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thehippestkidsintown · 8 years

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Spoiler Alert: Pop Culture's Relationship With Spoilers

Where did spoilers come from, and how has our relationship with them changed over the years?

I was 11-years-old when I first saw The Undertaker deliver a tombstone piledriver; I've been a huge pro-wrestling fan ever since. One of my favourite wrestling events growing up was the Royal Rumble. A match in which 30 competitors enter the ring and attempt to throw each other out until only one remains. Rooting for your favourite to win, whether you're old enough to know it's pre-determined or not, is a thrilling spectacle. When I was a kid, the internet was still in the dark days of dial-up (Mum, get off the phone!!). Spoilers weren't readily available at the click of a button like today. I genuinely had no idea who was going to win Royal Rumble 2000.

Living in the UK, with the event not airing until the early hours of the morning, going to school the next day in the hopes that nobody else had watched was a nail-biting experience. Any mention of wrestling that day would require me to seek refuge in the quietest part of the playground. I had a VHS tape waiting at home, and nobody was going to ruin the Royal Rumble for me, damn it! Then it happened. “The Rock eliminated Big Show last and won.” Devastation. My first real experience of being spoiled, and it stung like a Stone Cold Stunner.

Nowadays, there are literally hundreds of websites dedicated to wrestling spoilers. Not just spoilers of events that have already happened, but spoilers of things to come. Journalists, like Dave Meltzer, have built careers out of revealing behind the scenes information, upcoming match plans, storyline rumours, and surprise returns. Sixteen years later from that day I tried so desperately to avoid finding out the Rumble winner, I'm now one of those people scrolling “the dirt sheets”, devouring as many wrestling spoilers as humanly possible.

It's not just the world of wrestling that is involved in the spoiler game. Search for any of your favourite shows in Google, and the word “spoilers” is bound to pop up in the search results. Entire websites exist for the sole purpose of spoiling TV shows. Spoilers are unavoidable in the social media age. From Facebook newsfeeds to Twitter trending topics; they're everywhere. You can be spoiled before you've had the chance to pour your morning coffee.

As a culture we have almost become desensitised to spoilers. There was a time, even just a few years ago, when revealing a spoiler without warning would cause public outrage. I'm sure everyone remembers the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince saga, when the [spoiler warning!] “Snape kills Dumbledore” spoiler went viral. Trolls delighted in driving to bookstores and unleashing the dreaded spoiler onto unsuspecting fans waiting in line to buy the new book. The reaction back then was anger and despair. Today, you're more likely to be laughed at and told to “Stay off Facebook if you don't want to be spoiled.” JK Rowling's failed attempts to “#KeepTheSecrets” for the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage-play is proof of this.

But it wasn't always that way. In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock pleaded with those that had seen his movie Psycho to “...not give away the ending. It's the only one we have." He even instructed movie theatres not to allow anyone into the screenings once the film had started. Of course, without a million internet forums in existence, keeping the ending secret was a lot easier in 1960 than it was in 2014 when the creators of The LEGO Movie asked for a similar courtesy of their audiences.

Spoiling, as we know it, is a more recent phenomenon. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, language columnist Ben Zimmer traced the term back to the magazine National Lampoon in 1971. National Lampoon co-founder, Doug Kenney, wrote a feature simply entitled “Spoilers,” in which he would take great pleasure in spoiling the twist endings of popular books and movies; including Psycho as mentioned above. The feature was presented in a humorous way; the punchline being that Kenney was offering a service that “saves time and money.”

The usage stuck, and by the late 70s/early 80s the term “spoiler”, or more accurately, “spoiler alert”, became commonplace within a particular subset of pop culture. It began gaining traction in the science-fiction community. Author Spider Robinson would introduce his columns in Destinies magazine with a “spoiler warning”. Likewise, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory created a mailing list for sci-fi fans that included similar warnings. The term became more and more common in Usenet newsgroups – a very early form of an Internet discussion board. In 1982, a user labelled his post about Star Trek: Wrath of Khan with the phrase “spoiler alert.”

The term would only continue to spread throughout the 90s and into the 00s. But something changed along the way. Those early uses of the word “spoiler”, for the most part, were to warn people to avoid a particular post or article. People weren't actively seeking out spoilers, they were simply looking for discussion, and others were courteous enough to warn them of any potential spoilers ahead. Now, people intentionally seek out spoilers - either because they can't wait to find out later, or because they enjoy ruining things for others. Knowledge is indeed power, and there is a fascination with being the first to know something.

The birth of reality-television ties directly into the world of spoiling. When Survivor debuted in the summer of 2000 and became a mainstream hit, it was expected of columnists to warn readers of potential spoilers that might reveal who was booted off the island. But something else happened. Hardcore fans of the show began actively searching for spoilers in an attempt to predict the outcome of the game.

Survivor fans would analyse contestant interviews and look for clues within the edit. The first big clue came in a split-second clip from an early episode montage, where eagle-eyed viewers noticed the final nine contestants at tribal council. The attempt to spoil the first season winner became such a big talking point, that Mark Burnett and the production team purposely put out fake spoilers. The web code of the official Survivor site had pictures of all the contestants with an ‘X’ by their face; except for one - Gervase Peterson. Word quickly spread across internet forums, and soon after into mainstream media outlets, that Gervase was the Survivor winner. The speculation gained further momentum when production slipped in a doctored shot of the supposed “final four,” featuring Gervase, into the opening of a later episode. When Gervase was eventually voted out, it came as a huge shock to many viewers.

Spoiling had started to enter a whole new phase. It went beyond just seeing the latest movie and posting about the surprise ending online. Spoiling had now become a game, particularly when pre-recorded Reality-Game-Shows were concerned. You can read the great history of Survivor spoilers over the years on the Survivor Sucks forum. Perhaps the most infamous revolve around Survivor: The Amazon when a forum user named ChillOne visited the location during filming. He sought out not only cast information but the entire boot order, revealing the final two a month before the show had even premiered. ChillOne even published a book about his Survivor spoiling adventures.

It isn't dissimilar from fans turning up to location shoots for Game of Thrones and taking photographs to post online later. The fate of Jon Snow was one of the biggest pop culture talking points of the past year, and the fervor involved in finding out whether Snow was in the new season or not demonstrates just how prevalent spoilers have become in our everyday lives. Director David Lynch felt the effects of spoilers in the recent shoot of the new Twin Peaks when he kindly asked fans who had visited the set to help keep the mystery alive by not revealing any details.

I dabble in spoilers myself on Inside Survivor, specifically in regards to cast and location spoilers for Survivor. There is definitely a thrill and a sense of excitement that comes with being able to spoil a cast correctly months in advance. Even if my personal story of falling into the world of spoilers came about purely accidentally.

Survivor isn't the only show that attracts a large spoiler community. RealitySteve has made a living out of accurately spoiling the casts and winners of The Bachelor for many seasons now. There are forums dedicated to tracking the movements of The Amazing Race teams while filming is taking place. There are thousands of Big Brother live feed watchers desperate to find out the latest competition results way before they air on the televised episodes. Spoilers are not only more readily available than ever before but to many, they are a necessity.

Whether it's wrestling, movies, or reality-tv, spoilers are everywhere you look, and even in places where you try not to look.

#spoilers #spoiling #survivor #harry potter #wrestling #game of thrones

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thehippestkidsintown · 8 years

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Hull Is Hip Hop? Reviewing Chiedu Oraka’s New Mixtape.

With grime artist Skepta’s fourth studio album Konnichiwa peaking at number two on the UK Album Charts last month, there are more eyes, and ears, on UK hip hop than ever before. Skepta has managed to capture the attention of fans and critics whose only previous exposure to UK hip hop was probably when Robbie Williams tried to release that rap record in 2006 (do the rude-box?). Now, co-signs from Drake and Kanye West have allowed Skepta to help shine a spotlight on a genre that a decade ago was restricted to the dank depths of Channel U.

Unfortunately, that spotlight is still rather dim “up North”. London remains the hot-bed of the UK rap scene, and the area that attracts the most attention and acclaim. There are artists outside of London that are beginning to gain recognition, like the wizkid wordsmith Ocean Wisdom from Brighton, and Birmingham’s charismatic Lady Leshurr. But travel further North and the only rap you’ll find is the one you buy for your dinner from Greggs.

That’s not to say that hip hop doesn’t exist up North. It just hasn’t had the same platform or opportunity to shine. But one man and his city is trying to change that. Chiedu Oraka, born and raised in Hull, the new City of Culture for 2017, is on a mission to claim that spotlight for himself.

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Standing at 6′7, Chiedu is an imposing presence, not only in person, but behind the mic. He started rapping after he graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2010, collaborating with friend and former emcee Crafty. In the years since, he has worked on honing his skills. His YouTube channel boasts a diverse range of music videos that show his progress as an emcee. He formed the Lock Down collective with fellow local rapper and producer, Deezkid, and the two can often be found performing live gigs in the area - including a recent performance at the brand new HU1 Festival, and opening for legendary UK rapper Akala last year. This dedication is summed up in the rapper’s frequent tag-line “work rate”.

The latest example of the Yorkshire rapper’s exemplary work ethic comes in the form of a 13 track mixtape, appropriately titled Not Ya Average Spitting 1.5. In recent years the hip hop mixtape has gone through somewhat of an evolution. In the 90s, the mixtape was commonly used as a way for a new artist to promote their own raps; usually a mixture of remixes and freestyles over well known instrumentals. Nowadays, artists like Chance the Rapper have turned mixtapes into chart topping free albums - self-produced, original material that can compete with the biggest studio albums on the market. Chiedu’s approach to the mixtape is very 90s in aesthetic.

Not Ya Average Spitting 1.5 isn’t a precisely choreographed record. It’s a tasty appetiser. An introduction to a new rapper and the world he inhabits. A mixture of raw ideas and freestyles over recognisable beats. It’s a mission statement - this is me, this is Hull, this is why you should pay attention. By the time those 13 tracks are over, there is no doubt that Chiedu will have your attention.

Unashamedly Yorkshire, Chiedu raps in a distinct Hull accent and dialect. “I’m Yorkshire to a T but you can’t take me for no mug.” There is no attempt to curb his Northern twang for a more mainstream audience. He forces the listener to adapt to his accent, rather than the other way around. It’s what makes Chiedu stand out even over well worn beats like Mobb Deep’s “Survival of the Fittest” and The Fugees’ “Fu-Gee-La”.

“They say Hull’s a place a rapper couldn’t make a living.”

Chiedu sets the tone in opening track “One Take”, a reappropriation of the Ghetts and Rude Kid track from 2015. His bars are hard-hitting and delivered with purpose. “You already know who’s the best in Hull, next I’m coming for the whole UK,” he spits, making his intention clear from the off. This mantra acts as a through-line over the course of the mixtape. Everything is tied back to Hull and the struggle to reach beyond his claustrophobic surroundings.

Most people can relate to feeling trapped, whether it be in a small city, a dead-end job, or a broken relationship. Chiedu’s love/hate affair with Hull is the most interesting aspect of the tape. At times proud of his outcast city, “I rep North Hull estate, bro, been here since Pogs, Big Bird, and Play-Doh.” And other times desperate to escape it.

“I’ll be in my own lane, Yorkshire and black skinned, too hot to handle, don’t be moaning when you get singed.”

There are moments when some of the punchlines fall flat ("Like an apple, they want me to crumble”), and simple similes sometimes distract from the deeper content (the Ike and Tina reference perhaps the most played out line on display here). But given that this is a mostly freestyle filled mixtape it’s forgiveable.

The potential here is best demonstrated in the brief glimpses into Chiedu’s personal life. When he talks about his mother, or being the “only black kid in assembly”. He relates his own situation to that of his city. “I was that black kid, who was on a white estate. Had me feeling upset. Happy that my mother stayed,” he raps on “Monster”. The image of an outcast in an outcast city is one that is instantly captivating, and something Chiedu will hopefully explore in more depth in future records.

“Imagine that - a black kid putting Hull City on the map.”

Not Ya Average Spitting 1.5 is a short yet purposeful introduction to a truly original voice in UK hip hop. Chiedu is an artist brimming with potential, with an interesting background and perspective. In 2017, Hull is expected to have the spotlight shining on it as the City of Culture, and Chiedu Oraka could very well steal that spotlight.

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You can download the Not Ya Average Spitting 1.5 mixtape for free at: https://chieduoraka.bandcamp.com/album/not-ya-average-spitting-15

For further info on Chiedu Oraka visit https://www.facebook.com/chieduorakaofficial

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thehippestkidsintown · 8 years

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Do The Grammys Hate Hip Hop?

On a night when Kendrick Lamar delivered one of the most passionate and politically charged performances in Grammys history, continuing the conversation kick-started by Beyonce last week at the Super Bowl, at the end of the world’s most famous music awards ceremony it was the blonde-haired, blue-eyed white girl that walked away with the Album of the Year award.

That is not to say that Taylor Swift's 1989 is an unworthy album; it's a more than adequate pop record that represents a particular period in a young woman's life and is inspiring to similarly aged women around the world. It's also not intended to undermine gender politics, another burning issue of the moment. But if the ceremony wanted to celebrate a young woman breaking down barriers, then Courtney Barnett's lack of Album of the Year nomination (and loss of Best New Artist to Meghan Trainor) is a shocking oversight.

Despite decades of terrible decisions by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences panel, there is always hope that the Grammys Album of the Year will be awarded to the album that is not only the best musically, but the one that is the most reflective of our times, and will perhaps stand the test of time.

Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly is an album that represents modern society, particularly in the United States, in a way like no other 2015 album quite captured. The jazz inspired production is so intricate and multi-layered that new parts are still being unraveled a year after its release. The lyrics, so vivid and truthful, hold up a mirror to the ugliness of our world while still offering a glimmer of hope through the darkness. It is an album that transcends genres.

The problem is not that the album itself wasn't recognized; it was nominated for a total of 11 awards and won 5 of them. The problem is that the Grammys are inherently broken when it comes to hip hop music. Yes, hip hop has its place at the Grammys, but a very specific place, over in the corner away from everybody else. They don't even call it hip-hop; they call it “rap”. Yes, you can have Best RAP Album, Kendrick, but Album of the Year? Come on now. In fact, out of his 5 wins, only 1 was in a non-rap related category, and that was for Best Music Video which was a feature spot on a song by, you guessed it, Taylor Swift.

The fact that only two hip-hop records in the history of the awards show have won Album of the Year is proof of this. Worse still, it becomes increasingly likely as each year passes that those two albums were recognised because of their singing elements rather than the rapping parts. Lauryn Hill's classic, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, is an album that is as much soulful singing as it is rap "bars", and was actually nominated mostly in the R&B categories that particular year. And who are we kidding? The voting panel probably only listened to Andre 3000's The Love Below side of Outkast's stunning 2003 double album, rather than the rap heavy portion of Big Boi's Speakerboxxx. The Washington Post stated that since 1989 (how appropriate), out of the 421 nominations in the categories for record, song, and album of the year, only 34 have gone to hip-hop artists.

As Kendrick acknowledged when he won the award for Best Rap Album this past Monday - a category itself which didn't exist until 1995 - there have been countless hip-hop stars over the years that have been snubbed by the Grammys. Lamar name-checked Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Nas, none of which have ever won a Grammy, nor being nominated for Album of the Year. The same could be said for Public Enemy, Notorious BIG, and Run DMC; the latter was finally awarded a Grammy this year for Lifetime Achievement (the first rap act to do so), which for their first and only Grammy award is two decades too late.

Similarly to Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, Eminem's controversial yet excellent The Marshall Mathers LP was shut out in 2001, only picking up awards in the rap categories. Famously, Kanye West has been nominated for Album of the Year on three separate occasions and has never won, which has been a constant source of frustration for West, and he has made that clear publicly again and again... and again.

It should be noted that the panel of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences have made numerous baffling Album of the Year choices throughout history, and not just limited to hip hop. Not many would disagree that Prince, Nirvana, and Amy Winehouse were equally snubbed in their respective years. But the Grammys problem with hip hop runs much deeper and has been such a continuous and consistent one that it is becoming harder and harder to ignore.

#Kendrick Lamar #grammys #the grammys #taylor swift #kanye west #hip hop

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thehippestkidsintown · 8 years

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Why WWE Is Appealing To The Wrong Audience

Over the past number of weeks, WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, has seen a significant drop in ratings. The December 7 broadcast averaged just 3.054 million viewers and a shocking 2.15 rating. The lowest rating for Raw since September 1997. Disconnect between fans and the product is at an all time high; the attitude amongst the WWE Universe is one of apathy, and that is certainly not the new “attitude era” that WWE are looking for.

Ratings for television are down across the board, especially for long-running series such as Raw which has now been on the air for almost 23 years. The amount of television that is available and the way it is consumed is drastically different than it was even ten years ago. Things are perpetually changing in this modern television climate and therefore it is understandable why programmes no longer bring in the same kind of mass audiences they did back in the pre-on-demand era.

But when your show is consistently shedding viewers and ratings are hitting record lows and long-time fans are switching off, then there is a problem, and it needs to be addressed internally.

In 2007, WWE became a PG product after spending most of the late 90s as a TV-14 rated programme and then PG-13 in the early 00s. There are many reasons you could point to for the PG rating decision: the company’s media perception after the Chris Benoit tragedy, Linda McMahon’s Senate campaign, and the opportunity to attract bigger and therefore more lucrative advertisers and sponsors.

