky goodbye, and who among us can say we greeted this with glee or sorrow?

That's the problem with this ''Survivor'': The mean-spirited people (like autocratic Frank and self-righteous Tom) aren't clever enough to enjoy as villains, and the likable people... well, at this point, the only person I'd pull a flaming arrow out of would be easy-going Ethan, and we haven't heard enough from him to know whether he's a clever player or not.

Oh, yeah, the food challenge, won by Samburu: It was sandwiches, pasta, cookies, and, crowed Jeff Probst, ''all the Mountain Dew you can drink!'' Remember the good old days of ''Survivor,'' when half-starved, dehydrated people used to get snockered on beer or champagne? It's a tough new advertising market out there, guys: Caffeinated soda is the only way to get high now.

Source: EW.com

After taking the nation by storm with its first rendition, then unseating NBC's hit sitcom ``Friends'' in its second, CBS's ''Survivor'' reality series is losing some of its staying power in its third time around.

``Survivor: Africa'' has drawn solid numbers in its first five weeks, averaging 20.7 million viewers per episode and 10.8 million among advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-olds, according to television data tracking firm Nielsen Media Research.

But while respectable, those numbers are still about 30 percent behind the spring showing of ``Survivor: The Australian Outback (news - Y! TV),'' which averaged 29.8 million total viewers and 16 million 18- to 49-year-olds each week during its run.

Significantly, the show no longer finishes at the top of the ratings each week, unlike the second installment that consistently finished No. 1 among total viewers.

The most recent week was a case in point, with NBC's ``ER'' and ``Friends'' taking the No. 1 and 3 spots and CBS's ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (news - Y! TV),'' finishing second, as ``Survivor: Africa'' finished fifth. Moreover, the latest ``Survivor'' has consistently failed to beat the show that follows it, ``CSI'' at 9 p.m.

TV Guide senior critic Matt Roush said the ``Survivor'' franchise has lost some of its freshness, among other things.

``There's very little buzz about the show,'' he said. ``It's not a novelty any longer.''

'MISERY TOUR'

As a case in point, Roush noted that a recent ``Survivor'' episode where some participants drank cow's blood as part of challenge barely registered on most people's radar screens. By comparison, the graphic killing of a wild pig in one episode of the previous installment generated wide controversy.

``The show has been relentlessly sour and self absorbed,'' Roush said. ``All season long it's been about watching these tribes sit around for an entire hour whining and moaning or obsessing on the vote at the end of the show. It's no longer an adventure series. It's a misery tour.''

Many viewers may also be turned off by a recent sudden switching of members between the show's two tribes, which compete with each other in a game of elimination until the last person left wins a $1 million prize.

Roush called the surprise switch an apparent ``desperation move'' by the show's producers in a bid to invigorate a situation that was fast becoming moribund.

``It made it more interesting, but it also strips the show of any semblance of credibility as an authentic game,'' Roush said. ``They don't like the way the game is being played, so they changed the game. That would mean to me that the game as it was originally set up is played out.''

Still, Roush conceded that, at 20 million viewers per episode, ``Survivor'' is still very healthy and not in imminent danger of television death.

``It's gone from a phenomenon to a hit,'' he said. ``The fact it's a hit is good news to most people in the reality television business. But there are also warnings signs that the show is turning into something different because 'Survivor' as we first loved it isn't working anymore.''

Source: Variety REUTERS

TVGO: How will we survive the rest of the season without you? Some of us only tune in to see Silas shirtless!

Silas: [Chuckles] That's sweet, man. That's unreal.

TVGO: Did you know you were doomed as soon as they switched tribes?

Silas: Oh, I had it handed to me, didn't I, buddy? I knew right from the get-go that it was the beginning of the end. I went with the two people that hated me the most, and I knew when I had that yellow [Boran] buff that it was over.

TVGO: Every contestant says "sex was the last thing on our minds" out there, but surely you fancied someone?

