Here’s the list of Survivor All-Stars

Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……….

It’s only been about a couple of weeks, but I’m already having Survivor withdrawl. If it wasn’t for the Chicago Blackhawks playing on most Thursday nights, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. It’s just not the same without being able to tune in to the petty arguments and the eccentric behavior of a bunch of marooned goofballs.

Maybe I just miss seeing my girl Monica scampering around in her little “short shorts”.

But on the plus side, the next season already starts on Thursday, February 11 which is just over a month away. The funny thing is that they filmed this All-Star season from August 4 thru September 12, 2009. So when they televised the live finale for last season (Samoa) on December 20, 2009, the All-Star season was already in the can for three months. That’s Hollywood-speak meaning it was already done filming and tucked away for later. That meant that anyone from the just completed Samoa season that is going to be on the All-Stars had already completed a second tour of duty long before the winner of Samoa had even been declared.

Kind of a rough assignnment. You come home from the Samoan islands for perhaps a month and then head right back out for another (perhaps)  39 days in the bush. I would think that gives your opponents a bit of a physical and mental advantage. But if you want a million bucks, I guess that’s what you have to do.

So let’s take a look at the cast of characters that make up the tribes for this upcoming All-Star season.

They decided to pre-populate the tribes using a “good guys” versus “villains” format. So there will be no scenario of captains choosing their tribemates one-by-one. They still might have the tribes elect a leader or captain, but the 20 participants have already been divided into two groups. First, let’s take a look at the “good guys”.

Six of the players on the good guy tribe are coming back for the third time. These six gluttons for punishment are Rupert Boneham (the big guy with the tie dye and the beard), Big James (the buff, black dude who is a gravedigger for a living), Colby Donaldson (who lost a million bucks when he opted to go up against Tina Wesson in the finals instead of a lesser-liked opponent), Cirie (the nurse who grew from a helpless castaway to being able to start fires from scratch), Amanda (who I find to be a rather forgettable player for a 2-timer although she finished 2nd and 3rd in her prior attempts), and finally Stephanie LaGrossa (the hottie, athletic chick that persevered on her own even after her whole tribe had been voted out right away).

Rupert is one of the all-time popular players and is known as the fat guy “nobody liked in high school”. James holds the distinction of being the only player to be voted out twice—both times holding an unplayed immunity idol.

Rounding out the good guy tribe are Sugar (she spent more time on Exile Island than anyone eventually dubbing it the “Sugar Shack”), southern boy J.T. (the fan favorite who lost a tooth in a challenge but eventually won Survivor Tocantins), Tom Westman (the silver-haired NYC fireman who dominated his game and won Survivor Palau), and finally Candice (another pretty forgettable player who jumped tribes when everyone was given the offer to do so—she finished 8th in Cook Islands).

Then we have the “villain” tribe. These are all allegedly players who were a bit more devious and underhanded than most other players.

There are only three players here who will be 3-timers on Survivor after this season. They are Boston Rob (one of my all-time favorites simply because he coined the phrase “Pretty Boy Probst”), Jerri Manthey (the notorious bitch who was also on the last All-Star season), and Parvati (the hot little honey who jumped into a hot tub naked with her boy toy Ozzie one season).

Rounding out the villains are some pretty fun former contestants. We have Tyson (the super skinny dude who made hilarious comments in his “aside” interviews and walked around naked a few times), Crazy Randy (one of the all-time looniest players who started a huge ordeal over a cookie), Sandra Diaz (a former winner and somewhat of a strange selection for the villain tribe as she wasn’t exactly a scoundrel when she won Survivor Pearl Islands), Danielle (a very forgettable player from Survivor Panama), our old friend pot-bellied Russell (who just finished 2nd in Samoa and is one of the all-time best players), the unforgettable Coach (he of the ponytail and the tall tales of his allegedly incredible life as a soccer coach), and finally Courtney (a skinny blond stick from Survivor China).

So those are the 20 players that will come back to entertain us on February 11.

Our man Russell is the only one returning from the just-completed Survivor Samoa. In discussing this roster with a friend who is an avid watcher of the show, he posed the question of whether the villain tribe would look to oust him right away because he is so devious and such a good player. But then we realized that when this All Star season was filmed, they hadn’t even aired the great majority of Survivor Samoa. So really, no one on either All Star tribe was too familiar with Russell, his ability to find immunity idols, and his cunning ways. They had to kind of look at him as a “Who the hell is this ? ” wild card. Maybe he is a good player…and maybe he was just a jerk……..like Randy.

I am going to go WAY out on a limb here and make a prediction on this season. I think Tom the fireman will win it. Then again, jury people don’t like to vote for players that they know are already rich. But Tom has a fatherly nature about him, he has a very admirable occupation, and he is mentally and physically solid. So I am putting my money on good ol’ Tom.

Really, I’m just looking forward to drooling over Stephanie and Parvati again.

Or as Homer Simpson would say, “Mmmmmm…….Parvati…”