Surviving the Fandom: Episode 7 w/ Connor Hayes

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Welcome back to surviving the fandom, everybody.

I have a really, really fun episode today because my guest here, Connor Hayes, you might not

know his name, but you definitely know his work, especially if you're a survivor fan.

He is the head of threads, and that is one of my favorite places to be during the survivor

episodes.

And little did you know, he is a huge survivor super fan.

And so I'm here to talk all things about his fandom survivor, Connor, thank you so much

for coming on.

Thank you for having me.

This is like very exciting.

And normally when I'm doing press or podcasts, it doesn't allow me to talk about something

that I'm so excited about as a survivor is for me.

So I'm very pumped to be here.

It's, I mean, you know, survivor is such an interesting thing because I know you're

a big basketball fan.

And you know, if you're a sports fan, I feel like that is very clear.

You know, you can go to games.

You can, obviously, you watch the games, you can talk to friends about it.

But when you're a survivor fan, a lot of times people don't know because maybe you're

just watching it, you know, once a week, you don't go online talking about it.

And so, you know, the fact that you're a huge survivor super fan is so exciting.

How long have you been watching the show?

What got you into it?

I've been watching this show since season one, I'm aging myself a little bit.

But yeah, I have this like vivid memory of, you know, like back in 2000, we had like

big, I don't think flat screen TVs had been invented.

Like giant fat TVs that like sat, you know, far up against the wall is kind of crowded

around with my family, like August of 2000, watching the finale.

I think I saw this, they, on the 50 premiere, they said 73 million people watch that, which

I was like blown away, that was my coming of age as a survivor fan.

I think they actually, so I think 73,000 or 73 million watched the entire thing.

I think like actually at any given time, there was upwards of like 100 and something million

people watching, which is super bowl numbers, literally, it's crazy.

So that was, that was, I was watching Sue Hawk, Rich, a new one, as like a 11 year old

and was like, this is the coolest thing ever.

And so I've just kind of been hooked ever since I, I was watching the show pretty religiously

for the early years.

And then I think like a lot of people got like reinvigorated during COVID.

So that was when I took my wife, I was like, all right, we're going to start.

And I took her through like the tour of the survivor season, so like meet all the best

characters.

And eventually once we had put in all the work, I allowed her to watch winners at war, but

you can't do that before you like have all the context, you know?

So that is my biggest rule.

And I talk to people who start watching.

And you know, it's interesting.

I say that.

And I actually just posted a video about this today, or yesterday, being like, there are

a lot of new survivor watchers here here.

So I think you should watch the show.

And my number one rule at the top is, do not watch a returning player season.

If you haven't seen the players before that, they're, they're stuff before that.

And then I immediately say, but if you're watching 50, just watch 50, so I definitely

am highly contradict myself.

I have a counterpoint to that.

I mean, I think winners at war is a special one because it spoils every season for you

if you watch it, which some people are into.

I often, if people are a little suspect and are like, all right, I'll try it out.

I guide them to start with heroes versus villains.

Yeah.

Because it's the best season.

And also, I think you're seeing this on 50 already.

When it's a returning player season, it gets going a lot faster.

Um, if you look at like the last tense, you know, 41 to 49, um, there's a little bit

of a slow burn while people are feeling each other out.

And they don't want to play too hard in the beginning, because that makes them a target.

Um, I mean, Jenna did that in, but everyone's coming to play in the returning player seasons

right away.

So I feel like new viewers are like hooked quicker.

Yeah.

Um, I've seen some people give up when they, when they don't start there.

Yeah, that's why I tell people don't start with season one, um, because I, while I don't

think season one is necessarily that bad, it's, it's very important.

Everyone needs to watch Borneo at some point.

But if I'm trying to get somebody hooked on the show, I do not know that that is the

one to do because in this day and age, everything moves so quickly.

We're used to reality television.

It's not, it does not have this like wild factor that it used to have because, you know,

survivor kind of started it all and everyone is used to, um, you know, this reality competition

with the traders and, and you know, obviously big brother, everything is going on.

Um, and so you kind of need to grab people.

And so I totally, yeah, I would rather people get into it.

So if you're already into it, watching 50, if you're already into it, watching something

else, just do it.

I love, I love that the fandom is getting bigger.

Um, and do you think that 50 is like, do you think that we're going to see?

Kind of another renaissance because I actually think that the new era, I know us fans complain

about it all the time.

It is kind of a renaissance of the show.

We have new people watching it now more than ever.

Do you think we'll see another like, you know, a bigger boom after 50 during 50?

I hope so.

I mean, I, I actually, it was a really bold, I think editorial choice by the production

of the show to say we're not doing a returning player season from 41 to 49.

A lot of people wanted that.

I think because they got into it during COVID and they're like, I love all these characters.

I love, you know, the second chance and all these, these sort of concepts.

Um, so it has built this up, I think to be a bit bigger.

I mean, even on threads, um, you know, we, we're trying to be this platform for people talking

about online, what's culturally, culturally relevant and going on in the world.