Silas: Jessie was probably the most attractive. It's so funny, [we] rode the Land Rover to the dropoff point and we really bonded, even though we couldn't talk. Just sitting next to each other and looking each other in the eye, there was a connection there. It never got to extend into anything serious because we weren't in the same tribe.

TVGO: Wait, didn't you all stay together on a ranch after being voted off?

Silas: [Turning sheepish] You're trying to dig out some scoop, huh? We were all together and I sure did get to talk to her. She's a sweet girl, she's a lot of fun and we're definitely gonna keep in contact — but there was no Survivor love connection. Believe me, I was hoping there'd be a little somethin' when I signed up for this. There's always attractive girls on the show!

TVGO: Your gay fans wonder if Brandon ever pitched woo at you...

Silas: [Laughs] None of that! He's a good friend of mine and he's a very clever guy. But absolutely no connection there, no flirting on me.

TVGO: Any chance you'll ever pose for Playgirl?

Silas: I don't know if there's gonna be any Playgirl in the future. My dad always said never say never, but that's something I don't think I'll ever do. That's just not my style, to be honest. That would be pretty darn funny — I got a hairy butt, man. I don't know if you want to see that!

Source: TVGuide.com

A week ago, TV viewers may have seen Tennessee native Silas Gaither, 23, as the king of the Samburu tribe. But his new teammates on the Boran tribe decided the aspiring actor was more of a joker than African royalty, and they gave him the boot. EW.com talked to Gaither about being a slacker, why it's okay to be hated, and why those little tooth brushing sticks may be the next big trend.

You certainly seemed to take it easy while the older members of your team did all the work. Is that accurate?

This show is made in the editing room. Everybody said something bad, everybody said something good, and everybody said something stupid every day. The producers picked what they wanted to make good television. I busted my tail around camp. Brandon, Kim, Frank and Teresa would be the first to tell you I got all the fire wood. And as far as my sleeping in, I'm a bartender. I work until four in the morning. I can't help it if Frank's been getting up at four in the morning since he was 12.

Asking Frank, Linda and Teresa to vote for Lindsey turned out to be your downfall when they ratted you out to your new team. Are you wishing you'd kept your big mouth shut?

To be honest with you, I don't blame them for being angry. That was a power play that was just a very stupid move. And it should've never been done. It's one of those situations where you're so caught up in the moment it's hard to describe it. In all honesty, I had my game face on during the competition. When you have vulnerability or hesitation, you have weakness. So that's kind of where my attitude of go-get-'em came from. I was thinking, 'Grab the bull by the horns and take him down.'

On the ''Survivor'' website, you rank dead last in their likeability poll. That's gotta hurt.

Until you've been through an experience yourself it's not fair to be critical, or at least that's what I've always been taught. I'm just like, 'You know what man? That's okay, because they don't know, and they're trying to have fun and figure out the game.' That's the fun part of the TV show. I'm happy to be a part of that.

Did you realize that your own team had thrown the immunity challenge just to get rid of you?

That was a shocker to me. It didn't hit me until I watched the show last night. That was pretty bad. But I think it was a wise move on their part. They played the game well.

Linda really gave you a hard time for getting down on one knee to rally the troops. Where did you pick that up, anyway?

I can't believe it struck such a chord. All my athlete buddies were laughing their heads off saying, 'Man, I do that all the time.' It's just a pep up thing. It's like the quarterback taking the knee in the huddle, like 'C'mon guys, doggone it, let's score this touch down.' It's just part of me, and it came out. But I hate that Linda thought it was cheesy, because I think she's a terrific person.

You're a bartender in Los Angeles. How are people reacting to you? Are you getting better tips?

It's been really sweet. Nothing but positives. There are people that come in and recognize you, and some people that just don't. It hasn't changed a thing. I mean, people aren't mean or anything. They realize it's a game, and they realize that you're out there to win. My parents thought I had won the whole thing. So that was a heart breaker. And, for my parents' sake, I hate the fact that people think I'm portrayed as the manipulative kind of guy. But that's the power of the media.