This is not a post about how the “PG Era” ruined everything and how WWE should return to a TV-14 or PG-13 rating. I understand full-well why WWE is a PG company. In 2015, WWE secured 37 new advertisers and have grown their TV rights agreements substantially. There has been a conscious effort from WWE and NBC Universal to alter the company’s image from a crude and violent circus to something far more tame and family-friendly. WWE is a global brand and a PG product allows them to reach the mass market.

I don’t believe that PG is the problem with WWE. You know what is a great PG movie? Star Wars. It is a movie franchise that is enjoyed by children and adults alike and has accumulated ridiculous amounts of money from merchandising and advertising. You know what isn’t a great PG movie? Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Nobody was lining up around the block to see Paul Blart, dressed in their mall cop costumes with their Kevin James action figures. The problem is not with PG itself but with the style of PG content the creator is providing. WWE is severely out of touch with what their audience wants. Yes, their image is now a lot more appealing to advertisers and sponsors, but the content is not appealing to the actual fans.

Lets just take a brief look at some of the content WWE Raw is putting out right now. The closing promo of the December 7 episode of Raw contained excessive use of the term “tater tot”. There is a man that believes he is from the Cosmos. A segment called the Rose Bush which is pure 80s sketch-show cheese is an actual weekly feature. Grown men and women dance around with unicorn horns attached to their heads. There is a lunatic whose main source of unstable behaviour involves eating popcorn and throwing soft-drinks at people. And an old man on a mobility scooter talking about founding a new nation called Mex-america.

Now, I’m not saying there isn’t room for any of this stuff. Wrestling has always been a diverse form of entertainment that can feature everything from gravity-defying acrobatic skill to a man summoning lightning from the sky. It’s the variety that makes it so compelling. Also, The New Day have been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise mundane product the past few months. But the amount of puerile, nonsensical content and poorly written story-lines is overwhelming and borderline insulting. But it’s PG content for the kids right? This is where the problem lies and where I strongly disagree with that mindset.

First of all, while a publicly funded company that is aimed at the mass market should attempt to appeal to children and families, it should not forget about the rest of its core audience. According to WWE’s own statistics, in the past 12 months, up until September 2015, only 18% of their audience were between the ages 2-17. In comparison, there was 23% between the ages 18-34, 21% between 35-49 and 38% over 50. That is 82% of the WWE audience that is over the age of 18. It begs the question, why is WWE appealing to the smallest subset of its audience? If the vast majority of your viewing audience are adults then shouldn’t that be reflected in the content of your product?

Secondly, kids aren’t stupid and shouldn’t be talked down to. Children, especially between the ages of 12 to 17, want to feel cool. I became a wrestling fan in 1999, at the height of the Attitude Era; I was 11 years old. I was drawn in because of edgy, badass characters like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker. There was still a hell of a lot of goofiness. Let’s not kid ourselves that everything from the Attitude Era was perfect because it definitely wasn’t. But the product had an edge to it; an unpredictability and rawness that appealed to children and adults alike. Raw no longer has rawness.

Some would argue that it is impossible to make a cool and edgy product in a PG environment. Some might say that children would be put off by that style of product and that WWE would lose a large percentage of their live show ticket and merchandise sales. Those arguments can be quickly countered. What WWE is really scared about is losing their flashy advertisers. They don’t want to take a risk because of fear of losing their lucrative sponsorship deals. They would rather stagnate in mediocrity instead of implementing change. But here’s the thing, if WWE continues to cater to advertisers rather than their actual fans then people will continue to switch off and ratings will drop even further. Then it won’t matter about “image”. If your programme isn’t delivering strong enough ratings, then those big companies won’t pay to advertise in those slots or on that show. But do things really have to get THAT bad before WWE starts to change?

The thing is, WWE are more than capable of creating a cool and edgy PG product that appeals to children and adults alike without ruining their image. Do you know how I know this? Because WWE already has a PG product that is cool and edgy and appeals to children and adults alike, and has also proven it can sell out 13,000+ seater arenas. That product is called NXT.

Recently, WWE sent out a survey to fans asking them to compare the main WWE product to that of NXT. The survey asked the person to choose their preference in various categories, with the choices being "WWE", "NXT" and "Both deliver equally". Some of the categories included "Getting the right mix of unique characters", "Seeing good rivalries/match-ups", "Seeing a wide variety of Superstars/Divas", and "Having a great show to watch with family/friends".

What this demonstrates is that someone within WWE recognises that NXT has a buzz about it that is lacking in the main roster product. There is a formula that works in NXT that makes it connect with fans. I think the fear amongst Vince McMahon and many of the higher-ups in WWE is that NXT is a niche product that only appeals to the hardcore fans and that that style of entertainment wouldn’t appeal to the mass market. But is that true?

Take a look at the live crowd from NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn; which took place at the Barclays Center in New York back in August. WWE held three events in the same arena on three consecutive nights: NXT TakeOver, Summerslam, and Monday Night Raw. When you compare the three shows, NXT had by far the loudest and most engaged crowd and the widest critical acclaim. And if you look into that crowd, it wasn’t just a sea of adult males, there were women and children also actively engaged in the product.

You could argue that NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn was held in New York which is one of the hottest wrestling cities in the world and therefore not a wholly accurate representation of NXT’s wide appeal. But lets look at other NXT attendance figures: San Jose (4,700 for a houseshow with no advertised matches), Nashville (1,250 for a houseshow), and next Wednesday, NXT TakeOver: London live at Wembley Arena is expected to draw over 10,000 punters. The NXT live events predominantly visit smaller venues but they consistently sell-out.

I understand why WWE doesn’t cater their main product specifically at the hardcore fanbase. They are trying to market to, and hold on to, new audiences; that 2-17 year old demographic being a desired target. But again, there is a way that you can create compelling content that would appeal to that market. NXT has characters and stories that appeal to both young and old.

One of NXT’s most beloved characters is Bayley and she is about as kid-friendly as you can get. The music, the outfit, the mannerisms. She is far more catered to children than John Cena is. But she is loved by men, women and children equally because her character is relatable. She is involved in logical story-lines and is given time to put on incredible matches with actual stakes. That is true of nearly all the performers on NXT; they have interesting characters that actually develop over time. Take Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady from this week’s episode of NXT, who dropped their usual energetic goofiness to sell the seriousness of their current feud. Character development that told a story, connected with the crowd and promoted a match.

There is nothing ground-breaking here. NXT isn’t re-inventing the wheel. It is simply creating compelling characters and allowing them the freedom and flexibility to try new things. While putting them in logical story-lines that are easily digestible for the viewer. It’s something that WWE has been doing for years but have somehow forgotten how to do on their main roster product. The characters and stories on Raw are confused, narrative threads are picked up and dropped without warning, character motivations are often unexplained, there is no forward momentum or development, and everything is the same week after week. Just look at the cringe-inducing Lana/Rusev/Ziggler story from a couple of months back. Was that a family-friendly story that appealed to the mass market?

I must make it clear that this isn’t a fault of the performers. The WWE talent pool is stronger than it has ever been. The quality of wrestling is of a higher standard than it has ever been. The fault lies with those in management and creative that are unable or unwilling to change. They have so much talent at their finger tips but they don’t know how to utilise them. For example, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens are currently involved in a feud; they have an Intercontinental Championship match this Sunday at the TLC event. Two of the best talkers in the company and prior to this week’s Smackdown had they had a face-to-face promo during the entire build up? Had they talked about the importance of the Intercontinental Championship and what it would mean to win it? No. Instead, some genius thought the best way to sell this feud on their flagship show was to have Ambrose chewing popcorn and throwing soda at Owens.

I’ve never written for a wrestling promotion. I don’t claim to have all the answers. And I understand that producing a 3 hour television show every week, plus the 2 hours of Smackdown and then the countless other WWE Network content, is very difficult. But surely it shouldn’t be this difficult? The product shouldn’t be consistently this embarrassing and uninspiring. Not when they have the talent and capability to produce a top quality family-friendly show that appeals to adults, children and advertisers. There is no reason why the main roster can’t apply the successful formula of NXT into their product.

Things WWE RAW Could Learn From NXT:

-An importance on the championship titles and the desire to win. -Clear character motivations and natural development. -Long-term story planning. -Commentary that focuses on the action and builds the story. -Allowing performers the freedom to take risks. -An equal share of promo time for lower card and main event talent. -Logical stories with a clear end goal. -Listening to the audience reaction to gauge what is or isn’t popular.

There is nothing there that WWE isn’t capable of adapting into their main product; hell, they’ve done it before. Nobody is asking for crazy, indie-spot fests or anything like that. As I said, the quality of wrestling in the WWE is already fantastic. It is everything around the wrestling that needs to change: the characters, the story-telling, the creative. And this isn’t just the opinion of one disgruntled fan, the downward spiral in ratings is a clear sign that this is a common feeling across the board. Wrestling fans are passionate and loyal and they love and respect the WWE but eventually that love begins to wane when the fans aren’t shown that same love and respect back.

WWE need to stop appealing to their advertisers based on a misguided idea of what those advertisers desire from the product. The stubborn unwillingness to change will only hurt more in the long-run. Fans will continue to walk away and ratings will continue to fall and then you will be left with no fans and no advertisers; who won’t pay to promote their products on a show that nobody is watching. WWE need to start appealing to their actual fans - to the 50 year old dad that has been watching since the 80s, to the 20-something guy that fell in love with WWE during the Attitude Era, the 10 year old girl in her Bayley t-shirt that sits in the front row at NXT, and the family that attend Wrestlemania together every year. Remind us why we fell in love with the WWE.

#wwe #wrestling #nxt #vince mcmahon #triple h #wwe raw #monday night raw #wwe change #bayley

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thehippestkidsintown · 9 years

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Survivor Strategy: Using The Outsiders

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard Survivor compared to a "human game of chess" I'd be Sandra Diaz-Twine. Not only is it a tired comparison but it is a wholly inaccurate statement that undersells the complexity of Survivor and its players. That's not to say that chess itself isn't complex; after all the game has been around for over 1500 years and allows for great strategy, plotting, creativity, thinking ahead, logic and calculation. But chess is restricted to two players, who can only move their pieces according to the rules governed by the game. Survivor involves 16+ players that can move wherever and whenever they want - certain players can gain immunity, and players can plot and scheme behind each other's backs until their heart's content, oh and sometimes people fall in fires. Basically, Survivor makes chess look like Tic-Tac-Toe.

This following post will be the first in hopefully many Survivor Strategy blogs in which I will focus in on one particular type of strategy adopted by a player (or players) throughout Survivor's history. I will examine the concept behind the strategy, how it was put into effect, and the overall results. This may not be everyone's cup of tea and if you watch Survivor simply for the characters and entertainment value then this probably won't be for you and that's perfectly fine. However, if you have even the slightest interest in game theory and how it can be applied to Survivor strategy then hopefully you will find some value in these very long, in depth blog posts.

Today's topic is Using The Outsiders.

For the first three seasons of Survivor, the strategic game was relatively simple, at least when compared to the complexities and variables of modern day Survivor. The general rule was to form a solid tribal alliance, gain a numerical advantage by winning challenges pre-merge, and then vote out the opposing tribal alliance one-by-one after the merge. This strategy was affectionately nicknamed “Pagonging”, after the original season in Borneo where the Tagi Four alliance systematically decimated the opposing Pagong tribe. Sure there were rare cases where members of the dominant alliance were voted out in favour of those in the rival alliance; Amber Brkich and Jerri Manthey in Australian Outback, or Kelly Goldsmith in Africa, but those eliminations were based more on annoyance, or in the case of Kelly, misinformation, rather than strategy.

Nobody was actively flipping on their core group and using the outsiders from the opposing alliance to improve their own position in the game. As crazy as it sounds now, nobody really thought that way back then; or if they did they were too afraid to actually do something about it. However, the tid started to shift in Marquesas; itself a season massively important to the evolution of Survivor. For the first time ever, two groups of outsiders decided to join together to make a move against those in power. The first hint of this came early in the season in “No Pain, No Gain” (Episode 3, March 13, 2002), when Rob Mariano, Sarah Jones, Sean Rector and Vecepia Towery voted out their supposed tribe leader Hunter Ellis in what was Survivor’s first major blindside.

While Rob, Sarah, Sean and Vecepia weren’t outsiders in the numerical sense, they were outsiders in perception, based on what people expected from the show having seen the first three seasons. Players like Hunter - physically fit, strong, hard-working - weren’t supposed to be voted out that early in the game, whereas the likes of Rob, Vecepia and especially Sarah and Sean were seen as pre-merge fodder. This group coming together and forming an alliance was the first instance of outsiders taking charge and showing that this game could be played in a different way. And if that move wasn’t enough to prove that outsiders can cause damage, then the fall of the Rotu Four in “Jury’s Out" (Episode 8, April 18, 2002) changed the course of Survivor forever.

After the coconut chop Immunity Challenge, where the cocky Rotu Four alliance carelessly revealed the pecking order of the tribe, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, Neleh Dennis and Paschal English realised that they were near the bottom of that pecking order. Unlike in previous seasons, where the power alliance continues to vote down tribal lines until only two remain, Kathy, Neleh and Paschal tried to improve their position by aligning with fellow outsiders Sean and Vecepia, thereby creating a new majority and blindsiding Rotu Four’s leader John Carroll. In what is still to this day one of Survivor’s greatest episodes, the entire complexion of the game changed. It showed that Pagongings could be avoided, tribal alliances could be broken, and the outsiders could and did have a fighting chance.

Then Rob Cesternino came along in The Amazon and truly changed the Survivor landscape forever. Marquesas showed us that fellow outsiders could group together to take over the game and improve their positions. The Amazon, and more significantly Rob, showed us that outsiders could be utilized as pawns to make moves against the game’s biggest threats. Not only that, but he showed us that this strategy could be used over and over again; jumping back and forth between different groups of outsiders to make bold moves against the game’s big targets, while at the same time advancing yourself one step further to the $1 million. Rob pioneered the Using The Outsiders strategy; a strategy that I believe when pulled off properly can be one of the most effective strategies in Survivor. So how did Rob do it?

1. No One Suspects The Goofball

Before you can master any form of serious Survivor strategy you need to ingratiate yourself with your fellow tribemates. The early portion of the game is all about finding your footing and setting yourself up in a position from which you can work your strategies later in the game. I think that is where a lot of budding Survivor masterminds go wrong; they enter the game expecting to be this all controlling Boston Rob or Kim Spradlin style player, when in reality those types of winners are the exception rather than the rule. Coming into the game under the belief you will have immediate control of your tribemates, or even just thinking you will take control of camp life, is a seriously risky way to play the game and unlikely to reward positive results. Instead, you want to be starting the game appearing as non-threatening as possible.

Rob entered The Amazon as this nerdy 24 year old New Yorker that sang karaoke in his parent’s basement and had trouble with the ladies. He didn’t try to pretend he was something he wasn’t. He exaggerated his personality and played into the image of the loveable goofball; he cracked jokes, told funny anecdotes, and rubbed his Magic 8 ball (that’s not a euphemism). Jon Dalton, who I will talk about more later, did something similar in Pearl Islands, telling sex stories and doing impressions of pro-wrestlers. I’m not saying that everyone has to make Perry Como gags, but the basic idea is that you want to start the game appearing as non-threatening and unsuspecting as possible. Everybody is going to be able to see that the person calling out orders is going to be a problem. Nobody is going to expect the guy building sand-castles and swinging from coconut trees to stab them in the back.

I could dedicate a whole separate blog post to the strategy of acting the goofball, but I felt it needed mentioning here because it really is the first step in the Using The Outsiders game-plan.

2. Ride In The Middle

This next part ties in nicely with the playing the goofball strategy. Setting yourself up as "non-threatening but likable", is likely to put you in a position where people approach you for a vote, rather than you having to put yourself out there and take charge off the bat. What this does is give you options. You are able to observe the game from an outsider’s perspective, and this will come in handy when trying to work out who the outsiders are later in the game. Rob knew this all too well; he could shoot the shit with the younger guys on the tribe or he could appeal to the worth ethic of the tribe’s elder statesman. He made time for everyone and made himself available to everyone.

Riding the middle should never be mistaken for being wishy-washy. The rule in Survivor is that if someone asks you to vote with them, or asks you to be in alliance, you say yes, regardless of whether you intend to follow through with it or not. You never want to give a reason for somebody to target you, and telling someone no, or giving them a vague "maybe”, is a sure fire way to do just that. Look at what happened to Christy Smith later in this specific season. So say yes to everyone, let everyone believe you are on their side, and then make the best move for you at Tribal Council. Rob did this countless times and it never truly came back to bite him because he was the unassuming goofball that didn’t know how to correctly use a machete and traded witty retorts with Jeff Probst at challenges.

Here is a brief history of Rob riding in the middle: in the first vote he aligned with the older guys, Roger Sexton and Butch Lockley, along with his closest ally Alex Bell, to take out Ryan Aiken. He could have just as easily aligned with the younger guys and taken out Roger. During the tribe swap he aligned with Deena Bennett and Jenna Morasca, and used his pet project Matt von Ertfelda to take out Shawna Mitchell. If he wanted to he could have taken himself and Matt and voted with Alex and Shawna to vote out either Deena or Jenna. At the merge, he solidified his alliance with Deena, Jenna, Alex, and then Heidi Strobel, by voting out Roger, when he had the option of using outsiders Matt and Christy and voting with the other guys to remove either Deena, Heidi or Jenna.

