Alright, just two questions this week so let's get right into them:

Is Russell the greatest Survivor player ever?

- Jeff

    It's too early to answer that question with a "yes," but let's just say he's certainly put himself in a position where if he wins this thing, it's either him or Richard Hatch.

    We recognize greatness on the show of Survivor when someone does something that seems so obvious after it's happened, but no one had done before.  In the first season Richard Hatch was the first person to decide "hey, I should get a block of people to vote with me and just vote out anyone who isn't a part of this group."  And that's what we the viewing public hated him for: forming an "alliance."  Alliances have since become such a part of the game that we don't even think twice about it anymore, but he was the first to do it.  Now, you're suppose to form alliances. 

    Similarly, Johnny Fairplay was the first person to realize that you could set a plan in motion before you even get to the island.  Have your potential "visitor from home" come with some sob story about how your grandmother just died and everyone will be ready and willing to throw a challenge so that you can reap both reward and immunity without having to put up a fight.  Of course, we also hated Johnny Fairlplay because he took out Rupert, and that is unforgivable.  What might take Johnny Fairplay out of the discussion is that he didn't win (3rd place).  Richard did, Russell might.

    Russell, in the same way, has done something that none of us ever thought about doing but was always something that could have been done.  They've been hiding the hidden immunity idols near the camps ever since they introduced the idea of the hidden immunity idol for the first time (save for a few seasons where it was exclusively on Exile Island).  Yet, no one has ever figured "hey, I wonder if I should try looking for a hidden immunity idol around some landmarks at camp?"  Russell did think of it, and now he's done it three (THREE!!!) separate times. 

    The first question you have to ask is "does someone have to have won to be considered the greatest Survivor ever?"  If so, a lot of people are eliminated.  A lot of people would argue that Boston Rob Mariano is the greatest ever, but he came in 10th on Survivor Marquesas, and 2nd on Survivor All-Stars (but, maybe since he proposed to Amber before she won, we can give him a co-winner?).

    What about Rupert?  He came in 8th on Survivor Pearl Islands, and then in 4th on Survivor All-Stars (although, those were back-to-back seasons, and I think people who play back-to-back seasons have a HUGE advantage, so watch out for Russell again next season).

    Other people you need to put in the discussion are Tom Westman from Survivor Palau (he won a ton of challenges in a row), Stephanie LaGrossa (was on the worst tribe ever, eventually finishing 7th in Palau, then was the runner-up on Survivor Guatemala - again, back-to-back seasons), Yul Kwon (if I remember correctly, he was one of the few people ever to not have a vote cast against them), Amanda Kimmel (3rd on China, 2nd on Fan vs. Favorites, again, back-to-back seasons), and Parvati Shallow (6th on Cook Islands, Winner of Fans vs. Favorites, and returning next season for Heroes vs. Villains).

    So in sum: right now, in my opinion, the greatest Survivor player of all-time is probably Richard Hatch.  If Russell wins this season, or even if he wins next season (back-to-back seasons!) he might take that crown.  But consider, Parvati and Rupert are also confirmed as coming back next season.  What if one of them takes the title of Ultimate Survivor next season?  Would that push them over the edge?  And again, does one HAVE to win to be in consideration?  Boston Rob might say no...

    Ask this question after Heroes vs. Villains and I think we could come up with a pretty solid Top-10 list of the greatest Survivors of all-time.  Then, maybe we can expand it to 16 and petition CBS to specifically honor our list and put those people on for season 21.

Just wanted to say thank you for commenting on the ridiculous start time of Christmas. XM already has a Christmas station and ABC Family has a "Countdown to the 25 days of Christmas". This means someone decided that a near month of Christmas movies was not nearly enough. It's out of control.