Do those little tree branches really clean your teeth?

They were unbelievable. They have fluoride in the branches. It really works. In fact, we were making jokes about marketing it in the United States and calling it the African Tree Brush or something. I didn't get any cavities while I was there.

So tell us, why the heck did your team's pots keep breaking?

They didn't show this either, but both tribes busted their pots. To make good television, they have to show just us breaking the pots because it looks like the mall rats are screwing around. It's excellent editing. They told us the pots were tough and that you can just throw them right on the fire and we did that, but they started cracking and breaking. You talk about a nightmare; it was truly, truly a nightmare.

Lex and Tom seemed thoroughly unimpressed with your camp. Were they being too harsh?

I was surprised at their reaction. Each camp had their own system, and, if you remember, they had won a huge tank of water so they didn't have to waste time gathering and boiling water. So of course they had time to stock up on fire wood.

Considering that your team won the first two immunity challenges, were you surprised by how everything fell apart?

You know, it's easier to vote someone off earlier in the game because no one's formed any alliances. We had nine days before we had to vote anybody off, and it basically tore our team apart. When you win like that, you almost create your own destruction.

What did you miss most while you were in Africa?

I missed greasy cheeseburgers. Honestly, probably the food and the things we take for granted in life, the things that we have everyday. You know, a Q-tip. Just the little things.

Source: EW.com

"It just keeps the contestants on their toes. Trust me, you'll see on 'Survivor' how they absolutely start to assume they know the game inside and out from seeing it on TV, and we absolutely did something in the game where it totally threw them for a loop."

"It's just witty and interesting and made a big change."

Current rumors suggest the creation of a third tribe in the African edition of CBS' Thursday night reality/game show, instead of just the traditional merging of the existing tribes, Samburu and Boran.

Burnett is currently multitasking around the world. He just finished overseeing the latest running of his "Eco-Challenge" adventure race (hence being in New Zealand), to be broadcast on USA Network in early 2002; went on a book tour to promote his autobiography, "Dare to Succeed: How to Survive and Thrive in the Game of Life" ; and scouted a location for the fourth "Survivor" series.

"It's the Marquesas Islands."

In particular, it's the volcanic island of Nuku Hiva (which means "Land of the Men" in Tahitian), in the Marquesas archipelago of French Polynesia. Larger than the original "Survivor" island of Pulau Tiga, Nuku Hiva offers a wider variety of foodstuffs, along with wild cattle and pigs.

"It's time for another island," says Burnett. "It's got very high waterfalls and jungle-ly, jagged mountains. It's a really cool, wild island."

Some have speculated that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and the challenging economy, might put the brakes on the fast-growing reality-television industry. Burnett begs to differ. "Judging from 'Survivor's' ratings," he says, "we're still a top five show, which is hard to be. I think good television is good television. Whether you're a drama or a comedy or an hourly, it's all the same standards."

"You just have good characters, good storylines, great production values and good, compelling drama."

"Survivor 4" is expected to air on CBS sometime after the Winter Olympics in February.

Source: Zap2it.com

Silas, leader of the young Samburu alliance, was thrown a curve ball when the unpredictable nature of SURVIVOR revealed itself. Each tribe was asked to select three of its "best" members, "best" meaning whatever they might interpret that to mean. When the three chosen members from each tribe showed up at a neutral location, they were informed that they were now members of the other tribe.

Silas became a member of the Boran tribe, which intentionally threw the Immunity Challenge in order to vote him out. Leaving the Tribal Council, Silas looked back at his time in Africa, saying, "The twist in the game was amazing. I kind of had my cards lined up the way I wanted them to get through the merge. I couldn't recover from it. I was a threat to Ethan and the rest of the group. I planned on winning the whole thing."