Survivor 49, we had a lot of activity on threads, but the premiere of 50 had three times

as many people talking about the show as the finale of 49 on threads.

That's a testament to threads growing and survivor growing on threads,

but it's also a testament to just how popular this season is.

And I do think it'll probably create some new legends, if you will, that they're

going to want to bring back or, um, and also probably inspire many more people

who are awesome to apply.

Yeah.

Um, I don't know if you want to get into 50 at all, but I have been super disappointed

so far by the boots, uh, because they're probably my two favorite people going into

the show.

Oh, no.

Yeah, I know.

It's been, that's the problem with the returning player season is, is you're excited

for a lot of these people and, um, you know, somebody has to go first, somebody has

to go, you know, and it stinks.

I was very excited for Jenna, um, because here's the thing.

Jenna is, and I, I, I've said this before and I'll say this again.

Her All Stars performance, like if you go back and watch All Stars, she would have

won All Stars if it were a final three, like she would have won hands down.

And I kind of was equating Jenna's game to Kyle's game because Kyle, you know,

goes to the end with a very tight duo, but is able to kind of split the difference

and get the majority of the votes.

I think Jenna would have been the exact same way.

I think she's a great game player and just came a little bit too hot.

And I'm so sad this year.

I was like so excited this year.

It was really sad, but she made the, the number one mistake that you can make on

Survivor, which is say series name.

You just don't do that.

And let's just saying, Siri, I won't vote for, I won't vote you out.

You know, uh, the second that that happened, I was like, oh, this might be over for

her and it was absolutely.

And you know, it's interesting.

I, I want to talk about, you know, threads again for a second because I started

using thread class season, um, because I was never, I'm not, I don't know if you

all can tell.

I talk a lot.

So I've never been somebody who is, his ever used any kind of like, um,

written social media, um, like I, when I, when I used Facebook back in the day,

like when I was in high school, it was always like, Tag with is eating.

Tag with is like, she never, she never posted like, you know, thoughtful,

funny quips, um, and same thing.

Like I never got in Twitter because I can't think like that.

Like I, um, and so I was really like, how can I, how would I be able to do this?

But I really like being able to just kind of like, uh, shoot something off.

And so it's very interesting to see in 50.

I was doing, you know, my, my things were doing okay.

And in 50, I'm getting like way more likes, way more conversations now.

And I think it, it goes to the, the fact that, you know, maybe it's because threads

is getting bigger, but also I think you're right.

I think 50 people just want to talk about these players.

They want to talk about, you know, I can't believe this person did that.

I can't believe Christian pooped his pants.

Like I can't believe, you know, all of that stuff.

And so I think it's a really interesting, uh, comparison between the two, um,

I do, I do want to, I want to go back to the point you made about sports

and also give you credit for a moment because the content that you are doing over

video, and I think others like Wentworth does a bunch of this stuff too,

has helped make survivor kind of feel like more of a sport, right?

Like you have commentators who are, you see the videos and you're like,

oh, there's a person saying the thing that I just thought and I feel connected

to them and connected to the idea, you know, videos really good at that.

Obviously, you know, short form videos been growing a ton.

Reels on Instagram is really big.

We don't want to be that on threads.

There's a couple of things I would say in response to what you just mentioned.

One of them is for the beginning of threads, we actually ran into this problem

with a lot of people because you're, if, if you've been pushed to create

video, um, kind of going back to something that feels more early internet is

hard to do because your whole apparatus of creating content is like

centered around a very, very different format.

And video sometimes, especially when it's like a, you know, if you're sending

it to Reels or TikTok or something, can feel a little bit more polished.

Like your bar for what is publishable gets a little bit higher.

I think the benefit of threads once we were able to sort of train and teach

people on how the format works is you can fire something off in a few

seconds. And for the big creators who, you know, they're used to having like a

team of people edit their content and it can take hours or days to get it

to something that they really like, having a thought and then just sending

it out into the world and getting feedback on it is kind of rewarding.

And I do think that, you know, an individual creator can do well at both,

but you have to be kind of strategic about how you do it.

The two things I always recommend people do.

Number one is lean into replies.

If you don't know what to say, you're always going to see something that you

have something to say about.

And so getting involved in that conversation and kind of showing your

fans that like you're, you're there and you're showing up and you're talking

about things that are going on in the platform.

The other one is like treat it like it's a group chat.

Imagine that like you had a thought and you would fire it to a group chat

with your friends, like try making that a post on threads and usually it goes

pretty well. Yeah, I will say it's I like, I also like this might be very unique

to me. I really like coming up with ideas and then being incredibly

incorrect. And that might be unique to you.

Because I think it's fun to try.

And even if you fail, even if it's incorrect, like I think you tried and you had

a thought, because you know, what happens is if you have a wild thought and you

just put it out there, sometimes it's right.

And you can't get that high of being right without like being wrong.

99 other times. Yeah.

And I know some people just think they're right all hundred times.