Do you see what I mean by giving yourself options? You never want to be forced into a position where you can only play one particular way because you end up playing the game with your back against the wall. Riding in the middle is the perfect position from which to pull in outsiders and start making big moves, and Rob did that with aplomb.

3. Knowing Who Is On The Outside

Right, so you’ve convinced your tribe that you’re a non-threat due to your adorable goofiness and charm, you’ve given yourself multiple options by riding in the middle and making yourself available to everyone, and now you are ready to put the Using The Outsiders strategy into effect.

If you make it to the merge, then you’ve gotten past the hard part. I believe the early portion of this game is a lot tougher because Survivor requires time and patience to secure your spot on the tribe, and early in the game everyone is just looking for an excuse to vote anyone else out that isn’t them. Going into the merge, you should feel confident enough in your abilities and reads to start removing the biggest threats to your chance of winning.

So how do you take out the big threats? Especially if you are aligned with the big threats? You use the outsiders. There is always a pecking order in Survivor and there will always be people at the bottom of that pecking order, as we saw in Marquesas, as we’ve seen in every single season of this show. And then there are those that just don’t fit in with the majority of the tribe. In the first three seasons of Survivor, these players would just float along and wait until it was their time to be voted out. In Marquesas, these players joined together and formed a new majority. In The Amazon, Rob used these players to remove his biggest threats. But to do this you need to be able to determine who is truly on the outs; if you have followed steps 1 and 2 properly then you should have a great idea of the tribe dynamics and where everyone stands.

From early on, Rob saw that Matt was an outsider, he was unfamiliar with the nuance of the game, he had quirks that rubbed people the wrong way, and was just generally living on the outskirts of the tribe. Matt could have been easy vote-off fodder, but Rob saw the potential he had as a pawn and groomed him to be his pet project. Boston Rob did the same with Phillip Shepherd in Redemption Island. Keeping Matt around allowed Rob to use him as a vote for his alliance to take out Shawna, to take out Roger, to take out Dave etc. So keep an eye on the people that don’t fit into the tribe and spend your time building a relationship with them; even if it is like pulling teeth, you can suck it up for a million dollars.

But it isn’t just the weirdos you need to keep close, it’s anyone on the bottom. If you are in the majority alliance, you are most likely aware of the voting order, and if you know who is on the chopping block in the near future then it gives you the opportunity to approach those people and form a counter-alliance. Rob did this with not just Matt, but Butch and Christy, and then later Heidi and Jenna.

4. Putting The Outsiders To Work

To make big moves you need more than one outsider, and Rob was always aware of who was at the bottom. When Deena wanted to make a move against Alex, her own ally, instead of the outsider Butch, it put Rob in the ultimate position of power. Rob, knowing Butch was on the outs and a target, now used that knowledge to scoop up Butch into his outsiders alliance with Matt, allowing them the choice to either vote with Deena and Christy to take out Alex, or with Alex, Heidi and Jenna to take out Deena. Rob decided to vote out Deena - a really smart, underrated player who was playing a very similar game to Rob. With Deena out, it put the Alex, Heidi, Jenna and Rob alliance in the power position and they all made it perfectly clear how comfortable they felt. Rob played into this, letting his own alliance mates sink their games knowing how much resentment was brewing from the outsiders towards them.

When Alex carelessly told Rob that when it got down to the final four that he would most likely vote Rob out to avoid a tie, Rob set to work on a plan to vote out Alex. How did he do it? By using the outsiders. He already had a working relationship with Butch and Matt, but he needed a fourth vote to take out Alex and he wasn’t getting that from Heidi or Jenna. So he approached Christy; someone clearly on the outs and an upcoming target. When you offer life to someone who is almost at death’s door you all but guarantee their support, and so of course Christy voted with Rob, and they took out Alex. Heidi and Jenna were pissed off because for the first time in the game they had become the outsiders. Rob was tight with his outsiders alliance including Butch and Matt, and Christy was left in the middle, she could either go with the guys or side with the girls.

Christy is the perfect example of how to mess up the ride in the middle strategy. Being a swing vote is a great position to be in, if you know how to play it, but if you become cocky and/or indecisive, then people will just vote you out. When Rob was in the middle he made sure to tell everyone what they wanted to hear. Remember, if somebody asks you to vote with them you just say yes. When Rob asked Christy if she was sticking with the guys, she gave a wishy-washy answer and it made Rob nervous. He didn’t want to end up in a tied vote situation, and so what did he do? He used the outsiders. Rob went back to Heidi and Jenna, offered them life, and used them to vote with himself and Matt, creating a new majority and voting out Christy. There was no way you’d expect Heidi and Jenna to work with Rob again after he voted out Alex, but he appealed to their sense of logic and knew as outsiders they’d take the opportunity.

After the Christy vote Rob jumped back over to the guys and voted off Heidi, leaving Jenna as the lone outsider. Unfortunately for Rob, Jenna went on a surprising Immunity winning streak which left him having to vote out Butch, and then eventually got voted out himself at the Final 3 by Jenna, after Matt threw the Final Immunity Challenge knowing that he was getting taken to the end no matter who won. But the impact Rob made on the game of Survivor can never be overstated, his Using The Outsiders strategy was masterful and it showed the world that you don’t have to stick to one alliance; in fact you can jump back and forth between multiple alliances to advance yourself, and it took him deep into the game and almost to the Final 2.

If Rob Cesternino invented the Using The Outsiders strategy then Jon Dalton, aka Jonny Fairplay, took it to the next level in Pearl Islands. People generally remember Jon for the Dead Grandma Lie and being one of the biggest villains in reality television history, therefore people mistakenly believe he was hated on Pearl Islands - which just isn’t true. He may have been hated by the majority of the viewing audience but he wasn’t hated by his fellow tribemates, disliked at times, yes maybe, but for the most part he was liked, and there is no doubt he would have beaten Lillian Morris in the Final 2. It’s no secret that Jon was recruited for Survivor while waiting at a bus stop; he wasn’t familiar with the show, but before he flew out, he watched and researched the previous seasons and that is when he saw Rob’s game and he knew that was the strategy he needed to adopt.

What makes Jon’s version of the Using The Outsiders strategy more impressive is that he was in danger a lot more than Rob was. There were at least a couple of times where Jon was on the wrong side of the vote and shouldn’t have been able to come back from that position, yet he did and he did it by correctly figuring out who the outsiders were and using them to rebuild alliances. So lets take a look at how the rules stated above applied to Jonny Fairplay.

1. Jon Playing The Goofball

Much like how Rob played up his nerdy persona and comedic tendencies to help create the illusion of a non-threat, Jon likewise took on the role of camp clown. He got drunk and told embarrassing sex stories and did Macho Man Randy Savage impressions. He made his fellow tribemates laugh and feel at ease around him. He also argued with Sandra a lot, but if you actually listen to what they’re arguing about you see that they’re both trying to secure their position in the game; they are both shrewd players that play very different styles of strategy, so it made sense why they clashed so much. But even with their back and forth bickering, Sandra never truly hated Jon, she wouldn’t have aligned with him over and over if she did, and there were times when she actually had his back, mainly during his confrontations with Shawn.

Another thing about Jon which is often forgotten is that he worked hard around camp. A key element to Survivor is fitting in with your tribe, this is another strategy, that I like to call Follow The Vibe Of The Tribe. Mario Lanza talked about it a bit on The Survivor Historians podcast but basically it means do what everyone else is doing. If you are part of a tribe that is very high on work ethic then you better start collecting firewood and chopping down bamboo; the Drake tribe was heavily focused on work ethic so Jon played his part. If your tribe is the lazy, laid-back tribe like Maraamu in Marquesas, then you need to sit back and chill, otherwise you’ll be targetted and voted out like Hunter. To put it bluntly - don’t stand out. Blend in and appear non-threatening. By working hard around camp and being the jokester Jon achieved both of these.

2. Jon Riding In The Middle

Similarly to Rob, Jon was a friend to everyone and a potential alliance mate to all. The Drake tribe was split between the young, cool kids, Burton Roberts, Michelle Tesauro and Shawn Cohen, and the slightly less cool crew of Christa Hastie, Rupert Boneham and Sandra Diaz-Twine. Then you had Jon and Trish Dunn in the middle. Both alliances thought Jon was on their side because Jon was smart and followed the rule that if someones asks you if you’re with them, you nod and say yes. This belief that Jon was with them was what led to Burton and his alliance throwing the Immunity Challenge so that they could vote off some of the tribe’s weaker players not on their side. But Jon being in the middle, meant he was also part of the counter plan to throw the challenge but instead vote out Burton.

With Burton out, Jon was in the majority alliance and was able to vote out Michelle at the next Tribal Council. Jon then made his first real attempt at Using The Outsiders with his and Trish’s plan to blindside Rupert, which would involve using outsider Shawn. However, Sandra didn’t want to vote out Rupert, so she foiled the plan and instead Christa, Rupert and Sandra used Shawn to blindside Trish. Jon was on the wrong side of the vote but he was kept over Trish, and this again comes back to him playing the goofball and his worth ethic. Even though he was duplicitous he was seen as less threatening than Trish and it saved him. Having voted against Rupert it was expected Jon would be the number one target, yet he managed to worm his way back into the alliance due to the bonds he’d already built up and Shawn was voted out instead.

After Burton and Lill returned to the game due to the Outcasts twist, the Drake and Morgan tribe went into the merge at five people a piece. Even though Jon had worked his way back into the Drake alliance, if he wanted to he could have flipped to vote with the Morgans if he felt that his alliance still distrusted him. But he didn’t, he rode in the middle, observed the dynamics, and figured out what move would be best for his game. He quickly aligned with the returning Burton, even though he had been a part of voting him out. He just as quickly realised that Lill was ready to flip on the Morgans and he reported this back to the Drake alliance. With that, the Drakes took the numbers, voting out Andrew Savage and Ryan Opray back to back.

3. Jon Figuring Out The Outsiders

Jon didn’t truly start using the outsiders to make his big moves until into the merge, just like Rob, who made the safe votes of Roger and Dave in the first two merge episodes, before he started voting out the big guns like Deena and Alex. Jon wanted to take out Rupert, but the last time Jon tried to make that move it was too early and he didn’t pull it off, so this time he’d have to have all his pieces in order. Jon needed to figure out who was on the outside and who he could work with. Burton is the definition of an outsider, he was actually voted out of the game and returned labelled an “outcast”. It would have been easy for Jon to worry about Burton, having voted him out, and it would have been easy for Burton to hold a grudge, but credit to them both that they realised they needed each other.

Nobody else tried to seriously align with Burton when he returned, they were still too scared of him as a challenge threat, but Jon knew how beneficial their partnership could be, not just because Burton was a smart player but becayse Burton had a bond with Lill. Aligning with Burton meant you also got Lill’s vote - the other “outcast” and even bigger definition of an outsider than Burton. Jon deserves a lot of credit for joining forces with Burton and Lill when those two players should have been treated like lepers upon returning. But you need more than three people to make a big move at that stage in the game. Just like Rob, Jon was in the majority alliance, so he knew who was next on the chopping block, and once you know that info then you know exactly who to approach to create a counter alliance, and Darrah Johnson and Tijuana Bradley were just sitting there waiting to be used.

4. Jon Putting The Outsiders To Work

So back to the Rupert vote off. Jon and Burton wanted him gone, and getting Lill on side was easy, but the key was bringing Darrah and Tijuana into the plan. Darrah and Tijuana weren’t the sharpest players but they weren’t stupid, they knew they were the next targets, and so did Jon and Burton. They appealed to that logic and provided them with extended life. With that, a new majority was born. Rupert was voted out and now Christa and Sandra were the outsiders. But what you have to remember about Pearl Islands is that Sandra won this season, and Sandra is a little gamer, her game is very different and less obvious than the likes of Rob and Jon, but she is a gamer nonetheless and she had moves. One of those moves involved spying, and she brought Tijuana along to spy on Jon and Burton to confirm that Tijuana was still an outsider in their eyes.

Again, that is a reason Jon’s game was more impressive than Rob’s, because there were times when he was in danger and by rights should have gone home, but he was able to quickly reformulate his plans and save himself. The episode where Darrah and Tijuana were going to align with Christa and Sandra to vote out Jon or Burton was of course “The Great Lie” (Episode 11, November 26, 2003), where Jon and his friend Thunder D created the dead grandma lie at the Loved Ones challenge. I’m not going into great detail about that because that’s a separate post, but Jon did use this lie as part of the Using The Outsiders strategy. Worried about Tijuana, Jon approached the new outsiders, Christa and Sandra, and swore up and down on his “dead” grandma’s grave that he would go to the final four with them. With that, it was settled, and just like that a new majority was made with the people who had just become outsiders, and Tijuana was voted out.

But just like Rob proved, you don’t have to stick with an alliance, you can change alliances as many times as you want as long as you know what you’re doing. So as quickly as he used Christa and Sandra, Jon, after going on a Reward with Darrah and Lill, worked on forming a new alliance with new outsider Darrah. It helped because Darrah was on an Immunity Challenge winning streak and if somebody is going to be sticking around you might as well have them on your side. Burton still had Lill on side, even though cracks were beginning to show, and Jon brought in Darrah. Once again, a new majority emerged and they voted out Christa. This is where things get a little shaky because Burton and Jon went on a Reward together and the girls aligned to vote out Burton. I believe Burton takes a lot of blame for not keeping Lill on track, but Jon doesn’t escape blame free, he underestimated the women. Never underestimate your opponents.

Jon was now the outsider himself, but having used outsiders for his own benefit, Jon knew he could be a valuable asset to somebody. I suppose that is the flip side of the Using The Outsiders strategy, if you don’t have the ability to use outsiders then be an outsider to be used by someone else - either way you aren’t going home. Darrah was the biggest challenge threat and she needed to be removed before the Final Immunity Challenge. Jon knew that, Sandra knew that, who knows what Lill thought, and when Darrah failed to win Immunity at the final four she was voted out. And then to continue the similarities with Rob, Jon lost the Final Immunity Challenge, to Lill of all people, and was voted out in favour of Sandra. Another reason Jon’s game places ever so slightly above Rob’s is because I think if Jon made the Final Tribal Council he had a better chance of winning than Rob did in his season. Rob might have lost to Jenna, no way Jon loses to Lill.

Now I know what you’re thinking, this whole Using The Outsiders strategy is all well and good, but neither Rob or Jon won, they came a whisker away from winning but that is still a loser right? Yes, you are correct. But there is one other player who used this strategy and won. And this is a player that while respected, is very underrated when it comes to his strategic game. He is also a player that people don’t realise adopted the Using The Outsiders strategy, in fact, I didn’t realise myself just how much he used it until I researched for this post. I’m talking about Survivor Tocantins winner JT Thomas.

Hold up. What? JT, the soft spoken Southerner with the impeccable social game who had almost the entire cast working for him to win? Yes, JT mastered the Using The Outsiders strategy in the latter half of the game and it took him to the end. People undersell JT as a strategic player because of his alliance with Stephen Fishbach, who more often than not is credited with the scheming and plotting. But that basically comes down to stereotypes; the nerdy New York Jew fits the archetypal role of Survivor mastermind better than the cattle ranch-working, country boy. But Stephen will be the first to admit that JT was involved in the strategic game just as much as he was. Every time you see strategic decisions being made, JT and Stephen are together, even though the edit focuses more on Stephen for the strategic sound-bites. But when you hear confessionals from the other castaways they all say “JT and Stephen approached me” or “JT and Stephen started talking…” etc.

How J.T. arrived at the Using The Outsiders strategy however was a lot different than the way Rob and Jon got there, but the end result was the same. JT didn’t play the goofball; Tyson Apostol was fulfilling that role on the Timbira tribe, and he made it pretty far. JT had his own version of the goofball strategy. You see, there are many off-shoots of the playing the goofball strategy that have the same end results. There is playing the loveable country boy (see Colby Donaldson), the motherly figure (see Tina Wesson), the loyal friend/brother (see Ethan Zohn) and so on. The key factor is playing a role that is unassuming and non-threatening. It wouldn’t work for JT to start strutting around like Ric Flair and telling sex jokes, that wouldn’t fit his personality, instead he turned on the Southern charm and played the good ‘ol country boy because nobody is going to see that person as a strategic threat.

That’s why a lot of people were shocked with how cut-throat and strategic JT seemed in Heroes vs Villains because they remembered him as the sweet country boy, but I urge you to go back and watch Tocantins and really focus on the game JT played, particularly post merge, and look at not only how well he played it but how similar it is in theory to what Rob and Jon did on their first seasons.

1. JT Playing The Good 'Ol Country Boy

One of the more impressive parts of JT’s game is that he remained unassuming despite falling into the role of tribe leader early on. When people give out tips on how to win Survivor they often say don’t put yourself in a leader position because it paints an unnecessary target on your back. And that is true, but the key phrase there is don’t PUT YOURSELF in the leader position. If you naturally fall into the leader role and the tribe accepts it then that is very different. JT had skills that came in very useful out in the wild, fishing and building shelter and whatever, but he was never pushy about doing things his way; he suggested ideas in his soft, calm manner and his tribemates followed. The Jalapao tribe was a pretty unified tribe compared to most in Survivor history and that was because of the tone set by JT.