Silas's Last Words

I don't know where to begin. Unbelievable game; excellent game. I'm not too good at gambling, and the twists of the game were amazing. I kind of had my cards lined up the way I wanted them going into the merge, but I was with the two people that we were about to kick off, and I just couldn't recover from it. I was a threat to Ethan and the rest of the group. I think they saw that--at least, I hope they saw that if that was the reason--and voted against me here.

But it's tough to be sitting here. I had planned on winning the whole thing, obviously. You come here to win, and that's basically why I came out here. But it was an unbelievable experience, an unbelievable game. I'd play the game tomorrow, I'd play it next year. It's unreal! I wish everybody had an opportunity to play this game.

The Final Vote

Silas Gaither - 5
Frank Garrison - 1

Source: CBSNews.com

"The game will be changed forever" is how CBS promoted Thursday night's episode of Survivor.
The first -- and possibly not the only one -- of executive producer Mark Burnett's promised shakeups for the series' third installment was unveiled in the first 15 minutes. And if it doesn't change the game forever, it at least radically changes the landscape in Africa.

Each tribe found a message requesting it to pick three of its remaining six members to travel to the spot at which the contestants were dropped off in Kenya's Shaba National Reserve.

Once there, host Jeff Probst made each group of three become members of the other tribe, meaning -- as the promotions also promised -- every alliance, friendship and strategy aimed at getting the $1-million top prize changed.

"It just keeps the contestants on their toes," Burnett told Zap2it.com this week. "Trust me, you'll see on Survivor how they absolutely start to assume they know the game inside and out from seeing it on TV, and we absolutely did something in the game where it totally threw them for a loop.

"It's just witty and interesting and made a big change."

In Survivor's first two installments, as in this one, two teams of eight started the game. They stayed separate, whittling down the total number of contestants to 10, at which point the tribes merged into one. Contestants continued to be eliminated until there was a winner.

In Survivor: Africa, four contestants were eliminated -- two each from the Samburu and Boran tribes -- before the tribes traded members. Silas Gaither, Teresa Cooper and Frank Garrison went from the Samburu tribe to Boran, and Kelly Goldsmith, Lex van den Berghe and Tom Buchanan went from Boran to Samburu.

In the first immunity challenge for the reconstituted tribes, Samburu won, and Boran by a 5-1 vote got rid of the annoying, scheming Gaither, 23, a bartender from Germantown, Tenn.

At the end of the tribal council at which the vote was held, Probst's final remarks indicated another big change could be ahead. He said he had heard a lot of assumptions from the contestants -- including that the merger would happen after one more contestant was voted out.

Source: St. Petersburg Times

How? At the exact moment when President Bush was addressing the nation while standing in front of a banner reading ''United We Stand,'' ''Survivor'' was busy dividing: Samburu's Frank, Silas, and Theresa were shipped over to team Boran, in forced exchange for Lex, Tom, and Kelly.

It was an ironic contrast -- CBS too scared to air its broadcast of a Presidential address lest it lose even more millions of viewers to ''Friends,'' even as ''Survivor'''s Ethan was moaning that ''my two closest FRIENDS on the team were gone.''

This was the switcheroo CBS had been desperately promoting all week: ''Don't miss the first 15 minutes.'' Translation: Please, please, please, Nielsen-box families -- tune away from the first half of ''Friends''! And the President, talking about national security? Well, catch it on the local news at 11.

Still, think about it: ''Survivor'' producer Mark Burnett masterminded this tribal transfiguration a long while ago -- he had no idea the country would be where it is now -- so looking at it from his point of view, he's admitting that this edition of ''Survivor'' was strangling on its signature strategies. The famous ''alliances'' had become predictable; the back-biting mundane. (Last night's best bite was the one a tick took out of Lindsay's rear end, the sight of which, as the insect was removed, provoked creepy, goatish glee in middle-aged Tom.)