And they also never get the high. That's very true.

That's very true. But I do like, you know, I post something during the

trader season about I didn't say, okay, I just want to go in record.

I did not mean this was mid season of the traders.

I did not mean that I thought Rob was playing as good as Seri.

I said, I think Rob trader's game is rivaling Seri.

Oh, everyone disagreed with me. They were mad mad in my comments.

But it was a very interesting conversation.

And I think, you know, that's going to be out there forever.

And I'm okay to all you broke the rule that Jenna broke.

You said Seri's name, but I actually kind of agree with that take for

when it's worse. Um, you know, sometimes I think it's, I think it's, I think

people need to be okay with being wrong. Um, and also, or be okay with the

fact that there is no right answer to these things, right?

Like that's kind of the point.

Um, we, we sometimes kid ourselves into thinking that you can be objective

about something like Seri or Rob, you know, and that's something also I've

learned on the internet is something that I think is the most obvious answer to

me. Uh, no, like, like, there will be somebody who disagrees.

Like, and I know that's so obvious to a lot of people, but like, there are

things like to me, a returning player season is so obvious.

Everybody wants a returning player season. Right.

And then I'll post saying, uh, everyone's so excited.

There's a returning player season.

And then people will be like, I hate returning player seasons.

I'm actively not going along because I don't like that.

And it's so, and it's again, obvious everyone's going to have their own

opinion on everything, but the thing about survivor and just life in general,

everyone's going to have a different opinion on everything.

Like nobody is going to have the same two opinions and that's something

that I've learned so clearly making content because things that I think are

so obvious to me and, and, and, and everyone around me agrees with.

I put it on the internet and everyone's like, that's the dumbest thing I've

ever heard. And I was like, oh my God.

I didn't know that you, there anybody disagree with that.

Um, and so I do think it's kind of interesting because again, it gets to

the conversations of it.

And we see it, you're right.

We see it in sports.

We see it in, you know, other things, but I feel like in survivor, you can

kind of be around your friends who might have the same exact opinions as you.

And so going and having this like larger group of people, you have, it gets

into some really interesting conversations.

And I really love that.

That's the word that we say the most like building threats is conversations.

Um, and I think there's a difference between replying to someone and

actually trying to have a conversation with them, right?

Like some of them in the examples you're using, there's versions of someone

writing back to you that do not open the door for you to say anything back to

them, right?

And that happens.

That happens on threads that happens everywhere.

I do think something we do really well on threads though is like, there's

at least some percentage of the time where someone's actually trying to engage

with you.

And like you learn something, you develop a new idea, you sort of sharpen your

thinking, I was actually going to ask you because I had a thought while I was

watching episode one of 50, um, which, which I hadn't had in a really long time.

And I actually didn't put it out on the internet, but maybe I'll get you to

respond and tell me that it's explosive, exclusive, uh, yeah, exclusive thought.

Um, I, okay.

So if you go back to the first, like maybe even 20 seasons of the show, a

huge theme for the first episode of every show is who's helping to build the

shelter and who's helping around camp.

I can't remember anyone talking about that for the last nine seasons at

all, but like in any season, Rob is on or Tyson or Jarvis or these people,

like, they're basically watching everyone in the first day to see like who's

stepping up, who's, even the season that Nick one, I feel like, um, there

was a lot of conversation about like who's good at building the shelter.

And, and I think they had like a crazy weather thing or something like, yeah,

they had a hurricane.

Um, yeah, there you go.

A crazy weather thing.

Um, and I, it was this kind of

jolt to my system when Colby was complaining about Rizzo because I was like,

oh, I haven't heard anyone complain about someone not building the shelter

in like five years or six years or whatever.

I was curious if you had that same thought.

And if you think that that's like a, I don't know, maybe an example of the

old school, new school divide because my wife was asking me like, why do you

think in the new seasons they don't care about that?

Is this like a generational thing?

Like does Gen Z and Gen Alpha, like not care about, you know,

who's lazy and who's working hard or something like that?

I was curious to take.

Yeah.

I think that's a really interesting perspective.

And you're right.

It's a conversation that I don't think that we had heard in quite some time.

And it's very funny that it's coming from Colby talking about, you know,

a 25 year old, um, uh, not, then they instantly become father and son.

Exactly.

That didn't last very long.

So good.

Um, yeah, I think that there is a divide here between the 39 days and the 26 days.

Um, the 26 day game, you are not,

you're at camp, but you're not at camp as building a horn exactly exactly.

You lose 13 days, um, uh, and that's essentially two weeks of, uh,

that's a long time.

And it used to be in 39 days that it was a, I think a three or four day, um,

cycle in the beginning where it would be like, you would have, like, at least

a day of absolute downtime.

Nothing happened.

You're not getting on a boat.

You're not doing anything.

No one's leaving camp.

It is just nothing happens.

And that's why I also think in like the older versions of the 39 days,

more people voted emotionally and less strategically because if you were like,

this person is really annoying me and I need them to go.