But no one ever suspected JT was a strategic force to worry about. He was good at camp life and easy to get along with but no one was looking at him as a serious mover and shaker, and that is what allowed him to stay on everyone’s good side. Everyone wanted to know what he was thinking, who he thought should go home, and JT was very diplomatic about things, he gave his opinion and then let the majority decide, he never forced his agenda.

2. JT Riding In The Middle

With his amiable nature and willingness to talk with everyone, JT was in a very good position that gave him plenty of options to choose from when it came to voting people out of the game. He made an early bond with Stephen and they pretty much made every decision together until the end. Whether it was choosing to vote out Carolina Eastwood or Sandy Burgin, or Spencer Duhm or Taj Johnson-George, or Sydney Wheeler or Taj, JT was in the prime position of picking which path to go down. He wasn’t forced into an alliance where whatever decision he made would be a detriment to his game, he was in a spot where whatever he chose could work for his benefit, and by proxy Stephen’s benefit. JT didn’t ride the middle in quite as flashy a way as Rob or Jon, but he played it in a smarter way because it had less risk attached.

3. From Outsider To Using The Outsiders

The Jalapao tribe went into the merge at a 6-4 disadvantage that quickly became 6-3 when Joe Dowdle had to be medically evacuated. This is yet another factor which makes JT’s win so impressive. Both Rob and Jon went into the merge with numbers, JT and his alliance worked their magic from the bottom. Straight away, JT’s good 'ol country boy image appealed to Benjamin 'Coach’ Wade, who took JT aside for a chat. Coach is a player that is very obvious to read and JT knew exactly what to say. He brought up how it looked like Brendan Synnott was the leader (plays into Coach’s jealousy), he put across that Brendan must have the Hidden Immunity Idol due to his time spent on Exile Island, he lied about knowing whether or not Taj had an idol, and he suggested, in that smooth way JT always suggests things, that if Brendan does have the idol he’ll have to be blindsided.

“I’ve seen some cracks right away. I had some ideas way before there ever was a merge. It’s hard to keep six people from different walks of life to stick together when they hate each other. So I’m just going to make sure everybody hates each other.”

If that above quote came from Boston Rob or Russell Hantz everybody would be wetting themselves about how much of a badass strategic player they were. Because it came from loveable JT people let it pass them by, but if you listen to what he is saying he is so on the ball. J, Stephen and Taj came into the merge as outsiders, but JT made himself available to be used: “Whatever ya’ll wanna do I’m with ya’ll” JT and Stephen helped light the fire under Coach to take out Brendan and made themselves, and by proxy Taj, available to help Coach in pulling off that move. But it didn’t stop there, because J. also built a bond with Brendan, so that he and Stephen also had the option of aligning with Brendan, Sierra Reed and Taj to take out Coach’s alliance. Just like how Jon made himself an available asset to be used after Burton was voted out at the final five, J. took this to a whole new level.

And if anyone still wants to question whether Stephen was actually calling the shots and JT was just following, then I refer you to “The Dragon Slayer” (Episode 8, April 9, 2009), when despite Stephen being more in favour of sticking with the Brendan, Sierra and Taj alliance, JT convinced him the Coach, Debbie Beebe and Tyson alliance was the better option, and that’s the way they went. JT and Stephen were now in the majority alliance and Erinn Lobdell, Sierra Reed and Taj were on the outside. So what do you do when you have the majority? You could sit tight and ride it out, but if they did that then JT and Stephen knew they’d always be the bottom two in the pecking order. Or you could take a leaf out of Rob and Jon’s book and start Using The Outsiders to make some serious moves to advance yourself towards that final two.

JT set about cultivating his relationships with the outsiders in his riverside chats, which I like to call Gone Fishing With JT. Watch how many times you see JT showing someone how to fish throughout the season; it is usually one-on-one and starts as a bonding experience and eventually leads to strategy talk. It’s brilliant. His talk with Erinn, who was always an outsider on the Timbira tribe, quickly set up a bond and a potential working relationship, and gave JT and Stephen yet another option to work with. Tyson had emerged as a serious challenge threat and therefore had a huge target on his back, so when the opportunity arose to take him out, JT and Stephen took it. Although some credit needs to be given to Erinn here for bringing up the idea to blindside Tyson (cementing her willingness to join JT and Stephen) but it was J.’s connection with Erinn that set the ball rolling.

Taj was an outsider, but had loyalty to JT and Stephen from the old Jalapao tribe. Erinn had been an outsider from the beginning. And having being on the wrong side of the votes at the previous Tribal Council, and next on the chopping block, Sierra was a clear outsider. The great thing was that they didn’t even need Sierra’s vote to pull off the Tyson blindside, they made the move with just the two outsiders (Erinn and Taj) keeping Sierra at a distance. JT and Stephen had created yet another new majority with themselves Erinn and Taj, with Coach and Debbie on the outside and Sierra as the wildcard. Pretty damn masterful for players that came into the merge at a severe numbers disadvantage. The risk now was the four old Timbira members coming together, realising how powerful JT and Stephen were becoming, and creating a counter alliance. This was definitely how Debbie was thinking and she was right to be thinking that way.

But JT and Stephen were ready to vote out Sierra. She was an erratic player and Stephen wisely stated that he’d rather play against people whose motivations he could guess than those who are unpredictable. JT worked on the new outsiders, Coach and Debbie, and told them he wanted them in the final four with himself and Stephen, and promised to vote out Sierra, Erinn and then Taj in that order. As easy as that he had them back on side and trusting him, so that they could vote out Sierra without even requiring Erinn and Taj as votes, both of whom had promised Sierra that they wouldn’t vote for her. Any potential Timbira resurgence was stopped dead. Especially when JT lit the fuse under Sierra and got her to confront Coach about who was lying, “Lay it on us. I’m just listening,” JT said as Coach and Sierra battled with each other, throwing Debbie under the bus in the process, making sure they were never going to work together again.

Sierra was voted out, removing the wildcard and leaving JT and Stephen in another new majority with Coach and Debbie - who they had previously blindsided with the Tyson vote. Erinn and Taj were back on the outside, especially after their random votes at the last Tribal Council. JT had promised that Erinn and Taj would be voted out next, but did he keep that promise? Of course not. Debbie was proving day by day to be a shrewd, strategic player, and when she floated the idea of potentially taking out Coach it set alarm bells ringing for JT. Watch J.’s confessional in “The Ultimate Sacrifice” (Episode 12, May 7, 2009) early on in the episode after Debbie brings this up; the slow drawl, the ominous Godfather style music in the background, the devilish smirk…

“Debbie is playing a very strategical game. And she’s scared right now. Debbie may be more of a loose cannon than I thought. Debbie may be up to some no good around here."

Watch that and tell me it isn’t straight out of Boston Rob circa Redemption Island’s play book. Then in the next scene he’s telling Debbie he loves her and how it is her, Stephen and him to the end. JT, that good 'ol country boy that won just because everyone liked him - yeah right. JT was playing a seriously impressive, cut-throat game that was full of half-truths and full-lies, and his greatest trick was convincing the world he was honourable. Debbie wanted Coach out next followed by Erinn and Taj, so what do JT and Stephen do? They nod and agree (always say yes remember). Coach wanted Taj out next, followed by Erinn, of course JT and Stephen nod and agree. Their actual plan of action? Use the outsiders. So they grab Erinn and they grab Taj and they vote out the trouble causer Debbie, flipping once again to create a new majority with the former outsiders. Are you keeping up?

With Debbie having voted for Coach it was easy to bring him back on side, making it seem like getting rid of Debbie was done for his benefit, when in reality Coach was next to go. Here is where JT really outplayed Stephen, because although they had both agreed on sending home Coach, JT himself wasn’t going to vote against Coach because he had made a promise. Why Stephen bought or allowed that, I’m not quite sure, because JT had broken many promises up to that point. But having it go down that way secured JT Coach’s jury vote and left Stephen looking like the villain. At this point, the three original Jalapao were left, with the last remaining Timbira on the outside, so voting out Erinn would have been the straight forward move. But after weighing up the pros and cons, JT and Stephen decided for one last time to use the outsider to vote out Taj, believing they had a better shot at beating Erinn in the Final Immunity Challenge. JT then indeed wins Final Immunity and takes Stephen to the Final Tribal Council where he wins with a unanimous vote.

For JT and Stephen, it was a case of blindsiding one alliance at one Tribal Council, then jumping back to that alliance to vote with them at the following Tribal Council to regain their trust, and continuing to do that until they’d taken everyone out. It’s a beautiful game to watch unfold if you really pay attention to how JT and Stephen use the outsiders. Of course there were other factors at play throughout the season; a lot of luck comes into Survivor, and other people were out there playing hard too. Taj played a vital role in JT and Stephen’s success, and I actually believe that Erinn is a very underrated player, but Stephen, and more importantly JT, played the best overall game and they did it by adopting the Using The Outsiders strategy.

I know this was a long post and I thank anyone that has taken the time to read it all, and to any potential future players of Survivor that may be reading this I hope it proved helpful (let me know if you use it and it works!). If there is anything I hope people take away from this it would be a deeper appreciation of JT’s game in Tocantins (that man deserves a hell of a lot more credit than he gets), and other than that just a general appreciation for the Using The Outsiders strategy, and to keep an eye out for people using it in future seasons.

written by Martin Holmes

#Survivor #Strategy #Survivor Strategy #Rob Cesternino #Jonny Fairplay #J.T. Thomas #Stephen Fishbach #Burton Roberts #Boston Rob #Survivor Amazon #Survivor Pearl Islands #Survivor Tocantins

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thehippestkidsintown · 9 years

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For The Attention of Vince McMahon and WWE: Give Divas A Chance

In 1995, Mary Lillian Ellison, better known to wrestling fans worldwide as The Fabulous Moolah, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. A former NWA World Women's Champion and first ever WWF Women's Champion, with a career spanning over 60 years, The Fabulous Moolah is often cited as a pioneer in women's professional wrestling. Her technical ability combined with her mental toughness and abrasive heel personality became a forebear to what is commonly recognised as "the Divas division" in today's WWE. There have been allegations about how Moolah ran her business when she was training and promoting up and coming women wrestlers, but I don't believe that is relevant to the conversation here, as I'm speaking specifically about Moolah's impact on the business as a performer.

Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco on the The Fabulous Moolah:

“When the Fabulous Moolah came along it was a real male dominant sport and it took one special person to break that mould. The Fabolous Moolah came in and opened the door for all the current WWE female superstars.”

My question to Vince McMahon and WWE is when did that door close?

It was a chilly December night in Charlotte, North Carolina and a sold out crowd packed the Charlotte Coliseum for Monday Night Raw. The show featured appearances from Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff, shenanigans from guest General Manager Chris Jericho, an Intercontinental Championship match, and an impressive tag team encounter between Jericho and Benoit versus Triple H and Batista. But what everyone was there to see was the best match on the card, and the main event, Trish Stratus vs Lita for the Women's Championship.

The date was 6 December 2004.

Trish was in the middle of her greatest heel run; cocky, cruel and arrogant. She came down to the ring with her belt held high and her face covered by a nose-guard; having had her nose broken by Lita at Survivor Series. Lita came out next to a thunderous ovation from her home-town crowd; this was finally her moment to enact her revenge on Trish after months of torture and torment.

For the proceeding ten minutes, Trish and Lita tore the house down in a vicious battle for the Women's Championship. Lita taking one of the nastiest bumps in pro-wrestling history with her suicide dive to the outside, a move that still makes me cringe to this day. The crowd was invested in every move and every near-fall. When Lita hit the moonsault and finally pinned Trish for the 3 count, the arena erupted, and these two ladies had proved that not only could women put on an entertaining, competitive match, but a match that could main event on any given night.

Fast forward just over ten years, Monday Night Raw live from Nashville, Tennessee. The Bella Twins versus Paige and Emma. The match is over in 30 seconds and the entire divas segment lasted barely over a minute.

The date was 23 February 2015.

The Divas Championship match at Fast Lane between Nikki Bella and Paige went just over 5 minutes, the shortest match on the card, and ended as most modern day divas matches end - with a roll up. Is that door that The Fabulous Moolah opened really still open? Or has it been boarded up with a "Closed For Business" sign nailed to the front?

Since July 2012, Monday Night Raw has been a 3 hour show, and when you combine that with Smackdown, Main Event and Superstars, that is a total of 7 hours of television that WWE broadcasts weekly. There is no excuse why the current WWE divas shouldn't play a prominent part in the weekly product. To have one 30 second divas match during a 3 hour show is beyond an insult. It is a slap in the face to every single female performer on the roster, to every female performer that has paved the way in the past, and mostly to the fans that enjoy women's wrestling.

The worst thing is, you can't even chalk this up as a one-off mistake because the WWE Divas division has been consistently the most mismanaged and underutilized part of the product for years now, and things need to change.

In the late 90s, during the birth of the Attitude Era, the women in WWE were more often than not used as sex symbols. The likes of Sable, Terri Runnels, Debra, Miss Kitty etc, were certainly not known for their wrestling ability, and instead of Trish versus Lita classics you were much more likely to see male fantasy Bra and Panties matches while Jerry "The King" Lawler screamed out "Puppies!" from behind the announce desk. But the times were different back then, wrestling was going through a boom period, the product appealed primarily to a young male adult demographic. There was a thirst for sex, violence and profanity from television shows and WWE capitalised on this.

Wrestling has never been known for its gender equality but the late 90s was the time when WWE was criticised most for being overly chauvinistic and misogynistic. They still had talented female wrestlers, such as Luna Vachon, Jaqueline and Ivory, but the focus was on, to put it bluntly, "tits and ass". But Sable is an important figure in the evolution of the divas division. There is a great article that was written by Mark Johns for We Want Insanity.com that goes into more detail, but basically Sable was brought in to be eye candy for the male audience. Her job was to stand and look pretty while whomever she was managing wrestled; a similar role to that which Sunny played. Yet both Sunny and Sable became more popular than the men they valeted for, and while Sunny was never given the same opportunities, the WWE went all in with Sable.

The WWE never intended for Sable to become as popular as she did but they certainly capitalised on the situation. Despite her lack of wrestling and promo skills, the WWE began working on her character; portraying her as the abused and degraded girlfriend of Marc Mero. This only catapulted her popularity even further and eventually led to them putting her in the ring against opponents such as Luna and Debra. But Sable couldn't really wrestle, and this is what gave birth to the Bra and Panties and Evening Gown matches; stipulations that disguised Sable's lack of ability. Sable's popularity reached such a level that the WWE eventually revived the Women's Championship and marketed Sable as the figurehead of the women's division.

As Johns explains in his article, the WWE had tried a couple of times to launch a proper women's division, but it never quite took off due to lack of talent, break downs of relationships between talent and management, and just generally poor booking decisions and focus - sound familiar? Sable, however poor she was in the ring, revitalised the women's division by proving to the WWE that female performers could be marketable, and this was the catalyst for the influx of talented women wrestlers brought into the company around late 99-00 (Trish, Lita, Molly Holly, Jazz, Victoria).

If someone who was simply meant to be eye candy, who had little to no wrestling ability, or even real charisma, was given time, focus, storylines and character from the WWE in the 90s, then why is the current divas division floundering when the talent is of a much higher standard? Why do so many of the women lack proper character or motivation? Why aren't the fans invested in divas matches? The treatment of women in WWE might have been exploitative and tasteless in the 90s but the current treatment of women in WWE is arguably worse, but for different reasons.

So where does the fault lie? In professional wrestling the burden of getting over is put on the performer. If you truly have the talent and charisma even those with dud gimmicks should be able to succeed; you only have to look at where legendary names such as Stonecold Steve Austin, The Rock and Triple H started out to see how they overcame the obstacles to reach the top. Or for a more recent example, look at Damien Sandow, a man that was given a horrible gimmick that somehow turned it into gold with his natural charisma and ability. But despite these men having bad gimmicks or uneasy starts, it wasn't just their talents that eventually got them over - it was time.

The true power lies in the hands of the booker, this is after all scripted entertainment and it certainly isn't the performers who get to choose how much time they have in front of a crowd. You could be the most talented actor in the world but if the director and producers decide to only give you 30 seconds of screen-time in a 2 hour movie, I can guarantee you won't be getting nominated for any Academy Awards any time soon.

Despite their bad gimmicks, performers like Steve Austin and Triple H were still given time to show off their in-ring and promo skills, and it was in those matches and those promos where Austin and Hunter developed the characters that got them over with the audience to the point where the company eventually gave them the ball to run with it. If The Ringmaster was only given 30 seconds of air-time every week, while I'm sure Steve would give it his all, I would argue that Steve Austin wouldn't be the big name he is today.

What is Emma supposed to do with zero promo time and a 30 second match where she gets no offense? It is up to Vince McMahon and his writing staff to give these women time to develop their characters and put on lengthy matches so that the audience is given a reason to become invested. So why don't they do this?

Total Divas debuted in July 2013 on the E! Network and was an instant hit; fitting nicely into the scripted-reality genre occupied by the likes of Keeping Up With Kardashians and its ilk. Now in its third season, the show features pretty much the entire roster of WWE divas. Maybe this is where the problem lies, not the show itself, but the perception of the show within the company. Perhaps Vince McMahon thinks that Total Divas is essentially the Divas division; the women get to appear on this successful reality show and attend red carpet events while the men get to wrestle on Raw and Smackdown in matches that have time to get over.