I'll be sorry to see Lindsay go. She's a staggeringly poor strategist further enhanced by breathtaking self-absorption, which makes her woe-is-me sobbing an amusing sight. Last night, these qualities inspired the best line of the night, from Brandon: ''It's so great that I'm gay, because I could not put up with a crying woman now.''

Ultimately, thick-headed pretty-boy Silas was booted out in a resounding 5 to 1 vote, and host Jeff Probst, who began the evening in a fetching little white cowboy hat, intimated that the newly reconfigured teams should not assume there'll be the traditional ''team merge.'' This could be a red herring, conceived by his boss Burnett to rattle the contestants and keep us tuning in. And at this point, it would take a sea of red herrings, flooding the East African plain where the game is set, to make the show exciting.

Source: EW.com

Alliances and strategies were shattered last night after the Samburus and Borans were bamboozled into making a six-player trade. The swap took place after each tribe was instructed to send their three "best" members on a mystery quest. On arriving at a designated location, the three shocked Borans (Lex Van den Berghe, Tom Buchanan and Kelly Goldsmith) and Samburus (Silas Gaither, Teresa Cooper and Frank Garrison) were greeted by host Jeff Probst and informed of the exchange. What's the significance of this little transaction? For starters, Frank and Teresa get a new lease on life. Had things stayed the way they were, the couple would eventually have been banished by their young and unified Samburu mates (Lindsey Richter, Kim Powers, Brandon Quinton and Silas). Silas, on the other hand, immediately became odd man out after being separated from his three sneaky sidekicks. As for Lex, Tom and Kelly — all down-to-earth, hard-working people — they unfortunately get stuck with the whiny, good-for-nothing trio of Lindsey, Kim and Brandon. Disgusted with the situation, Tom said, "If [Jeff] gave me the option to run back to camp with no water for two days, or [trade sides], I'd still be trying to run."

Who Got Booted: Silas Gaither, the 23-year-old bartender/wannabe actor from Los Angeles. Arguably one of the least likable contestants to ever play the game, the shifty Silas got exactly what he deserved. It was all over for Silas the moment he arrived at his new campsite, as Frank and Teresa wasted no time telling the Borans about his wily ways. True to form, Silas was sleazy to the very end, trying to convince his new buddies to boot his arch-enemy, Frank. Despite — or perhaps because of — his politicking, the tribe was unanimous in their vote to sack him. As he placed his Tribal Council vote, notorious bean-eater Clarence Black held up a sign bearing Silas's name and said, "I love you man, but I can't trust you." (Talk about the pot and the kettle.) Ironically, it was only a week ago that Silas predicted he would win the whole shebang. Guess again, Sparky.

Who Could Be Next: If there's any justice, it'll be Lindsey. The former ad exec, who cries every time the wind shifts direction, already has several votes against her and knows her time is near. Brendan and Kim Powers, however, are trying to protect her by hiding that fact from their new tribe mates. It's only a matter of time, however, before she's given her walking papers. We can hardly wait.

Five down, 10 to go.

Source: tvguide.com

Source: tvguide.com

Now, we know Linda's unwelcome hugs — which made neurotic Lindsey bristle — and her reluctance to act as Silas's "doormat" made her unpopular with the brat pack. But surely it was all that annoying New Age-y chatter about 'Mother Africa' and gods and goddesses that sealed her fate!

"I was not accurately portrayed," Linda counters. "In the third episode, which was called 'The Gods Are Angry,' the editors went overboard and made it sound like every time I opened my mouth I was spouting some monologue about 'Mother Africa.' And believe me, if I was doing that all the time, I would've said, 'Vote her off now!' But I wasn't. I guess it made good TV to string all those sayings together at once."

After host Jeff Probst snuffed her torch at Tribal Council, Linda reveals that she and her fellow castoffs were offered a luxe safari trip — which she declined. "I thought, 'Here I am in Kenya, where the average person makes a dollar a day and AIDS is rampant. I just can't go on a safari, swim in a pool and have some drinks.'" Instead, Linda opted to tour impoverished Masai villages with a mobile clinic dedicated to AIDS awareness and family planning. "Giving back," she says, "is what it's all about." — Daniel R. Coleridge

Source: tvguide.com

Not only did Silas, Lindsey, Kim, and Brandon sleep all day and eat all the food while you were out doing chores, they called you crazy behind your back. How much do you hate those weasels?

