Xfinity.com is once again accepting nominees for their Survivor Hall of Fame. Since sharing our opinions on Survivor, particularly its past, is kind of our thing here, we had to weigh in. Below are the nominees from each of the five writers of the Purple Rock Podcast, as well as a poll to let you choose our official ballot for the site.
The rules for the Hall of Fame are pretty simple: nominate up to three former Survivors, no nominating anyone from the current season of Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X, and no nominating someone already inducted. To see the list of those in the Hall and get information on how YOU can nominate , go here: http://xfn-blogs.xfinity.com/tv/2016/11/28/cast-vote-2016-survivor-hall-fame/
Note: we choose our nominees separately, with no collaboration. Which explains why there is some overlap in both picks and write-ups. Also, since a lot of our picks didn’t match those that did get in last year (Jerri, Coach, Rudy), these choices may feel familiar.
Andy’s Survivor Hall of Fame Nominations
No one I nominated last year was inducted. All are still worthy, so the easiest thing to do would be to roll them over to this year. But last year, I set a rule for myself: that there was some arbitrary waiting period before I’d nominate someone. I just think it’s best to give some time to assess someone’s impact on the game, especially since there’s so many classic players not on the list already. That said, I feel like there’s been enough time now.
Tony Vlachos – Cagayan – Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty
If anything, time has only made me appreciate Tony’s contributions to the game even more. Sure, there’s been a lot of players “waiting” for induction later (most of whom I imagine don’t give a shit about being on a website’s list), but, hey, just because the Hall drags its feet on Tim Raines doesn’t mean that you don’t vote for Ken Griffey Jr. I honestly believe that Tony is already one of the ten most influential players in the history of the game. Possibly even top five (baby). Plus, I want to make it known that he’s ALREADY done enough to get there now. Don’t need to wait and see if future evidence changes anything.
Yul Kwon – Cook Islands
Look, this is just always going to be a thing with me. It’s never going to change because he’s never NOT going to be worthy of nomination, and he’s never going to get in. Somehow, the man who played one of the most dominant, strategic, and complete games in Survivor history had become a complete afterthought in the general Survivor community. I say “somehow”, but the answer is obvious: people ignore Yul because he’s made no effort to service his fame post-Cook Islands. He hasn’t come back. He doesn’t tweet. He doesn’t do podcasts. So I guess we all now have to pretend he didn’t exist and that his season was boring. Meanwhile, two people he beat are in the Hall. And I’m guessing a third one will get there before him. Not if I have anything to say about it. Note: I barely have any say about this. Also note: yes, this is mostly what I wrote last year. It’ll be an annual tradition.
Tina Wesson – The Australian Outback, All-Stars, Blood vs Water
Last year, I had Tina and Colby as my nominees. Both still deserve it, but I can’t keep putting off Tony’s nomination and Yul is my cause célèbre. So I had to make the tough call and going with Tina, you know, like how the second ever Survivor jury did. You know? The one from the most popular season in Survivor history? Apparently, that season is really easy to forget, since Jerri became the first Hall member just last year, a fact that I’m sure has nothing to do with her having the best showing in a more recent season. You all need to stop disrespecting this season and learn your history. Friggin’ millennials.
Note: if I had a fifth pick, it’d be Rupert. It’s time.
Emma’s Survivor Hall of Fame Nominations
Sue Hawk – Borneo, All-Stars
Sue Hawk is the creator of the biggest moment in reality television, not just Survivor. That’s more than enough to get her on my ballot for the Survivor Hall of Fame. Add in the fact that she’s a founding member of the Tagi alliance and arguably the first person to ever be truly backstabbed on the show, and we have a pretty major candidate. The only real negative is that Sue is unlikely to participate in future HOF voting if she’s inducted.
Colby Donaldson – The Australian Outback, All-Stars, Heroes vs Villains
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Colby Donaldson, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a Survivor legend. The fact that he’s not in the Hall of Fame yet is an egregious oversight. Sherri Biethman named her son after Colby, for god’s sake. I’m sure she’s not the only one! Sure, his return appearances are less impressive, but sometimes you gotta see the heroes fall. Plus, Probst’s man crushes are such an integral part of Survivor culture now, that it just doesn’t feel right to not have the first guy to send his heart aflutter in the Hall. Now that Jerri succeeded in her presumed goal to be inducted first, it’s time to let the cowboy in.
Yul Kwon – Cook Islands
I don’t care that he had the Tyler Perry idol (née God idol). Yul Kwon is one of the best winners the show has had, and like Richard Hatch before him, his win proves the importance of a strategic mind over physical strength (even if a strong social game overpowers both of those). Although the sad truth is that he will probably never play again, Yul deserves to be recognized for his play in Cook Islands (and Cook Islands deserves more recognition outside of PRP, but that’s a rant for another day).
Honorable mentions: Rupert, Courtney, James, Malcolm, Denise, Tina
John’s Survivor Hall of Fame Nominations
Rupert Boneham – Pearl Islands, All-Stars, Heroes vs Villains, Blood vs Water
The Hall of Fame isn’t just about rewarding the best Survivor players- if it were, Ozzy and Coach would never have been inducted. So in some part, it’s about rewarding some of the most memorable Survivor players that have made the show more enjoyable for the fans. And Rupert, for all his many flaws (perhaps because of his many flaws?) has definitely done that. He got the show’s first glowing hero edit, and was always willing to wholeheartedly buy into the theme of each season he played. The fans loved him so much they gave him a million dollars just for losing All-Stars. The Survivor Hall of Fame might be the only Survivor-related popularity contest that Rupert hasn’t won. Yet.