It is easy to mock Total Divas but that's not what I'm here to do. I understand why people find this kind of show entertaining and I see no problem with the WWE producing and promoting it. My problem with Total Divas is that it is now an excuse to underwrite and underutilize the women when it comes to wrestling. Total Divas should exist separately from what is happening on Raw and Smackdown; despite what Vince and WWE may think, the crossover audience isn't as big as they believe. I know people that have zero interest in WWE or professional wrestling who watch Total Divas, and likewise, there are plenty of wrestling fans that would never watch Total Divas. If Vince is thinking that he doesn’t need to give the women longer than 30 seconds on Raw because the storyline is happening on Total Divas, and that the audience will be satisfied with that, then he is sadly mistaken.

While people may look back at the early 00s through rose-tinted glasses and celebrate the divas division of yesteryear, what many people forget is that while Trish and Lita were main eventing Raw, the much maligned and criticised WWE Divas Search was happening at the same time. Lots of people hated the Divas Search, just like lots of people hate Total Divas, and yes, the Divas Search took up a lot of valuable air-time on a Monday Night, but it existed simultaneously alongside the Women's Championship feuds between Trish, Lita, Victoria, Mickie James etc. There is a place for Total Divas, but its existence shouldn't be at the detriment of the divas division. By all means promote it during Raw and Smackdown, but you still need to give these women stories that are separate from that show and matches that allow them to show off their wrestling ability.

And that's the other thing - these women WANT to wrestle. Sure there are those that get into WWE for fame and money and couldn't care less about the wrestling side of the business (that applies to women and men). There was a time when the company went through a stage of hiring lots of swimsuit models that had never watched an episode of Raw in their lives. But right now, the majority of the women in the divas division are passionate about wrestling and want the chance to put on the best match on the card. You only have to look at The Bella Twins, and in particular Nikki Bella, who in the past two years has worked tremendously hard getting into shape, improving her in-ring and promo skills, and wants to be in front of a crowd wrestling.

Brie Bella speaking at the Wizard World Comic Con in Indianapolis in February:

"If I was in NXT I would not want to come up to the main roster because you get so much time down there. If you come to the live events you’ll see we get a lot of time at the live events. When it comes to TV we get so frustrated because it’s hard to tell a story in 3 minutes and especially when they want an entrance. We want time to wrestle. Especially after watching the NXT Rival pay-per-view and seeing them go 20 minutes; it’s like a dream. It’s something we’d love and we’re trying so hard to get more time. There’s a three hour Raw and you can’t give more time to the divas? But, hopefully in the future.”

That is one of your employees saying they are frustrated and want more time to wrestle. It's like being a chef in a restaurant and the manager telling you to go and wait tables and look pretty for the punters when all you want to do is cook because that is what you are good at and what you love doing; yeah, you're still getting paid, but nobody is complimenting you for how good their lobster bisque tasted at the end of the night. After Brie said this, Nikki chimed in with a joke, telling the fan who had asked the question to fly over to see Vince and let him know this. So am I wrong in saying that the one with the power to change this is Vince McMahon, when the divas themselves are putting the blame at his feet?

Lets remember, The Bella Twins themselves were former Divas Search contestants who started their careers as models. Vince McMahon may think he can placate them with photoshoots and red carpet events and reality-shows, but even with all that they still have the drive and determination to be wrestlers. If that is how The Bella Twins feel then imagine how it feels for the women that have grown up their entire lives as wrestling fans, like AJ Lee, Natalya, Paige and Emma. As kids all they ever wanted was to grow up and become a professional wrestler - these young girls saw The Fabulous Moolah inducted into the Hall of Fame, they watched Trish and Lita main event Raw, and one day dreamed they could achieve those heights.

But the glaring most obvious reason why the fans and divas are so frustrated with the current WWE product is that the developmental territory, NXT, is proof that when booked properly and given significant match time, the divas can steal the show. What this highlights more than anything is that it isn't a fault of the performers, it is a fault with Vince McMahon, creative and management.

When Paige and Emma were in NXT they were crowd favourites, they were allowed time to develop their characters, and their matches were given a time limit that allowed them to put on modern day classics. Yes, you can say that NXT is a much smaller production aimed primarily at "smart fans" and that it is much harder to get over on Raw in front of 10,000 people. I agree, but that is even more reason why when transitioning from NXT to Raw the divas should be given more focus and careful booking.

Throwing Paige out on Raw to win the Divas Championship on her debut was great to pop the post-Wrestlemania crowd - I was there and I loved that moment - but in doing so they stripped her of the Anti-Diva character that made her such a success in NXT. They turned her into an almost cowardly figure, and then they hot-potatoed the title between her and AJ Lee for months while adding in a faux lesbian plot out of no where. This should have been a money feud if booked properly and given time and attention.

Likewise with Emma, who in NXT began life as a heel that eventually got over due to her clumsy ditz gimmick and awkward dancing, coupled with her amazing wrestling ability. But when she debuted on Raw she was simply a dancing babyface with no build up or backstory and soon lumped with Santino, who despite his hard work, is no more than a lower card comedy character.

It is no coincidence that Vince McMahon has little to no involvement with NXT, you can tell simply from the way the women are given the same focus and importance as the men. NXT is a 1 hour show yet almost always has a lengthy divas match that shows off the performer’s in-ring skills, develops a storyline, and builds character. The NXT Women's Championship is presented as a prize worth fighting for, with multiple contenders vying for their shot. They do this with a 1 hour show! Raw and Smackdown have a total of 5 hours and the divas will be lucky to get a combined 6 minutes each week. It's a sad state of affairs when you fear for the women coming up to the main roster from NXT because you know that they'll suffer the same fate as Paige and Emma and every other diva swinging aimlessly in the wind on Raw. But if it doesn't work out it's okay because Vince will offer you a spot on Total Divas instead... sigh.

All the credit in the world goes to the likes of Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Bayley, who have consistently put on match of the year contenders down in NXT, and that same credit goes to Sara Amato who is the head trainer for the female wrestlers in developmental. But much like I said earlier, every performer needs to be given time to shine, and for that, Triple H deserves a whole heap of credit too, because the way he and his creative staff run NXT is the way Vince McMahon and his staff should be running the main roster divas division.

NXT has had their divas main event a show, Raw hasn't had their divas main event a show since Trish and Lita in 2004. But that's not even what we're asking for here; it’s allowing the divas on Raw to put on a 10 minute match anywhere on the card, it’s letting the divas cut a promo in the ring, it’s the commentators putting over the importance of the divas division and its championship, it’s creative writing logical, interesting storylines for the divas that don't rely on Total Divas.

Make no mistake about it, when Vince McMahon is dead and gone, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon will run the WWE. Hell, if the WWE is still going in 50 years this entire company could be run by women, what with Hunter and Steph having three daughters - but do we really have to wait that long for a significant change in the treatment of female performers within WWE? Triple H and Stephanie should be setting an example for the equality of women within the company, and I think Triple H is doing this in NXT, but for whatever reason this hasn't transferred to the main roster. In fact, the divas division on Raw and Smackdown has devolved from what it once was. And you can't tell me there isn't an audience for women's wrestling; the 9.0 rating on MTV for Wendi Richter's title win in 1984 proves otherwise, the mainstream popularity of Sable in the 90s proves otherwise, the intense crowd reaction to Trish and Lita proves otherwise, hell, when Paige and Nikki Bella were actually given more than 3 minutes for a match on Main Event a few months back the crowd were chanting "This is awesome" - there is no reason why they can't have that match on Raw.

After #GiveDivasAChance trended worldwide on Twitter on Monday, Vince McMahon himself posted that he hears the fans and told us to keep watching; but does he truly hear us? Or is this just corporate speak to make us believe change is coming until things calm down and the whole situation is swept under the rug? But this time we can't let things calm down, this is something bigger than Daniel Bryan not winning the Royal Rumble, or Roman Reigns main eventing Wrestlemania, those are storyline decisions, the consistent mistreatment of the divas division within WWE has gone on for years now and is arguably at its worst ever. I don't write about professional wrestling that often, especially not at this length, but this is something that angers me and it has gotten to the point where I felt I had to get it off my chest.

That door that The Fabulous Moolah opened has well and truly been slammed in the face of every WWE female performer and fan of women's wrestling. But there is another door that needs opening. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have both talked in interviews about how when they were together as The Shield, if they didn't agree with a booking decision then they, along with Roman Reigns, would go into Vince's office and argue their point; pretty much ganging up on Vince to stop him from making a decision that would be a detriment to their careers, and this tactic worked. Chris Jericho has spoken of doing something similar in the past - taking the problem directly to Vince. Well, the current field of female performers in the WWE need to do the same thing; much how like The Fabulous Moolah opened the door for women's wrestling, the WWE divas need to open Vince McMahon's door together and save women's wrestling.

written by Martin Holmes.

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thehippestkidsintown · 10 years

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Will vs Dan vs Derrick: Analysing Big Brother's Best (Part 2)

Previously on...Biiiiig Brother! In the first part of my analysis of the best Big Brother games we looked at Will Kirby's impressive rise from house pariah to master manipulator, cementing himself as not only a great player but as the forefather of how Big Brother would be played for many seasons to come.

Big Brother All Stars was meant to pit the best against the best, of course there will always be arguments regarding who the best actually is, and I'm sure there are other players that fans believe should have had a spot on All Stars, but I think for the most part CBS got it right. Alongside Will, you had Danielle and Alison, who both played impressive (if flawed) games in their original seasons. There was Diane, Nakomis and Kaysar, players that had strategic minds that didn't quite deliver first time around but had potential. Then you had competition threats like Janelle, James and Jase. Oh, and Chicken George.

Will was the only previous winner to return on All Stars, the first point that people will bring up in both defense and criticism of Will's game. You could argue that Will being the only winner meant he was playing against lesser competition, would he have done as well if other winners like Lisa, Jun or Maggie were in the house? Who knows? But on the reverse of that, Will being the only winner made his target in the house even bigger than it was just off his reputation alone.

The cast was half picked by the American viewing public and the rest by the producers. There was a big recency bias going into the season with the popular SOV6 alliance from Big Brother 6 (Janelle, Kaysar, Howie and James) securing the most votes, and even the likes of Big Brother 4's Erika received more votes than Will. Will therefore was a producer pick to go back in the house, fair enough, smart choice, nobody is disputing that. What people do continue to dispute is the inclusion of Mike Boogie in this season, a housemate that was evicted fourth in BB2.

There have been rumours for years that Will refused to play again unless his Chill Town partner Boogie was in the house with him. It kind of makes sense of Boogie's involvement but we'll never be able to prove if it's true or not. The fact is that having Boogie in the house definitely helped Will as it gave him an ally right off the bat, but that can be said for many of the returning housemates, as stated, BB6 had four people together, BB5 had three, and BB3 and BB4 both had two each. And then there was Chicken George.

"My plan right now, if I last three weeks, I'm gonna pull the mask off and people aren't gonna like what they see. It's gonna look like flesh on the outside, rip it open it's just circuitry and wires."

Will's All Stars game actually mimicked his BB2 game quite a lot. He entered the house knowing he'd be a huge target, just like how he was the target early in BB2, and he once again played up to this fact. He even played up like he was annoyed when he wasn't nominated, as if it was an insult to him. Pretending to be the huge threat and telling people they should nominate you will make people do the opposite just to spite you because they don't want to make it seem like they are giving you what you want. It's a very delicate strategy but Will mastered it.

He also continued his tradition of throwing competitions. He believed that winning HoH was a waste of time and painted an unnecessary target on your back. For Will it was much easier to control things from behind the scenes rather than being seen as the one holding the power. It's a part of Big Brother that has sadly become undervalued since the Rachel Reilly era when the focus was shifted to winning competitions, but thankfully Derrick's social and strategic dominance in BB16 has titled that style of play back in favour somewhat.

Part of the game that Will had improved on however was painting targets on other players. In BB2 Will put a target on himself and used that to his advantage, making himself the villain was a way for people to keep him around due their belief that he could be beaten in the end. In All Stars Will started aiming those targets at other players, and it started with the Season 6 alliance. Not all credit can be given to Will on this one, Season 6 and their early domination of competitions would have made them targets regardless, but what Will did was really fire up a hostility and anger towards S6.

The beauty of this plan was that Will never intended to win a competition, so in theory he'd created an army of angry soldiers ready to take shots at S6 while he sat back and laughed. If the opposing alliance fired and hit, great, S6 is taken out. If they fired and missed, sucks for them, now they are targets on S6's radar. Either way Will and Boogie were protected on either end because neither S6 or the opposing alliance were coming after Chill Town.

A couple of nice examples of this are during the first eviction, which was Danielle vs Alison, Will and Boogie campaigned to keep Alison, going against S6's wishes, they managed to convince Diane and Nakomis to vote with them. But realising that Janelle would end up breaking a tie vote and still send Alison home, they switched their votes but didn't tell Diane and Nakmois, leaving them on the outside of the majority and clear targets heading into the next week.

Another example was during Kaysar's HoH reign in Week 2 when Will volunteered to go up on the block, telling Erika to use the veto, have Kaysar put him up, and for everyone to vote him out. Will was martyring himself, gaining favour with the non-S6 folk, whilst also putting Kaysar on the back-foot. No way would Kaysar do that because Kaysar doesn't like to feel as if he's been told what to do, especially by Will, and of course Will likely knew that.

Week 3 was when things really started to get interesting. James was sensing the heat coming towards the S6 alliance and was looking for alternative options. James was always the most likely member to flip on the S6 alliance because he got boned by them in Big Brother 6 when Howie stupidly nominated him at the behest of Maggie, and he played the rest of the game going back and forth between the SOV6 and The Friendship. So when Will threw out the option of a core four alliance between himself, Boogie, James and Danielle, that of course sounded like a viable option, and the first seeds of the Legion of Doom alliance were born.

There was also a deal in place from the week earlier where Kaysar had promised not to nominate Chill Town as long as they get rid of a floaters the following week should they gain power. Of course Will agreed, Will agrees to everything because he doesn't care about lying and he never has to live up to those deals because he never plans on winning a comp and putting himself in that position. This was something that these players really should have learned from watching BB2.

So honouring the deal from their end James set his sights on Chicken George, and as per Will's request, put Will up alongside him as the pawn. Ridiculous, right? But it seemed only Will, Boogie and Danielle knew just how crazy it was that Will was up on the block and nobody had him as the target.

"Right now the S6 alliance is, amazingly, calling Will the pawn. Now, in what sick and twisted universe do we live in that the greatest player to ever play this game can sit on the nomination block and be called a pawn? It's a little quizzical." - Mike Boogie, All Stars

This lead to Will's now famous/infamous veto meeting speech which became known as the "I Hate You All" speech. Will felt so comfortable about his position in the house, that even with the former target Chicken George winning the Veto, he decided to stand up and slam every single one of his fellow housemates. Some people build this up to be some sort of amazing move, but I don't see it that way. This was simply for show, just like Dan's Replacement Nominee Roulette or Funeral, the real work had already taken place behind the scenes, this was all smoke and mirrors to confuse people and to really rub in just how dumb they looked.

It helped that Jase had blown up after discovering he was going up as the replacement nominee all but securing his exit out of the house. As always, a little bit of luck goes a long way in the Big Brother house, and Jase's uncontrollable temper certainly went in Will's favour that week. Will ended up staying in the first unanimous vote of the season which I think was the first major sign that the master manipulator was back in true form.

"Janelle has fallen madly, madly in love with me. Can you blame her?"

By Week 4 in BB2 Will had started to work his charm on Nicole who at the time was calling the shots in the house. With his allies leaving one by one he wormed his way into Nicole's brain and made himself seem a useful tool to her game. In Week 4 in All Stars Will was about to do the same with another woman who was running the game, the first two time HoH winner of the season Janelle. The relationship between Will and Janelle was much more flirtatious than the one between Will and Nicole, and an argument could be made that Janelle was also using Will to an extent, I mean, she did eventually evict him. But Will's ability to manipulate Janelle was what really gave himself and Chill Town control of the game.

Will continued to play on the "target the floaters" strategy that S6 had put forward weeks prior. He even took a bath up in the HoH bathroom and performed a puppet show (now he was just toying with them) for Janelle, Kaysar and Howie to demonstrate his thinking. Again, like the speeches, the puppet show was just a smoke-screen, I don't think anyone truly believes that Will playing with rubber duckies was what kept him off the block. The art of the strategy is in the presentation and the content. First of all, he's sat in the bath playing with toys looking up at those in power, he looks ridiculous, which is great because it doesn't make it appear as if he's controlling the situation. Secondly, beneath all the convoluted story telling, there is a clear message, go after the floaters or they will end up winning.

It's why Will is probably the best manipulator that Big Brother has ever seen because it doesn't seem like he's pushing his own agenda, he makes you feel that it is for your own benefit. And it's also the reason why Dan and now Derrick are mentioned in the same breath, because they likewise have this ability to make their ideas sound like other peoples. Also, by showing Janelle that Chill Town were willing to be pawns, it made her question the loyalty of her so called allies/friends that refused to go on the block. So Will got Janelle to meet him half-way and nominate a floater, Erika, but she also put up his Chill Town partner Boogie, but then Boogie won the Veto and by rights Janelle should have put up Will.

But of course she didn't because Will turned on the charm and charisma. He is an expert people reader and knew how to appeal to Janelle. She wanted to be spoken to calmly and rationally, and the ego-boosting and flirting of course helped. In contrast, Kaysar and Howie demanding that she put up Will ended up back-firing. Will had set up the situation perfectly so that Janelle was the number one enemy to the floaters, therefore she needed to go after them, and that she was expendable to S6 because she would be the first to leave over them should they lose power. Will hammered these points home.