First of all, I've had some time to recover. I hate to say it, but they're actually nice people when they're out of the game. But yes, they were pretty arrogant and mean out there. I think when Lindsey described herself as a defensive person, that summed up a lot of her behavior. But we've made our peace. Basically we said, ''Hey, it was a game, I found you annoying, you found me annoying, let's move on.'' As for Silas, since I've gotten to know him a bit, I like him. I think more than anyone out there, he was putting on a game face. That wasn't his true personality.

How do you feel about how you were depicted on the show?

I don't think that I was portrayed all that accurately. I think the average viewer thought, Gee, every time this woman opens her mouth she's spouting this monologue about ''Mother Africa'' and I really want to slap her. But it was very rare that I spoke about it. That was sort of my characterization. But the truth is, I do believe in those things and I am a spiritual person.

When did you know the twentysomethings were going to pick you off next?

When Carl took his walk, I knew I was probably next. Even though they despised Frank, they needed his physical strength. Then in choosing between T- Bird [Teresa] and myself, they knew they couldn't manipulate me easily, that I wasn't a doormat. When they asked us to vote for Lindsey, T-Bird kept her mouth shut, but I asked, ''What's in it for me?'' I questioned things, so they went with the person who doesn't question.

You seemed to hold your own in the challenges. Did you ever feel you couldn't go on?

I never felt totally overwhelmed, but I definitely felt that my size was a deficit out there. I knew before the merge they were going to pick off the physically weaker people, and I was at a disadvantage. The challenges this season were much more physical than the ones during the first two. This year it was about brute strength.

What the hell is wrong with that water, anyway?

It was just foul. But it also smelled because of the pots and the gourds and the canteens that we had. The gourds had that smell of turpentine, so you're bringing the water up to your lips and you can smell that oily smell, and that was pretty gross. It was so great after I was voted off that the first thing I was handed was a bottle of water. All I could think was, ''Oh my God, this water's all for me and it's clean!''

Your luxury item was aromatherapy oils. Did you ever use the stuff?

We all brought five luxury items, and of course the producers picked the things that were way down at the bottom of our lists, so I thought, This is ridiculous. But before each challenge, we had a whole ceremony where everybody got the aromatherapy and put it on their temples. In fact, I have it right here. I always carry it around with me. It's very calming.

How ticked are you at Carl for blowing that last question, no pun intended?

After he did that, he looked at me with these puppy dog eyes and said ''I'm so sorry.'' I knew he felt badly, and I would not have wanted to go out that way. When I heard they were going to use questions for the tiebreaker, I thought, ''Perfect! Carl's going to win -- he's way smarter than Lindsey!'' But it didn't work out that way. Still, I've never been angry with him.

Do you still keep in touch with the other members of your alliance?

T-Bird, Carl, Frank, and I still have our bond, and it's a very deep one. We check in with each other weekly. With the younger group, I know for a fact they're not talking to each other the way we are, so that kind of tells you something right there.

What did you do in Africa after you got the boot?

I did something unique. I thought, the average person here makes less than a dollar a day, this is the poorest nation in Africa, and AIDS is rampant. I'm going to go on a safari? I think not. I was able to travel through some villages and research their public health care needs thanks to the Mpala Wildlife Foundation. They need another clinic, so I'm trying to raise money for that now.

Since Sept. 11, a lot of people feel reality shows are a little frivolous. How do you react to that?

I totally respect and understand that. I would probably say, please understand it's a game show, it's entertainment. If you need a distraction, it's a wonderful distraction, but if you can't see it that way, I totally understand.

