My 0.02 for what it's worth

So, everyone is up in arms over the new Survivor that's premiering in a few weeks. For anyone who's been under a rock, Mark Burnett had the brilliant idea of seperating the contestants according to race. So we have the African-American team, the Hispanic team, the White team, and the Asian team. My question for him is this, if you have Indian contestants where do they go? The Asian or would they get their own team? I mean really if you're going to seperate people by race, by limit yourself to those for? How about an Eskimo team or a Native American team?

I don't know why anyone expected anything better out of Mark Burnett. This after all is the man who admitted that if Erika Vetrini had called Omarosa the "N" word as Omarosa claimed, he would have aired it. A man who prides himself on being politically incorrect. You know, because he's European and all. He also made the statement that he'd noticed that alot of people in this country only socialize within their own ethnic group. I'm not going to argue with him about that by stating that I personally socialize among a wide range of people, because I'm sure that in the heartland that's probably the case. But you know I don't have alot of Muslim friends, so does that mean Mark Burnett should divide the tribes along religious lines as well?

Whatever you may think about this whole idea, you have to admit that Mark Burnett is a brilliant marketer. Survivor has been on the air for 6 years now, the ratings are falling, they haven't come up with an outsize personality lately like Rupert, Johnny Fairplay or Richard Hatch. Shows like Amazing Race and Project Runway are gaining momentum. Even The Apprentice is losing ground (that may have more to do with the fact that Donald Trump is an acquired taste).

So what do you do to get people interested in your show for it's 13th season? Play the race card. The biggest hot topic in America right now, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (see all the articles regarding the racist attitudes towards the black citizens of New Orleans who are still waiting to have their homes repaired). Remember Kanye West's statement that GB doesn't care about black people? And Barbara Bush's comment about the people who'd been evacuated in the Astrodome in Houston not leaving?

Without realizing it, Mark Burnett has opened the door to American's talking about race if only to chastize him.

So kudos to Mark Burnett. I still won't watch Survivor. I'd rather knaw off my own foot before I turn the channel to 2 at 8 p.m. on a Thursday night. But hey that's just me.

Thanks for reading!

EKM