Denise Stapley – Philippines
As tempted as I am to keep the goddess Kim Spradlin as the lone one-time player in the Survivor Hall of Fame, she’ll have to be content with being the first one-time player inducted. Denise holds the distinction of being the only winner to ever attend every single tribal council- and she only had individual immunity once. Thirteen chances to take her out, and nobody ever did it. And she won the season in a landslide as a result.
Tony Vlachos – Cagayan – Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty
We’re safely out of recency bias territory now, so I can claim without hesitation that Tony is one of the best and most entertaining Survivor players we’ve ever seen. His manic energy led to an insanely aggressive style of gameplay, and his relationships with Kass and Spencer gave Cagayan some entertaining stories to tell in the rare instances where the voting seemed predictable. He was also our first Survivor interview, back when we had about 1/20th of the audience we have now. And sure, “interview” is used loosely to describe a podcast where Tony talked at us for two hours. But much like his time on the show, I loved it and was thoroughly entertained.
Honorable mentions: Fuck all of you, this is my list. With that in mind, I’ll give my honorable mentions to Shirin, Courtney, and Cydney- three of my favorite women that aren’t already in the Hall of Fame. And don’t bring me your arguments about who “deserves” to be in the Hall of Fame. Ozzy made the Hall of Fame, and Ozzy sucks.
Mark’s Survivor Hall of Fame Nominations
Denise Stapley – Philippines
It’s about time that more people recognize the good game that Denise Stapley played in Survivor: Philippines. Overshadowed by Lisa’s crying and Malcolm’s Tumblr fangirls, she managed to survive EVERY. SINGLE. Tribal Council, maintain relations with the power players while sneaking under the radar alongside Malcolm (and then slit his throat at Final 4), and could shut down the Brazilian Dragon that is Abi Maria.
Tony Vlachos – Cagayan – Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty
I know, I know. This guy again? But we here at the Official Tony Survivor Podcast—what? they got rid of purple rocks on air—must give credit where it’s due. On the opposite side of the winner’s spectrum from Denise’s stealth mastery, Tony Vlachos dominated his season in a way few others have. By going balls-to-the-spy-shack, he managed to control the majority of votes, play both of the large alliances, maintain idol and advantage supremacy with the nose of a Hantzian bloodhound, while also being endlessly entertaining. We watch the show for good strategic gameplay and enjoyment, and Tony provided both in a game that confounded by the week. Besides, if Kim Spradlin can be inducted, so can Tony. #OneOverrratedWorld
Rupert Boneham – Pearl Islands, All-Stars, Heroes vs Villains, Blood vs Water
Laugh if you want, but I think that Rupert Boneham deserves a spot here. Before he was a curmudgeonly parody of himself both domestically and internationally, Rupert stole the show (and the shoes) in his debut season in Pearl Islands. He was so popular—and so iconically Survivor—that the very next season, America gave him a million dollars for the hell of it. Though a member of the “old school”, he managed to put his honor aside a couple times in Heroes vs Villains to place deep yet again, despite buying WAY too much into the theme…a trend that would cause his fellow cast (and the non-Facebook slices of CBS viewers) to tire of him by his fourth appearance in Blood vs Water. Still, as a major figure in Survivor lore who placed well in 3/4 of his seasons, Rupert can have his trophy.
Matt’s Survivor Hall of Fame Nominations
Colby Donaldson – The Australian Outback, All-Stars, Heroes vs Villains
It just seems wrong that one of the biggest stars Survivor has ever produced is not in the Hall of Fame. It is a Hall of Fame after all, not a Hall of Best Survivor Players. And there might be all of one Survivor that is more famous than Colby. Even basing it off of fame though ignores the fact that Colby had himself a pretty damn good game in Australia, one we overlook because 1) we tend to devalue challenge dominance and 2) because he made a million dollar mistake at the end (well $900,000.00). And while his subsequent appearances made him seem like Superman in a fat suit, he was the biggest star of the most popular season of Survivor ever. He is a Hall of Famer.
Tina Wesson – The Australian Outback, All-Stars, Blood vs Water
Just like it feels wrong that Colby isn’t in the Hall, it feels right that Tina should join Colby in the Hall. This spot could easily go to Jerri Manthey who was another of the big stars of the season, but Tina was a big part of why Australia worked too. Besides that Tina has a top 4 finish to add to her resume to go with her win. She just has one of the best social games any Survivor has ever had, is a great Survivor player and belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Yul Kwon – Cook Islands
This one could have gone a lot of different ways. But here is the simple fact, I love Yul. Though I like to joke that I am the president of the Andrew Savage fan club, Yul is actually my favorite Survivor player ever. He played a great game in Cook Islands that people love to try and tear apart, but the simple fact is that he took advantage of what the game gave him and leveraged his strategic and social skills to godfather the entire merge, calling every shot and controlling the game. Plus as I mentioned, he is my favorite. Yul is awesome. He is a Hall of Famer.
Honorable Mentions – Limiting this to three means I cannot include a lot of worthies. The exclusions that pain me the most are Tony Vlachos (I mean really, Tony was amazing and his game was potentially revolutionary. Plus he was amazing TV, controlling the game in a high wire style that was making you wonder if he could keep it up for the entire game), Yau-Man (another of my favorites, a great character, a great player. He is one of the players I most want to see again), Jerri Manthey (as mentioned above a three time player and one of the most famous characters Survivor has ever produced. Not as accomplished game-wise as the rest here, but a huge star. Her time will come), Malcolm and Denise (they belong as a pair because it was their partnership that was so fun to watch), and Tyson Apostol (great character and a winner to boot).
Look at that. Matt was too lazy to change anything about his picks. Isn’t that just like Mark to do something like that?
Reader Picks
Let us know who your three nominees are in comments below. We’ll tally up the choices and use the three leading vote getters be the official vote of the Purple Rock Podcast.
Note: for whatever reason, the polling feature isn’t working. So you’ll have to type words and stuff.
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