If you're dealing with them for so much more time, right?

And I think in the new era, people are just not tearing as much about that

because you're not at camp as much, but also you're not given any food.

And I know there are seasons where, um, they're like previous seasons where

they're not giving any, given any kind of food, but if you don't have food and

you don't have fire and you have like nothing to like, you have no, no, no extra

energy, why would you expel the energy to build something when you have to

do a challenge later?

And so I think it's kind of a combination of the two.

And so I find it fascinating.

This like Colby and some other, you know, old-school people who were thinking,

like, oh, we got to do this, but in the new era, it's not really done.

And it's not really people don't really care as much about that.

I think just because you're not there as often.

And as you're saying that, maybe you can check me if I'm wrong on this,

but it feels like they also tribe swap earlier now too.

So you're like, well, I would invest in building this amazing camp if I'm

just going to move, you know, in two days or something like that.

And, you know, there, there was a good section of time where there wasn't many

tribe swaps, but then if there are, everything happens earlier.

So you might as well, you know, move and you might as well not put that energy in.

And again, I think it also just goes back to, you know,

you're expelling so much energy.

And also another thing you're thinking about, the challenges now are way more

physically challenging than maybe not way more, but they're very physically

challenging. Almost every single challenge is going to be a lot of mud.

It's going to be a lot of swimming.

And back in the day, they were physically challenging.

But every now and then you would have one that uses your brain that you

can sit down for that you have to remember.

It's a memory challenge.

And so if you're kind of guarantee that there's going to be a physical thing.

And so I think that also maybe plays a part in it.

But I think that's a very interesting question to talk to players about like,

why, what is that divide there?

I feel like there's, it's probably that something that they have talked about.

The old school new, new school thing playing out this season,

I think will be really cool too because you have a lot of the old school people

saying, I'm going to play a new school game.

It kind of seems like everyone saying that actually.

I also really liked how many people were calling themselves like 2.0 or 3.0.

They were like three to four players.

You're like, OK, you know, this game is clearly about like self-reflection and

growth and learning for a lot of people.

But will, you know, Savannah when she was at tribal was talking about how

she was trying to be a cool girl last season.

And it caused her to seem sort of standoffish to people and maybe misunderstood.

And she was, you know, her sort of speech, which I really liked was like,

this, it only worked for me when I started to be myself.

And then you have all these confessionals with people saying, I'm not going to be

myself. I'm going to be a different version of myself, Jonathan, coach.

And I actually do expect that to come back and bite them because I really agree

with the Savannah take, which is you, you just, you can pretend to be someone

else for a day or two, but like 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 days.

It just, it doesn't work.

You can't fake it at some point.

Yeah, I totally agree.

I'm, that's why I'm against the line about your job.

Um, there are some, I would have to, I think.

Well, here's the thing, Nate on 49 regrets it.

He regrets because he didn't tell anybody that he worked for Marvel.

And he was on a tribe with a huge Marvel fan.

And yes, it would paint, probably paint maybe a target.

I'm back.

It might be harder for him to win the money when the title, but

I think he would have had a much closer relationship with

Joanne had, had he said, Hey, I had a part in, I was one of the main producers on

Black Panther.

And Joanne preseason was comparing all of his contests, all of it, the other

contestants to Marvel characters.

And so I think, I think there's a thing about lying about your job.

I get the idea.

You don't want to be a target early on, but I think it just makes the long,

you're like the, your time in the game harder because, I think,

it goes back to, I don't think you should lie unless you have to, right?

And I think, I think lying expels a lot of energy.

And I think in a game where you need that energy and mental energy,

mental, exactly.

You're constantly checking your thoughts against your lie.

Yeah, yeah.

I just think, and I think it's also a game about social connections.

And, you know, if somebody feels like you're holding back, like, I don't know,

did you watch the traders at all?

I did.

I watched it all the way through.

I had a big content diet, the last, between the traders finale and the three

hour premiere.

And I was, I was putting in work on the content.

Oh my God.

I know.

That was a big week.

Because also I also watch Australian survivor and Australian survivor

premiered and house of villains premiered.

So I was just like, I need to never watch TV again.

But Ron, I want to like, Ron specifically was like, you know, he got called

out because he was, people felt like he wasn't being himself or he felt like

he wasn't getting personal.

And that's not to say that you have to get personal.

I loved what he said in response to that.

I love what he said.

I love what he said.

But I think that there is, there's something to feeling, having other people feel

like you're genuine, even if you're, you know, I don't know.

I think, but then we see people do well.

Like, you know, who Savannah lied about her job and one, who else Kyle

lied about his job and one, like, you know, he clearly works for some people.

But then I think for others, it does not.

Lawyer is always the one that they lie about.

Yeah.

Which like, you know, for good reason, you're on a show where you're, you know,

sort of work in the room.

Uh, I remember there was one season early on.

This guy might have been one of the, the first or second boots.

And he was the owner of the Florida Marlins.

Uh, he was the first boot of, um, uh, David Samson, first boot of everyone.