When Janelle put up Diane as the replacement nominee it was the final nail in the coffin for S6 as far as James was concerned. He'd already began forming a bond with Danielle, and now knowing that he couldn't put his faith in Janelle, those early seeds of an alliance with Chill Town came to bloom, and the Legion of Doom was cemented. It came at the perfect time too because Danielle won the next HoH, the first none S6 player of the season to win, and she set her sights on getting out Janelle.

So Chill Town were safe because their newly formed alliance member had won HoH, and that's all Will cared about, being safe. Who went home didn't matter. So while he promised Danielle that he would try to win PoV to keep the nominations the same, he and Boogie instead took all the luxury prizes at the expense of points, allowing Janelle to win Veto and save herself. Will had already put in hard work forging a relationship with Janelle, so he didn't need to let her go just yet, and keeping her kept a big target in the house who would now be going after Danielle, not him.

But Will was always thinking, like Krista said back in BB2, those gears were constantly turning in his head. He knew that once S6 was dismantled that he and Boogie were the most obvious pair in the house, so he needed knew targets to set up. In steps Marcellas, who Will masterfully blamed for taking the luxury prizes in the competition. What makes it so great is that Marcellas and Janelle, despite not being a true alliance, considered each other friends. So with Janelle believing that Marcellas took all those prizes instead of trying to win Veto to save her, it made her question his loyalty and friendship.

After Janelle won HoH for the third time and targetted Danielle, just like Will predicted, it was time to pull the same stunt again, only this time with the players in opposite roles. This time around Will wanted Danielle to win the Veto because keeping her benefited Chill Town due to the allegiance of the Legion of Doom alliance. So he made it look like he was trying just enough in the Veto comp to appease Janelle, while also allowing Danielle to win, and then throwing shade on James as been the one that threw it to Danielle.

The earlier set-up of Marcellas came in handy when it was time to name a replacement nominee because Will convinced Janelle to nominate him, not as the target, but as a pawn against Erika, just to teach him a lesson. That was obviously a lie. Will decided Marcellas should be the one evicted and with the Legion of Doom controlling the votes that was an easy one.

A wrench was thrown into the plans when Chicken George won a HoH competition. It's not something anyone really planned for because they believed George to be a non-entity. Will once again offered to go up on the block as a pawn against Erika. However he forgot to inform Boogie of this plan and when Boogie got wind that George was considering nominating Will he shouted it down and made George see that Will had protected him numerous times in the game. Will gets most of the credit for controlling All Stars, and that's mostly fair, but Boogie played his part here because if Will did go up there was a chance at that point his plan could have back-fired. Boogie strong-armed George into nominating Howie instead and Howie was evicted.

"Howie thought he was safe. You know why he thought that? Well, because I told him he was safe. If anyone tells you they can play the Big Brother game officially without lying...they're lying."

Boogie won the next HoH and this is personally where I think Will possibly cost himself the game, and it was really Boogie's fault. Now, don't get me wrong, Will still controlled the game for the next couple of weeks but I believe Boogie winning HoH caused him to change his strategy somewhat. Will was never a fan of winning HoH, we all know that, it puts all the focus on you, and Boogie being an extension of Will the target was now clearly on them. So with this Will needed to create a bigger target than him, and that person was Janelle, the comp beast, he believed that Janelle alone was a bigger target than Chill Town combined.

There is no saying what would have happened, it's all a game of ifs and buts, but I think due to Boogie winning that HoH Will worked extra hard to keep Janelle around and that eventually hurt him because she clicked onto his game and became the one to evict him. But regardless, Will was still getting what he wanted, he regained Janelle's trust even after lying to her and voting out her allies, he kept the target on her, and dismantled the Legion of Doom alliance getting James and Danielle evicted back-to-back.

"James thinks the show is fixed in Janelle's favour. Well, it is. I'm the one fixing it James."

Will even survived his first Fast Forward eviction where a week's worth of Big Brother is played in one night. Which brings up a great point, Will was playing a different format of Big Brother than he played in BB2. Most importantly, the Power of Veto competition, this never existed in Will's first season, he had to use wits, cunning and manipulation to save himself, and that's the way he continued to play in All Stars. He never won a Veto, intentionally throwing them, although I personally believe he tried to win the Final 4 Veto comp. I said in Part 1 of this feature that due to the lack of Veto in BB2 that it meant Will had less variables to deal with, and that could be viewed as a flaw, well All Stars proved that Will dealt with the added variables pretty damn well.

"I'm not sure if Danielle's been watching this season. Maybe I should re-introduce myself? They call me the Puppet Master. Do you really think you're safe this week? Come on."

Lets take a time out to discuss Mike Boogie's role in all this. Boogie of course ended up winning the season after beating Erika in the Final 2. Most viewers were rooting for Will or Janelle to win, but Boogie was the preferred win over Erika because it was a win for Chill Town and therefore a win for Will. Although Will did control the majority of the game, devised most of the strategies, used his charm to get people thinking on his wave-length, Boogie did play his part. We already discussed the Howie eviction, but Boogie's play on Erika saved Chill Town from getting nominated on a couple of occasions. The reason it's looked at as lesser than Will's game is because it came across sleazy, Boogie actually hooked up with Erika despite bashing her in the Diary Room. It seemed more vindictive than Will's more game orientated manipulation. But there is no denying that having each other in the game was a massive advantage to the both of them.

"How Chill Town made it this far...I have no idea. They're not even nominated!" - Chicken George, All Stars

So Will dodged the Fast Forward eviction, getting Janelle to put up Erika and Chicken George and then sending George home. At this point Will seemed unstoppable and on the path to his second victory. Will is quoted as saying about himself that he treads a fine line between confidence and cocky, and here is where I think Will started to get too cocky. Telling both Erika and Janelle that they were official members of Chill Town was an unnecessary move born out of complacency. It was an oversight because at Final 4 when Erika and Janelle finally sat down to talk one on one that was the one big vital piece of information that bonded them and made it clear Will had to go.

Some people say that if Will pulled a Boogie and actually hooked up with Janelle, or at least gave her a kiss that night when she was tipsy in the hot-tub, that she would never have evicted him. I think that is selling Janelle short to be honest. While I loved Janelle in BB6, I've never been her biggest supporter when it comes to her strategy, she is a very emotional player, but even I don't think Janelle was that blinded that a kiss from Will would have stopped her evicting him. She was emotionally invested in Will but she was aware that he was using that to manipulate her. When she won the FInal 4 Veto and Will was the only person left to up on the block, she really had no choice but to get rid of him.

Will, the excellent people reader that he is, knew that his time was up and that his lies had caught up to him. He made it so close but couldn't pull the win off again. So what were his major flaws and can his All Stars game be considered better than his Big Brother 2 game? Technically his BB2 game was superior, because the aim of the show is to win, and that's what he did, but in terms of how much he controlled the game his All Stars game hasn't been matched since Derrick in BB16, although of course the style of play was very different, which we'll get to in Derrick's article.

His major flaw was keeping Janelle too long, partly in blame to Boogie's HoH win, but he should have realised keeping that good of a competitor around would eventually come back to bite him. His only other real flaw was spinning too many lies towards the end that became unnecessary. But other than that there isn't much you can criticise, it was an almost flawless game from a player that in a sane world should have been the first one sent packing.

"There's a mayor of Chill Town and his name is Will Kirby. And I give credit where credit is due. He's the most badass player to ever play this game." - Jase, All Stars

Will's Big Brother All Stars game breakdown:

Pros: Overcame huge target, adapted to new formats, manipulated almost every player, was responsible for at least half the evictions, helped his Chill Town partner to victory.

Cons: Boogie's inclusion in the season, bringing Janelle too far, telling both Erika and Janelle they were in Chill Town, getting evicted!

Next time we'll delve into Dan's winning Big Brother 10 game.

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thehippestkidsintown · 10 years

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Will vs Dan vs Derrick: Analysing Big Brother's Best (Part 1)

Big Brother 16 recently finished airing on CBS and crowned Providence, Rhode Island police sergeant Derrick Levasseur as it's latest winner. Having controlled the majority of the game both socially and strategically for 97 days, the jury awarded Derrick with the $500,000 prize (actually $550,000 this season) with a 7-2 vote. Derrick had never been nominated in over 55 nominations, only sitting on the block once by default when Cody won the Final 3 HoH.

Derrick's near flawless game has fans considering him one of the best to ever play the game. His name is now in discussion alongside previous winners Dr Will Kirby and Dan Gheesling, the two names that prominently appear in any debate regarding Big Brother's best players of all time. In this article I will break down each three of these players' games, the similarities and differences, the pros and cons, and the circumstances that lead each of them to their respective victories.

I'm not expecting to come up with a conclusive answer to which of these three men is the best, that will be a question forever debated amongst the Big Brother fanbase, but what I hope to do is shed light on what makes each of these player's games so impressive. I also understand that there are many other great Big Brother players such as Danielle Reyes, Jason Guy, Jun Song, Hayden Moss etc, but my aim here is to analyse those who are widely considered the best, along with the most recent winner.

Big Brother 2 - Winner Big Brother All Stars - Fourth Place

Much like how Survivor wouldn't be what it is today without Richard Hatch, Big Brother, arguably, wouldn't even be still on the air today if it wasn't for the one and only Dr Will Kirby. His devilish charm, natural charisma, and seemingly innate ability to manipulate made him not only one of the most captivating personalities to appear on the show, but also one of the best to ever play.

Big Brother debuted in the US in July of 2000, a remake of the hit Netherlands series that went on to become a global sensation, particularly in the UK. This original incarnation of Big Brother was based on the format most commonly used throughout the world: a group of strangers from across the country are locked in a house, cut off from the outside world, monitored 24/7, and forced to nominate each other once a week, with the public voting to evict one of the nominees.

While this format proved a huge success around the world, US viewers did not take to the concept. The common criticism was that it was boring viewing, with the most interesting and polarising characters being voted out early, leaving the nice but dull housemates in until the end. The monumental success of Survivor that had launched in May of the same year may also have had a significant affect on the public's perception of Big Brother. Survivor's concept was similar, a group of strangers living in an isolated condition, however in Survivor it was the players that voted each other off, meaning the larger characters lasted in the game much longer, and thanks to first ever winner Richard Hatch, the art of strategy and gameplay was born.

When Big Brother returned in 2001 it came with a brand new format. The public vote was no more. The housemates were allowed and encouraged to discuss nominations. Power was up for grabs with a weekly Head of Household competition. And it was up to the housemates to vote each other out. Big Brother 2 basically became Survivor in a house. The new format proved a success and with a little tweaking over the years (the addition of the Power of Veto competition and the sequestered jury) it became the show we know, love, and hate today.

Now onto the game of Dr Will Kirby. When Big Brother 2 began the format was completely fresh, the people entering the house had no prior knowledge of how this game was meant to be played, no past players to imitate or look up to, there was no rule book, the rule book was yet to be invented, but the author of that rule book soon became Dr Will Kirby.

Will introduced himself to his fellow housemates and the viewing public as a Doctor, having graduated in Osteopathic medicine from Nova Southeastern University in 2000, and was in the middle of post-graduate training in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute in Miami Beach, Florida. Before we had even seen him play it was obvious that Will was smart, at least academically so. His fellow housemates knew it too, and of course, so did Will.

The first impression of Will was that he was arrogant. He loved himself. He was smart and he knew it, and he didn't mind his other housemates knowing it because in his mind he was above them all.

"Nicole and I may not have all that much in common but what we do have in common is that we are both attracted to ME. I like myself and Nicole likes me. She won’t admit it but it’s the simple truth."

To say this rubbed the majority of his fellow housemates the wrong way would be an understatement. In the early weeks of Big Brother 2 Will hardly bothered with most of the housemates, he spent the majority of his time with like-minded buddies Mike "Boogie" Malin and showmance partner Shannon Dragoo, who coined themselves "Chill Town", the original Big Brother alliance. Chill Town passed the time trash-talking and mocking their other housemates.

Openly arrogant? A showmance? Insulting fellow housemates? These all sound like the worst ways to play Big Brother, right? You'd be correct to think that, because it's true. Dr Will is a fantastic player and his mythology within the Big Brother world has taken on legendary status, and rightfully so, but because of that status people often forget that one of the best players ever started out playing really badly.

After Boogie won the first HoH and decided to target Nicole, putting her on the block against the likable Sheryl, Chill Town were determined to see Nicole evicted, believing that the other housemates wouldn't get rid of Sheryl due to how nice she was. However, the house's collective annoyance directed towards Chill Town gave birth to the second alliance in Big Brother history, TOP (The Other People), who decided to flip the vote and keep Nicole as a message to Chill Town.

Will and his alliance didn't get their way in the first eviction but it set the tone for the new style of Big Brother, it was a game of alliances, manipulation and power struggles. But Will's alliance had a tough time because his alliance members weren't as smart as him nor in control of their emotions. They weren't thinking about the game like Will was, they were volatile and dramatic, whether it was Shannon scrubbing the toilet with Hardy's toothbrush or Boogie calling out Kent's parenting skills, they were too immature for what this game was becoming.

Will on the other hand was always thinking about the game and that became evident very early on. Only days into the game Will had initiated a voluntary fast to test his fellow housemates' will power and determine whom his biggest competition was. He believed that putting himself into a position of power and having people wondering what he thought would give him control over them. It started to become more obvious that Will's over-the-top arrogance and tom-foolery was somewhat part of a strategy.

"Will is going to be some very tough competition. He has a game-plan in his head, that's like, the gears are just turning and turning and turning and they don't stop." - Krista, BB2

"If people are wondering what I think then I have some ability to control them. I can be the puppeteer and they can be the marionettes."

There were times when Will probably went too far; one of his schemes involved pretending he had cancer, using his medical knowledge to concoct this evil plan. It was unnecessary but it never really came to fruition and had little bearing on the game.

While Will's fellow Chill Town members fell like loyal soldiers in the early weeks, Shannon going so far as to intentionally sabotage her own game so that the house would evict her over Will when they were on the block together in Week 3, Will was using his position as the house villain to create a strategy that would become full-proof. Will gauged the animosity in the house, an animosity that he himself had created, and took the contempt that his fellow players had for him and wore it like a badge of honour, His argument? "I'm not a threat. Everyone hates me. There's no way I can win."

It was this mantra that Will nailed into Krista's head in Week 2 when she won HoH and despite almost the entire house wanting Will up on the block, Krista kept Will safe believing he was no longer a threat in the game and that if he did somehow make it to the end that nobody would ever vote for him. Will played up to an image that he had created and used it to manipulate his way though the game.

"I hope everyone has underestimated my potential for just...massive destruction."

Will continued to play down his abilities, going so far as purposely throwing HoH competitions to keep up the facade of a weak, non-threat. Meanwhile he continued manipulating the other players, in particular Nicole, who by this point had formed a strong alliance with Hardy and was basically the head honcho in the game. Will and Nicole had a love/hate relationship, there were many times when Will drove Nicole so insane that she probably would have happily taken a knife and stabbed him in the heart, but Will had the power to charm. He knew the exact words to use when talking to Nicole that despite his many lies and betrayals, he was somehow able to convince her, time and time again, that he really was on her side.

He lied and lied, over and over again, and openly admitted to lying, yet still was able to keep himself around and regain people's trust. Because behind the cockiness and deception, Will was likable, he was goofy and witty and fun, and when the TOP alliance started to turn against each other and prove themselves to be just as big a backstabbers as Will, in comparison Will became a kind of anti-hero, because, well, at least he was honest about lying and he did it to your face.

With his alliance on the outs Will slowly integrated himself back into the house dynamics, getting involved in various house activities, one particular highlight came during a seance when he made-up a story about his cousin Jim who died in a oil rig accident. Will was great at telling people what they wanted to hear and getting them to believe it. It's how he got himself in so good with Nicole and Hardy after Shannon, Mike and Krista were evicted. Even though Hardy nominated Will every time he was HoH, Will always made himself seem a necessity to Hardy's and Nicole's games, therefore having the other nominee evicted over himself.

You have to remember that there was no Power of Veto competition back in Big Brother 2; when you were nominated you were on the block until eviction night, the only way to stay was to convince your fellow housemates to keep you. Will was nominated a total of four times in BB2, you can look at that as a flaw and argue that a great player should never get himself into that position, a feat that Derrick accomplished in Big Brother 16. But it also acts as proof of Will's skills in persuasion and manipulation, he saved himself not because of a comp, but because of strategy.

The flip-side of that is you could argue that the lack of Veto in BB2 meant the game was more predictable and straight forward. Will didn't have as many variables to deal with, no risk of someone using the Veto and putting him up as a replacement nominee, no chance that the target he was sat next to on the block could save themselves, leaving him a sitting duck and forcing plans to change. The absence of the PoV competition in BB2 is a pro and con to Will's overall game.

"You have to ask yourself, can anyone take pleasure in watching groups of people get angry at each other and tearing each other apart verbally, psychologically and emotionally?...I can. And I sit there and do it every day."

When tensions started to rise within the TOP alliance Will took the opportunity to exploit those weaknesses. After Hardy had nominated Kent alongside Will for eviction, Kent took the nomination personally and called out Hardy at a house meeting. This lead to Will obtaining information from Krista about a secret alliance between herself, Monica and Hardy called The Untouchables. Krista swore Will to secrecy that he would keep the info to himself, but Will being Will took what he had learned straight to Nicole and embellished it, adding fake details like how when Krista and Monica played cards that's how they communicate who to evict.

