Crossover November: Should ‘Survivor’ players finally grace ‘Big Brother’?
Is it time for “Survivor” players to finally cross over into the “Big Brother” house? We are clearly living in an age of CBS synergy, given that we have seen one “Big Brother” contestant on “Survivor” to date in Hayden Moss, just as we’ve also seen “Amazing Race” contestants Natalie and Nadiya Anderson. Meanwhile, Jeff & Jackie appeared on “Big Brother” after doing “The Amazing Race,” and we’ve seen couples from both “Survivor” and “Big Brother” race around the world in hopes of winning $1 million.
At the moment, the only crossover that remains undone is that a “Survivor” player has never been on “Big Brother” as a houseguest. Is there a case for this happening, or for there to be even more crossovers between the two shows? While we’ve focused mostly on scripted content during our Crossover November series, this particular article marks a chance to dive into something different, but something we equally enjoy.
The case for more crossovers – As someone who enjoys watching these games play out from the standpoint of strategy, there is something innately interesting about seeing if certain skills translate to one another. For example, is it mere coincidence that someone like Hayden was a strong player at both games, or is there a set of skills that carries over from one to the next? Each game has different speeds and different things that can stress you out. What we’d like to see is how a “Survivor” player like Tony Vlachos or Parvati Shallow, known for making big moves and calculated decisions in a short amount of time, fare in an environment where you have to make the game into more of a slow burn. Are there other “Survivor” players we’d love to see in there? Sure. The list goes from Randy Bailey to Corinne Kaplan to Ken Hoang. Okay, we really just want half of “Survivor: Gabon” on “Big Brother.” Save for the final three and some early boots, that cast is made for it.
The case for less crossovers – Does our curiosity to get questions answered about “Big Brother” and “Survivor” players across both shows surpass our curiosity to see how new people function in these games? We’re not entirely sure, since there is still something joyous about seeing people who are not yet self-aware go through this experience. If there was a way we could replace the casting duds with people who have other reality TV experience, we’d do it in a split-second. However, that is impossible since every season has a miss here or there.
In the end, we do think that it is inevitable that we are going to see a “Survivor” player on “Big Brother,” but there is no guarantee at the moment that it will be a player you want. What makes this so challenging is that it requires a massive time commitment, and not everyone is going to want to do that … even for more fame or $500,000.
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