It's like, bro, or like, you know, you get the, um, you know, there's,

we, there's Jeff Kent was really good.

Clifford Robinson was really good.

Scott Pollard did okay.

John Rocker.

La, not as big of a fan, but that, that was a time where, um, you know,

I think somebody recognized John Rocker.

I was like, I know who that is.

And I also know that they have some history.

Um, I don't know that anyone recognized Jeff Kent for a long time.

I don't think that they did.

I, I, I would love a chat, tell me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that they

did recognize Jeff Kent.

Um, there was also, oh gosh, there was also a guy on Guatemala.

Uh, gosh, what was his name?

It'll come to me later.

Um, he was also a, uh, a baseball player, I believe.

Um, but I think that there's, there's something interesting about,

you know, having like Lisa Welchell.

I think it's an interesting person to talk about there because she's, you know,

she was recognizable.

She was on Facts of Life.

She was recognized by, and Penner recognized her.

Penner recognized her.

And I think he who must not be named, uh, and I think also recognized her.

Um, and but that was a pretty good alliance.

Uh, and, and she made it to final.

Because I think he went to her and said, Hey, I, I recognize you.

I'm in the same industry.

You know, we could work together.

I think, you know, it, it, to your point, it created a bond.

Um, I feel like if you, you know, Russ and piece Clifford Robinson,

but if you had put me on a season with him, I would have known who that was right away.

And then like I played with you and NBA jam.

Like can we work together?

You know, so, um, I do think, both ways in the game and, and in real life, for sure.

Amazing basketball player, by the way, Portland Trailblazer's legend.

Um, but I, I think you have a good point, which is if you, if someone shares enough

about themselves that to the, you know, the point about Marvel and Johan,

or where it creates this sort of deeper connection with someone that can be really valuable.

But there's always the risk that there's some wild card that's like,

why are we keeping this person around?

You know, they don't need this money.

Um, yeah, there's, it's, that's a good point.

That's the beauty of survivor.

You never know you never know is a good, a good segue to talk about Joe,

which is, uh, in the beauty of survivor also being that people can just decide

what game they want to play and no matter what anyone else says to them,

stick to that.

Like I'm curious if you have a take on that because I was watching that show,

that episode saying, man, maybe this is a weird way for Joe to get kept around

because everyone's so, they've all become so aligned that they can't work with him,

that they're just going to keep him around, if you will.

I'm curious if you have a take on that.

Yeah.

So that whole situation is incredibly interesting.

And this is why I think it's incredibly difficult to play so close together.

Um, I think some people do well, for example, Russell Hans, um, he did well.

I also think that he probably would have been able to learn from his game the

first time Russell Hans.

He didn't, he wasn't able to learn.

He played the exact same game and he, he also might have had an advantage that

nobody had seen him be that is also true, you know, I think he might have gone

out a lot earlier, um, but I think, you know, uh, Joe, it's so fresh in his mind

that Kyle and Camilla were this secret duo.

And, you know, if he had a year to, to, to sit, I mean, he had a year after

playing the game, but he just saw it happen live.

Right.

I mean, I'm alive, but, you know, on the big screen and he had to relive all of that

for, you know, five months, four months.

Um, and he's like, well, I'm, I'm now, I'm now very paranoid that everybody's,

you know, behind me and everyone's got a secret duo.

And so we definitely as a chip on his shoulder.

Um, he said they gave him a wedgie on national TV.

And that was not an interesting way of putting that.

Um, he also said, Christian was very erect at one point.

There was a lot of poll quotes from Joe and that was, I forgot about that one.

That was so funny.

Um, but I think that there is a, a strategy of not necessarily a strategy,

but you kind of have a little bit of longevity in the game for being the obvious

boot, because if you're the obvious boot, people are saying, you know what,

we are on the same page with Savannah right now.

Um, we might not be on the same page about Savannah next week, uh, you know, in the

next three days, but we are on the same page, but we're probably, everyone,

no one really wants to work with continuity with Joe.

Exactly.

We kind of know that he's going to be intense.

We kind of have this idea, whereas this other person is probably unknown.

And so a lot of people online are like, why did they keep him?

If they do not want to work with him, and if they think he's going to be hard

to work with, which what we saw in the episode, and also in exit press,

the best example of this is Philip.

Yes.

Canonical example.

Yes.

Literally.

We're all aligned here.

Let's just keep Philip around.

Exactly.

Um, and so, you know, it's like, do we deal with the thing that we don't know?

Or do we, you know, keep the thing that we don't like and we know?

And again, I think this goes back to the 26 days.

It might be more difficult to work with Joe for 39 days, but for 26 days,

it's maybe a little bit easier to do.

Yeah.

And so I think it's very interesting.

And I think there's a world in which Joe goes really far because he might be the

obvious target for a really long time.

Unless Devon's like snaps, which could happen, which absolutely could happen,

which absolutely could happen.

I wonder, I haven't seen the tribe swapped yet.