It was around this time that Nicole told the Diary Room that Will was her one and only true ally, which was really telling on how much of a number Will and had done on these people, in particular Nicole. His aim was to drive a wedge between Hardy and Nicole with the info he had gleaned, and when the heat came back his way, he would create a distraction, like calling a house discussion and then standing back and watching while everyone else hung themselves. Will had gone from been on the outs to having multiple alliances with the likes of Nicole, Hardy, Krista...hell, even Bunky (Sweet Nasty anybody?).

After Krista was evicted Will opened up more emotionally, going so far as to openly cry in the backyard. Real tears? Maybe, Krista was one of the people in the house he was closer too. But we also saw in his Diary Room sessions that he thought Krista was one of the dumbest people he'd ever met. Either way, Will used his tears for strategic purpose, allowing him to appear weak, vulnerable and relatable, qualities that certainly appealed to the more emotional players like Bunky and Monica.

As the game was nearing the end Will had perfected three facets that were keeping him in the game. Firstly, his villainous reputation from the early weeks of the game still had people believing that he wouldn't be able to secure enough jury votes in the end. Secondly, his fun and charming personality was more appealing to keep around than those that were perhaps more boring and threats to win. And lastly, his continued growth as a more rounded and vulnerable person started to make him more trustworthy than others who had slipped in the other direction.

"As everyone knows I will make any deal I can to stay alive, so I shook his hand and looked him right in the eye and said you have a deal."

Will survived on the block against Bunky down to the fact that he was seen less of a threat to win and more enjoyable to be around. And also because he continued to lie to Hardy and Nicole about having their best interests at heart. There is always an element of luck to Big Brother but by this point it was obvious Will was operating on a higher realm to any of these people because he continued to lie and manipulate in spite of making his intentions clear.

"You know, I really try and teach everyone the deep, dark, dankest dungeon that I call my own heart and they just won't pay attention. I tell them right to their face, I'm gonna stab you in the back, I'm gonna lie to you, that's what I've been doing, I'm going to continue to do it. And they look me right in the face and they say 'No you won't, we trust you, you're a good guy' and I burn them every time."

Before Nicole and Hardy realised that Will had been playing them all along it was too late. Continuing his strategy of throwing competitions, Will threw the Final 4 HoH to Monica, saving himself, assuring Nicole and Hardy went up on the block against each other, and becoming the sole vote to evict. Will evicted Hardy, avenging the loss of his showmance partner Shannon, and all but guaranteeing himself a spot in the Final 2 because both Monica and Nicole would take him to the end believing they could beat him.

"Deceivious, satanic, asshole of the planet, who lost every competition on purpose and thinks it's funny. Because we're all stupid to him." - Nicole, BB2

At the Final 3 HoH competition both Will and Nicole wanted to throw it to the other but unable to come to a decision on which would take the win, they decided instead to just both play for it and let the chips falls where they may. Well, that's what Will told her, he of course threw it, Nicole won and evicted Monica, getting even more blood on her hands.

The interesting thing about BB2 was that the jury wasn't sequestered. All evicted housemates (except for Justin who was expelled) were part of the jury and each of them got to go back home and watch the show as it aired. This is another element that can be taken as both a pro and a con to Will's game. It's a pro because the jury got to see the strategy and thinking behind Will's game, they were influenced by the edit and by public perception, by the end of the show Will had gone from America's most hated to America's favourite. However, it was also a con, because they all got to see Will's uncensored Diary Room sessions in which he was pretty harsh in his thoughts about the other housemates.

Will played up to his Evil Doctor persona right to the very end, giving a scathing final speech to the jury members, putting the blame in their hands for letting him get to the end. At this point it was all but over, Will had begrudgingly earned many of the housemates respect for how well he had played the game and more importantly, played them. He won in a vote of 5-2 (both Will and Nicole got to void one housemates vote each, technically the vote would have ended 6-3).

The tone was set on how this new version of Big Brother was to be played. Dr Will was coined the puppet master and his strategy paved the way for many of the greats that followed.

"There are only two ways to win Big Brother. You either show up, keep your mouth shut, keep your fingers crossed and hope that everyone else kicks everyone else out; and you are really just a lucky person. And then you’ll be really boring and no one will care And you’ll win. OR you can can go there, be as aggressive as you can be, and manipulate and be in people’s face. And manipulate and lie and cheat. That’s how you win the show."

Will's Big Brother 2 game breakdown:

Pros: no veto, survived four evictions, influenced decision making, intentionally threw competitions, was an early target, got the majority of votes from a non-sequested jury.

Cons: no veto (less variables), was nominated four times, alliance was all but decimated by Week 4, made himself a target, showmance, the jury wasn't sequestered (influenced). Next time we'll look at Will's game in Big Brother 7: All Stars.

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thehippestkidsintown · 12 years

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Soko - I Thought I Was An Alien Review

Imagine if Kimya Dawson went on a foreign exchange program to France and returned with a Jean-Paul Satre novel, a flick-knife, a couple of porno mags, and a French accent - then you're getting somewhere close to the enigma that is Soko.

Stéphanie Sokolinski, aka Soko, quit music in 2009 before she even released her debut album, pronouncing herself "dead" via her Myspace page. It was a bold move given that she had a hit single with "I'll Kill Her" in Australia and Denmark at the time and was touring with middle-finger raising, electro-hip hop singer M.I.A. But the pressures of the music industry just weren't for Soko.

Instead, she continued with her acting career. She has starred in many French films and television shows, including Ma Place Au Soleil, directed by the extremely talented Spike Jonez. But now Soko has picked up the guitar again and is finally ready to tackle the music business head on with her debut album I Thought I Was An Alien.

The French Kimya Dawson is perhaps an easy tag to slap on Soko, but one that is quite fitting. She dabbles in that same pond of twee, catchy acoustic guitar strumming, with existential crisis lyrics of love, loss and being a loser. In fact, this album would probably work well as a companion piece to Kimya Dawson's Hidden Vagenda.

But what sets I Thought I Was An Alien apart, not just from other artists in this genre, but also from Soko's previous songs, is that she tones down the twee - this certainly isn't a She & Him album. The subject can often be dark and reflective, especially in the beautifully sad "For Marlon", and the album's standout track "First Love Never Die". But it's not so dark as to be depressing; there is positivity within Soko's honesty. Take "We Might Be Dead Tomorrow" for example, an uplifting song that makes the album surprisingly refreshing.

The sound is old-school indie-folk, complete with vintage drum machines. The album maintains a very lo-fi feel throughout; overproduction was a key factor in turning Soko away music in 2009, but here with long-time Elliott Smith collaborator Fritz Michaud, she has found a perfect balance of professionalism and D-I-Y aesthetic. Soko has a particular way of articulating herself, much like a Daniel Johnston or Belle & Sebastian, that pushes her words to the forefront. Her raspy voice, complete with a seductive French accent, is one that we want to listen to.

I Thought I Was An Alien is a delicately constructed album that is a refreshingly honest, melancholy yet alluring.

#Soko #Fritz Michaud #I Thought I Was An Alien #Soko Review #Stéphanie Sokolinski #For Marlon #First Love Never Die #Daniel Johnston #Belle & Sebastian

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thehippestkidsintown · 12 years

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Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror Review

There are a few people that call the Brooklyn noise-pop duo of Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, better known as Sleigh Bells, a one trick pony. That may be the case, but if it is, then it's a trick that they do very well.

It was 2010 when Sleigh Bells first made a mark on the music scene with their debut album Treats. Expanding on an M.I.A inspired sound of gunshots, crashes and pulsating electronic beats, Bells mixed it all together with a little hip-hop production and marked their territory in the industry. Bells amped everything up to a Spinal Tap eleven and added in some kick-ass guitar for good measure. These brash, trembling beats were topped by the girly, ethereal vocals of Alexis Krauss, creating an intriguing contrast to the thunderous production.

With their sophomore album, Reign of Terror, the pressure is on Sleigh Bells not just to prove that they're more than a one trick pony, but to show that they can still perform that trick effectively.

Treats fans will be happy to know that the album is still loud! The opening track "True Shred Guitar" even tricks you into turning up the volume with its slightly too quiet live intro, before it blasts in your face like a fully-loaded M16.

While the music is definitely still noisy and the vocals still eerily charming, the new record all but does away with the hip-hop influence, opting instead for a more distinct metal sound. This can be a little daunting initially, especially for those that enjoyed Treats for its distorted upbeat rhythms and ability to incorporate funky breakbeat samples and horns amongst the fuzzy guitar riffs.

The choice to highlight the metal sound is not necessarily a bad one, it just slows the pace down somewhat, specifically in the latter half of the album. It makes the music seem less inventive, stripped back slightly, and while this restraint works on tracks such as "Road To Hell", it soon falls into an all too familiar pattern with the likes of "Never Say Die".

Reign of Terror is more of a grower than Treats’ grab-you-by-the-throat mentality. But it’s still an album that when played at maximum volume causes an eargasmic sensation. Miller and Krauss have abandoned some of their calling cards, and have played it safe, well as 'safe' as a Sleigh Bells record could be, but there is enough on display to show that this duo has plenty of other tricks left up their sleeves.

#Sleigh Bells #Reign of Terror #Sleigh Bells Review #Reign of Terror Review #Alexis Krauss #Derek Miller #Treats #True Shred Guitar

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thehippestkidsintown · 12 years

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Lana Del Rey - Born To Die Review

The big debate regarding haunting, hip-hop fueled, singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has become less about her musical output and more to do with her image and authenticity. Seemingly rising out of nowhere with her viral hit "Video Games" last year, Del Rey appeared to be a fully-formed pop princess, destined for future chart success. But then came the cries of "fake" and "fraud" from cynical critics and angry music blogs. The criticisms have been well covered by this point: she was already signed to Interscope Records, she already had an album under the name Lizzy Grant, her dad is a wealthy businessman, she used to dress differently, she has had lip surgery, etc.

My stance on this debate? Who cares?

Many artists have changed their image over the years, either in search of success or because it felt like a natural progression. The Black Eyed Peas went from a semi-socially conscious hip-hop group to a sugar coated pop outfit rapping about "My Humps". P!nk started out as another of many R&B divas in the late 90s before transforming into a pop-rock-chick. Christina Aguilera went from "girl next door" to "dirrrty" to "soul singer". Rick Ross was a former correctional officer for christ's sake and constantly raps about being a gangster Don.

So what if Lizzy Grant changed her name to Lana Del Rey and started wearing sundresses? Isn't it just like David Bowie becoming Ziggy Stardust? Or Stefani Germanotta becoming Lady Gaga? It's not as if Del Rey's musical style has notably changed. Her “Lizzy Grant” album features the same slow, love-lorn, bad boy obsessed, Lynchian influenced ballads, and she was making homemade "Video Games" style music videos back then too. Everyone got caught up in the Lana Del Rey hype, and now music websites like Pitchfork are embarrassingly back-tracking, oblivious that they were part of the cause.

But with that out of the way, let's just try and judge the album on its own merit, shall we?

Stuck to my bedroom door is a poster for the David Lynch film Mulholland Drive, featuring a palm tree bordered road leading to Hollywood Hills and the two female stars staring at something off in the distance. The tagline for the movie is "A love story in the city of dreams" and I couldn't think of a more appropriate description when thinking of Lana Del Rey's Born To Die. Like the film itself, Del Rey's album focuses in on the allure of Hollywood, role-playing, and self-invention.

Lana Del Rey plays a character, in fact, she plays many characters, and her songs are like mini-movies. Her album is full of tragi-romance stories, conflicted heroines, road trips, bad boys, whiskey, and sun dresses. Wild at heart with weird on top, to quote another David Lynch line. She drifts in and out of these personas with relative ease, from the gullible lover in "Off To The Races" with its girly chorus to the young femme-fatale in "Carmen", to the seductress in the march along "National Anthem".

Del Rey harks back to the days of 1950s starlets, perhaps most specifically Lana Turner, who she shares her namesake. "You fit me better than my favorite sweater.". Dubbed The Sweater Girl, Lana Turner was a beautiful blonde actress with a troubled past. Here is a short description of her from Michael's Movie Mania blog:

"In real life, there were many shadows in Turner’s world. Her father was murdered, reputedly for gambling debts, when she was a child. She struggled with alcoholism all her life and had many famous and a few notorious boyfriends, including billionaire Howard Hughes, pretty-boy actor Tyrone Power, and Tarzan star Lex Barker. Turner eventually married seven times." (http://bit.ly/AhzUHo)

If that doesn't sound like direct influence and inspiration for Del Rey's entire burn Hollywood burn outlook, then I don't know what does. Artifice has always been a part of pop music, and Del Rey has perfected that. She comes under criticism because, in this age of paparazzi and blogging, the media feel a need to know everything about you and not just your public life but your private life too. Regardless of Del Rey not actually living the lives she sings about, her music is relatable in the sense that we can all empathise and sympathise with heartache, love-loss, and pain.

The sound of the music itself doesn't stray too far away from internet crossover hits "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans". Del Rey delivers her whispered, slightly slurred, sultry vocals over sparse, hip-hop influenced beats, every so often accompanied by piano loops and swooping string arrangements. Production credits go to Jeff Bhasker and Emile Haynie, who between them have worked with the likes of Eminem, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Beyonce. Del Rey doesn't aim for the big notes like her British counterpart Adele; instead, she wallows in a low register, creating a heartbroken yet mesmeriszing sound.

There are times when Del Rey is covering the same subject matter. Her lyrics can often descend into cliche and perhaps none of the other tracks quite reach the heights of "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" - although "Born To Die", "Off To The Races", "Summertime Sadness", and "National Anthem" are only a whisker behind. But with Born To Die Del Rey has created a strong pop album; an album that will unfortunately never live up to the hype surrounding it.

#Lana Del Rey #Born To Die #Lana Del Rey Review #Born To Die Review #Video Games #Blue Jeans #David Lynch #Off To The Races #Carmen #National Anthem #Jeff Bhasker #Emile Haynie

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thehippestkidsintown · 12 years

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The Hippest Kid's End of Year List (2011)

"Enough with the lists already!" I hear you scream, alright, soon I promise, but you should all know by now that it's standard practice to sum up your opinions of the preceding year in list form; lists help us function as a society, and also make for easy blog-reading.

Below I list my personal favourites and not-so favourites of 2011, including TV, Film and Comedy. Remember, these are just my personal opinions, and I can only vote on what I've actually watched this year, that's why shows like Breaking Bad and Louie are absent, because I've only just started to catch up with them.

Best TV Drama

Game of Thrones (HBO)

Easily the most gripping television drama series of the year. George R.R Martin's fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire was brought to life by cable network HBO and the combined skills of David Benioff and D.B Weiss. Featuring a sprawling cast of talented actors, compelling characters, beautiful scenery, and some of the most balls-out, gutsiest story-telling ever seen on TV. Each episode left you begging for more, there's not much more you can ask of a television drama than that.

Tyrion's confession: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHx-kita75Y

Doctor Who Series 6 (BBC)

Probably not a surprise to see Doctor Who feature on the list given how much of my blog I devote to the show, but Series 6 truly was a fantastical, mind-bending series. Steven Moffat created one of the most inventive, intricate, exciting series of Doctor Who ever to be broadcast. The acting stepped up a notch too, with Matt Smith now fully embodying the Doctor, and Karen Gillan giving stellar performances in episodes such as "The Almost People" and "The Girl Who Waited".

The Doctor's Wife: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxcU5VNDNpk

Boardwalk Empire Season 2 (HBO)

Despite it's stunning visuals and top tier acting, Season 1 of Boardwalk Empire failed to remain compelling, the stakes just weren't high enough, it was beautifully made television, but it all felt a little aimless. Season 2 has fixed those problems and improved massively, now as well as the amazing cinematography and superb acting skills, the plotting is much better paced, the story has purpose, and the thematic structuring of particular episodes is extremely impressive. It also features some of the best dialogue on television.

Richard Harrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0fVy9DMHPQ

Honourable Mentions: Justified, Black Mirror, True Blood Season 4.

Worst TV Drama

Dexter Season 6 (Showtime)

I feel kind of bad putting this show here, but then I just remind myself of what happened this season, and it's justified. Dexter used to be a good show, never great, but it has been able to deliver thrilling, captivating episodes of television. The writers used to respect Dexter, even if they didn't care for the majority of the side-characters, the plots made half-way sense, and the dialogue was partially subtle - Season 6 has thrown all that out of the window. Dexter is now as stupid as all the other characters, the dialogue (especially the voice-over) borders on the ridiculous, and the "big-bad" is played by Colin Hanks. Kill it off, put it on a blood slide, and hide it behind the air vent never to be seen again.

Terra Nova (Fox)

Following a long line of recent sci-fi based television shows that sound good on paper but fail in execution (FlashForward, The Event, V), Terra Nova couldn't hold interest despite its intriguing concept. A group of people going back in time to the dinosaur age to start life afresh sounds interesting, but for it to work you need to have likable characters, original story-telling, and the faintest touch of dramatic purpose. It all just felt very wooden and dull, not even dinosaurs could help, nor Allison Miller, who will appear on this list again, albeit for entirely different reasons.

