Stacey Stillman, the attorney who braved the elements on the first Survivor, has won half the battle. After she sued the producers of the show for rigging the contest (supposedly, they persuaded a few teammates to oust Stacey rather than the appealing-to-the-older-demographic ex-Navy Seal Rudy), the Survivor production team decided to countersue with their own "breach of contract" suit. Supposedly, getting lied to and screwed by a big ol' network like CBS should be a quiet, let-bygones-be-bygones situation.
However, an orally skilled attorned like Stillman is not to be silenced. Let's face it: the producers probably did fix the show. But isn't that what TV is all about, manipulating the characters and plot to evoke the audience reaction you want? Of course, this type of behavior plays well at the soap-opera level. But on a reality-television game show, this sort of stunt reeks of "Quiz Show" rattiness.
Does Stillman have a case? It seems like her antics are more of the Al Gore/closest-election-in-history sorts. Many Gore supporters were silently and not-so-silently advising Gore to give in like a good sport, which would play a lot better on national television--especially when compared to the smug-faced son-of-a-gun who was already moving his things into the Oval Office. But Stillman, on the other hand, feels hard done to, perhaps even experiencing a little bit of the "woman scorned" syndrome.
Whatever it may be, she has proved her point. The producers of Survivor are manipulators to be pitied and ultimately forgotten after the hay-day of this show has disappeared. However, it would behoove her to let this situation fall by the wayside in order to get on with her life, post-Survivor.
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