I think some, they're, their press photos got leaked and then it showed who

where the, the tribe stops were.

Um, I don't think they're released.

I think they were released.

Uh, and I think that it, I just haven't seen them yet.

So I don't know, maybe Joe and Rick are on the same tribe again.

Maybe they're not.

It's very interesting.

And I think this is why the casting, and I would love to hear your thoughts.

What did you think about the cast when it was originally released?

Were you, were you lukewarm?

Were you excited?

Were you mad?

I was like, I was lukewarm, but I, but in, but watching the season,

I've come to appreciate the decisions more.

Um, you know, there are a bunch of people that were in my opinion missing that I

think would have sucked a lot of oxygen out of the room, so to speak.

Um, I'm a, uh, diehard Tyson, a possible fan shout out to Tyson.

Like, I want to see people like him come back and play, um, or even, uh, yeah,

like there, there, there's a bunch of people sort of from that era.

I wanted a man to Kimmel, which I, I heard was like a close, but not all the way

or James or Todd or, you know, people like that.

So, um, but I understand that, that folks like I either don't want to do it

or if they did it, it would just be such a focal point.

Um, but, uh, especially, I think the, the mix of the new era people,

there were some, I think decisions that I was a little confused by, but you never

know, like sometimes it might just be people that didn't want to do it again.

That's true.

Uh, I just, the Christian Devon's combo is something that you could not come up

with in a writer's room.

Yeah.

It is beautiful.

It is amazing.

Like the buddy cop energy when he fell on his face, that, that man is a national

treasure.

We need to protect him at all costs.

Like I don't know that there is a more unanimously loved survivor player than

Christian Hubicki ever.

And Rick Devon's makes him even better.

I feel like their energy together is amazing.

Yeah, I'm so glad you said that Christian Hubicki, um, for the longest time,

anybody asked me who my favorite player is.

I always say, I literally since season 37, it's Christian Hubicki.

I want it to be some, like, I, I'm a girl through and through.

I want my favorite player to be a woman, but I'm in love with Christian Hubicki.

I don't know how to put it in the other way.

I love him so much.

Um, and people would always be like, you like, he's only played once.

How is your favorite player?

He, he your favorite player?

I go, I, he just is.

He just is a player.

Um, I adore that man.

And yeah, like, I think I was also lukewarm.

And I actually had a video that I, I recently found in my drafts where I was

saying, like, how I did not like the casting.

And the more I sat with it, the more I saw this cast, the more I was like, you know

what, I probably don't like it because I know who could have been there and not

really kind of messed with my brain.

But the more I'm seeing this cast interact, the better I feel like it's, the

more I feel like it's, it's, it's, it feels right.

Because it's like, it's like creating like a good basketball team or something,

like not everyone can be LeBron James.

I mean, obviously a whole team of LeBron James would probably be pretty good.

But you need people that don't need the ball.

You need people that rebound, people that play defense, people that can shoot

from the corner, like, there has to be balance in the force.

And I think that they did get that right in this cast.

Maybe that's where you were headed.

Exactly.

I think you're right.

And I, you know, I don't think I would have ever put Joe on this season.

And yet I feel like this is a very interesting storyline.

And I think this is a very interesting thing for him.

And I'm excited to see where it goes.

And I, I'm interested to see if maybe if, if Joe and Camilla ever played together,

like, will he never want to see, like, never want to play with her?

Will he ever be able to trust her?

So I actually think it's, um, I, again, this is me being wrong.

Like I did not like it at the beginning.

And I, I, there are people that I miss.

I miss, but I think it's a really interesting casting.

Now you said you're, you think the best season of, of survivors here is

versus villains.

Is that your favorite?

Or do you have like another one that like really means a lot to you personally?

Um, I think that's definitely one of my favorites.

You know, I really, uh, I really loved Tom's season when it aired.

I think that was Palau.

Oh, yeah.

Sorry.

And Tom Westman, yeah.

Yeah.

Um, that was like when I was like, you know, a kid and I was watching.

And he was just, him and Stephanie were amazing.

And he was just so dominant.

Uh, like I think he basically, Ian was the other guy that he was working with there.

But there came a point where they're like, Tom's going to win unless we vote him out.

And he just won immunity every single week until he won the game.

I mean, that was pretty cool.

Um, I like Kim a lot, the one world season, like she's just like dominant.

Uh, yeah, I think 27 is the best.

It's like, it's just the best characters at the best point.

The Tyson monologues about Colby that you see pop up on Reels every once in a while.

Just like timeless commentary.

So I love Tyson so much, seeing him in House of villains is so good.

He's so fun.

Um, if I, I'm just going to say a quick shout out.

I've never, this is my first season.

I've ever seen House of villains.

It is, I'm laughing pretty much the entire time that tea.

It's crazy.

I need to get in there.

Easy television.

Uh, people are saying the most, the craziest things you've ever heard about a people's mouths.

People are saying it's New York is on it, right?

New York is, okay.

So that's all you do.

It's incredible.