Outcasts (BBC1)

You felt with Outcasts that some suit at the BBC had said "Right, we need to prove we can do sci-fi as good as the Americans," not realising that the channel is already home to one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever created, Doctor Who. What we got instead was one of the worst sci-fi shows ever created; poorly scripted, full of awful exposition and muddled plots, and some questionable acting, although it perhaps wasn't the actors faults given what they had to work with.

Dishonourable Mentions: The Playboy Club, Mount Pleasant.

Best TV Comedy

Limmy's Show Series 2 (BBC Scotland)

Perhaps the most original voice to emerge in British comedy in years, Brian Limond continued his success with the second series of his off-beat sketch show Limmy's Show. Quite possibly the best sketch comedy show of the last decade, Limmy's Show is a blend of character pieces, monologues, animation, and sometimes just Limmy dancing to cheesy 80s pop music. It's smart, witty, angry, silly, and like nothing else currently on television. Oh, and it's also bloody hilarious!

Tina Turner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J_oee1S66M

Community Season 2 (NBC)

Yes, Season 2 started in 2010, but more than half the episodes aired during 2011 (plus, I haven't started watching Season 3 yet). Arguably the most daring mainstream sitcom since The Young Ones, always breaking conventions and refusing to succumb to the usual tropes of scripted comedy series. It may be for those reasons that Community doesn't get the ratings it deserves and is in fear of cancellation, but it's also the reasons that make it fantastic, and why it has garnered such a loyal, dedicated fan-base. Six seasons and a movie!

Troy and Abed and Tacos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEFGqHROWo

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle Series 2 (BBC)

One of the most intelligent stand-up comedians in the UK, Stewart Lee returned with his dead-pan delivery, superiority complex, and penchant for breaking the fourth wall. Covering topics such as Charity, Identity, and Democracy, although his routines often detoured off in to talking about crisps, slagging off Top Gear, and even playing guitar. The choice to replace the sketches with snippets of the spoof Armando Iannucci interview was a brilliant move, as it provided the episodes with more structure, and made them funnier.

London: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xcjPBjv-nE

Honourable Mentions: Beavis and Butthead Season 8, Twenty Twelve, Psychoville Series 2.

Worst TV Comedy

Life's Too Short (BBC)

Ricky Gervais laughs at little people. Okay, so it's supposed to be the comedy of embarrassment, and not actually provoking humour at the expense of others, but no matter how many times Gervais hides behind the badge of "irony", there is only so much you can take before it crosses that line. Life's Too Short is the same joke from The Office and Extras, people acting inappropriately, sometimes unrealistically so, resulting in lots of "REACT" shots and "cringe-comedy". It was also another excuse for Gervais to put his Hollywood pals like Johnny Depp into one of his series, and what is it with all of Gervais's characters being obsessed with becoming famous - projection much?

Whitney (NBC)

Whitney Cummings, actress and comedian, had two of her shows picked up this year, both sitcoms, the self-titled, self-starring Whitney, and the co-created, executive produced 2 Broke Girls. What do these shows have in common apart from Whitney Cummings? They are both awfully unfunny. Whitney, which is supposed to be an exaggerated version of Cummings' own life, is corny, cliched, and full of cartoonish characters. As for 2 Broke Girls, well....

2 Broke Girls (CBS)

...It isn't much better than Whitney. The characters here are even more stereotyped, the laughs come cheap, and the humour is often crass. It's one saving grace is that the chemistry between the two lead actresses, Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, is very good, it's just a shame they are going to waste in this show.

Dishonourable Mentions: Two and Half Men Season Season 9, Mrs Brown's Boys, Campus.

Best Reality-Competition Show

The Voice (NBC)

A singing talent show that isn't heaped in negativity? No sob stories or laughing at psychologically damaged people? The Voice was perhaps the surprise hit of the year, an original twist on the saturated talent show, in which the four coaches have their backs turned to the performers and must vote based on voice alone. If they like what they hear, they turn their chair; it is then up to the act to decide which coach they want to mentor them. The Voice also has one of the best judging panels ever assembled: Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton - their banter is funny and friendly, and never devolves in to inane bickering.

Blind audition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMsU4O_-IM 2.

The Celebrity Apprentice 4 (NBC)

When the cast was announced and it included Gary Busey, Meatloaf, and LaToya Jackson, you knew right from the off that this was not only going to be the craziest series of The Apprentice ever, but one of the most wild series of any reality-show ever broadcast. It certainly lived up to its crazy hype, with volcanic bust ups between Busey and Meatloaf, the vicious rivalry between Star Jones and NeNe Leakes, and it even showed up music legend Dionne Warwick to be, well, a bit of a curmudgeon. In the end two of the nicest contestants made it to the final two, proving all was right, even in Donald Trump's world.

Meatloaf vs. Busey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItYAZLHrN9M

Big Brother 13 (CBS)

It wasn't without its flaws but Season 13 of Big Brother provided some all time classic moments. This year saw the return of some "famous duos" from seasons past, and it immediately turned in to veterans vs. newbies, until Daniele Donato tried to shake things up and everything exploded. The double eviction night was one of the best episodes in Big Brother history, with two of the seasons biggest characters, Daniele and Jeff, getting evicted back-to-back. But in the end it was all about the redemption of Rachel Reilly, who managed to finally fight for herself (and Jordan) and took the crown as Big Brother winner.

Double Eviction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32YWplEKaKo

Honourable Mentions: Junior Apprentice Series 2, Celebrity Big Brother 8, Hell's Kitchen Season 9.

Worst Reality-Competition Show

The X Factor USA (Fox)

It was supposed to be a huge success, not a huge mess. If The Voice has one of the best judging panels ever assembled, then The X Factor USA has one of the worst ever. LA Reid, who lets personal feuds into his opinions, Paula Abdul, whose criticisms are so inane it makes Louis Walsh look like a prophet and Nicole Sherzinger, who was created in a pharmaceutical lab somewhere. The proceedings are haphazardly held together by presenter Steve Jones, who appears to have invented an entirely new accent. The drama and tension is false, the only decent acts left the competition too early, some didn't even make the live shows (Caitlin Koch), and the Thanksgiving special remains one of the most offensive things I've ever witnessed.

The X Factor Series 8 (ITV)

The fact that the best thing about the eighth series of The X Factor was Dermot O'Leary's opening dance routines, and Tulisa wearing a catsuit on the Halloween special, sums up how turgid and awful it has been. Laughing at mentally ill people in the auditions, accusations of contestant bullying, Frankie Cocozza's cocaine blues, technical glitches, sick calls, and a judging panel as equally bad as its US counterpart. The talent was lacking, the chemistry between the judges was lacking, the entire concept was lacking, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a complete overhaul again next series.

Big Brother 12 (Channel 5)

When Channel 5 bought Big Brother they had the perfect opportunity to change the show's format which had grown stale on Channel 4. But, of course, they didn't. And while the short celebrity series was a small success, that couldn't be carried over into the regular series that started immediately afterwards. The choice of housemates was poor, all 30 and under, and there was a definite attempt to angle the series towards fans of The Only Way Is Essex and Geordie Shore. It did however have one of the most controversial winners in the show's history, who actually left the house to a chorus of boos. But that wasn't enough to make the preceding 9 weeks any better.

Dishonourable Mentions: Survivor: Redemption Island, Survivor: South Pacific, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Best Hollywood Blockbuster

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox)

An unnecessary remake with an overly long title. This movie shouldn't have worked, but surprisingly, it did - it more than worked. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one of the most enjoyable blockbuster films of the year, it was well paced and plotted, and made you emotionally invest in the characters, and more importantly, in Caesar and the apes. Topped off by solid performances from John Lithgow and James Franco, and Andy Serkis taking performance capture to new levels, it made Rise of the surprise hit of the summer.

Super 8 (Paramount Pictures)

E.T meets The Goonies by way of Cloverfield. J.J Abrams and Steven Spielberg team up in this tribute to classic 1980s action-adventure films, where the focus is on the children, innocence, coming of age, and all that malarkey. It's all done very carefully detailed, with brilliant action sequences, a threatening monster, and top performances from this young and largely unknown cast of kids. Super 8 really is super.

Hugo (Paramount Pictures)

At first glance you couldn't tell that Hugo is a Martin Scorsese movie, a big-budget, 3D, family film, but in fact, Scorsese has perhaps put more of himself into this movie than any other production he's ever worked on. Hugo is a tribute to the movies, the artistry, the craftsmanship, the dedication, and Scorsese seems to have found a new lease on life with these new tools, he actually makes 3D look good!

Honourable Mentions: X-Men: First Class, Captain America.

Worst Hollywood Blockbuster

Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros. Pictures)

The story is so silly and over-the-top that if the script treated it as such it could have made a decent parody movie, but instead this film takes itself wholly seriously and therefore becomes beyond ridiculous. Amanda Seyfried is excellent, and will appear in this list again later, albeit for entirely different reasons, but the cast around her are just plain bad, even Gary Oldman, who gave one of the years best performances in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It's just a bad bad film.

The Hangover Part II (Warner Bros. Pictures)

The Hangover was the sleeper comedy hit of 2009, a surprisingly funny buddy movie, with a likable cast and a neat concept. The Hangover 2, sorry Part II (What is this? The Godfather?), was a cash-in. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, there have been plenty of cash-in movies that have still been good, some even great, but The Hangover Part II was just a carbon copy of the first, just more crude, raunchier, and less funny. The element of surprise that made the first film so enjoyable was gone, and instead it relied on lots of obvious gags and set-ups. Still, it made loads of cash, so look out for Part 3, 4, and 5 coming your way soon.

Sucker Punch (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Okay, so Zack Snyder's action-fantasy thriller is visually stunning, but that's all you can say for the film in its defense. The story is barely existent, instead what you have is Hollywood's take on a video game, with our skimpy-outfit wearing heroines battling through various levels of monsters and madmen to retrieve magic items. Zack Snyder has yet to make a great film. Watchmen was decent; his others border on average to awful - that's why I'm scared about the Spiderman reboot.

Dishonourable Mentions: Battle: Los Angeles, Jack & Jill, Johnny English Reborn.

Best Mainstream Movie

Drive (FilmDistrict)

For a film about car chases, there isn't a whole lot of car-chasing, it is perhaps the quietest and most subdued action movie ever released, but all the better for it. It is aesthetically beautiful, the colour scheme and the location shots are perfect, and it features one of the best-choreographed openings in a film for quite some time. Ryan Gosling continues his rise as the most talented young actor on the planet with his subtle performance; silent yet still charismatic. And Albert Brooks plays the perfect bad guy and proves worthy of his Golden Globe nod. Fantastic soundtrack too.

Moneyball (Columbia Pictures)

I know nothing about baseball, but you don't need to to enjoy this film. Despite the technical terminology, Moneyball is an underdog story about an underfunded, failing team that turns their fortune around by employing analytical, statistic based tactics. Based on the real-life story of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane, what we have is The Social Network of baseball (Aaron Sorkin co-wrote the screenplay), not particularly concerned with what happens on the pitch, but focuses on the behind the scenes, the numbers, the strategy, and stats. Impressive performances from both Brad Pitt and a surprisingly understated Jonah Hill.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)

Tomas Alfredson directed one of my favourite films of the last decade with Let The Right One In, so my personal hype for this movie was off the charts, and although TTSS is an entirely different kind of film, it is just as gripping. Based on the John le Carré novel of the same name, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a story of espionage, paranoia, information, and misinformation. It's all very grey, dank, and dismal but it works perfectly within the setting of this film. It also features an all-star cast including Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, and Gary Oldman, turning in one of the best performances of the year.

Honourable Mentions: 50/50, Source Code, The Lincoln Lawyer.

Worst Mainstream Movie

The Rum Diary (FilmDistrict)

I think there was a decent story lurking somewhere in The Rum Diary, but it was unfortunately overshadowed by Johnny Depp doing a sub-Captain Jack performance, and a poorly handled romance plot. The funniest bits of this film featured in the trailer, in fact, the only funny bits were in the trailer, the rest of the movie was just...boring.

Zookeeper (Columbia Pictures)

Kevin James talks to animals. Not as good as Doctor Dolittle. I would like to see Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes kick that Adam Sandler gorilla to death.

Just Go With It (Columbia Pictures)

Adam Sandler being Adam Sandler. Jennifer Aniston being Jennifer Aniston. Crass, low-brow rom-com with little redeeming features.

Dishonourable Mentions: Hall Pass, Green Lantern, The Change-Up. Best Indie Flick

Kill List (Optimum Releasing)

The most unsettling film of the year, Kill List is one of the best British horror films in quite some time. The entire feel of the movie is just odd like something isn't quite right. Despite the somewhat banal scenery of suburban Sheffield and the British countryside, there is that fear of something sinister lurking beyond. The dialogue is real, the performances raw, and the story increasingly intense. It also features scenes of horrific violence, and one of the most uncomfortable dinner scenes ever committed to screen.

The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Wow, what can you say about Terence Malik's epic The Tree of Life? It certainly has its flaws, but its scope is so vast and at times so life-affirming that it would be a disgrace not to include it on a list of best films of the year. Chronicling the origins and meaning of life through the childhood memories of a middle-aged man who grew up in 1950s Texas, it is at its heart a film about family and how they shape you into who you are today. But the story is also interspersed with the origins of the species and the creation of Earth. It's a massive, bold, daring film.

Melancholia (Nordisk Film)

Melancholia tackles the dark subject of depression, an illness which director Lars von Trier himself has suffered with, and places it against the backdrop of the end of the world, as seen through the eyes of two sisters, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Like The Tree of Life, its scope is enormous, and it leaves a massive impression. The cinematography is breathtaking, and Kirsten Dunst delivers a stunning performance. My full review of this film is available here: http://bit.ly/so8wew

Honourable Mentions: Snowtown, Submarine, Another Earth, Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Best Actress

Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

Making her feature film debut, Elizabeth Olsen proves that there is acting talent somewhere in the Olsen family. And to think she nearly quit acting because of older sister Mary-Kate's eating disorder back in 2004! In Martha Marcy May Marlene, Olsen plays Martha, a young woman who escapes a cult and goes to live with her estranged sister and brother-in-law. Olsen portrays the damage and paranoia with great subtlety, sometimes she doesn't even have to say a word, her facial reactions do the talking, her smile and her big round eyes displaying so much emotion.

Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

I've never been a big fan of Kirsten Dunst, although that is a lot to do with her film choices rather than her acting ability, as I do believe she is capable of turning in a great performance, and she certainly proved that point in Melancholia. Playing a woman suffering from depression, Dunst excels at displaying both the self-destructiveness and the emptiness of that illness. It really is a mesmerising performance.

Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life)

If you ever wanted a real definition of the term "breakthrough year", then surely Jessica Chastain would follow it in the dictionary. What a year she has had! Astounding performances in The Help, The Debt, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, and in Terrence Malik's The Tree of Life. It's the 1950s housewife that she plays in The Tree of Life that I find the most impressive; she brings a refined beauty, almost an angelic quality to the character that plays off of Brad Pitt's strict husband. If she doesn't earn an Academy Award nod next year something is seriously wrong in the world.

Honourable Mentions: Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia), Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin), Elle Fanning (Super 8).

Best Actor

Ryan Gosling (Drive)

Let's face it; this year belonged to Ryan Gosling. There is a whole bunch of films I could have picked, starting right back at the beginning of the year with Blue Valentine to romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, or political thriller The Ides of March. Gosling is one of those rare actors that can totally transform with each character he plays, letting each performance stand alone. His most impressive performance this year was as the unnamed driver in neo-noir thriller Drive, quiet and menacing, and enviously cool.

Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)

Another quiet and brooding performance came from Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I gave Oldman a bit of stick earlier for his part in Red Riding Hood, but it's hard to hold that against him when he gave arguably one of the greatest performances of his career this year. Oldman brought rich detail and a silent ruthlessness to the character of George Smiley, previously played by Alec Guinness in the 1979 BBC series. Oldman did more than enough to make the character his own, and will hopefully be rewarded with an Oscar nod next year.

Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

It's been a good year for Brad Pitt. I could have just as easily nominated him for his stern, authoritarian performance in The Tree of Life, but I chose to go with his more driven, enthusiastic portrayal of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane in Moneyball. It's one of Pitt's finest performances; he brings an addictive determination to Beane that makes you want to root for him throughout the movie. Pitt has recently talked about giving up acting within the next three years, but while he is delivering performances like this, I hope that isn't the case.

Honourable Mentions: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50), Neil Maskell (Kill List), Jonah Hill (Moneyball).

Now for the fun and slightly more superficial part of the list.

Best On-Screen Hotties

Amanda Seyfried (Red Riding Hood, In Time)

Tulisa Contostavlos (The X Factor)

Allison Miller (Terra Nova)

Honourable Mentions: Alison Brie (Community), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Kelli Garner (Pan Am).

Best On-Screen Hunks

Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, The Ides of March)

Joel McHale (Community)

James Franco (Your Highness, Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

Honourable Mentions: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50), Timothy Olyphant (Justified, I Am Number Four).

Best Bad-Asses

Richard Harrow (Boardwalk Empire)

CM Punk (WWE)

Caesar (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

Honourable Mentions: Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones), The Driver (Drive), Dr. Julia Harris (Horrible Bosses).

Best Quotes

Horrible Bosses

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Attack The Block

#Best of 2011 #Enf of Year List #Best TV Drama #Best TV Comedy #Best 2011 #Best Film #Best Actor #Best Actress #Game of Thrones #Rise of the Planet of the Apes #Limmy's Show #Drive #Ryan Gosling #Elizabeth Olsen

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