Source: EW.com

As Medical Director of CBS' reality hit "Survivor", which began its new season last month, Australian physician Adrian Cohen is responsible for the well-being of the show's 16 contestants and 400 crew members. During three seasons in exotic locales, the emergency medicine specialist has treated everything from run-of-the-mill sunburn and constipation to third-degree burns and a fractured skull. But the "best" medical crisis for Cohen was when contestant Colleen Haskell required attention for a rash on her ... er ... posterior. "I remember looking around at the medical team and thinking, 'Yes! There is a God,' " he says.

E-mailing from "Survivor"'s new Kenyan location, Cohen, 40 -- who also hosts "Medquest", a syndicated series debuting this month -- shared some tips based on his "Survivor" experiences.

Imagine a holiday island, or outback wilderness, into which has been built a world-class medical facility along the lines of UCLA or Harvard, staffed by exquisite-looking doctors, nurses and paramedics in immaculate uniforms, where the smell of antiseptic is perfectly balanced by the aroma of fresh flowers.

Well, the "Survivor" medical unit is nothing like that. ER, eat your heart out!

It's dirty, dusty, sweaty and hot, 24 hours a day for six long weeks of filming and up to 10 more weeks of pre- and post-production. This is not a place for pedantic, hospital-trained prima donnas who complain when the caffe latte is lukewarm. The "Survivor" medical team is used to getting its collective hands dirty -- literally and figuratively.

Source: USAweekend.com

Linda sealed her fate earlier by sparring with Lindsey Richter, the temperamental 27-year-old from Portland, Ore., as the two could not overcome their differences.

After exiting, Linda looked back on her time spent in Africa, stating, "Integrity is very important to me. It's not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game."

Linda's Final Words:

It's been an amazing 12 days, and all along there were two things that I wanted to go away with. One was to have fun to the end, and I have fun each and every day. The other thing was to walk away with my head held high, and with honor. I think our vote tonight, the older people's alliance, is very significant. Honor is very important to us; integrity is very important to us. To me, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. We tried, and we came up on the shorter end of the stick.

It'll be interesting to see what happens later on, after the merge. I would love to be there, but it wasn't meant to be. I'm a very spiritual person, I trust the process, accept what is. It was an amazing adventure; I had a hell of a time. Mother Africa is just this wonderful, wonderful place. I've grown, I've learned, it's just been great. Namaste."

The Final Vote:

Linda Spencer - 4
Silas Gaither - 3

Source: CBS.com

Samburu was sent to the tribal council following an immunity challenge involving the move of a mini camp from one location to another. Boran, using a team of four men to do the moving, took an easy lead and never looked back.

Samburu was the victor in the earlier reward challenge, which pitted the two tribes against one another in a mini obstacle course. The two tribes ran neck and neck for most of the challenge, until Boran's Kim Johnson fell behind and cost the group a win. Samburu took home a variety of food prizes, including soup mix and olive oil. But with no fresh water and several broken pots, the tribe was unable to enjoy its reward.

While Boran appeared to be suffering from a great deal of infighting in the first two episodes of the season, notably surrounding Clarence Black and an opened can of beans, the team now appears much more solid. Meanwhile, show host Jeff Probst noted during the tribal council that Samburu's clear split between the younger and older tribe members threatens its future following the merge, with seven votes already cast against two of the tribe.

In last season's "Survivor: The Australian Outback," the Ogakor and Kucha tribes entered the merge at equal strength, but after a tie vote in the first tribal council, the tribe member with the most votes was kicked out. That ended up being Kucha's Jeff Varner, and Ogakor ended up easily controlling the game from then on.

Source: Zap2it.com

Up against a pumped World Series and a Sean Penn-ed ''Friends,'' the Nov. 1 ''Survivor'' suddenly seemed like a show whose production had been hijacked from master showman Mark Burnett and handed over to PBS. The reality series was rendered tedious, ''educational'' (''Tribes of East Africa are nomadic,'' lectured host Jeff Probst), and picturesque for the sake of being picturesque (so many pretty long-shots of landscape, so little human drama).

