tullfan2 wrote:
SwineForkbeard wrote:
Eliza didn't say it wouldn't happen, only that she couldn't see it happening. Which is probably wishful thinking on her part, because she would be excluded. They would let Hatch on just because he's good TV, and any winner's edition would be a joke if he isn't there. The controversy would be in giving him a chance to win more prize money, so he might have to agree to do it for free or donate his winnings to charity. If Danni and Parvati don't want to do it, the project can go ahead without them. There will be more than enough winners by then to make up for any omissions, and I don't need to see them again anyway.

The point is Richard Hatch has implicated CBS and Mark Burnett productions for his not paying his taxes on his winnings. His claim is that the network had agreed to pay the taxes on his Borneo winnings as hush money in return for keeping quiet about Survivor production giving food to one of the Borneo contestants. I don't see CBS having Hatch on again when he has implied that the outcome of the show is rigged and may file a lawsuit against the network.

Unfortunately, if they do bring back returning contestants for the final season, it will be all about ratings, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Rupert, Stephenie, Romber, Ozzmanda, Yau-man and James Clement back for a third time. I don't see Survivor lasting more than 4 more seasons. Part of the reason that the ratings are eroding is because viewers are sick and tired of the beach/Tropical Island settings which have been done to death as well as the gimmicky twists that are introduced to try to make those seasons unique (Exile Island, ethnic based tribes, haves vs. have nots, fans vs. favorites). Burnett & Company will need to scout out different kinds of locations that viewers haven't seen before to maintain any interest in the show. The only seasons to have an increase in ratings out of the last 5 was Survivor China which was the only one of the last 5 not to have an island setting. The location of S17 will probably be in Africa (eg. Madagascar). I'd like to see Sri Lanka for S18 or S19.

sorry for straying off topic, but i just wanted to point out the fact that it is highly unlikely they would have survivor in madagascar. i was there a few months ago for field studies on a family of lemurs. first of all, the place is relatively small in terms of the amount of protected land they would never be allowed to cut down to build challenges, etc... aside from that there are ctually a lot of people who live there, almost all of them are farmers and they themselves are threatening the animals there (lemurs dont exist anywhere else in the world). ive heard a lot of people say they think theyre going to madagascar but i just dont see it happening.