New York is incredible.

It's, it's, it's so good.

Like I can't stop smiling thinking about it.

Um, now one thing I found very interesting was when I met you in person, um,

I did not know you were a cyber fan.

But also I didn't realize how many people, uh, I mean, Kevin, obviously,

Kevin works, uh, is it at threats?

Or is it just that meta?

He works that meta.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Uh, Kevin, who was on season, um, uh, 48, uh, the, the famous dive for those who don't know.

Yeah.

Uh, he'll never escape that.

Um, I didn't realize how many people were survived fans.

Do you feel like there's a, like a community of people at your job that, like, like watching

the show for sure?

Um, you know, yeah, we've been, I think threads also kind of self selects a lot of people

that are just interested in culture and like what's going on in the world.

Um, so we have a lot of TV reality TV fans, film fans, um, sports fans.

I think it's a little bit of a prerequisite of like being able to be successful working

on the product.

You kind of need to know what people want and, um, what the right product experience is.

But just the progress we've made on reality TV alone in the last year, I think it's, you

know, somewhat a testament to the team getting it and really understanding the space.

Um, traders, you mentioned was huge for us.

Love is blind is really big on threads right now.

Survivor, like I mentioned, the people are saying, uh, outwit, outplay, outthread.

Love is become the official slogan.

Um, so there's a, it's been very cool year over year to see like new seasons of these

shows come out.

Whereas before, there was a little bit of content and now it feels like a real thing.

Um, and yeah, I, I mean, I also credit people like you for like giving it a shot.

I remember I was just bothering you saying, I love all your videos.

Why aren't you on threads?

Um, and so it, you know, trying it out and being, I like your, your, the thing you mentioned

earlier about, like, it's not going to work right away, but like the things that do

work feel really rewarding because of that.

And that's kind of the type of person I think that does well on the platform.

Yeah.

I think, you know, that's the thing about just content creation in general.

You have to kind of be okay with making a fool of yourself.

Maybe once or twice a day, um, to be able to do it, you can't take yourself too seriously

because, you know, if you do, you're never going to be able to tell anybody what you

do.

Like the fact that I have to tell people that I, I'm a social, I'm a survivor content

creator.

I cannot take myself to do what season were you on the show?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, well, actually, I can say that I was on the show now because I was in the premiere.

My voice was incredible.

Did you hear this?

Do you know this?

Have you heard this lore?

I have not heard this lore, but I did also try to lure you to the premiere event.

And I would have freaked out.

I, if I was there and I heard that, I would have freaked out.

Um, in the first five minutes,

they do like a re, like a going back in time, all that stuff.

Like the, yeah, yeah, we get to real time.

And Jeff is at the, it's a, it's a video of Jeff at the 48 premiere.

And he says, oh, you're talking about 50.

And then there's a clip of Jeff saying, um, for the first time ever, production

won't handle the game design.

The fans will.

And there's a gas and there's a woman in the background who goes, what?

And that's, and that's me.

Okay.

I don't know that I would have picked that up on my own, but it's, when you hear it,

you will notice, I mean, you probably don't hear my voices often as I do.

It is very clearly my exaggerated, crazy self.

And it even is in the closed captioning.

Like if you're watching the closed caption, woman, what?

Like I am woman, hear me what you need to take that screenshot.

That's amazing.

I have it in my bios.

I just, it's just in quotes.

What?

What woman?

Yeah.

So it is, um, so technically, if somebody asks, oh, yeah, I was on season 50,

and I won't give it any other information and never got voted off.

I never got voted off, but I did I win.

No, it's like, no, I didn't do anything, but I never got voted off.

I'm curious, you know, I, I do, like I said earlier while we were talking,

I do feel like we're more people are watching the survivor.

It's maybe Renaissance might be too strong of a word, but it's definitely here.

And now, what do you see for survivor in the next five years?

Do you think that's just going to be able to keep going up?

Like what is your, maybe what's your dream for survivor for the next five years?

Wow.

I mean, I will say, I think the, the format of the game is, is what makes it timeless,

right?

I was actually talking to somebody at the premiere from the CBS team about how,

and please don't out me for this.

Sometimes I actually skipped the challenges when I'm watching because all I care about

is like the social game and the strategy and the dynamic and things like that.

And the thing that makes that part great is obviously the format of the game and the characters.

And so my dream for survivor is that they keep finding ways to bring great characters

into the game.

There's nothing worse than a season that you feel like should be good,

but there just aren't the right people there.

I will say, I am probably in this camp of skeptics of like the Billy Eilish boomerang idol,

the like sort of pop culture vacation of the game.

It just feels like you're crossing this like fourth wall.

That's like a little strange.

But on the other hand, I'm glad they're trying new things.

Like that might bring in a bunch of new fans.

And as long as they don't screw with the core form out of the game, I think it's okay.

So I guess my dream is like the core of it stays the same and they stay focused on characters

and bringing in great people.

And then on the edges, you know, experiment with new and novel things.