By now, you begin to notice how LITTLE impression some of the contestants are making -- not a good sign for a game show predicated on manufacturing strong-willed celebrities. Grumpy brunette Kim, of the Samburu ''tribe'' (as opposed to the perennially exhausted-looking blonde Kim of Boran), is a prime example. It was only because she was given a little camera time to bemoan her team's lack of unity (''Can we get it together?'' she bleated) that we realized how little she has impressed her personality upon the show.

This week's physical challenges were unimaginative: leaping across a bouncy net for the food, relocating camps for the immunity challenge. And the squabbling pre-Tribal Council kick-off proved to be ineffective filibustering, most of it conducted by the super-pectoral Silas. It took Probst to explain to Samburu the basic logic that their tribe should stop the fighting, because once the two tribes merge, ''You need numbers'' -- i.e., unity against the increasingly superior-in-every-way Boran bunch.

In the end, Linda was voted off, supercilious to the end (''Play nicely'' were her last words). Probst closed out the hour by quoting Silas (who himself got three ouster votes to Linda's four) as saying, ''This game changes minute by minute.''

It's getting so some of us wish it would change at least a few times in an hour. For the first time, I thought that if CBS aired ''The Amazing Race'' on Thursdays at 8 p.m. instead of ''Survivor'' the exciting, funny, better-edited ''Race'' might be this season's new ''reality'' phenomenon.

''Don't miss the first 15 minutes of 'Survivor''' next week, implored the announcer over the closing credits. Sounds like CBS knows NBC's ''Friends'' is making its longstanding alliances far more appealing than they'd ever dreamed.

Source: EW.com

So were you surprised when you got four votes at tribal council?

I could see Silas planting those seeds about my being a dentist [and not needing the $1 million]. I mean, his father is an oral surgeon. He makes a lot more money than I do. But I'd also heard rumblings that they were going to vote for Frank.

So you think it was Silas who ruined it for you?

He's a 23-year-old guy. His ego got in the way. The little bird on my shoulder told me Silas was a little afraid if he sided with us, we would vote him off once the tribes merged.

You don't seem all that bitter about Lindsey.

No, I didn't hate Lindsey. I have never hated Lindsey. I believe she was using a smart strategy for a girl of her age. She did the whole, ''I'm a poor college executive'' or whatever she is. ''He's the rich doctor.''

How did you envision things playing out?

The biggest frustration was we four adults felt like we could win if we just keep voting out the weakest person. It wasn't a backstabbing strategy. But the younger people didn't buy it. They didn't trust us. Boran as a tribe outmatched us, and we had to remain strong.

What was up with their whole necklace bonding session?

It was very childish. When we were watching, my 17-year-old daughter Jessica said, ''I can't believe how immature and irresponsible those people are.'' But I said, It's just a game. I don't know if that was their game face or if that's how they really are.

How was the oral hygiene in Africa?

There's a tree, the Malafi tree, which the Masai tribe uses. I actually used it along with my toothbrush and didn't have a hygiene problem. The biggest hygiene problem was not being able to jump into the ocean like they could on the other two ''Survivor''s.

How did you miss that tick question?

That's where my dental degree hindered me. I thought if you poured hot water, you'd burn the person. I don't remember that being in the manual, but I should never have missed the snake question. I used to run a pet store in college. All my friends emailed me asking how I could miss the snake question.

Were you starving when you left?

Oddly enough, I never felt hungry. I went to Africa with the objective to lose 30 pounds. I lost 18. Water was the precious commodity but not food. After I left, some guy handed me a Coke. I was like, no, I want a hot shower.

Did you hang out in Africa afterward?

Yeah, they allowed me to bring all my professional camera equipment with the understanding that they'd hold onto my pictures until January 10. I got to play the game, lose weight, and then take pictures of Africa. I don't regret anything.

Source: EW.com