Word: burnette
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Survivor (May 31, 8 p.m. E.T.), an adaptation of a Swedish hit, drew 6,000 applications and videotapes, says executive producer Mark Burnett. The 16 chosen, ages 22 to 72, left home this spring to build an island society on Pulau Tiga, off the coast of Malaysian Borneo. With minimal supplies and few rules--no violence, no cutting down trees--they worked together to build huts, carry water from wells and find food (only rice and beans were provided; they fished and caught the rats for protein...
...that people are most engrossing making love or war. War's easier, so conflict was built in; castaways were selected for "strong personalities" (read: potential clashes), and they periodically voted to expel members. The last one left--picked by expelled players--wins $1 million. As for love, Burnett suspects that some contestants snuck away for a little vine swingin'. But, he says, "we were more interested in relationships in how they affected the group." Uh-huh. Judging by a preview shown to advertisers last week, the producers were after sparks and heat: the survivors are shown bickering, frolicking in bikinis...
...also hard to believe some producers' claims of high-minded purpose, as when executive producer Paul Romer calls Big Brother "a mirror to society." (Last we checked, society consisted of folks allowed to leave the house.) Scoffs Burnett, comparing Survivor with Multi-Millionaire: "There is a big difference between taking 16 adventurers to an island and 50 morons lining up to get married after meeting a stranger on TV." Of course, 23 million people watched Multi-Millionaire. He'd better hope there's not that much difference...
Marsha Norman's musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic novel ran on Broadway for 706 performances and won two Tony awards-Best Book of a Musical (Norman) and Featured Actress in a Musical (Daisy Egan as Mary Lennox). At age eleven, Egan was-and remains-the youngest person ever to win a Tony. Amazingly, in taking on the role of the ten-year-old Mary, Tamara Spiewak '02, a Harvard undergraduate, convinces the audience that she is this orphaned child. As wonderful and natural as she is, however, Spiewak appears to have taken many cues from the Broadway...
...then came a sound track--history and nature observations by Emett and Barbara Burnett, Louisiana guides for Rails and Trails, a joint service of Amtrak and the National Parks Service. There was show-and-tell in the lounge car too, where Barbara invited us to examine native artifacts--a nutria skull and otter, coyote and beaver pelts...