One final thing I will say is I do think that they should do a non-FG season in the next five or

10 years.

You know, maybe not Africa or token teams, you know, but I think a little bit

of the repetition comes from the fact that we're seeing the same landscapes and literally

the same beaches for the challenges and everything.

And so if I were them, I would mix in every five seasons, you know, some exotic location.

That's different.

I realize that adds cost and overhead.

But if I were them, I would see that as sort of a necessary cost of keeping the thing fresh

and alive.

I totally, I totally get that.

And you know, I actually have not thought about this until now.

And I might make a video about this.

This is fascinating because I think this is one of the first times where it's a returning

plate or season where the majority of the people on those beaches played on those exact

beaches, like every single person from before or from actually Aubrey was on them because she

played game changers.

Every single person from Aubrey on has played on those beaches, which means that there are probably

four or five people who, well, nope, Ozzy played in game changers.

So he was on those beaches.

Cerey was in game changers.

So she played on those beaches.

I think it's just Stephanie Colby and Jenna, who are the,

that did never played on those exact beaches.

And so that is maybe an interesting thing to think about how that impacts how they play the

game because I don't know if you saw, do you follow Mike Bloom?

I do.

So Mike, he's on the bed.

Shout out to Mike.

Yes, he's the best.

He and Dalton Ross are two of the, you know, biggest reporters that I turned to for my news.

And Mike Bloom and a lot of other press people got to go out for the first, I think,

three or four days of survivor, deputy.

And so that he actually was filming part of, he got to film part of what actually happened.

And in the first episode, they cut out a negotiation between Angelina and Jeff.

I didn't see his video of this.

Yeah. And it's like, why are you depriving us of the negotiation queen?

Yeah.

Exactly.

But did you hear what she said and why she didn't want the fishing gear?

She said that there we all have been on this beach and the fishing is bad.

Oh.

And that is why she wanted a tarp.

Information is the key to great negotiation.

I'm sure Angelina learned that at Yale.

Where she studied negotiation and so good for her.

Yeah.

So it was like, but that's interesting because it goes to the fact that they literally know

the speech. They know that this beach does not have good fishing.

And that reward is not really a reward.

It's just something that's going to take up space.

And no one's going to be able to really use it.

And so that's like something interesting to think about.

Peep how we're turning players.

Right.

Be able to play on the same exact beach in the same exact location.

Hey, this convoy gave me ideas.

Always big ideas, I'm always thinking.

I'm always thinking, well, okay, before I let you go, I am curious.

Who was your preseason winner pick if you have one?

And who do you want to win now that we're a couple episodes indices in 50?

I don't know that I actually made an official preseason winner pick.

So I would be lying if I told you that I did that.

And we know how I feel about lying unless you have to.

Right.

I want to.

So who do I, who would I want to see win?

I think the most satisfying would be probably Christian or Rick.

Just the way that things are getting set up right now,

like if they were able to get to the end and win.

I think that would be pretty amazing.

Who do I think is going to win?

Maybe this is maybe a crazy take, but I think Aubrey.

I think Aubrey is in this really interesting position.

Obviously, Christian gave her an idol, which was like I was like crying.

My wife was like, did he do that because he thinks she's getting voted out?

I was like, no, they have a connection.

But you know, she kind of feel that you could tell from the first couple episodes that she feels

kind of lost. She's like not able to make connections.

My prediction is that when things get mixed up, she's going to find her people.

And we've all watched her play from the bottom before.

And I think she's one of the best ever at doing it.

So that would be my hot take.

I love her too. She's just such good TV.

I think that's a great take.

I think my my theory coming up here is that she idols out Genevieve.

That she uses the idol and that it ends up because I feel like why add in that clip of her

and Genevieve at her first episode, it feels very weird.

So either Genevieve is successful and gets out Aubrey or Aubrey idols out Genevieve.

And I feel like that would be a very interesting ending.

Sad. I love Genevieve. Mother Vieve, we love her.

But but I think that that could be very interesting if that did actually happen.

Cool. Connor, thank you so much for chatting about survivor taking time out of your day.

And yapping about this show that we are all obsessed with.

That's the best. Yeah. Thank you.

And for everyone watching, listening, go check us out on threads.

Yeah. That was about survivor.

He Connor is live. He talks and you know what?

If we were talking about like, you know, just kind of putting your thoughts out

out there, he is not, he does that too.

Oh, I do. That's our iconic.

A reporter asked my my com's partner recently, who wrote my post?

And she was like, he just does it himself.

So I'm just on the app all day.

Just like you guys and talking about survivor too.

So I'll see you out there if you if you make your way to threads.

Fabulous. That mean that's where I am.

I live thread every episode.

So it's very fun and I do a little roundup later.

I love it.

But thank you all so much for listening to this episode of surviving the fandom.

And I hope to see you next time right back here.

Maybe for the next episode of match up.

Maybe it's relevant fan of whatever it is.

But thank you all so much for joining us and have a lovely rest of your day.

Bye. Thank you.

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